My Five Miles

It has been a long time since I updated this site. Even the little series of photographs “My Five Miles”, which I created when we had to stay within 5 miles from home, got stuck in the drafts folder.

The pandemic is still in full swing and the next few months are very uncertain in many ways. Nevertheless, I feel it is time for sharing some photographs again here from the coast and around.

Two major photographic events are on the horizon for me: first, the 2021 Calendar is almost ready and I will post the images soon. And second, I am going to showcase some of my work at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay for three months starting Dec 22, 2020.

Recently I started to experiment more with black&white photography and the series above is my initial attempt. Meanwhile, I learned more about B&W techniques from people like Mike Johnston (theonlinephotographer.com), Ming Thein (blog.mingthein.com), and Julia Anna Gospodarou (blog.juliaannagospodarou.com). The resources they provide online are very inspirational and incredibly helpful!

While most of the images above don’t hold up to my “new standards”, I did not re-process any of them since to a certain extent they reflect my mood during the lock-down and it might be interesting to compare them with images, I hopefully will put up a year from now.

Greetings from the Coast-side,
Ingo

2020 Wall Photo Calendar

The 2020 Wall Photo Calendar “Along the California Coast” is available now for $28.00 (+tax and shipment). The calendar is printed on high quality photo paper with a high gamut color pigment printing technology usually used only for framed photographs. This is a very limited edition and sold on a first come first serve basis. A very unique present for the Holidays! Please send me a message if you are interested.

Greetings from the Coast-side,
Ingo

From the series "Baltrum 2019"

Baltrum is one of the smallest islands along the northern coast of the Netherlands and Germany. It is somewhat unique in the sense that there are no motor vehicles on the island, except for an ambulance and a fire engine. Here, life is moving at a slower pace!

During the summer of 2019, I was lucky to spend two weeks on Baltrum, enjoying the calm atmosphere of the island, which I tried to capture in a series of long exposure photographs along the coast.

Almost 3 miles of Baltrum's west end eroded within the 270 years prior to 1926. Nowadays massive constructions protect the island's most vulnerable west end. Part of this construction are so called "Buhnen", piers, built into the water to break waves and slow down the currents eroding the shoreline.

One of the most fascinating scenes is when fishermen stand far from the shoreline on those piers. From a certain angle, it looks like they can walk on water. But since they can't, they must be extremely brave and hopefully be very good swimmers - just in case.

Image selected for CPA online gallery

Last Saturday, the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA opened its 2019 Members’ Juried Exhibition. There are amazing pictures on display and you can get an impression by following the link above if you do not have a chance to visit Carmel in person.

I was lucky to have one of my images selected for their online gallery. A direct link to the online gallery is here, or you can find the image titled Silver Plated on this web site here.

Four Art - a quartet of views

Coastal Arts League, Half Moon Bay, CA
February 21 through March 17
Reception on February 23, 2 - 5 pm

Four perspectives on the world will be on view at the Coastal Arts League in February. The work of pen-and-ink artist Gary Frink, mixed-media artist Chris Manchester, and photographers Ingo Bork and Steve Renwick. The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, February 23 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM in the gallery located at 300 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA. The gallery exhibit will continue through March 17.

The four artists present views of the world particular to each of them, but with a unifying theme.  Their backgrounds are as varied as their work, but each one uses his art to provide a balance to modern life.   

Chris Manchester is co-owner of Half Moon Bay Kayak Co. and a member of the Coastside surfing community.  He migrated to San Francisco to attend the Academy of Art University for Graphic Arts. His design work has been displayed locally and in window displays in San Francisco. His fine art is shown in galleries and coffee shops throughout the Bay Area.  Chris' inspiration comes from the people, colors and events of his life, his work evolving with new mediums, materials and textures.    

A self-taught artist, Gary Frink's career in the military and aviation industry led to cartooning what he knew best – airplanes and sports.  Later, Gary directed his creative nature to the more disciplined technique of pen and ink drawing, influenced by his love of the outdoors.  

Photographers, Ingo Bork and Steve Renwick both work in the semiconductor industry, on the bay side of the Peninsula, but they enjoy the slower pace of life on the coastside.  Ingo uses his world travels as an opportunity to find quiet and beauty amid the bustle of commerce. Ingo says, "Practicing  ‘Zen’ in photography is my goal, and I hope some of my pictures convey this atmosphere to the viewer."

Steve Renwick's work has been shown at eateries and pubs, both on the Coastside and the bay side of the Peninsula. His photos study architecture, as well as the objects of everyday life, using classic black-and-white film and darkroom techniques. Steve says, “Images are ephemeral, but the light, and the world that inspired artists before us, is still there.”

The public is invited to meet these artists at an opening reception on Saturday, February 23 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the CAL gallery located at 300 Main Street, Suite 6, Half Moon Bay, CA. The gallery exhibit will continue through March 11.

Please join us on February 23 or stop by during regular opening hours. The gallery is open between 12:00 noon and 5 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. For information about the gallery, visit the website: www.coastalartsleague.com

Singapore Thunder

After a long period of silence, I don’t let this year pass, without sharing one of my photographic highlights of the year. One of my trips brought me to Singapore and I had the opportunity of experiencing a thunderstorm during sunset from the roof top of a hotel. The warm light of the sunset, a patch of blue sky, dark clouds and the almost violet lightning, added up to an exceptionally wide and complex color range of the sky. A nice symbol for how I experienced the past year.

I wish everybody who passes by this page a Good Year 2019!

Golden Tree

During a business trip to Japan in spring last year, I had the opportunity to spend a full day in Kyoto. It was peak cherry blossom season in this region but instead of following the crowd, I spent almost the entire day in two Zen gardens. For me, Landscape Photography is like Zen meditation and this picture is probably the “slowest” picture I ever took, taking almost one hour for taking the picture/looking at the tree and about two weeks for post-processing, until I liked the result. I might call this “Zen and the Art of Landscape Photography.”

Art Show “Light, Form, and Color”

Coastal Arts League, Half Moon Bay, CA
February 15 through March 11
Reception on February 17, 5 - 7 pm

Six different perspectives on the world will be on view at the Coastal Arts League gallery. The show will showcase varied work of painters Greta Waterman and Eric Greenhut, pen-and-ink artist Gary Frink, mixed-media artist Chris Manchester, and photographers Ingo Bork and Steve Renwick.  The six artists, each with a different viewpoint and art form, are collaborating to present their work under the name “Light, Form, and Color.” The public is invited to meet these artists at an opening reception on Saturday, February 17 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the CAL gallery located at 300 Main Street, Suite 6, Half Moon Bay, CA. The gallery exhibit will continue through March 11.

Please join us on February 17 or stop by during regular opening hours. The gallery is open between 12:00 noon and 5 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. For information about the gallery, visit the website: www.coastalartsleague.com

I'll be showing the following pictures: color, black&white

Capsized

Winter at the California coast - never really cold but can be quite windy and not everything withstands the force behind those gusts. Luckily rare events so far in this part of the world. It's on us, to make it stay that way.

Once in a while, I will upload photos and comments here and invite you to respond with suggestions, questions and comments.

- Ingo