When we started travelling through Namibia, my first impressions was how incredibly dry, sandy, rocky, and dusty everything is. It was therefore unexpected to find large, grand trees that either seem to wait for water or have lived long ago, when it may have been wetter. However, there are many impressive trees in Namibia. Especially the suffering, mourning tree in the first photograph was really remarkable.

After the rocky start from last week, I continue the Namibia series with my preferred landscape photographs. Overall, I am not fully satisfied with my photography during that trip. From several locations I have not created any "keeper" at all. I hope you like the compositions shown here.

Last year, I have published only one single post. Hopefully, this year I will manage to show new photographs here and on my website again more regularly. Due to the long pause, I have plenty of compositions from last year that I would like to share. Let's start with a few posts and photographs from our summer holiday from last year - in wintery Namibia.
I will keep the text to a minimum unless you, the anonymous visitors, have questions or comments that would start a "conversation". You are all invited to comment! In either case, I hope you enjoy the photographs.

In my opinion, the Panasonic Lumix 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 is the one lens that embodies all the advantages of the micro four thirds format: small bodies and lenses that ensure an image quality that is far better than what most photographers ever need. There are of course alternatives for this lens with larger apertures and supposedly better optical quality. However, these advantages are payed for with a considerably larger size, narrower zoom range, and consequently much restricted versatility. And they also cost a lot more. During last year, I have had the chance to compare several micro four thirds lenses (zooms, but also prime lenses) as well as different cameras (micro four thirds, full frame bodies, and Sigma cameras with a foveon sensor). The differences between lenses on the same micro four thirds body were much smaller than I would have expected and I am certain that most people would not be able to tell the difference in real world photographs. By far the biggest difference was seen in the files obtained from the Sigma Foveon sensor. The files from the Sigma DP merrill cameras are just in another category altogether - but this is not the topic of this contribution!

I do of course not suggest to photograph with only one lens and camera. For example, myself I am a macro enthusiast and use (at least at the moment) my macro lens almost as often as the 14-140mm. On most hikes and excursions I carry a micro four thirds camera, the 14-140mm lens, and a macro lens and am thus covered for almost all eventualities. For me this is the must-have equipment that I would always want to have with me; the other cameras and lenses are sometimes useful, nice to have, or just a pleasure to use, but they do not do much more than my "essential" kit.

All the photographs in this blog post have been taken with the new 14-140mm lens during last year - I hope you enjoy. For the foreseeable future, this is the last article, because I have other priorities for this year and will thus update this blog very rarely or not at all. In the meantime, you are welcome to visit the photo galleries on my website, which will be updated from time to time with new photographs and galleries.

All the best, Florian.

... and merry Christmas if this is what you are celebrating. If you have to work or do not celebrate, I hope you can still enjoy all the sparkling lights and shiny decorations.

This post is last week's weekly text and thus really belated. To compensate, I include three additional morning frost compositions from last week's short excursion to a freezing cold meadow. Together with last week's photograph, these are four compositions, out of almost 60 exposures, that I intend to keep. Do you have a preferred version?

I hope you enjoy today's photograph and wish you an unstressed and enjoyable "before-christmas-week"!

The weekend is almost over, so it is high time for my weekly contribution. Today I would like to show you the first frost composition of this season (it is still "warm", from yesterday). The picture is also linked to a plea: if you see a strange person kneeling or lying on a frosty meadow on a cold morning, please do not draw any wrong conclusion and just pass by inconspicuously (you may be ignored anyway). He is neither dead, nor drunk or otherwise sick. It is likely just a photographer (maybe me) searching for frosty compositions that are hidden close to the ground, among the blades of grass.

I hope you enjoy today's photograph and wish you a good week!

A melange of red and yellow maple leaves - photographed at the same place as last week's composition. I tried to compose the frame with leaf shapes in the fore and background, while only one leaf is sharp and the "center of attraction" for the eye.

Have a nice Sunday (so far it is grey and cold here in Zurich)!