For some years now my drone has come along, and it has changed the way I see. From above, a glacier in Iceland becomes a web of blue veins, a rice field on Bali a line, a salt pan a painting and a mountain road on Corsica an endless loop. Here you’ll find my aerial photos from around the world, from Lake Constance to Mexico – landscapes you would never see like this from the ground.
September 2026, Provence. From the ground, salt flats are shallow basins full of water, nothing more. From above they turn into a paintbox: deep blue next to pink, ochre next to white, and between them embankments so straight that someone…
September 2026. The cable car hauls you up out of Chamonix – first over forest, then over rock, then over nothing at all. 25 degrees below, zero at the top. 3,842 metres. The Aiguille du Midi is a granite needle…
Same game as last year, different season. Whitsun 2026, and Corsica has slipped into a colourful spring dress. The bends? They have stayed loyal and countless. From Livorno by bus to Bastia, a short night, then straight on to the…
August 2025. Four wheels, a VW bus and us – my little family – on our way to Corsica. The ferry from Genoa spits us out in Bastia, and it starts right away: the curve after the curve. Our bus,…
In summer 2024 I travelled the rugged coast of northern Galicia with the drone. Between Foz and Muxía the Atlantic reshapes the land with every wave, and from above the rock formations reveal patterns you can't see from the ground.…
The salt flats of Aveiro lured me to the Portuguese coast. Laid out by human hand for centuries, from a bird's-eye view these wide expanses open like a window onto another world, untamed and yet orderly. Part of the salt…
Antigua lies in the highlands of Guatemala, and from above its colonial buildings and cobbled streets trace an orderly grid. Colourful houses, old churches and lively squares lie beneath you. What immediately catches the eye are the volcanoes around Antigua,…
A few days of beach holiday in Yucatán were a must, and El Cuyo had won me over: a small fishing village on the north coast with long, lonely beaches and turquoise Caribbean water. From above you see how the…
Izamal, the small town with its bright yellow façades, was my first stop on Yucatán. From above you see how consistent it is: every house, every corner wears the same warm yellow. In the middle of town stands the convent…
A trip to the Pirates' Bay of Bacalar took me to the Mexican Caribbean, to a lagoon with crystal-clear water and shores whose shapes you only truly see from above. From a bird's-eye view a whole world of its own…
At the end of July 2023 our summer holiday took us by motorhome from Paris to Normandy. After a short stop we went on to the Alabaster Coast near Étretat, where we hiked on stormy days and I sent the…
In summer 2023 we made a family trip to Mont Blanc, and at sunrise I was able to photograph the glacier from a bird's-eye view. Our trip began with the tent at the foot of Mont Blanc. On the first…
The water structures in Konstanz between the harbour and the Rhine bridge had tempted me for a long time. Especially in winter, when the water level is lower, they become clearly visible from above. When Konstanz's NUN magazine asked for…
We spent the last days of our Mexico holiday four hours north of Mexico City in San Miguel de Allende, a colourful town that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for years. We had been here several times before,…
Over New Year we went to Luisa's family in Mexico again, away from cold, wet Germany, with Christmas and Luca's birthday. We stayed in Airbnbs in Condesa, Roma Norte, Polanco and Colonia San Rafael, and this time I had the…
Our summer holiday in 2022 took us through southern France and Catalonia, and near Marseille and Montpellier the salt flats drew me like a magnet. The drone was in my luggage, and from a bird's-eye view a play of colours…
Over the long Corpus Christi weekend I was finally drawn back to the Swiss Alps, to glaciers and their textures, which only show their full face from a bird's-eye view. The drone came along, of course. Our first stop was…
After a year and a half, the pictures of our road trip through Norway in summer 2020 are finally seeing the light of day: two months of parental leave, a van and a dream that reached as far as the…
In summer we spent a week in the Soča valley, close to the border with Italy and not far from Austria. Here the turquoise-blue Soča flows with its ice-cold water, and beautiful hiking trails lead along the river. Our campsite…
In August we spent ten glorious days on the small, beautiful island of Cres in western Croatia. We'll be back, that much is certain – if only for the people and the food. With our camper we found a pitch…
Our summer holiday in Croatia is a few weeks behind us, and now, with winter at the door, you long for warmth and the sound of the waves. Near Zadar on the coast I had discovered a salt field, and…
Last summer our big two-month trip towards northern Europe began. The borders to Denmark opened after Corona just in time, and so we went to the west coast for the first time. Two weeks of great landscapes, good food and…
After a long time, finally another post: yesterday I was drawn to the Gehrenberg, where the autumn colours were glowing. Up went the drone, and a low fog made the mood perfect. The fog crept halfway up the Gehrenberg and…
Our trip to Guatemala was almost a year ago. We celebrated the wedding of good friends in the beautiful colonial city of Antigua, spent five days there, strolled through colourful streets and enjoyed the time. Before breakfast I sent the…
Yesterday low clouds hung over the Swiss side, and with temperatures around freezing I was hoping for frozen trees and drifting veils of fog – perfect weather for the drone. Without a fixed plan I drove towards Switzerland and ended…
