Alexander's Portfolio

Sarah with sunglasses. Shot in Vienna, September 2012. I think it's quite a nice pic though Sarah doesn't like it really. Ah well...

This picture was shot more or less two years ago. I met Sarah again after several years and she just had some time to kill in Munich. Our previous plans where shattered by heavy rainfall, so we ducked for cover until the sun appeared again. And I guess it was the best thing that I suggested a photo shoot after that. It was fun and I just love some of the pictures that came out. This one is ‘That Look Forward’ and it’s still my favorite of that shoot. Sarah had her head between two tree branches here, the pic was shot in the Munich Ostpark btw (very close to where I live). It was one of the first pictures where I learned to convert RAW and where I also started to edit pictures in Gimp. I did some things here and there, her eye was covered by some hair for example and I guess I did a good job unconcealing it. This is a newer version in which I removed a few blemishes, balanced some skin tones and changed the color scheme. It’s interesting that I use very different tools for most of that stuff now too. When it comes to colors then Lightroom is really brilliant and a few skin jobs can be done nicely with Portrait Professional. The model is always beautiful though (Ah I’m charming today,ey?).

It's never a bad idea to have a proper self portrait. It took a few showers to really get the shot but I'm happy with the final result (ok, maybe there should be a slightly more blurred background).Thanks to Fabian for doing a great job with the watering pot.

THis is my nephew. Quite handsome, huh. One of the first few pictures I shot with my new Fuji X100s. I should have stopped down a bit more for a slightly better focus (my nephew is so fast it's unbelievable). What I love about this picture is that I didn't do much when it came to processing. Jpg straight out of the camera, a bit of cropping that's all. I love the look and colors that this little camera produces.

Portrait of Maria. Shot June 2011 (or was it May). Anyway, I really like this picture and since Maria is still using it as her Facebook profile pic I guess she's happy with it as well. Just wished that I stopped down a bit more here. Why do I always have to shoot wide open? Arg...

Shot of Maria next to that massive Bus hub in Valetta, Malta. I really like this photo apart from the distracting background. Well, maybe I should try to shoot something similar at one time or another.

This portrait features Maria Pia and was shot in Malta. Shot in Malta? Yes, Malta that tiny country full of loud people south of Sicily. That rock with knights, good food and pretty curvaceous girls. Home of the rabbit feast. Ah well I’m amazingly tired and tend to write bullshit now. Anyway I was visiting my friend Edward a few weeks ago down there and on my first day there he hosted this really nice barbecue with his family and friends. Edward introduced me to Christopher, another fellow photographer (who tends to shoot stunning cars and girls and stuff), and Chris offered me to organise a model shoot with some Maltese beauty. An offer I couldn’t refuse so I’m glad I accepted. And Christopher: Thanks again :) Anyhow, we met Pia a few days later and started to shoot around Malta. If I needed a quick break to check on some camera stuff then Chris would cut in and shoot some pics with his Nikon and the other way round. I shot this particular picture from a fortified wall (you have a lot of those in Malta) with Pia leaning against it. And I was very lucky that Edward insisted on me trying his Canon 100mm Macro lens (Yes, you’re right: it’s quite brilliant). As you can see it is a stunning choice for portraits too.

I actually planned to upload a photo this weekend that doesn't show a pretty female for a change. But after being urged to edit a few more pictures by Pia I'm just compelled to upload one of those. This one was shot again in the Australian House ruins and with my Tokina 12-24 mm ultra-wide angle lens. I absolutely love to shoot pictures with my Tokina, it just creates this massivily wide and detailed canvas and has a very managable distortion too. Photos are already quite brilliant at an open Aperture of F4 and it's build like a tank, a massive lens with a very decent handling. Ah, the love for such gadgets. Back to the photo: I like that it is really this big canvas with a comparativiliy tiny figure in it. My friend René criticised me a few years ago that I always shoot things up close so maybe I've overcome that issue a bit now. I like Pia's pose quite a lot too, and everything else: The location, Pia, her outfit fits nicely in that composition. And it was one of the first pics where I relied mostly on editing everything in Lightroom. I say mostly because I did the lens correction in DxO but after that it was all done in one piece of software.

I met this Dutch woman in a hostel in Brighton. She looked and seemed quite cool so I asked her if she was up for some photos. Luckily she was (cool and up for phot time). I really like this one, it looks a bit weird but fun.

A portrait I took of Janine at Königsplatz in Munich. The buildings there look like Greek temples so you have all those nice columns were a woman can lean to while looking thoughtful.

I shot this picture of Janine when we met the first time for a photo shooting in May 2010. And nearly everytime when I meet her it rains, it’s quite unbelievable. So next time you plan a barbecue in Munich you may ask me if I’m planning a shooting with her, just to make sure ;) This one was and still is my favorite. I just like the mood it creates and the visual arrangement. We shot this in the undercrossing between Munich Hofgarten and Englischer Garten. It’s this greyish tunnel with a grid on one side and a stream of water running beneath it. So Janine was standing on the grid with water dropping on and pouring beneath her and I went on top of the undercrossing to shoot through another grid (you see those blurred lines: grrrrrrid) while getting quite wet of course but hey, the shot turned out nicely. I made some changes to the initial version I posted on Facebook. I readjusted the colors, the contrast and the sharpness in Lightroom and added a Filmlook in DxO. This is the desaturated version. I have another version on my website alexfotografiert.de but might be a bit nicer. Wanna check it out?

I shot this picture in Valletta (Malta) with my (at the time of course, May 2011 or so) brand new Sigma 30mm lens. And what better purpose to test a 30mm than some street photography? I really liked this one. I found this carpenter's shop slightly hidden in a quiet street and asked the manin there if I could take a picture of him. I really nice man I have to say. What's a bit sad though is that he asked me for a copy (real one, not digital) and tried to send one to him (generous as I was I had two plus an extra pic) but my package got returned to me (I really had trouble figuring out his handwriting you know). I guess I have to deliver the copy personally next time when I visit Malta.