Photos with Knef

Jun 25, 2008 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: Photography

Knef aka MasterKnef is really an interesting guy.  I’ve known Knef for about 6-7 months now through Ludwig.  While I’ve drank many beers with Knef, DJed his 30th birthday party, and had some good conversations with him, I still feel as though there is much more about Knef to be learned.  He’s still a bit of an enigma to me.

I know for example that he has (had?) a band.  Apparently the band was pretty darn good, as he vividly described a festival that the band played at in Slovenia (i think?) a few years ago.  From the sound and imagagry of his description, it didn’t sound like some 10 person festival in a field somewhere, but rather, a 10-15k person festival organized in a field just outside Ljubljana or Maribor.  I also know that Knef is the kind of guy that will (and is planning on) starting out in Upper Austria, and walking/hiking cross country and arriving somewhere in Salzburg.  All the while, never desending below 1000 meters.  In other words, 2 weeks alone up in the mountains, never coming down into the valley.  Likewise, I know that Knef is an avid mountain and rock climber.

I’m not exactly certain what Knef does to pay the bills.  I know he’s a radio DJ, but I’m not certain if that’s an everyday gig, weekends only, or what?  Somewhere in a former lifetime, I’ve heard stories that he was also a cameraman for ORF, the major television network in Austria. And so…it didn’t surprise me when he sent an email my way the other day and asked for my help both as a friend and as a photographer.

It appears that RedBull is now starting up an ‘arte’ format television program.  Knef is applying to be one of the hosts of this network.  These photos should serve as his ‘headshots’ and overall appearance.  Of course I wanted to make him look his very best, but I also wanted to try to get a bit of that enigma that I see in him in these photos as well.  I think I did a pretty ok job….what do you think?  Leave me some comment love below.

To view the entire series, visit the Photo page.

Oh, and if some super stunning pictures weren’t enough for you, Knef’s music video:

I shot Rudolf’s Home!

May 9, 2008 by Dan Taylor    2 Comments    Posted under: Photography

The Wacom Tablet has really got me enjoying photoshop a LOT more these days. I went for an hour long walk through my neighborhood yesterday, camera in hand, and shot a few images. And while it’s yet another sunny day here in Vienna, I’m off to the farm this weekend, so I ix nay’d the walk down to Schönbrunn this morning to grab some images of the Royal Castle.

I live in the 15th district of Vienna, otherwise known as Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus. It’s really a combination of two small districts, and while I’ve never found the official border between the two, something tells me it’s the train tracks the head west from the Westbahnhof. It’s literally the case of depending on which side of the tracks you live on, you either live in Rudolfsheim or Funfhouse.

All of these images were taken in Rudolfsheim, as I didn’t have the time to cross the bridge and get some shots from Fünfhaus. I’ve had the idea of magazine layouts in my head for the past few days, and as you look at these images, try to imagine text filling in the blank blue areas.

Favorite image from the shoot:

with a close second:

Schloss Belvedere

May 7, 2008 by Dan Taylor    4 Comments    Posted under: Photography

I woke up this morning a bit usual than normal (and after a few Jack and Cokes last night, that in itself should have been and accomplishment) and couldn’t help but notice the crystal blue sky. Not a cloud in sight. For our readers from California, this might not seem like such a bit deal, but living in Vienna, a cloudless morning is something to celebrate. My mind immediately thought of my camera, and so it was…today I was going to shoot…shoot something…anything.

I’d been meaning to go back to the Schloss Belvedere for quite a while now, and today seemed as good a day as any. Loaded up with my trusty Nikon D100, 17-55mm and 70-200mm, I subway’d/streetcar’d/hoof’d my way up to one of Vienna’s outstanding examples of Baroque architecture.

Getting there early was the key to most of these shots having relatively few people in them. I spent approximately an hour up at the castle taking about 65 shots.

This was also my first photo project done on my beloved mac. When I ordered a bunch of software from the states for the mac, I also came across the Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet. I’d worked with a designer in the past who absolutely swore by his tablet, and I figured, hey, for the price, why the heck not?

After using the tablet for only a few minutes, I quickly became accustomed to the features and even started using a few of the buttons at the top (a nifty circular scroll wheel zooms in and out for example). All I can say is…why have I been using photoshop for so long with a mouse? Let me put it this way…compared to the Wacom Bamboo Fun, using a mouse for graphics is like drawing with a rock.

All in all, I think there are a few good shots in there, and I even got a ‘dude…these are good’ from Brent over at abouttheimage.com. Although, he’s also got an eagle eye, and suggested that I needed a faster shutter speed on some of the fountain images. Jerk.  But if there’s a guy who knows his f-stops, and who’s opinion I vaue greaty when it comes to imagery, it’s Brent. You can find more of the photos over in the Photo section of TurntheScrew, or visit my flickr page for some larger resolutions.

My favorite photo of the day: