December 29, 2012 - Out In The Country

We decided to take a look at used cars again given that we really need a backup when our vehicles refuse to function as they regularly do. The particular beauty we had in mind, which Nils had found on the Internet, happened to be in Bonham about 65 miles from here. Unfortunately, things did not work in our favor, but it was an interesting trip none-the-less. Here are a couple of shots from the road albeit none from lovely Bonham, TX.

December 27, 2012 - The iPads

It occured to us that we hadn't seen the kids since mid-morning of the 25th. A bit of contemplation produced first clues, for example that we hadn't seen them since unwrapping the last Christmas gift. Well, we figured it out: they simply don't need us any more. They have iPads! Both return from a hard day of playing and immediately grab their computer, they look at it while eating dinner (the practice has since been banned) and then they vanish to pay more educational games. We are outraged, to put it mildly ...

December 25, 2012 - Christmas

It was time for our second Christmas this morning. Arno and Margo were extremely excited and could hardly wait this morning. Both received a bunch of presents , but mainly an age-appropriate tablet computer. These things are great since they have dozens of games to learn alphabets, numbers and logic.

December 24, 2012 - Weihnachten

As is a tradition in our family, we celebrated the German Weihnachten on Christmas Eve. Everyone received presents from my Mom, which we unwrapped today. Arno and Margo got hand-painted shirts, Meredith a beautiful scarf and  a new blue cashmere sweater.

December 23, 2012 - A Quiet Weekend

We've had it for the year, I think! The last couple of weeks and weekends have been tremendously hectic and thus we've experienced a very welcome change in that we did absolutely nothing but cook, play and hang out. As you see below, Arno had some fun with Margo's glasses as well. Anyway, all presents are under the tree by now as we will once again celebrate the German Christmas tomorrow and the American one a day later.

December 21, 2012 - Portraits

It was about time to take an inventory of faces around the house once again ...

December 16, 2012 - Perot Nature & Science Museum

It's finally here: the new nature and science museum! The architecture by Thom Mayne is incredibly elegant and very intelligent as you feel engaged by the building in many ways. Needless to say, the views out of the building are breathtaking. The exhibits are also amazing. There are lots of computer animations, videos and information terminals. Margo was able to "design" her own bird, for example. We barely made it through half of the museum and will visit again next week.

December 15, 2012 - Christmas at School

Arno and Margo both celebrated Christmas in their respective German schools. In the morning, we took Margo to the Goethe Center where she performed a song and briefly met Santa. Then we headed over to an old Texan house, which the German International School had rented for their Christmas party. It was a busy day, but lots of fun as well.

December 14, 2012 - A Couple of Shots

All of us had quite a busy day. We thus got together in the kitchen tonight to cook pasta, package Christmas gifts for the teachers and make a few cookies for two school parties tomorrow. It was a perfect setting to grab a few portraits.

December 9, 2012 - Advent

We celebrated Advent as a quiet day at home. Margo and Arno go into constumes and kept chasing each other and us throughout.

November 23, 2012 - Haus Lange & Esters

Famous for their creator Mies van der Rohe, the two adjacent residential complexes have long served as a small, but always interesting exhibition space. This time around the focus was the New York artist Anne Chu and kinetic art honoring Paul Wember, an early pioneer of the medium.

November 22, 2012 - Aachen

This is a city we wanted to see for a while given that it is old and has a lot of charm. An eighthundred-year-old post office turned pub is probably the oldest restaurant I have ever eaten at. We took a tour of the city hall with it famous coronation hall of Charlemagne and then walked to the Dom.

November 21, 2012 - Cologne

We took what has become sort of an annual trip to Cologne today. Our first stop was the Frueh brewery for a very delicious but equally heavy lunch. Afterwards we ventured into the Dom and saw the tresure, which is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, they did not allow photos of their invaluable possessions! Our last stop was the Museum Ludwig, which had a couple of interesting exhbitions as well as one of the finest permanent collections in Germany.

November 20, 2012 - Shopping

We sent Meredith off to a hair salon in Duesseldorf and took some time to shop for cigars, chocolates, ice cream and toys.

November 19, 2012 - Krefeld

So, we are back in town. This was a calm-down day for us: Margo and Arno played at a local childrens center called Okidoki and we had a talent show in the evening with my old costumes.

November 18. 2012 - Animal Exhibition

Today we saw an animal show in Oldenburg. Between falcons, horses and dogs, there was plenty to see and do. Margo loved the horses while Arno was transfixed by dogs playing frisbee.

November 17, 2012 - Bremerhaven

All of us drove to Bremerhaven for a visit to the excellent German Immigrant Museum and the zoo by the sea. The museum was very interesting and obviously held special for us given that we are an immigrant family with dual nationalities.

First of all, here are a couple of images from the "Deutsches Auswanderer Haus", which is split into two parts: one for emigrants and the other for immigrants. It was fun to see both as the immigrant areas were pretty much German shops and offices in the early seventies when Ellie, Nils and I were small kids.

Next, we walked around the harbor and took a look at the world from the roof of the famous and architecturally interesting Atlantic Hotel.

We concluded our adventure with a visit to the Zoo by the Sea, which obviously features a lot of sea creatures, but also a bunch of other interesting animals. On the way back, Nils surprised everyone with a ferry crossing, much to Margo and Arno's delight.

November 16, 2012 - Oldenburg

Our first destination is Oldenburg to visit Nils and his family for the weekend. We'll be going to museums and the zoo, which is always great fun for the kids!

November 14, 2012 - Vacation

Today Meredith, Margo and Arno joined me in Germany so that we can begin our long-awaited vacation here. Since I flew in a few days earlier due to business, I picked them up in Frankfurt. The first day is always tough when you are on your feet for over 30 hours, yet the first night is always the easiest due to the aforementioned reason. We stayed busy, spent quite a bit of time with my Mom and played in a local park.

November 12, 2012 - Krefeld

Took a quick walk through the neighborhood. The colors are quite beautiful this time of the year.

November 8, 2012 - Quick Walk

Just a few shots from a walk through the city this afternoon.

November 7, 2012 - Toulouse

I am back in Toulouse once again! By now, I really know my way around and feel that there is little new stuff to capture. Yet, once I see the images, there is always fresh content. I have really liked the city from my first day here and it has become more interesting each time I have visited.

November 4, 2012 - A Couple of Shots

Just a few shots while playing aroud ...

October 31, 2012 - Halloween

Last night, we completed our tour of the neighborhood as we always do. There were quite a few homes that dished out candy and we saw plenty of people who came by car. That's certainly a different kind of mobility. : )

October 28, 2012 - Knox-Henderson

We met Ute and Jeff with their two sons at a park on Knox-Henderson before supper today. It's always a ton of fun for Arno and Margo to play with their buddies while we truly enjoy the time to talk.

October 27, 2012 - Herbstfest

The German International School had its traditional Herbstfest today, which held a bunch of surprises for Arno and Margo. They played all kinds of games, got a face paining and practiced their yoga. The school has really become the heart of the German community in Dallas.

October 26, 2012 - Museum Day

Margo did not have school today. We took it as an opportunity to visit downtown Fort Worth and the museums. Our highlight was a second visit the excellent Lucian Freud Portraits show. Unfortunately, photographs were prohibited due to the usual ownership issues.

Now, here are a couple of shots taken with a very grainy ISO 3200 film. They contrast the extremely sharp images from the digital B&W camera above quite a bit. I'm actually not sure whether one should compare them at all. They are just so different.

October 20, 2012 - The Birthday Party

Arno had invited a lot of friends from his school to celebrate his birthday at the house. We brought in a face painter and thus everyone came in a costume.

My main camera is still at the manufacturer for a repair. Thus I used film for color shots. Here are a few ...

Cctober 14, 2012 - The Scientist

Margo received her first "A" in math today, which we duely celebrated. All of us are proud of her!

October 10, 2012 - Arno's Birthday

Today we celebrated Arno's fourth birthday. Time flies! We had a great morning and opened the presents from his Grandma in Germany first so that we could call and thank her right away. Everything else had to wait until after dinner. Arno was so excited that he hardly ate anything. We all had a great time and look forward to his party with friends next week.

October 5, 2012 - Texas State Fair

This really turned into a week of seeking stereotypes. After Southfork, Margo and I went to the Texas State Fair today. We took the train to downtown early and had a coffee among the professional crowd before hitting the Fair Grounds in South Dallas right at ten. We both had a lot of fun, but were pretty much out of juice by the time lunch rolled around. Most notably, Margo touched the Stingrays in the childrens aquarium, which was quite an accomplishment.

October 4, 2012 - Southfork

Today I did something that I hadn't even thought about for fourteen years: I spontaneously drove out to the Southfork Ranch to take in a full load of 1970s kitsch. Surprisingly the ranch is pretty close to where I used to work for a good six years without even knowing it. The only similar experience I have had was a (forced) visit to Graceland in Memphis many years ago. That was even worse ...

September 23, 2012 - Modern Design

We went for another helping of modern design today. First, we had lunch though. Arno is likely the only three-year old in town who orders French Onion Soup in a restaurant. He thoroughly enjoyed it, too.

September 16, 2012 - Quiet Weekend

We had a busy start into the weekend with several obligations, but it calmed down eventually. We began our Sunday very lazy and ended it the DMA for a bit of stimulation.

September 13, 2012 - Where the Wild Things Live

We had sushi tonight, which is a staple with Margo and Arno. They love it by now after a slow evolvolution that began with eating just the rice. We actually did not mind getting a bunch of sashimi as a bonus, but it was obviously very expensive rice at the same time.

September 8, 2012 - Meredith's Birthday

Today was the eleventh anniversary of Meredith's 29th birthday! We had invited a few very good friends over and had a great time. As always, we've had lots of wine and food. It was truly a memorable evening.

September 3, 2012 - Labor Day

Swimming, playing and not much else ...

September 2, 2012 - Fort Worth Modern

It was time to get out of the house for a while and what better destination than the museums in Fort Worth. At the Modern, we saw what will likely become the best Lucian Freud show of the past several years and we've had a great time at the Kimbell as well.

Now, here are a few shots taken with a B&W film, the excellent Kodak Tri-X, which provide quite a contrast to the digital ones above. On the whole, the images above are more pleasing and certainly far better in quality. However, there is a lot of charm in these grainy film images.

August 29, 2012 - Another Day in Paradise

We were just goofing around today. Arno and I went to the Aquarium, which will be another image series, and we all had a great time playing in the evening.

August 28, 2012 - Dallas Aquarium

Arno and I took the afternoon off to visit the aquarium and to find a shark or two for dinner ...

August 25, 2012 - Last Day

Is it obvious that I am exclusively shooting in B&W now? Anyway, this was my last day in the city and a good opportunity to take in some culture. In fact, I checked off three museums before lunch, which was a lot of fun.

August 23, 2012 - Street Life

Here are a few images that were shot in a more typical street photography way: getting closer to people and showing everyday stuff.

August 22, 2012 - Architecture

Well, I am still in Toulouse walking around when I have a free minute. These shots are more focused on the beautiful architecture.

August 20, 2012 - Toulouse

With a little bit more time today in-between meetings and work, I walked through the city for a good hour or so. There are a few more candid shots and it certainly shows that I am beginning to familiarize myself with Toulouse. In a way, the camera really helps me to see things that I would otherwise miss.

August 19, 2012 - Walking the City

Just arived in Toulouse today and decied to talk a long walk with my camera before the week starts.

August 16, 2012 - Krefeld

I visited Mom and also met an old friend of mine, Marcus, for dinner. He is an astonishingly good cook and thus we just sat down in his place to eat. Below are also some experiments with a dedicated B&W camera that I'll be using quite a bit from here on out.

August 15, 2012 - Horst Janssen Museum in Oldenburg

Nils and I visited the Janssen museum to check on the permanent collection and also to get a few books for my Mom. Janssen clearly was one of the most talented German artists in the 20th century. Astonishingly, his paintings remain undervalued to a large degree. Buy them while you can!

August 4, 2012 - The Waterpark

The German International School had an informal get together at a waterpark today. The kids loved it and we got to catch up with all of the other parents whom we have not seen for pretty much two months now.

July 28, 2012 - Dallas Museum of Art

We saw a few interesting Memphis design pieces at the DMA today and visited the children's section where Margo made a very cool crown and sunglasses.

July 24, 2012 - Classic Cars

We checked out classic cars at the local Mercedes dealership in Oldenburg. There have quite a few really nice ones including a beautiful 300SL.

July 22, 2012 - Fishing

This evening we decided to go fishing at a small river just outside of town. It was actually very close to where Nils and I had spent our days in the Army. Naturally, I was not in a position to help the guys with their catch given that my own skills centered on merely documenting the activities. It was a great night with lots of jokes none the less.

July 14, 2012 - Friends

We had a great time playing in the pool with Hans-Joerg, Chachy, Helena and Otto.

July 4, 2012 - Flowers & Sculptures

Margo and I went to the Arboretum to see an exhibition of Chihuly sculptures, which were fabulous. We shot a couple of macro images while we were at it.

Here are some of the Chihuly sculptures, which are truly amazing in their environment. I kept asking myself how they would look when they are not embedded in nature and certainly believe that they need these surroundings to stand out.

July 3, 2012 - NTX Museum

Royd and I met for lunch and took a quick tour of the NTX Museum. This is a private collection of older Mercedes. The attendant told us that she hardly sees more than two visitors. Thus, we must have made her day. As several images show, it is not always easy to suppress a laugh e.g. the "Gull Wing" SEC or the 600 with a golden flask. However, quite a few of the vehicles were truly astonishing.

July 2, 2012 - Haircuts

Rachel came over to give everyone a haircut. Luckily, we are gradually moving out of the phase where haicuts are perceived as a major surgical intervention. Margo loves to get her hair cut by now and would like for it to last all day while Arno still needs a bit of encouragement. We have asked him whether he'd like to get a shorter haircut, but thus far, he seems to relish his "cool" look.

June 30, 2012 - Ice Cream

Just a few shots taken with my film camera ... mainly  at the ice cream parlor.

June 26, 2012 - Toulouse

My second trip to Toulouse this year! It was a short one and I only had a single tele lens, which made it very tricky to shoot in the streets. Ideally, you'd like a wide angle instead. Allowing for some time to adjust, things worked out alright in the end. Most of the images just look like they have been cropped, which is not the case.

June 22, 2012 - Mom's Garden

Here are a couple of shots from my Mom's garden in Germany.

June 17,2012 - Propeller

These are a couple of shots taken in early March when Arno and I went to the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. I had shot them on a Kodak slide film though and just now came around to develop them.

June 16, 2012 - Ice Skating

We have been trying to give Arno skating lessons so that he can eventually play hockey with his friend Hucky. So far, we did not have much luck to actually get him on the ice though. Given that my knees do not allow me to skate any longer, Meredith took to the task and suited up with him. Events quickly took an unexpected turn when Meredith ended up with a skating lession while I took Arno to turn in his skates ... we'll try soccer next.

June 10, 2012 - The Weekend

It still feels great to be back! This was my second weekend at home, but the effect has hardly worn off. We had a very busy weekend with lots of social calls and time for a swim in the mornings and evenings.

June 3, 2012 - GISD BBQ

Arno's school, the German International School of Dallas, had its year-end party today. Arno and Margo had a ton of fun as they played on an inflatable waterslide while we visited with several good friends from the German comunity here in town. Of course, we also had a swim. What did you expect?

June 2, 2012 - T-Ball Game

Margo just started to play T-Ball with a team from her new school. They are the Spartanettes. To our delight, Margo has really taken to the sport and very much enjoys the games with her new friends.

June 1, 2012 - Arno and Margo

Here are a few portraits, taken on film, of Arno and Margo. As you can tell both are quite comfortable in the wet element. In German we call them "Wasserratten" or water rats, which is meant in an endearing way.

May 30, 2012 - Pillow Surfing

Just got back after three weeks in Europe and am happy as a clam to be with Meredith and the kids. We had a pillow surfing /bed jumping match tonight, which was a lot of fun.

May 27, 2012 - MVC Meeting

One of my good friends, Andreas, took me along for a meeting of the Mercedes Veterans Club near Bonn, Germany in his vintage 300 SEL 3.5. Our drive alone was worth the trip, yet the collector cars were absolutely astonishing. Why don't they build them like this anymore? Oh, yes, at Bentley and Rolls Royce they still do ... right! Anyway, take note of the 170S police convertible with the original blue light on a pole. Who wouldn't want to join the force to drive around in that automobile ...

May 24, 2012 - Toulouse

It had been an extremely busy week and I did not have any opportunities to drive into the city to shoot. This was the last evening. I decided to defer work for once and just get out. Toulouse was still bustling with people and activity, which made it very a very interesting trip.

May 19, 2012 - The Woods

Staying in Krefeld for a few days, I decided to poke around the woods for a couple of B&W shots.

May 16, 2012 - Zurich

I had a few hours in-between business meetings to take a stroll around the hotel. Initially it was raining hard, which provided a few nice shots of the river and lake.

May 6, 2012 - The Party

We celebrated Margo's birthday with her friends today. Everyone created collages of paper flowers inspired by Monet, which was great fun. Then came the cakes and finally a lot of truly great presents. Margo really enjoyed her special day and Arno was a real sport in letting her have it.

May 5, 2012 - Goethe Center

While Margo was in her German class at the Dallas Goethe Center, Arno and I went to the playground and hung out in the lobby. This was her last day for the semester so that she received her well-deserved language certificate. In the evening Markus, a good friend from Switzerland, visited for dinner and a glass of wine.

May 2, 2012 - Margo's Birthday

Margo had a very exciting day! She unpacked the presents from my Mom in Germany after breakfast, Meredith and I visited her at her school to have a Sushi lunch together and then we had Margo's favorite Tortellini for dinner. Afterwards, she unpacked the presents from her Godfather Georg as well as ours. Too much to handle for one day ... she fell asleep with a big smile on her face.

April 29, 2012 - Margo's Ballet Performance

I can't believe how quickly time flies. This was Margo's third ballet performance at the McFarlin Auditorium at SMU. The theater was filled to the last seat so that Margo performed in front of close to 2,000 people. She loves to get on stage and there wasn't even a trace of stage fright. As was the case in past years, her performance was perfect. We are very proud of her!

April 14, 2012 - In the Backyard

Just a few miscellaneous shots while playing around ...

April 8, 2012 - Easter

Margo figured it out today: there is no Easter bunny! She found out by asking herself  how in the world the Easter bunny knew that Arno likes Spiderman socks. From there onward, it was standard forensic procedure.

April 7, 2012 - Cajun Tunes

Just throw a Zydeco CD in and everyone goes crazy ...

April 1, 2012 - No Jokes

We were hanging out at home, did not play jokes on each other and had an all around great time.

March 31, 2012 - Disney on Ice

I surprised Margo with a visit to Disney on Ice at the American Airlines Center this afternoon. She loved the skating and dancing as three of her favorite princesses came into town. The whole show was incredibly well done. Precisely what you'd expect from the world-leader in childrens' entertainment.

March 25, 2012 - More Art

A quick stop at the book store, then on to lunch. Margo and I went to the DMA while Arno took a nap. Margo got an assignment at the museum to look for shapes in the art and then create her own work based on those shapes. We all met up at the playground again. Did I mention that we were busy ...

March 24, 2012 - Song and Dance

Margo and I went to the lake to feed ducks. Apparently the bread wasn't too bad since Margo ate a fair amount herself. We found a little stage, which prompted her to an ad-hoc performance. Afterwards, we saw an interesting installation of masks by local artists at the Lakewood Museum. It was an eventful excursing for sure.

We were in need for a bit of wall-art and decided to take new portraits of everyone. Arno had his new rain boots on for the entire weekend, which must have been very hot given that it was in the upper 70s. In any case, he liked them so much that they had to stand next to his bed during the night.

March 18, 2012 - Cookies and Stuff

Sunday. Lots of time to cook, talk and play. Margo instructed Arno in writing, we had a very decent lunch, made cookies and went over to visit with Tree, Jim and family in the afternoon.

March 17, 2012 - Playing Around

Had a mellow start  into the weekend ...

March 11, 2012 - Frontiers of Flight Museum

Given that Arno and I went the the flight museum in Addison a week ago, Margo also wanted to see one. We took off after lunch and went to the second museum in town, which is located at Love Field. It is affiliated with the Smithonian and thus has a few interesting exhibits such as the original Apolo 7 command module, which served as the vehicle for the first American manned exploration of space. Other interesting artifacts include parts of the German airship Hindenburg.

