Portfolio

The Malaysia archives contain all of my images taken in this South-East Asian country.

Malaysia in one of the places that I explored more in detail during the time living in nearby Taiwan. Before that, I had been in Kuala Lumpur a few times for short business trips. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to really get to know that place. In 2013, we spent a two weeks vacation in this fascinating country.

The first stop was the vibrant capital of Kuala Lumpur. One of the highlights obviously were the iconic Petronas Twin Towers. But the city has a lot more to offer, ideally explored by walking. As a photographer, I particularly like this kind of urban exploration. Taking your time, one can discover a lot of interesting details that are not part of any tourist guide.

We used our stay to also visit the famous nearby Batu Caves in Gombak, Selangar with the amazing hindu shrines and temples located in the karst mountains. Unexpectedly, some monkeys posed like professional models, and became one of my favourite photo motifs.

After our city trip, we flew to Borneo, and stayed another week in the beautiful area of Kota Kinabalu. With the outlying islands plus the  mountains covered by rainforests, this was hardly enough time. My personal highlights were a hike in the Mt. Kinabalu park, and the visit to an orangutan sanctuary.

Please enjoy scrolling through my Malaysia archives.

The Croatia archives contain all of my images taken in this beautiful South-East European country.

Actually, my first visit there dates back to 1990. At that time, it was still part of former Yugoslavia, and I spend most of my holidays in Slovenia. However, we decided to add one single location in Croatia to the agenda: Plitvice Lakes!

In 2023, I finally went back for a family vacation. And this time we dedicated the full two weeks to Croatia, which by now has become a very popular tourist destination.

Our first stop was the coastal city of Zadar, with its interesting old town with narrow lanes and lots of restaurants and shops.

After two days, we continued our road trip to the famous town of Dubrovnik. A walk on the mighty city walls is a "Must Do". The rural surroundings both on the coast and mountains also have a lot to offer.

Our third stop was the city of Split. From there, we took a day tour to the outlying island. And on our way to the final destination, we visited the Cetina river spring, also known as "Eye of the Earth".

The last location, you may have guessed, was Plitvice. I kept this highlight for the end, and was not disappointed. The natural beauty is just breathtaking, and seemed unchanged. The only downside was that the number of tourists has increased dramatically. But if you arrive early, one can still enjoy the magic!

Please enjoy scrolling through my Croatia archives.

The England archives contain all images taken on my various trips to this part of Great Britain.

My first trips there were childhood vacation trips with my parents, mostly to the South coast (before I started to take photos myself).

In 1983, I spent a four weeks in Brighton to improve my English. This trip included my first day excursion to London.

Since then I have returned to England many times, both on leisure trips as well as for business reasons. Unfortunately, I did not always carry my camera, so that some visits remain without proper visual memories.

The first photos published in images4nature date back to September 1993, when I went back to London. This city has always fascinated me for being truly international. People from all around the world bringing their cultures and cuisine make it really cosmopolitan. And there is a lot to discover, not only the famous tourist attractions. I particularly like the huge green lungs of the city, its parks. Both locals and visitors can enjoy nature right in the middle of a multi-million city, and recharge their batteries.

Over time, I will upload quite a lot more images, not only from London, but also covering other parts of the country.

Please enjoy scrolling through my England archives.

The Switzerland archives contain all images that I have taken over time in this small yet amazing Central European country.

Actually, I can't really remember when I first crossed the border from Germany into Switzerland. I guess it must have been when I was still a child, and we used to visit our grandmother living in the Black Forest. From there, Switzerland it rather close, and I do recall to impressive river Rhine falls from that period.

Later, when I started travelling on my own, it was mainly the mountains that attracted me for skiing (winter) and hiking (summer). But also cities like Lucerne, Geneve and Bern are absolutely worth a visit, no matter at which time of the year.

Unfortunately, it has been quite some time since I really spent quality outdoor time in Switzerland. My last photo trip with proper equipment dates back more than 20 years ago.

