Photostream of M. Kniebes.

It is actually the same duck as this photograph just from a sightly different perspective. You can see the difference it makes to lower the camera more to the ground to get on eye-level with your subject. Back than I was very unsure about which one to upload. The other one has a much more intriguing perspective but show shows a more unique moment.

On the lawn right beside my front door.

Two ducks are swimming in a sea of duckweed and feeding. They’re sitting side by side, slightly offset from one another. I’d been hoping a third one would join them to make the composition perfect. But no, I’ll just have to make do with the pair. I took the photo the other day at the upper Lottental Pond.

A young fallow deer rests on the autumnal forest floor among beech leaves and moss-covered wood.

A black-and-white photograph of the observatory’s dome, with its standing seam lines, set against a thick blanket of clouds. Minimalist architectural photography in subtle shades of grey.

A young moorhen balances on a branch over a stretch of water densely covered with duckweed in the floodplain forest, searching for food.

An autumn anemone in black and white, photographed from above. The ring of stamens around the round ovary is in sharp focus, whilst the petals fade gently into the background.

A white hibiscus flower in black and white against a dark background. A macro shot showing the delicate veining in the petals.

Mallard swimming on a quiet pond at dusk, ringed by concentric ripples in water that reflects green foliage and warm golden light.

Common moorhen with red frontal shield and yellow-tipped bill walking across a meadow of autumn leaves, a blade of grass on its bill.

Head-on close-up of a common moorhen, its dark plumage dissolving into shadow while the red bill stays sharp.

One of my first shots with the Voigtländer 40mm/1:1,2 Nokton asphärisch I bought a few days ago. Actually, I opted for delivery. But on Saturday I was in city centre, and I was lucky the lens was not already shipped, so I could pick it up at the store and have some fun with it on Saturday afternoon. Of course, one of my first photographs was a flower. I like the creaminess of the bokeh when shooting with wide open aperture. The minimum focus distance is about 30 cm so you can get pretty close…

Sunday was another unseasonably warm day. I set off just before seven this morning to see who was pottering about by the pond. A grey heron offered itself as a patient model, and that’s how this little series came about. When I opened both bedroom windows after waking up, I was met by the pleasant morning freshness and just wanted to get out the door. The sun isn’t high in the sky this early yet and is reflected in a golden glow on the water’s surface.

A Grey Heron hiding under a willow tree.

Macro shot of a golden yellow daylily (Hemerocallis) with ruffled petals in warm sunlight. By now, these photos of flowers against a dark background almost add up to a little series. Though that has less to do with intent than with the sunny weather. There isn't much to do in post: I just adjust the tone curve so that its right edge meets the first rise on the right without blowing out any colours. Then maybe a bit of vignetting and contrast, and that's about it.

Macro shot of a red yellow daylily (Hemerocallis) with ruffled petals in warm sunlight. By now, these photos of flowers against a dark background almost add up to a little series. Though that has less to do with intent than with the sunny weather. There isn't much to do in post: I just adjust the tone curve so that its right edge meets the first rise on the right without blowing out any colours. Then maybe a bit of vignetting and contrast, and that's about it.

Echinacea in close-up: soft cream petals curving downward around a bright golden cone, isolated against dark green shade.

A close-up photograph of a bee foraging on an ornamental chive flower. Pink individual flowers and buds set against a soft, blurred green background.

Close-up of a white coneflower (Echinacea) with soft, drooping white petals and a vibrant orange-yellow spiky central cone, photographed against a pure black background.

View through an arcade arch across the Erbaria onto the Grand Canal. Behind the passage there are empty café chairs and tables on the left, while several guests sit in the sun on the right.

Black and white closeup of a coneflower bloom against a dark background. The narrow ray florets radiate outward from the heavily textured central cone.

The lighthouse at the Darsena of San Giorgio Maggiore, set against the silhouette of the Campanile and the Doge’s Palace, at the blue hour on San Giorgio.

And here's another one, a cream-white water lily. But that's the last one for a while. This shot was also taken in bright sunlight, so most of the background turned out nicely dark.

Two female mallards are swimming close behind one another on a pond completely covered with duckweed.

The lotus was the exception. From now on, it’s water lilies again. A close-up of a pale yellow water lily with a bright yellow centre and delicate water droplets. I photographed the lily in bright sunlight. You can see the harsh shadows on the leaves. The background and the water automatically become dark when the lily is not exposed to the right, but is kept on the right-hand edge in the middle third of the histogram.

And today, something completely different. A lotus instead of a water lily.

A pink water lily is blooming in the sunlight. The orange-red stamens glow in the centre of the flower, whilst the background remains almost black.

The exact variety is written on the little sign that was sticking out of the water just a hand's breadth from the rose. Which, once again, I failed to photograph. Next to the greenhouses at the Botanical Gardens is a small pond with the most beautiful water lilies and lotus flowers. That alone makes a trip to the gardens worthwhile. If you go there regularly, you keep running into the same photographers and strike up conversations. It almost feels like a small, informal club with no rules. You…

A silver-washed fritillary is perched on a purple sun-hat with its wings folded. The silvery sheen of the underside of its wings stands out against the dark background. The contrast between the upper and lower surfaces of the wings is quite distinct. The upper surface is a vivid orange with black spots and stripes – the classic fritillary pattern. The underside of the hindwings, by contrast, is greenish with those silvery, washed-out bands to which the species owes its English name: the…

After a short while, I found myself back at the Lottentaler ponds. Young mandarin ducks are swimming through a pond completely covered in duckweed. The green surface looks almost like a lawn, through which the ducklings are making their way. Typical features of mandarin ducks are the light-coloured eye ring with a line extending backwards, and the reddish beak.