At the end of our honeymoon in Tuscany we made a short detour from the Gotthard Pass to the Furka Pass, and it was worth it. On the way there the pass was still closed because of snowfall; on the…
After our tour of Tuscany between Chianti and Montepulciano, with temperatures still a warm 27 degrees, we went to the sea at Monte Argentario for two nights. We had actually wanted to take the ferry to Elba, but the weather…
For almost two weeks we travelled through Tuscany in our van, marvelled at the towns and overate every single day. Our first longer stop was Greve in Chianti, a good base for day trips in every direction. Around Greve the…
Shortly before our holiday in Italy, a friend told me about a huge marble quarry near Carrara, just a few kilometres off the motorway in the mountains, on our way to Tuscany. Photos on the internet had made me curious,…
The Tremola, the legendary cobbled road over the Gotthard Pass, had been on my list for a long time and was the perfect stopover on our way to Italy, even if it was only three to five degrees in the…
At the end of August 2019, we met friends for a hiking adventure in Gruyère National Park—wild and inviting. On the way, we stopped in Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen, took the cogwheel train up towards Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, a dance between height…
Things are slowly calming down, and the last few weeks are sinking in: at the beginning of October we got married in a small circle of family and friends. It was emotional and beautiful, hard to put into words. We…
On 1 August Switzerland celebrates its National Day, and here on Lake Constance we usually enjoy it on the shore, watching the fireworks. For some years now, climbers have hung a giant Swiss flag, considered the largest in the world,…
Rain had actually been forecast for today, but the sky held back, and I grabbed the drone. My goal was the car park at the University of Konstanz. On Google Maps the lines and direction signs already looked promising, and…
When we were planning our trip to Borneo and Bali, I had an idea in my head: a series made only of aerial shots of rice terraces, “Portraits of Rice”. I have since taken my portrait site the-portraits.com offline for…
After Borneo we went to Bali for a week: relaxing, enjoying the landscape and the good food, yoga for Luisa and a reunion with Nina and Antonio. For Luisa it was the first time; I had been here several times…
After two weeks in the Borneo rainforest we were drawn to the east coast and the island of Derawan for three days of chilling out. The island isn't overrun yet, and its underwater world is intact and diverse. We hope…
First of all: this post is a bit longer and has lots of photos. Our wish was to spend days in the Borneo rainforest, far from the tourist trails. There were moments when we thought: “Fuck, what have we got…
Almost a year ago we woke up one morning in the middle of the Borneo jungle. Behind us lay a complicated journey with three stopovers, one overnight stay and little sleep. Now we were chugging through the rainforest for three…
Over the long Ascension weekend we drove to the Bernese Oberland for the first time, towards Kandersteg and Adelboden, to hike at the Oeschinensee. Shortly before we arrived, the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau to the left of the motorway caught…
Last weekend we set off on a short road trip from Lake Constance to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Of course the drone came along. After a night in the Bregenz Forest we drove over the Flexen Pass on the Arlberg, past the Hahntennjoch,…
At the end of April a long-cherished dream came true: my first flight in the big drone made in Friedrichshafen, the Zeppelin, over Lake Constance towards St. Gallen and the Säntis. Of course I was nervous. Two days before, the…
In three days each of our drones flew around 120 kilometres, and a correspondingly large number of aerial shots of the salt flats came together. I don't even want to talk about the sorting. We had hoped the fields would…
The places in this post felt unreal, and the colours of the lakes didn't necessarily look healthy. The first was an old mining site on the Spanish side, where red water among old car tyres would hardly earn the title…
At the beginning of January Marcel and I went to the Algarve and over to Huelva to photograph the salt flats from above with the drone. We spent three full days in the region, scouted lots of places, and the…
When we drove home at Christmas, we passed through a beautiful landscape full of frozen forests. Unfortunately I didn't have the drone with me then, so yesterday I set off once more. Just before Stein am Rhein I spotted frozen…
Last night it finally snowed a few centimetres in Konstanz. After a long time I dusted off the drone, drove into the hinterland and let it rise above the beautiful winter landscape. From above the snow glittered, with the dark…
Over the long Corpus Christi weekend I went hiking with my parents in the quiet Villnöss valley beneath the Geislerspitzen, a corner of the Dolomites that is less crowded than others I know. We used the three full days to…
After my sailing trip through East Greenland I met Luisa in Iceland, and with friends we travelled through the south and up into the highlands. September was the perfect season: long days for exploring and dark nights for northern lights…
Last Sunday we made use of the lovely weather and drove from Konstanz to hike at the Seealpsee in Appenzell. The temperature was perfect, and there was still snow up on the mountains. Of course the drone came along and…
