night barber
15/01/2012 01:03 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 16-35mm F/2.8 L II USM - iso8000 f/2.8 1/100 sec - Michael Grobe
Back in Mumbai for some time to supervise some Hollywood stuff in Bollywood. Got a first chance to do some drive-by shooting on the way from the facility to the hotel, which needs some fast shutter speeds, as the driver is racing across the bumpy roads of Mumbai. A barber shop next to a hospital. And there is always life in the streets atacking all your senses...
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 (until the 1DX comes along...) makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography. I use it for fast and responsive street photography, too. Those 10fps bursts help you catch the right moment shot from a fast moving car.
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM: great ultra-wide angle zoom lens for street photography. The wide 2.8 aperture is necessary to give you decent shutter speeds for low light street photography, while still maintaining enough depth of field.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
|
goetz of the iron hand
14/11/2011 03:17 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso160 - f/2.8 1.6 sec - Michael Grobe
Schloss Schwarzenberg in Frankonia, Goethe opens his 1773 play "Goetz von Berlichingen" in a tavern near the castle. The famous quote of "Goetz of the Iron Hand" can still be used to give excuse and justification for ones malicious tongue...
"Mich ergeben! Auf Gnad und Ungnad! Mit wem redet Ihr! Bin ich ein Räuber! Sag deinem Hauptmann: Vor Ihro Kaiserliche Majestät hab ich, wie immer, schuldigen Respekt. Er aber, sag's ihm, er kann mich -".
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-5D Mark II: 21 Megapixels resolution, fullframe sensor with gorgeous 1080p video, great high ISO noise performance.
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM: awesome image quality, as-good-as-it-gets, a lifetime investment.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
the fifth white tree
01/11/2011 04:56 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L - iso800 - f/5.6 - Michael Grobe
During a few days of business meetings in London I stumbled upon the fifth white tree.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II to straighten perspective with shift and create that magical miniature look with it's tilt.
Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x: the Zacuto viewfinder is invaluable to properly focus a TS lens using the tilt feature. Through the viewfinder of the camera it is very hard to get the exact rotation and location of the plane of focus right, but judging it through a Z-Finder Pro 3x in live view (going to 5x or 10x magnification for absolute accurate focusing) gets it done quickly and precisely.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
to be a photographer
24/10/2011 03:17 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso800 - f/2,8 1/250 sec
I had been asked, what it takes to be a photographer. While that is a very subjective and personal question, for me this might be a possible answer.
The urge to get up before dawn to hike into the the dessert carrying too much of your gear to the perfect spot to catch the first rays crawling over the dunes painting the mountains gently while freezing your hands off capturing the moment you had envisioned and hoped for to be found in loneliness.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-5D Mark II: 21 Megapixels resolution, fullframe sensor with gorgeous 1080p video, great high ISO noise performance. The image has been taken with the 1Ds Mark III, but I recommend the newer 5D Mark II with comparable image quality and slightly better ISO performance.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
last clouds of summer
28/09/2011 04:55 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso320 - f/5.6
- exposure blending of 7 HDR exposures - Michael Grobe
Another summer gone by.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
light my way
21/09/2011 04:46 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso100 - f/8 - 1/500 sec - Michael Grobe
A distant memory of New York, taken from Liberty State Park looking over to Liberty Island.
Light my way by N.F.D. the offspring of the legendary Fields of the Nephilim.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
slovenian beauty
09/09/2011 02:01 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso160
- f/2.8 1/160 sec - Michael Grobe
Not only truffle pigs, but also beauty to be found in Slovenia.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM: awesome image quality, as-good-as-it-gets, a lifetime investment.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
slovenian truffle pig
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso1250 - f/5 1/200 sec - Michael Grobe
Back in lovely Slovenia again to supervise a commercial shoot. Spotted this rare sight in the evening just next to our shooting location deep in the country side. From far it looked like a strange monster dog, but then it turned out to be a giant truffle pig. Following this master through the meadows and woods, that is how the Slovenian truffles are hunted down, which you can eat aplenty in Ljubljana...
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso1250 - f/5 1/200 sec - Michael Grobe
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM: awesome image quality, as-good-as-it-gets, a lifetime investment.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
summer over germany
23/08/2011 02:06 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L - iso100 - f/4.5 - 1/400 sec - Michael Grobe
Finally some summer in Germany after all the cold and rain. So the best thing is to jump on a plane and explore the world from above, when you are lucky enough to have a flying friend. And I love to take a shift and tilt lens with me into the skies, as this lets you rotate your focal plane exactly where you want it for that special look.
The gear used to create this image:
FK 9 Lightplane: the light way to fly
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II to straighten perspective with shift and create that magical miniature look with it's tilt.
Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x: the Zacuto viewfinder is invaluable to properly focus a TS lens using the tilt feature. Through the viewfinder of the camera it is very hard to get the exact rotation and location of the plane of focus right, but judging it through a Z-Finder Pro 3x in live view (going to 5x or 10x magnification for absolute accurate focusing) gets it done quickly and precisely.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
white storm
The Comic Con started today, time for the "White Storm" website to go online. A few weeks back we shot a trailer for the movie in a Studio in L.A. and lots of background plates and material in Death Valley. I had the pleasure to join the project as vfx supervisor and contribute additionally the vfx and set photography. The trailer is still in post production, but the website is worth a first look and the director Bruno Werneck is presenting the project at Comic Con in San Diego.
Image from timelapse sequence shot with Canon EOS-5D Mark II and TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L
been shooting
Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - photo by Andre Cantarel
Haven't posted here for a few weeks, but actually a lot has been going on. Went back to L.A. for three weeks for some business and shooting. I had the pleasure to supervise a VFX driven movie shoot there, including location photography and extensive work in the greenscreen studio. I will post detailed "making of" and "behing the scenes" once the project is released. Now back in Germany at the right time for some more car photography in beautiful spring, some consulting work and RND for the possible next big gig. Blog posts on those to follow as well as some "behind the scenes" and "how to" on texture photography.
photo by the secret director
photo by the secret director
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-5D Mark II: 21 Megapixels resolution, fullframe sensor with gorgeous 1080p video, great high ISO noise performance.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
alien invasion : Mil Mi-24
10/03/2011 20:07 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-5D Mark II - TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L - iso160 - f/4.5 1/40 sec - Michael Grobe
Rocket launcher of a Mil Mi-24 shot during an extensive VFX photography session at Luftwaffenmuseum in Gatow, Berlin. More stuff to follow from that shooting soon.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-5D Mark II: 21 Megapixels resolution, fullframe sensor with gorgeous 1080p video, great high ISO noise performance.
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II to straighten perspective with shift and create that magical miniature look with it's tilt.
Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x / 2.5x: the Zacuto viewfinder is invaluable to properly focus a TS lens using the tilt feature. Through the viewfinder of the camera it is very hard to get the exact rotation and location of the plane of focus right, but judging it through a Z-Finder Pro 3x / 2.5x in live view (going to 5x or 10x magnification for absolute accurate focusing) gets it done quickly and precisely.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
resurrexit
09/03/2011 19:35 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso100
- f/8 - 1/250 sec - Michael Grobe
Resurrexit - an agnostic abstract. Taken in Belvedere, Vienna.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
and the scissors danced
04/03/2011 18:43 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso100
- f/6.3 - 1/80 sec - Michael Grobe
Found the dancing scissors in Belvedere in Vienna. Since it is ballseason right now, it must have been a waltz. I layered two exposures, one with the scissors in focus and one out of focus shot through a hedge. There is some lovely historical architecture in Vienna providing the flair of the city.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
vienna coffee house
02/03/2011 05:01 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L - iso5000 - f/4.5
- 1/25 sec - Michael Grobe
One of those great afternoons at a Viennese coffee house, Cafe Schwarzenberg. You can spend a whole afternoon just ordering a coffee, no one will push you out to make room for the next party. Try that in L.A. ... where the check comes a second after your plate is empty.
After all you wont stop at that one coffee, as there is Kaiserschmarren, Apfelstrudel and Sachertorte, Gulaschsuppe mit Salzstangerl ...
And there is music as well, piano and violin create the perfect ambience.
The Tilt and Shift lens allowed me to place the focus on the upper part of the wall and through the window, while gently fading the musicians out of focus.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II to straighten perspective with shift and create that magical miniature look with it's tilt.
Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x / 2.5x: the Zacuto viewfinder is invaluable to properly focus a TS lens using the tilt feature. Through the viewfinder of the camera it is very hard to get the exact rotation and location of the plane of focus right, but judging it through a Z-Finder Pro 3x / 2.5x in live view (going to 5x or 10x magnification for absolute accurate focusing) gets it done quickly and precisely.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
delorean.de relaunch
Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso100 - f/2.8 1/250 sec - Michael Grobe
15 years online - and now a relaunch: www.delorean.de
All you need to know about the stainless steel gullwing beauty. Contributed a few images and a trailer to the redesigned website. Recommended for all DeLorean fans and classic sports car enthusiasts, still the leading website about the DeLorean in Europe.
delorean.de from Michael Grobe on Vimeo.
The gear used to create this image and the video:
Canon EOS-5D Mark II: 21 Megapixels resolution, fullframe sensor with gorgeous 1080p video, great high ISO noise performance.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography. Fantastic 1080p video shooting as well.
