mulholland night

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso100 - f/2.8 - 1.6 sec
- Michael Grobe

Driving along Mulholland Drive at midnight. The million lights of L.A. shining through the bars of an electricity pylon. Btw... love David Lynch movies...
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blue dawn

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso100
- f/8 1.6 sec - Michael Grobe

Arrived in L.A. and headed out to the Beach early in the morning, jetlag woke me up at 4am.
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winter night sun

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso100 - f/3.2 - 30 sec
- Michael Grobe

What looks like a shot into the sun is really a 30 sec. night exposure, the “sun” light is sent from Munich´s olympic tower.
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daisy and the snow

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso3200 - f/2.8 - 1/100 sec
- Michael Grobe


Daisy, Europe´s current low-pressure system brought lots of snow all over Germany and really cold temperatures. All that snow makes a lovely backdrop for some night shots. And at 1am, there aren´t too many guys plowing through the white scenery, it is quiet and one can enjoy the freshly fallen white stuff. If those cameras were just built with bigger buttons, so that you can easily operate with gloves on, it´s quite difficult to do that properly with modern DSLRs.
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happy new year

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso3200 - f/8 - 0.8 sec
- Michael Grobe

I wish everyone a happy new year!
These shots have been taken on Munich´s Olympiaberg, the highest point of the city with views all around. A couple of thousand people gather there each year to celebrate and make the little mountain disappear peacefully in fire and smoke.

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM
- iso1600 - f/2.8 -1/5 sec - Michael Grobe

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the roofs of munich

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - 420mm (EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x) - iso800 - f/8 -
HDR exposure blending of 3 shots - Michael Grobe

A foggy winter night over Munich´s roof tops.
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distorted night

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso100 - f/5,6 -
HDR exposure blending of 3 shots - Michael Grobe

The Olympiapark is becoming a favorite shooting ground... but then again, there is so much detail to be explored, each time I take my camera there, I find new opportunities. Spotted this one walking by the Olympic Stadium and chatting to a friend. First hesitated as I had to shoot through a fence. But then positioning the lens inches away from the fence got rid of any obtrusive lines in the out-of-focus area. Shot as a bracketed exposures to blend dynamic range detail together, I guess it was worth the freezing hands...
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biomorph

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM - iso800 - f/7,1 6 sec - Michael Grobe

Biomorph: organic architecture. The famous roof tensile structures of Frei Otto.
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digging in mud

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - 420mm (EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM +1.4x)
- iso3200 - f/4.0 1/8 sec - Michael Grobe

And another night at the Oly-park in Munich again. The Olympia-lake has been drained partially, a great opportunity for some unusual low light mud photography.
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pangolin

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 300mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso100 - f/8 13 sec - Michael Grobe

Another night at the Olympiapark in Munich, photographing the timeless architecture.
Pangolin - das Schuppentier.

Incredible detail and sharpness rendered by the EF 300mm 1:2.8L IS USM in this 13 sec long exposure.

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Detailed crop of image above.
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the last adventure

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 16-35mm 1:2.8L II USM - iso400 - f/8 20 sec
- composite of 15 images - tree-lighting by Udo Smutny and Michael Grobe

Another night out in the woods to create some light paintings in darkness. The barbarians, knights and wizards where shot on a small wall lit by a campfire, the moon and a 580EX II flash a few days later during a medieval gathering of old friends. Even the photographer was wearing a chain mail that night, which added another 15 kg to the usual 20 kg of photographic equipment, that he is lugging around.
The guys gather once a year in battle gear, to celebrate the old times as fantasy-role-players. They started almost 25 years ago, spent uncounted nights in a small wooden hut guiding their characters through quests and fantastic adventures...
... and maybe, when they are all retired in years to come, they gather again, grab out those 50 year old documents and finally finish the last campaign fighting the return of Borbarad, the master of demons.

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 16-35mm 1:2.8L II USM - iso3200 - f/6.3 1/2 sec - Michael Grobe
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california moon

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Canon EOS-5D Mark II - EF 600mm f/4 L IS USM - iso100 - f/4 1/1000 sec - Michael Grobe

Dark of the Moon: Poems of Fantasy and the Macabre, Arkham House, 1947



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shift and tilt

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L - iso100 - f/4.5 - HDR exposure blending of 7 bracketed shots
- Michael Grobe

First shot with the recently acquired Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 shift and tilt lens. Tilted to the right, the focal plane rotates away from the image plane, the power pole in the middle is in focus, while the ones to the left and right are out of focus. That Scheimpflug Principle opens some fascinating possibilities.
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halloween in hollywood

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso1600 - f/4 -1/100 - Michael Grobe

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso1600 - f/4 -1/100 - Michael Grobe

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso1600 - f/4 -1/100 - Michael Grobe

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso1600 - f/4 -1/100 - Michael Grobe

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso1600 - f/4 -1/100 - Michael Grobe

Halloween Parade on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood/Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
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l.a. nights II

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso100 - f/5.6 -
HDR tonemapping of 3 shots - Michael Grobe

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100- iso100 - f/2.8 -
HDR exposure blending of 3 shots - Michael Grobe
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l.a. nights

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - EF 70-200mm 1:2.8L IS USM - iso50 - f/5.6 - 1/30 - Michael Grobe

Los Angeles at dusk shot from the Griffith Observatory.
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