All proceeds from the calendar sale will be donated entirely to McKinsey for Children, a charity founded by McKinsey employees and supporting children in need. Thus, by buying the calendar, you will not only get a great calendar, but also support a good cause.

Find out more about the calendar on my website or click here to go directly to my page on Lulu.com, the website I am partnering with to release this calendar, to buy it.

The frequency I am currently posting updates at almost forces me to rename this into “Photo of the Month” rather than “Photo of the Day” – that is the bad thing about having a day job that is at least as demanding as going out into the field and getting the shot.

Now it is about time to post another new shot – one that I took almost a year ago and that strongly evokes some strong fall feelings in me. Taken near Aspen, Colorado, this shot is one of my favorite tree shots. The way the Aspens create a strong contrast to the backlit leaves and the sheer number of Aspens make for a great composition. I remember driving around Aspen up to Independence Pass to look for some great fall color shots. Suddenly I came across this group of Aspens, and the light seemed just perfect. I stopped, put up my tripod, and captured a shot. Sometimes nature presents you with great opportunities on the side, and all you have to do is watch out for them. I love it.

We are going to start the initiative with 5 selected photographs. In order to help me choose the most promising ones that will appeal to a large audience, please participate in the poll displayed below. Click through the list of photographs that I have selected as candidates for the initiative, and choose the 5 that you like best. Your help is truly appreciated.

And now something completely different – and still a big favorite of mine!

Today’s photo of the day is from another amazing location in California – the ghost town of Bodie . About 32 miles northwest from the road that leads into Yosemite National Park from the west and almost 100 miles from Bishop, CA, this place is pretty much far away from everything. Bodie is open all year, but the long road that leads to the town is usually closed in the winter due to heavy snowfall, so the majority of visitors to the park come during the summer months. Moreover, as the road is not fully sealed (a couple of miles at the end are gravel road), it requires a 4WD (or a lot of patience) to get there.

The ghost town can only be accessed after sunrise and closes before sunset (you have to pay a fee to get in), which is a unfortunate for photographers. However, with all the decayed building and things, Bodie still offers some amazing photographic potential. When I got there in October 2010, it proved to be a perfect day for what I had in mind. When I arrived at the town early in the morning, a few clouds were moving by fast. I parked my car and wandered around the old buildings – feeling overwhelmed by thinking of how many people once lived here, and how different the place must have been then.

Shortly after I had started my walk, I came across this abandoned car and realized that this was what I had been wanting to get. The clouds were just perfect at that moment, giving the car the right background and filling the otherwise bland sky. I set up my tripod just in front of the car and began shooting. When looking at the photograph at home, I was happy with the subject, but decided that this image would need some editing to really stand out. I had the choice of either giving it an old and rusty look, or giving it a vibrant look with strong colors as a strong contrast to the nature of the subject. I chose the latter option, and after some editing, I was fully happy with the result. Although I very rarely shoot man-made subjects, this is one that I truly fell in love with.

If you want to read more about Bodie, visit the Wikipedia article as a good start.

Another photo of the day – and another one of those photos that were absolutely spectacular to shoot.

The canyons in Utah are home to many spectacular cliff dwellings. Most of them are very remote and cannot be found on most maps. The reason is simple – these places are so fragile that a large number of visitors would put their integrity at risk. The same is true for the “house on fire” – the ruin shown on my photo of the day.

I found out about the place reading a book that describes many photo opportunities in the Southwest – and decided to visit the place and experience the fascination of one of the most spectacular cliff dwellings by myself. To get there, I had to drive on a dirt road with my rented 4WD and then hike about 1.5 miles through the canyon that houses the ruin. While the drive and the hike did not prove to be difficult, timing was crucial. The ruin looks best when it is not yet hit by light directly, because the reflected light will make the rocks above the ruins appear as if the whole ruin was on fire. With no light at all, the ruin will look dull, and direct sunlight will ruin the contrast and take away the intense colors.

For this reason, I went just after shooting sunrise at a location nearby and got to the ruins at around 9am. My timing seemed perfect – the sky was absolutely clear, and the sun was about to come around the canyon wall that was blocking the light. I set up my tripod and began to shoot. The setting was perfect to use a panoramic format, as getting the entire ruin on the frame required a very wide angle.

