Grey and Pale

Not that we are all living in a shade of grey and dull green, but that seems to what the world is coming to. We are wasting our planet away, either by poisoning it with crude oil or by destroying it by war. It will all end in tears if we do not do something about it.

Additionally, have we not all had enough of war and destruction, loss of life and sacrifice?

It also costs money... lots of it, and we are all paying for it, one way or another.

Changing Times

What has become of this world?

Whilst the Golf of Mexico is being poisoned by crude oil and New York City is planning to introduce a non-refundable $300.00 photography fee (only in America!), citizens of Iraq are facing far greater challenges... Life!

Meet Karim; a laborer for the British forces for the duration of the British campaign in Basra. He used to be a soldier of the republican guard of Iraq's forces during the war between Iraq and Iran. He was taken prisoner by Iran and tortured, mutilated and nearly beaten to death. He has no worries in life other than seeking happiness for his wives and children. He used to say that as long as he is alive and well and his family is looked after he will not desire anything else in this world. When the British troops pulled out of Iraq he was offered a sum of money for his service or a permit to reside in the UK with his family and make a life in Europe. He decided to stay in Iraq, his home, his country. He has great hopes for Iraq. He hopes for a better future; a future without razor wire and violence.

Karim, March 2009

I WANT ONE!

I love the new Olympus PEN. I want one!

The wife replied:

NO! OVER MY DEAD BODY!

:-(

Great Photography

Whilst I do not always manage to take images every day, I do search the web for images that I find astoundingly impressive. Today I came across Washington-based photomicrographer Charles Krebs who does stunning stuff with his camera equipment.Take a look!

http://www.krebsmicro.com/

Update

I've been busy lately shooting in the UK. Even though I have been back in Germany since my last trip to the UK, I had to fly to Birmingham again to attend a conference and shoot some covers for some boring magazines. Don't get me wrong, the images are not boring at all, I just don't think that the magazine is interesting in any shape or form. I will not buy it.

Also, I dug out my 12 year old Olympus Mju II again and loaded it with some TMax 400 B&W Film. Results will be shown here soon.

Pet Dog

My favorite Pet Dog of the recent years.

Back to the UK

Been back to the UK last week. It really aggravated me that I was unable to link up to the net in order to maintain my updates. I had loads to share.

For starters, I went back to see to some business that occupied me for only 16 hours in total. Driving over there from Germany by car seemed lunacy as I was away from my accommodation in NRW for over 4 days... just to attend 2 meeting that were no more work than 16 hours?

I am not doing that one again! I will fly across next time, no matter the cost.

Well, this time round I may have been stuck due to the volcano's eruption in Iceland.

My brother is stuck in Madrid with his wife on a forced holiday extension. Lucky him!

Lunatic!

The driver of this Range Rover actually transported this Gas Bottle on the back seat of his vehicle... until the coppers stopped him and passed on a hefty fine; just as he deserved.

Little Bump!

Biker didn't look where he was going.

Scanning Done!

I have finally finished scanning the latest batch of images. I can tell you that I am sick and tired of sitting at the computer now. I am a photographer, not a computer operator. I hope that in future I ill be able to farm the scanning out to others... its soooo boring.

So, now that I am done I have to look at each image and edit what is good and chuck what is bad. That will also take ages...

I am not doing that again. I left it far too long to develop films. I racked up 28 rolls of 35mm and 8 rolls of medium format. That is just too much!

Dog Handler in Iraq 2008

(Edited, not retouched)

One of many Dog Handlers of the British Army that risked life and limb of his dog and himself in order to provide security to his comrades and the people of Iraq. He never questioned why he was sent there, nor did he take sides in a conflict that was understood to be of questionable legality from the onset. What counts is that both pictured above returned safely after contributing to one of history's events in this world.

Watering Time! 2008

A military Working Dog of the British Armed Forces being offered water during the hottest time of the day in the area of Basra, Iraq. Daytime temperatures during November may reach up to 40 degrees Celsius. Cool water can be a life safer for man and canine.

Crash in North Wales! 2007

Excessive speed and wet roads turn into a recipe for disaster when not respected in traffic.