Blue, bubble, bathtub: The pictures of the week 51

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This week again, the c't photo community shows how diverse photography can be – technically and creatively. The journey leads from the dunes of Gran Canaria to a memorial in Berlin, from frosty close-ups to colorful architectural images. Strong color contrasts, targeted light, and deliberate perspectives transform everyday subjects into impressive visual worlds. Whether long exposure, fine macro work, or clearly composed graphics: each shot uses technology to tell a story. Let yourself be inspired by the motifs – and by the ideas for your own photo projects.

A dream in blue

A radiant red meets an intense, almost surreal blue. The image by Ivan im Abstrakten was created in the sand dunes of Maspalomas on Gran Canaria: In the midst of this artificial, blue dune landscape sits a woman covered in red fabric, her face hidden. The strong color contrast, created by a deliberate adjustment of the color temperature, creates enormous visual tension and immediately draws the eye. The clear composition plays with surfaces, lines, and colors, creating a dreamlike, almost painterly scene.

Nightly glow

These Chinese lanterns glow as if from within against the darkness. Their delicate, dry husks look as if they were made of fine paper. The targeted light highlights the warm red tones and makes the fine vein structure visible. The dark background ensures maximum separation and emphasizes the glowing effect. This image by gallery photographer feddy, which impressively combines transience and beauty – and shows how important lighting is in macro photography.

Holocaust Memorial II, Berlin

The concrete stelae of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial are arranged in a strict, rhythmic grid. Through the chosen image section, the cubes dissolve into an almost abstract, graphic structure. The harsh light creates a striking interplay of light surfaces and deep shadows, emphasizing the geometric form. The perspective reinforces the feeling of confinement and disorientation. Thus, the photo by Braveman1954 combines precise, formal image design with the gravity of the place.

Autumn light in Lapland

Golden light floods the vast landscape of Lapland, bathing it in warm colors. From a bird's-eye view, a mosaic of moors, forests, and deep blue lakes unfolds. The low-lying sun models the scenery with light and shadow, creating an almost magical atmosphere. The elevated perspective makes the structure of the landscape visible and shows the rugged beauty of the north in a moment of perfect lighting. A shot by dave-derbis.

Soap bubble

Like a glass planet, this frozen soap bubble sits on the frosty stone. The backlight makes the fine ice crystals inside glow and clearly outlines them against the darker background. Due to the shallow depth of field, the bubble is cleanly separated from its surroundings and staged as the main subject. The image design by gallery photographer ES-Fotogalerie shows how poetic macro shots can be realized with a simple motif, careful focus, and lighting.

Who's afraid of the ...

In this historical photo by gallery photographer der Onkel Werner, a man is seen sitting in a bathtub taking a mud bath. Dense steam rises from the dark water. His gaze looks far past the camera; he seems to be looking more into the past than into the room. The harsh light, presumably from a flash, sharply renders every tile and emphasizes the structure of the bathroom. The close perspective brings viewers very close to the man and the event – a direct, almost cinematic document of the time.

Life is colorful

In this shot by Karsten Gieselmann, a staircase becomes a color graphic: surfaces in pink, yellow, blue, and green meet the clear red of the railing. The lines of the stairs run diagonally through the image, structuring the color surfaces like in a modern painting. The round lamps add warm accents and break up the strict forms. Everything appears carefully aligned, so that perspective and symmetry work together perfectly. The result is an image that convincingly combines architectural photography and abstract color composition.

(vat)