After about one hour, I left the place – fascinated by what I had seen and happy with the images I had taken. Once I reviewed the final end product on my computer at home, I was blown away by the colors and the texture in the rocks. Here was another photo of the day – rightly named “Fire Roof” and a worthy addition to my portfolio.

Today’s photo of the day is from the presumably wettest place in the continental United States – Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park, Washington.

Olympic National Park is, in my opinion, one of the most diverse and most spectacular national parks in the United States. Situated in the northwest corner of Washington and only a few hours away from Seattle, it contains wild beaches, rugged mountain ridges, and temperate rain forest. This diversity allows you to visit many different places in just one national park. As mentioned, this rainforest sees a lot of rainfall every year – up to 150 inches (that’s almost 4 meters) is typical for that region, creating spectacular scenes in the forest.

When I visited Olympic National Park on my recent trip to the United States last year as a first destination after flying into Seattle, I was welcomed with quite different weather, though: sunshine. This made it a little complicated to get the shot I wanted for the rain forest.

The first day on the trip had ended with a picture-perfect sunset at one of Olympic’s wild beaches, and my plan was to visit the Hoh Rain Forest on the following day early in the morning. Most of the time you do not want any directly lit areas in your photos when shooting forest landscapes, as the direct light will ruin your exposure and also take away the pristine magic of an evenly lit forest.

Therefore, I started very early before sunrise and got to the parking lot for Hoh Rain Forest more than one hour before sunrise. I left my car, took my camera back, and went into the forest, looking for the perfect scene that would capture the beauty of the rain forest. About 30 minutes later, I came across the scene I had been looking for – trees covered with moss in the middle of a wild and diverse forest setting, with ferns providing the perfect foreground for the shot. The light was already hitting some other areas in the forest directly, so I knew that I was running out of time. I pulled out my camera, set up my tripod, and fired a few shots. Just a few minutes later, the scene had completely changed, with direct light hitting the background behind the trees and taking away the magic that I had been looking for. It was meant to be another sunny day – for me, the best part of it was already over.

A little more than three weeks after our return from our trip to Australia and New Zealand I am finally posting the first photo of the day that was taken down under – and what could be better suited than one of the most iconic views in Australia – in a truly spectacular moment.

There is probably no need to introduce the subject of the photograph. We had arrived in Sydney on February 20 early in the morning and were desperate for a bed and a shower after such a long flight from Frankfurt. After checking in at the hotel and relaxing a little, we started off on foot and walked around the city of Sydney in order to breathe in the vibe of one of the most fascinating cities on this planet. The weather was perfect – almost too hot – and a nice change from the cold winter back home.

In the evening, we left the hotel and headed for a spot near the Botanic Gardens, which offers an amazing view of the entire harbor. We got there about 2 hours before sunset, and immediately I was amazed by the view. The clouds were rolling through the sky and adding a great sense of drama to the entire scene. I started shooting and realized that the sensor of my main camera was covered with a hair despite a recent cleaning by Canon. What a mess! Using the built-in cleaning did not help, and I did not want to do the manual cleaning out in the open. Luckily, my backup camera was fine, and so I started using this one.

It turned out that I was lucky having a backup with me. When the sun was going down, the clouds had moved into the scene in a perfect position and were beginning to glow with color. The cruise ship on the left was adding a nice touch to the scene, as Sydney is a famous location for cruise ships. I shot a few long exposures to calm down the water and really bring out the colors and the reflection in the water. I was not disappointed – the result blew me away.

Back in the hotel, I managed to clean the sensor of my main camera. For the next few days in Sydney, however, the setting never was as amazing as on the first evening again, so while I was able to use my main camera during the rest of the trip, I did not get a second chance to capture the most iconic view of Sydney. It pays to have a backup.

Today’s photo of the day is, in my opinion, another true gem. The shot was taken in Oregon last year on my trip through the United States. Because of the unreal colors in the hills, I named the photograph “Otherworldy” – to me, this place could easily be on another planet.

The shot was taken in a remote location in Oregon called John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Located within the John Day River Basin, it is well known for its well preserved record of fossil plants and animals. The Painted Hills unit, one of the three units that the monument consists of, is about 90 miles away from Bend, OR, and named for the delicately colored stratifications. These layers of rock make a perfect subject for a dramatic landscape photograph, especially when photographed under the right conditions.