At that time, we visited the Zermatt area with the iconic Matterhorn. After that, we moved on to Grindelwald, from where we explored the beautiful surrounding mountain area. And we went back to the still impressive river Rhine waterfall at Schaffhausen.

I think it's time to schedule another holiday trip to this fascinating Alpine country...

Please enjoy scrolling through my Switzerland archives.

The France archives contain most of  the images that I have taken in this country. For some French locations with quite a lot of photos, however, I have created a separate portfolio, e.g. for Brittany

France was amongst the first foreign countries for me to visit. The reason was simple. The small town where I grew up had a partnership with a city near Paris. So at the age of 14, I participated in an exchange visit. Excited about seeing all those famous landmarks, I borrowed the Agfa Isola camera from my parents, and captured my first travel impressions. And I decided to study French as one of the main subjects at high school.

For about 15 years then, France became one of my favorite holiday destinations. During multiple trips, I explored various regions of this diverse country. Apart from the rich cultural heritage, I also enjoyed the natural beauty including mountains and coastal areas.

Unfortunately, after the third incident with my car being stolen or broken in, I got fed up and decided to skip this destination for a while.

It's only recently that I have started travelling to France again, since there are still a lot of places to discover. And there are highlights from previous trips that I would like to revisit. So please stay tuned, there will be a lot more photos from France coming up on this website.

Please enjoy scrolling through my France archives.

The Taiwan archives contain all of my images taken on this amazing island, that the Portuguese in earlier times rightfully called "Ilha Formosa" (beautiful island).

Until 2005, I had no idea about Taiwan apart from being known as a major exporter of cheap products. Then, I started to travel to Taipei for professional reasons, and got a first glimpse about the city and its people. However, as usual, short business trips do not provide any in-depth insights into a foreign place.

Therefore, I really didn't know what to expect when I got an offer in 2012 to relocate to Taiwan. The first weeks upon arrival early in 2013 obviously were quite busy to settle in and to get up to speed with my new job.

On weekends however, my family and started to explore the Greater Taipei area, and later also other parts of the island. And the more we travelled, the more we were impressed by the breathtaking natural beauty.

Mountains with some peaks reaching up to 4.000m above sea level offer wonderful hiking opportunities. With the subtropical climate, beaches equally attract a lot of visitors. Vibrant cities and picturesque villages with rich cultural heritage complete the list of popular destinations.

But it was not only these obvious attractions that made our time in Taiwan so memorable. Above all, the extremely friendly, helpful and respectful people made a huge difference. Unfortunately, communication was always a challenge due to language barriers, but never a problem.

Please enjoy scrolling through my Taiwan archives.

The South Africa archives contain all of my images from the diverse and fascinating rainbow nation.

Whilst I was always tempted to visit this country, this didn't happen before 2006. And the reason for going there was not a vacation trip. I relocated together with the entire family to take over a new role in a multinational company.

Thankfully, apart from working we had lots of opportunites to explore most South African provinces. Instead of flying home for three weeks like many expats do, we spent most of our holidays on the Southern tip of Africa.

Being based in Pretoria, Gauteng province was our home for more than 6 years. Day-trips and weekend excursions from there included Johannesburg, Soweto, Magaliesberg, Sun City and Hartbeesport.

On longer trips, we visited Durban area, the Wild Coast, Garden Route, Cape Town and the Winelands, Augrabies National Park and of course Krugerpark etc.  I will continue to upload more images of these memorable safaris  here over time.

For someone who loves nature and wildlife, and is passionate about photography, South Africa is probably one of the best places to go! And - despite of all the negative news related to poverty and crime - we met incredibly friendly and professional people of all kinds of different backgrounds.

Since all good things come to an end, December 2012 marked the end of our time in this amazing country. From there, we moved on to Taiwan (also here on this webpage). I have returned a few times to South Africa since then, both on business and leisure trips. And looking at my photo collection, I believe I need to go back soon...