After our trip through Asturias and the Basque Country, we steered the car over the Pyrenees to Barcelona – an adventure, wild and promising. We spent two nights in the impressive area near Torla, but the days before brought so…
Just before Easter, we flew to northern Spain to tour by car from Oviedo over the Pyrenees to Barcelona – an adventure, wild and enticing. At the airport in Madrid, we picked up Luisa’s dad and drove to the homeland…
On our last full day in San Pedro we drove through the Atacama Desert towards the highlands and into the border area with Bolivia. Everywhere along the way there were llamas, which put a big smile on Luisa's face every…
The next day we drove from San Pedro de Atacama in our little Polo through a great mountain landscape to the Valle Arcoiris, the Rainbow Valley. There was nothing about it in our guidebooks; only a few reports and photos…
After our tour through the Bolivian highlands we returned to Chile early in the morning, where we settled into our base in San Pedro de Atacama for the next few days. We arrived at the hotel at midday and in…
The real goal of our tour through the Bolivian highlands was the Salar de Uyuni: an endless white salt flat wherever you look. We were up before sunrise so we could be alone somewhere out on the flat when the…
The first night in the highlands wasn't particularly pleasant because of the thin air and the cold. But when we stood at Laguna Colorada after breakfast, all that was forgotten. The red lake was very impressive, from above too, of…
With jet lag it was a bit stressful to drive on across the Bolivian border into the highlands on the very first morning after arriving in the Atacama Desert. We were soon above 5,000 metres, and luckily our circulation coped…
After a few stressful weeks with the move from Friedrichshafen to Konstanz, everyday life is slowly returning. Last Sunday we made use of the lovely weather for two short hikes on the Walensee in Switzerland. The lake, around 15 kilometres…
The vineyards around Hagnau seem to be among the largest in this corner of Lake Constance. For a while I had wanted to go up there with the drone to see how all the lines look from above. Hagnau lies…
Last week I was out on the Gehrenberg with the drone again to take a few aerial shots of the forest and its lovely autumn colours. This small series is the result. I hope the weather will be good enough…
Yesterday evening Sat.1 broadcast a very interesting report on social justice in Germany with a focus on the school system. It also featured the Schloss Salem boarding school, and I was allowed to take the aerial shots for it a…
I had long had the idea of driving the whole Silvretta High Alpine Road once after the winter closure. I had been here once before two years ago, but back then the pass was still closed and I only walked…
Yesterday morning I set off a little earlier before work to take a few aerial shots of Lake Constance and the bank of the Rhine in Konstanz with the drone. It looked great from above, especially the Rhine bridge and…
Last weekend I was on the Gehrenberg near Markdorf with Marcel to send our drones up again for a while. Almost two weeks earlier I had been in the area with my girlfriend and thought that the lovely mixed forest…
Last weekend I was in the Eriskirch Ried with the new drone for a first test flight. At a similar spotI had alreadytaken a few photos once. The place seemed ideal for a test to me, because it's quiet here…
A few lovely long-haul trips are coming up in the next few months, and because airlines are getting ever stricter about hand luggage, I had been toying with the idea of swapping my Phantom 3 for a smaller, handier photo…
On the way home from the Dolomites to Lake Constance we made a short detour to Lago di Braies to walk around this beautifully situated lake. The view from the boat hire house in particular is magnificent. At the far…
On the third day a hike around the famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo was on the programme. I had already been here last year, but back then the pass road was still closed and we had to walk all the…
On the second day there was lots of fresh snow up at the Passo di Giau, and the sun was shining strongly – accordingly sunburnt we looked in the evening. In between came a great snowshoe hike through 30 centimetres…
At the end of April/beginning of May, we spent a long weekend hiking in the Dolomites with some friends. I had already been to this beautiful area last year and was eager to return as soon as possible… The weather…
Last weekend, on the way to my home region, I sent the drone up twice. The first time near Durlesbach in the Schussen valley, to photograph the lovely railway line and the winding Schussen from above. Unfortunately the Schussen was…
At the weekend I was back in my home region near Altshausen and flew the drone over the Altshauser Weiher, which was still frozen. The result is some interesting subjects and details, above all in the ice and in the…
Just before New Year I did head out once more with the drone, this time into the lovely Bregenz Forest. Along the way there were some lovely bends and forests. The tour ended just before Warth. Warth lies at 1,495…
At Christmas we head home again, of course. This morning, after more than two months, I finally had time again to send the drone up for a few aerial shots. Between the drifting banks of fog, the forests between Aulendorf…
Before heading to Cuba, I spent the first weekend of November skiing with friends in Sölden. Unfortunately, a cold knocked me out on the first day, so I took the car up to the Timmelsjoch Pass and crossed over to…
Last week I was out with the drone again in the evening and took a few aerial shots of the shore of Lake Constance and the lovely Ried east of Friedrichshafen, towards the Eriskirch Ried.