I had arrived during the day to scout the location and began driving and hiking around in order to find the right spot for sunset. My intention was to capture the last light on the rocks in order to really bring out the colors. The day had been sunny with a few clouds, so I was hoping that I would be rewarded with just the right combination of blue sky and dramatic clouds.

After I had found the place that I wanted to shoot from at the end of the day, I hiked up to a nearby hill in order to get a few shots from above. Soon, however, sunset was getting closer, and I began hurrying down the hill in order to be at my chosen location in time.

I got there just at the right moment, as the sun was already descending quickly and putting the foreground in shadow. The clouds were moving in and hovering just above the colored rocks – which were glowing in an intensity that was absolutely amazing and not comparable to what I had seen during the day. I set up my tripod, took out my camera, and began shooting immediately. After a few minutes, the sun was gone, and the light show was over. Still, I had captured the shot I had come for – this really was an otherworldly experience.

Having returned from my trip to Australia and New Zealand about two weeks ago, I finally have some time to post another photo of the day. This is one of my personal favorites, shot at one of the most amazing locations in the United States – Antelope Canyon.

Antelope Canyon is a very narrow slot canyon near Page, Arizona. There are actually two separate parts, Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. While the upper part is famous for its light beams that become visible in the summer months, the lower part is narrower and offers some dramatic rock formations that look simply stunning when photographed in the right light. The trick is to use only indirect (also called reflected light) in the photographs, i.e., one should avoid any part of the canyon walls that are directly lit by the sun. Depending on the intensity of the indirect light, the canyon walls will take on all kinds of color from purple (dark areas) to yellow (bright areas). This kind of light makes it crucial to be in the right place at the right time. A certain rock formation in the canyon can look stunning in one minute and uninteresting in the next.

I wanted to photograph this particular location, which is called “Guardian Angel” by the Navajo people who own the land on which the canyon is located. The gentle curves in the canyon wall on the right as well as this incredible formation on the left (with a hole that almost resembles a heart) make this one of the most stunning places in the canyon. From earlier visits I knew that timing would be crucial. In early October, the light will directly hit the canyon walls in the back less than one hour after the canyon is open for visitors. Thus, I went early – in fact, I waited for about one hour in front of a locked gate just to make sure I would be able to go in as early as possible. When the owners finally came and opened the place, I was the first to go down the canyon. The photographer pass I got allowed me to go without a guide and spend four hours in this extremely narrow place. I went down into the canyon and immediately headed for the place that I had been wanting to photograph. When I got there, I realized I would succeed. The light had not yet hit canyon wall, and the indirect light was creating amazing colors on the walls.

I set up my tripod and mounted my panorama head, as only a very wide perspective allows to capture this shot in its entirety. I mounted my camera, adjusted the tripod, and started shooting. A long exposure is necessary in order to get photographs with low noise, and therefore I shot several frames of two seconds exposure each. While I was shooting, I felt that the result would be just what I had been coming for.

When I was done, two other photographers came, but the light had already changed and even the “heart” in the front was now hit by direct light. The shot was gone. I put away my tripod, moved further into the canyon, and felt blessed that I had been able to experience and capture this amazing moment.

It’s time for another photo of the day – I’ve been busy with preparing my next trip and celebrating my own birthday. As such, time has been rather limited in the last couple of weeks.

Most people love waterfalls on photographs – especially when they are photographed with a long shutter speed that allows the water to appear flowing while the rest of the image is still. I also tend to shoot most waterfalls this way – it gives photographs a much more magical feeling.

Today’s photo of the day is of a waterfall that is truly special. First, it is just 50 feet high, but approximately 150 feet wide. Second, the waterfalls ripple down a canyon wall and finally reach the Sacramento River, which is flowing in parallel through the canyon. And third, it is not easy to get there. I left for the falls early in the morning and had to wade through the Sacramento River and then walk along railroad tracks in a very narrow canyon for about one mile (luckily, I was able to time my departure so that I did not encounter any trains while walking).

Once I reached the falls, however, I knew that it had been worth it. Completely on my own, I watched how the roaring waters tumbled down the canyon wall and then found their destination in the river flowing underneath.

I took out my camera and started shooting for more than one hour. Not a single soul showed up during this time, but three trains went by. After some time I knew that I had gotten the shot I had come for – a close-up of the waterfall running over the moss-covered canyon wall and reaching the river. And I still love looking at it, soaking in the frozen, timeless view.