Please enjoy scrolling through my South Africa archives.

The Namibia archives contain all my images from this sparsely populatd country with unbelievable landscapes.

Namibia had been on my wishlist for quite a while before I finally made it there. Actually, it was only after my work-related relocation to neighboring South Africa that I first touched ground in Windhoek.

After an initial business trip, I decided to come back on holidays together with my family. Despite of a relatively young age of our children, we decided to travel on our own instead of joining an organized tour.

So we fly into Windhoek again, and after two days in the capital rented a 4x4 vehicle and drove on endless gravel roads to Swakopmund. We made this our base for a few days, and explored the desert and coastal surroundings.

After that, we moved on into the famous Sossusvlei with the breathtakingly beautiful red sand dunes. Even though we didn't like getting up long before sunrise, doing so was absolutely worth the effort. On one hand, we got to the touristic hotspot before it got too crowded. As an additional benefit, the temperatures were much more pleasant than later in the day. Staff at our lodge and the guides were extremely friendly, and made our stay a perfect one.

Since this initial trip, I have returned only once for a longer stay. In 2011, we re-launched the right-hand-drive G-Class with a big media- and customer event. Images from this incredible off-road experience will be published here at a later stage.

Please enjoy scrolling through my Namibia archives.

The Sicily archives contain the images that I took during a short one week vacation trip to this beautiful island in early December 2022. Obviously, I could have published them as part of an "Italy" portfolio. However, given the large number of photos taken with landscape and urban motives, I think Sicily deserves a place category on its own.

It was a rather spontaneous decision to fly to Catania at that time of the year. The 14-day weather forecast looked excellent, and a lot more appealing than early winter here in Germany. Lots of sunshine, pleasant day temperatures of up to 25 degrees, and even the water was still warm enough for a short swim.

Initially, we thought about going around the island and book various accomodations to do so. At a second thought, we decided to rather explore one place properly than rushing around like crazy.

So we just booked one apartment in Taormina, and did a number of day trips from there. This saved us a lot of time in the car, which we used for hiking and kayaking instead. And obviously for taking lots of photos.

Mount Etna became our top destination. We went three times, and as such had the opportunity to explore the North, East and South sides. Interestingly enough, the scenery and vegetation changes a lot from one place to another.

Towards the end, we opted for a day trip to the Aeolian Islands. After about an hours drive, we took a ferry to Volcano Island. Being off-season, almost everything was closed. But the main reason for us, the impressive steep crater, rewarded us with breathtaking views after a strenuous hike.

Please enjoy scrolling through my Sicily archives.

The Mexico archives contain all my images of this fascinating country, taken over a period of 30+ years. Since my first visit, I have frequently returned, and each trip has been a memorable one.

Despite of just being a university student, I got the opportunity to travel to Mexico in 1989 for four weeks to perform some market research. Whilst nowadays such international assignments might be quite common, back then this was really special. I am still extremely grateful to the person who made this possible.

The impressions of this initial contact were so overwhelming that I decided to come back before starting my first full-time job. I blocked another four weeks right upon completion of my bachelor degree. This journey was a true explorer trip, moving around Mexico in buses, trains, planes etc.

Apart from the well-known beautiful beaches, I love to explore other natural wonders such as the desert and mountain areas. The colorful towns with the historic city centers are a true paradise for urban exploration photography.

And Mexico is a very lively country, with friendly people, delicious spicy food, and a diverse cultural heritage.

One of my personal favourites in Mexico is the Yucatan Peninsula, with the Mayan archeological sites and the unique cenotes. Other highlights include Baja California with the outlying islands, the vibrant capitol Mexico City, and the Chiapas highlands.

The first images from a 2002 vacation trip are already live on this webpage, more photos will be uploaded soon.

Please enjoy scrolling through my Mexico archives.