After work yesterday I popped over to the lovely Hepbach-Leimbach Ried between Markdorf and Friedrichshafen to take a few more aerial shots of the autumn colours. Here are a few of the pictures. A shame the colours and leaves won't…
Last weekend I was back home again and flew the drone with my father over the lovely Ried near Ebersbach-Musbach. Above all, the autumn colours of the maples along the edge were really beautiful once more.
Yesterday I was in my home region of Upper Swabia and sent the drone up again over a forest that already looked interesting from below, with the big field in front of it and the road cutting straight through. The…
After work I met Torben in the Eriskirch Ried, and we sent the drone up again. This time we were at the mouth of the Schussen, and of course the autumn colours from above were amazing once again.
After our hiking day to Lac Blanc, the next day we set off from Chamonix to the Italian side of Mont Blanc and then continued up the mountain pass road with many hairpin turns all the way to Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Afterwards,…
This evening, shortly before sunset, I drove to Eriskirch and let the drone rise above the Eriskirch Ried and the shore of Lake Constance. The view from above was really great; the shoreline and all the autumn colours look impressive…
Near Wilhelmsdorf lies the Pfrungen Ried, and in the middle of it a beautiful avenue of birches. Almost three years ago I had my first wedding shoot there with my brother, and for a while I had wanted to come…
On Sunday I chased my drone through the thick fog on the Gehrenberg. The result is a few lovely, atmospheric pictures. I'm already looking forward to the autumn colours of the coming weeks and hope to pack the drone more…
After the lovely hiking weekend with Rita near Cortina d'Ampezzo, for the drive back we chose one of the many lesser-known passes and drove over the Passo Falzarego back to Lake Constance. Not a bad decision: another beautiful mountain landscape…
Over the long weekend Rita and I went hiking in the Dolomites near Cortina d'Ampezzo; the weather forecast was superb. Right after arriving we were pretty lucky: my Corsa was losing huge amounts of oil, and we probably only just…
After the sandur plains we went on to the Svínafellsjökull glacier and then to Skaftafell National Park. Of course the drone had to go up here too. The Svínafellsjökull is an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest glacier, and…
I don't need to write much more about the wreck of the old DC-3 at Sólheimasandur – I've been to this surreal place a few times. And yet we managed to take the wrong turn off the Ring Road again,…
On Tuesday I had arranged to meet Sue and Philipp in Balderschwang for a preliminary talk about their wedding. Because the weather was good for the drone, I packed it and set off a little earlier towards the Bregenz Forest.…
Because the drone is working better and better, of course I had to go out for the sunset again today. The usual pea-soup fog hung over Friedrichshafen, but the webcam on the Höchsten showed that it should look good from…
After the aerial shots of the sunrise near Ebersbach this morning I hadn't really planned to unpack the drone again. But the view on the drive home to Friedrichshafen was impressive once more: the usual pea-soup fog hung thick over…
After the Christmas holidays I finally had time again to dust off my drone after more than five months and take a few shots of Ebersbach. The light yesterday evening and this morning was really beautiful, and even the temperamental…
Hier die Bilder vom vierten Tag in Reine auf den Lofoten. Ich kam nach den Polarlichtern nachts wieder ein bisschen später aus den Federn und bin dann wieder mit dem Auto los um wieder die Gegend zu erkunden 🙂 Ein…
Am nächsten Tag hieß es erst mal bis 11 Uhr ausschlafen nach den ersten Polarlichtern. Dann gings mit dem Auto weiter der Küste entlang und einige weiße Strände entdecken. Ist echt eine wunderschöne Landschaft da oben, dazu noch mit den…
On the second day the Flexen Pass and the Hochtannberg Pass were on the programme. In the morning it was still a little rainy, then the weather finally improved and the sun even came out now and then. At the…
After the Gehrenberg I went home briefly for breakfast and to charge the drone's battery. Then I drove to the Eriskirch Ried, where the sun was fighting its way beautifully through the clouds of fog. It was funny following a…
After almost a month my drone was finally back from repair. I had bought it shortly before Iceland to take along, but on only its second flight it landed in the cold waters of Lake Constance. It came back on…
