My Photographic Year

December 30, 2017 | Landscape Photography | by Michael Breitung

Another year has passed and I’m looking back at many new places I have visited and photographed, lots of new articles added to this blog, a revived Youtube channel, several magazine publications and online features.

Highlights

In January and February I was still travelling the world. I spent my last days in New Zealand before flying to Hong Kong. Then I travelled from Vietnam through Laos to Cambodia before I returned from 6 months of travelling with more than 10000 photos to sort through. Those will eventually equate to around 200 portfolio photos, of which I have only managed to process 60 till now.

In May I held my yearly waterfall workshop in the German Black Forest. I always enjoy sharing my passion for landscape photography with other people, so next year this workshop will take place again. If you want to join me for a day at one of my favorite places in the Black Forest, you have to hurry – only two spots remain.

Then I travelled to northern Spain for one week. I had always wanted to visit the Costa Quebrada, which for me is one of the most spectacular coastlines in Europe. And finally I was able to photograph the various sea stacks myself.

In July I filmed my first photography Vlog. And since then I posted nearly one video per week on my Youtube channel. I also finally figured out what equipment to use for vlogging, so in the future you will see much more vlogs from me, also from my travels.

Another highlight was my trip to Rome. Four days were much too short to explore all of this beautiful city. Behind every corner I seemed to find another subject too photograph. This time though I focused on the more popular spots as you can see in the following video.

After my visit to Rome I continued to write some articles and recorded several more Youtube videos. And I eventually hit the 5000 subscribers on my Youtube channel. Considering that in the first 6 years I made it to 2000 and now in four months I gained another 3000 that’s a great achievement for me.

In October I did a short trip to Saxony Switzerland, but besides that the dull weather here in Germany didn’t allow for much photography. I still managed to explore some local forests, which are always a great subject, especially on gloomy days. And I was also the first guest in Nicolas Alexander Otto’s Landschaftsfotografie Podcast.

Top 10 Photos

Normally this is the place where I show you my top 10 photos of the year. But since I skipped this part last year because I was travelling the world, I will now show you my favorite 10 photos of the last two years. So I had to be a bit more selective. But I didn’t want to exclude the photos from my travels to South America, Australia and New Zealand, where I created some of my all-time favorite photos.

German Rainforest

I took this photo during my waterfall workshop back in May 2016. I usually don’t take photos myself when leading a workshop, but sometimes it helps to show my workflow in the water to the participants. On this day it was pouring, which added a lot to the atmosphere.

The Grobbach in the Black Forest on a rainy day

Alpine Paradise

Ever since I had visited the Drachensee a year earlier and couldn’t take a photo because the area was covered in low hanging clouds, I wanted to return to get this photo. On my second attempt the weather was much more favorable and I could experience this paradise in beautiful light.

Oasis

I always wanted to photograph dunes. Honestly I didn’t expect that I’d do so in South America when we planned our journey around the world. But during my research I came across the desert oasis of Huacachina. It was something special to photograph those mountains of sand at dawn.

Dark Side of the Moon

One of my highlights was the visit to the Atacama Desert. There’s really not much there, just lots and lots of rocks and sand. But the landscape looks so unique. During my explorations around San Pedro de Atacama it sometimes felt as if I was on another planet.

Valle de la Luna as seen from mirador de Kari

Dark Side of the Moon
Equipment: Canon EOS 5DSR | Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS | Hoya HD Polarizer
Exif: f/11 | 150mm | ISO 100 | 1/8s

Gibson Steps

It was the most epic sunset I had seen in five years and at such a beautiful location. This evening at the Gibson Steps I was in photographer’s heaven.

Inferno

After this epic sunset at the Gibson Steps I thought it would take me a long time to witness such light again. But only a few days later when we visited Wilsons Promontory Park I was again standing beneath a glowing sky and it was at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Whisky Bay.

Revelation

My absolute highlight were the days we spent in Tongariro National Park, not only for the last two years but for my complete time as a landscape photographer. In three days I hiked around 70km around the park and encountered some beautiful light. The evening at the Tama Lakes was my favorite photoshoot during my entire travels around the world.

Luang Prabang

Temples and monks are a characteristic feature of Luang Prabang in Laos. While visiting I didn’t do much landscape photography. Instead I explored the temples and streets hoping to capture some unique street photos. On one day I was sitting in front of a temple waiting for my girlfriend, when suddenly there was a lot of noise in the temple. I quickly grabbed my camera and was able to take this photo. It might not be technically perfect, but it’s still one of my favorite photos of the year.

Luang Prabang
Equipment: Canon EOS 5DSR | Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS
Exif: f/4 | 169mm | ISO 1600 | 1/1000s

Fantasia

Last autumn I visited Saxony Switzerland once more. I come there nearly every year, but seldom do I get good light. This year was an exception though. When photographing from the little Winterberg this wonderful scene presented itself to me.

Fantasia : Prints Available
Equipment: Canon EOS 5DSR | Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS | Lee 0.6 hard GND
Exif: f/11 | 78mm | ISO 100 | 1/45s

Mystic Forest

In autumn I also found this special place. It’s a forest I was driving by many times in the past years, but I never stopped. On this day though there suddenly was this dense fog and I just had to stop and see, if I could find something to photograph. This was a very good decision as you can also see in the Vlog I filmed.

So that’s it. My photographic review for the past two years. A last thing I want to mention: If you want to support my blog and my youtube channel, you can head to my info page where you’ll find some Amazon links. If you use those when purchasing something, I’ll get a little commission. You’ll also find such affiliate links in my articles from time to time.

Now I wish you a good start into the New Year. Have a good one!