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM: awesome image quality, as-good-as-it-gets, a lifetime investment.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the video was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
Apple Final Cut Studio: all in one solution for editing, color grading, sound editing and dvd creation on Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
bavarian woods
27/02/2011 23:54 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso160 - f/14 1/80 sec - Michael Grobe
Almost an aviation shot... but taken from a hill in the deeper bavarian woods in Ostallgäu.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM. The 70-200 is my most used lens delivering great results.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
land of the moonking
23/02/2011 19:01 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L - iso100 - f/4.5 1/800 sec - Michael Grobe
On June 13th 1886 Ludwig II King of Bavaria died mysteriously in Lake Starnberg, being declared crazy and seized just the days before. Up to date the theories around his death are cultivated and his fans still believe in a murder complot. I wanted to capture a view from his famous castle Neuschwanstein conveying the mystery of the whole story and came up with this look into the surrounding mountains in deepest Bavaria. The tilt feature of the TS-E 24mm again translated my vision into the image I had planned to shoot and the final color grading was done to the raw image file in Lightroom.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV: one of the best low light and sports cameras today. Canon's best image quality as of 2011 makes this camera also highly desired for nature and landscape photography.
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II: the image was shot with the discontinued version I predecessor, get the newer TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II to straighten perspective with shift and create that magical miniature look with it's tilt.
Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3x / 2.5x: the Zacuto viewfinder is invaluable to properly focus a TS lens using the tilt feature. Through the viewfinder of the camera it is very hard to get the exact rotation and location of the plane of focus right, but judging it through a Z-Finder Pro 3x / 2.5x in live view (going to 5x or 10x magnification for absolute accurate focusing) gets it done quickly and precisely.
Adobe Lightroom 3: the best tool for image management and manipulation on Windows and Macintosh.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
dog days II
01/02/2011 04:52 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 24-105mm 1:4L IS USM - iso3200
- f/4 - 1/40 sec - Michael Grobe
A stray dog in Mumbai, India. Quite a contrast to the image of the hairdresser's dog from the last post. Different world indeed. There are uncounted stray dogs in the big cities of India. During the day with it's high temperatures and the humidity they are usually quiet and lay down tired, while in the night they become active. You can hear barking and dog fights all nights long. These fights leave a lot of the dogs with wounds and scars. We had a few stray dogs coming to the facility being fed by employees and thererfore defending their territory against other dogs. I created the picture sitting in the back seat of a car, waiting for departure. The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM is a great walk-around lens for all the situations, where you want just one lens on a camera body covering most shooting opportunites that show up.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1DS Mark III: still Canon's professional fullframe flagship with 21 Megapixels, an upgrade is due at some point. I recommend the
Canon EOS-5D Mark II: also 21 Megapixels resolution, fullframe sensor in a smaller body with 1080p video, better display and lesser high ISO noise.
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM: great all-round zoom lens for all occasions, when one lens on one body is all you want to carry.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
dog days I
01/02/2011 00:28 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 16-35mm 1:2.8L USM - iso100
- f/2.8 - 1/50 sec - Michael Grobe
A hairdresser's dog in San Francisco. Since I had only a split second to shoot it (the dog was walking in) the camera was still set to the wide open aperture f/2.8 in AV mode and a low ISO setting resulting in a 1/50 sec. Ideal would have been ISO 800 f/5.6 and 1/100 sec to render deeper depth of field and a tad additional sharpness for the moving dog. But it is also a good example, that technical image quality is not the main importance in street photography, capturing the right moment is. The image was shot with the Canon EOS-1DS Mark III, that didn't have an auto-ISO setting. It is quite useful in these situations, as you can choose aperture and shutter speed in manual mode and let the metering system of the camera decide upon the correct ISO setting to expose the image. The newer Canon cameras have that feature, like the Canon EOS-5D Mark II, Canon EOS-1D Mark IV or the Canon EOS-7D and I use it regularly.
The gear used to create this image:
Canon EOS-1DS Mark III: still Canon's professional fullframe flagship with 21 Megapixels, an upgrade is due at some point. I recommend the
Canon EOS-5D Mark II: also 21 Megapixels resolution, fullframe sensor in a smaller body with 1080p video, better display and lesser high ISO noise.
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM: great ultra-wide angle zoom lens for street photography.
See my gear pages: recommended equipment.
gear pages online
24/01/2011 20:53 Filed in: gear
Visitors of this blog and clients often ask about the equipment that I use for my photography. So I decided to create gear pages with useful information about cameras, lenses, accessories and all the equipment used for my photography, visual effects photography, HDDSLR filming, time-lapse photography, HDR imagery and panorama photography.
So far pages about the cameras and lenses are online, I am going to add the rest of the gear continuosly and also plan to publish gear reviews in the future.
my home is my castle
19/12/2010 00:11 Filed in: photos
Canon EOS-5D Mark II - TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L - iso640 - f/5.6
- blending of 3 hdr exposures - Michael Grobe
Not exactly my home, but the castle "Schloss Schwarzenberg" overlooking my small home town. Grew up here, so lots of memories, experiences and adventures. A small wooden cabin on a hill near the castle was and is a place as close as any place could get to "Aventurien"...
snowed under
12/12/2010 03:46 Filed in: photos