March 10, 2012 - Playing at Home

This afternoon we played around at home. Arno and Margo took turns jumping off tables and we played paper, scissors and rock.

In the evening Christian, Bethany and their newborn son Preston came over for dinner. Needless to say, we had lots of fun.

March 4, 2012 - Nasher Sculpture Center

The Nasher currently has an interesting show with Elliott Hundley, a young LA based painter and sculpturer. Unfortunately, they did not allow photos in the exhibition, but at least I was able to take a few shots of their very impessive permanent collection. 

March 2, 2012 - Cavanaugh Flight Museum

Arno and I snug away a little earlier this afternoon and visited the Cavanaugh Flight Museum right around the corner from my office. It is a private and eclectic collection of old fighter planes that range from WWI machines to the F-16. Given that Arno's goal in life is to become an "airplane driver", we had lots of fun walking around and checking it all out.

February 29, 2012 - Showers

It was time to grab the camera: Margo and Arno took a shower and were getting ready for bed. Below, Arno is quite obviously going for a Warhol-ish look on his images while Margo just enjoys the grooming with her Mom.

February 26, 2012 - The Weekend

We hve had an exciting weekend with a trip to Whiterock Lake, plenty of play and some rolling around. Here are a few of the shots ...

February 19, 2012 - The Dallas Zoo

With Meredith and Austin going to the movies, the rest of us decided that we'll just head for the Zoo. We made it through the African section and the Kid's Zoo all in one afternoon. It was fun to be outside and see lots of interesting animals.

February 16, 2012 - A Visitor from Germany

We had the opportunity to meet with Harald Leibrecht, member of the German parliament and the government's coordinator for transatlantic cooperation, today. He gave a very interesting talk on the future of energy at the American Council on Germany and then visited the German International School where Arno is a student. I was tasked with taking a few promotional shots of these events.

February 12, 2012 - A Few Shots from the Weekend

It was a pretty busy weekend. Friends came over for dinner on Saturday. On Sunday we went to the museum where Margo and Arno built a car out of cardboard and tape. We had to have ice cream afterwards and needed to play in the park ... naturally.

February 5, 2012 - Swiss Ave

This was our second outing to Swiss Avenue for a couple of shots. Arno came along with his own camera and we tried to capture as much of the beauty of these grand houses as possible.

February 1, 2012 - Just Another Night

I was just playing around with the camera tonight and a few of the shots actually turned out alright. I am afraid to say that Margo also beat me (twice) in CandyLand ...

January 29, 2012 - Sunshine

We took advantage of yet another gorgeous day by riding the bikes and going on a long stroll around Whiterock Lake.

January 23, 2012 - Dallas

I took a stroll through downtown and ran into a couple of nice shots along the way. There was a big construction project going on, which provided some very interesting perspecives.

January 22, 2012 - Fort Worth Stock Show

We decided to have lunch at the Modern in Fort Worth and discovered that the livestock show is going on at the moment as well. Hence we took a closer look. Margo and Arno went on several carrousel rides, which was fun. Unfortunately the rodeo tickets were sold out, but we got to see a couple of donkeys which was plenty of fun for both.

January 21, 2012 - I scream, You scream ...

The title says it all.

January 15, 2012 - Black & White

We were just hanging out at home this morning when the urge to shoot in B&W cropped up once more. As always Meredith, Margo and Arno were willing subjects or rather victims depending on your point of view ...

January 8, 2012 - Playing

There is very little to report. We did not have any plans and enjoyed staying home to relax. It was certainly a good opportunity to do something with each other.

January 2, 2012 - Arboretum

We've had a bright and sunny day. Just the kind that begs to be cherished outside. We complied by going to the Arboretum for a bit of running around. Margo and Arno played pioneers and giants as they raced through old Texan huts as well as a few castles.

January 1, 2012 - New Bicycles

The new year. After a late start, we hung out in the living room. Margo and Arno served food and drinks, which they had specially prepared in their play-kitchen. After taking my Mom to the airport, we decided to give the new bikes a try. Both loved the experience. With a little bit of practice we can soon undertake longer tours through the neighborhood.