Welcome to the blog section of my website!
The posts I’ll be sharing here aim to offer insights into my work in microscopy and macro photography. My primary specialization lies in focus stacking with microscope objectives, but I also experiment with macro lenses and optics adapted from high-resolution slide scanners—topics I’ll be exploring as well.
In most cases, I use automated focus stacking, either on a custom-built optical bench or with a conventional microscope. In a series of dedicated posts, I’ll introduce the equipment I work with and walk you through my typical workflow.
Today’s mirrorless system cameras also bring exciting capabilities to the table: many now support in-camera focus stacking, allowing for greater depth of field with a macro lens than a single exposure can provide. I’ll be covering this technique too—along with a closer look at my custom-built flash setup for macro work, which features a large, soft light diffuser for even illumination.
Who am I?
I was born in 1957 and live in the beautiful Odenwald region of Germany with my wonderful wife, Rosa, and our doggy Bailey. I’ve been working as a non-fiction and technical author for over 40 years. For nearly 25 of those, I also served as editor-in-chief of KORALLE magazine, published by Natur und Tier-Verlag. During that time, I also worked as an in-house editor, revising and refining book manuscripts by other authors. Since stepping back from publishing for age-related reasons, I’ve been able to devote more time to new creative pursuits.
My journey into photography began in the mid-1990s, when books increasingly featured photographs—and I wanted to illustrate my own publications. Over time, especially throughout the 2000s, I became more and more fascinated by close-up and macro photography of wildlife. When computers grew powerful enough—and some clever minds developed focus stacking—I dove headfirst into the new technique.
This blend of technology and nature can reveal details once reserved for electron microscopes, but in full natural color. These groundbreaking photographic possibilities form a bridge between traditional macro photography and the world of electron imaging. And once you begin exploring the miniature universe of nature this way, it’s easy to get addicted.
That said, this blog—and the whole website, really—is still relatively new ground for me as a longtime book author. I think of these posts as a kind of digital counterpart to a printed non-fiction book. But unlike traditional books, this one needs no paper, no printing press, and it doesn’t sit on a shelf growing outdated. It can be revised and expanded at any time to reflect new techniques and insights. I also plan to offer it in English, so readers around the world can follow along.
Even though printed books will always hold a special place in my heart, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also explore new and forward-looking paths.
To be honest, I didn’t expect to venture into something so completely new again. After publishing more than 30 books in several languages and overseeing more than 110 separate print runs, I thought I’d seen it all. But life’s too short not to follow where curiosity leads.
Enjoy the read!
