This site documents a modern RAW photography workflow built on open standards, file-based metadata and open-source tools – and the tech that makes them possible.
“The camera is only one part of the story. The real work happens in the ecosystem that surrounds it.” You may have noticed that the articles here are gradually expanding beyond Micro Four Thirds and strictly open-source photography software. That isn’t a departure from those topics. I still intend to write clearer and more in-depth... Continue Reading →
4 minutes read time "Expansion is exciting. Refinement is quieter - and often smarter." This article could just as easily have been called "which lens should I buy?" or "do I actually need an upgrade?" But really, it's one story, about my own gear, my experiences, and that familiar, slightly irrational feeling every photographer runs... Continue Reading →
Sometimes things grow quietly. My daughter Jessy recently put a small collection of her painted artworks on Printler. No announcement, no fuss, just pieces she made and decided to share. Her Printler shop sits there like a compact digital gallery. Clean layout, simple navigation, clear previews. You can choose sizes, framing options, different finishes. It’s... Continue Reading →
5 Minutes read time Restoring and Reconstructing the Scene with Metadata Exif data has always mattered to me, it's like photo's DNA. Years ago, when I opened someone else’s photo, the first thing I did was check the metadata. I still do. It always tells me something. The camera model and lens reveal the tools... Continue Reading →
Interest in RawTherapee profiles, HALD CLUTs and presets has clearly grown. I see it in the numbers, every new article, especially the more technical RawTherapee Pro pieces, brings in more subscribers and strong traffic. But the questions I receive are not only about full tutorials. Many photographers simply need practical building blocks, custom profiles, camera-based... Continue Reading →
Alright folks, RawTherapee Pro is properly underway. We started with the first tab inside Wavelets: Retinex, and that one matters. Especially for birders and wildlife photographers like me, but just as useful in macro, flowers, and anything where subtle tonal separation makes the difference between flat and alive. Below you’ll find a link to a... Continue Reading →
6 minutes tutorial - 4 minutes intro If you already have a solid idea of what Retinex does, you can skip the introduction and jump straight to the Tools, or, if patience isn’t exactly your strongest trait, just dive right in 🙂 Intro Retinex Retinex is one of those tools you notice in RawTherapee, hover... Continue Reading →
Today’s grebe is not about editing style - it’s a controlled experiment. One RAW file, three treatments. The only variable? Retinex. No drama. No cinematic exaggeration. Just a subtle shift in how local light relationships are interpreted. If you’ve ever wondered why an image can feel flatter than the scene you remember - even when... Continue Reading →
6 minutes read time RawTherapee Pro ? No - there isn’t a hidden paid edition with extra bells and whistles. RawTherapee is still exactly what it has always been: complete, open, and free. No tiers, no locked features. So far, we’ve covered the tools most people use every day, the solid foundation. Now we’re moving... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time ****** START TELEGRAM ***** ----- 1914 - BARNACK - WETZLAR - STOP -UR-LEICA - FIRST - PORTABLE - 35MM - STOP -EISENMARKT - FIELD - TEST - STOP -IT - WORKS - STOP -PHOTOGRAPHY - CHANGES - FOREVER - STOP ----- ***** END TELEGRAM ***** The photo above gives an impression... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time The Difference Between Choosing and Following Earlier this year I was contacted by M., a professional photojournalist and wedding photographer from Italy. What he told me wasn’t unusual anymore. Over the past year, several professionals have written to me - often to thank me for the tutorials - and described a... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time And this time no code, no scripts, no terminal windows - just basic photo viewers and editors everyone knows, yet still searching as if it were a database. Same destination, different route. I wrote that a short while ago, and it stuck - not because terminals or scripts are bad, but... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time I regularly get emails asking why I use Micro Four Thirds. Usually followed by a second question that’s already half an answer: isn’t full frame better? Sometimes it’s about wildlife, sometimes birds, sometimes the familiar doubt creeps in - shouldn’t I really be on APS-C or full frame if I want... Continue Reading →
Some of you who follow all my sites might think you’ve already seen this link yesterday - and you’d be right. But many readers are only subscribed here, or simply don’t know that I run three separate sites. That’s why I occasionally promote articles from TBF on my main site. There’s clearly a lot of... Continue Reading →
Intro: Ventoy is often presented as a convenient way to try Linux the easy way, and that description isn’t wrong, it’s just incomplete. In practice, Ventoy turns a single USB stick into a multi-purpose boot tool: Linux distributions, Windows installers, rescue and recovery systems, all living side by side. It’s equally useful for installing an... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time The article The Best Linux Distro for Photography in 2026? The Boring One. wasn’t written by accident. Quite a few readers had asked me over time which Linux distributions I considered the best, and more importantly, why. That article is essentially my answer to those questions. By coincidence, I also had... Continue Reading →
Linux for Photography in 2026: Skip the Hype, Choose Boring There's a question that realy keeps coming back: which Linux distribution is actually best for photography and long-term everyday use? Almost inevitably, the answers are the ones with the newest features, flashiest desktops, or loudest hype. New things are exciting, but that's also how you... Continue Reading →
