... it all started more than 40 years ago with an Adox and a Gossen exposure meter. The photographic foundation was laid and was steadily expanded from then on. My first SLR experiences were with the Edixa TTL and an Asahi Pentax ES-II™©. I gained my first SLR experience with the Edixa TTL and an Asahi Pentax ES-II. Darkroom and print shop internships, the latter at "Druck und Papier GmbH Schuffelen" in Cologne, quickly awakened my interest in the context of various output media back in the days of analog photography.
Business management studies, including a focus on IT data processing, led me full-time to client/server development in an IT department. The experience I gained over the years also proved very helpful in photography, as IT skills became increasingly important with the advent of photographic digitization. Ultimately, this combination - but also Dieter Riecke's many years of analogue picture agency activities as the initiator of the riwodot.de idea - led to the launch of professionalized picture agency activities as well as profiling, scanning and printing services in May 2005, on which riwodot.de was founded. Since 2013, the focus was on the picture agency activities, as well as color management profiling services.
Pigment inkjet print services - a focus of offerings until 2012 - were only offered on demand, up to a maximum of 24 Inch. Commercial business operations were discontinued as of December 31, 2014. By popular request, the domain riwodot.de, since 01.08.2015, within the framework of a "non-registered association" cost-covering further operated. The association name is analogous riwodot.de n.e.V.. The goals of the n.e.V. are described in the statutes. Analog 35mm film and medium format photography - mainly on slides - were the technical focus of my photographic work in the film days and still form the basis of the potential picture agency portfolio. Systems from Contax, Minolta, Nikon, Zenza Bronica, Hasselblad and Mamiya were primarily used. With the switch to digital photography, this picture archive was further built up by an extensive pool of original digital photos. In addition to the stock photo agency portfolio, which continues to expand, color management and profiling services remain the focus of my association work.
Stock photography in the areas of historic automobiles, documentary photography with a focus on Germany, landscape and still life, as well as "fine art photography & print" are, along with color management, the core of my association work.
In the first digital years I first worked with a Canon EOS 10D, then intensively with the Olympus Fourthirds system, which at the time, however, was not developed further in the desired scope and thus did not represent a real perspective. Subsequently, various DSLR and DSLM systems (microFourthirds to digital Medium Format) were used.
Current Systems:
Sony alpha FE System
The Sony alpha FE system allows me to capture my entire spectrum - from sports photography to fine art landscape and urban photography - in the best possible way. It also meets my requirements for portability in terms of compactness and weight, which has become increasingly important to me over the years.
OM System
In addition to Sony, the OM System is primarily used for macro and infrared photography.
Apple
In addition, an iPhone 14 Pro is always useful, especially if you don't have a system camera with you.
Our color management process is supported by Datacolor Spyder and Calibrite Studio technology.
In slide and negative film medium and 35mm format, Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED, Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED, and to date an Epson V750 Pro scanner have been used for digitization until 2020. However, the digitization of analog film material has been done additively with the Sony a7rV (ILCE-7RM5) and the Sony G 2.8/90mm OSS Macro lens, since 2024.
In "FineArt Print" I relied until the end of 2012 on the HP Designjet z3100-24 with pigmented HP Vivera inks. At the end of 2012, I switched to an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 with UltraChrome K3 inks. This was used until 2020. Since 2022, the Epson SC-P700 with UltraChrome Pro10 inks has been used for our 13" prints. Preferred FineArt papers are; Sihl Masterclass Satin Baryta Paper 295, MOAB Entrada Rag Natural, Photolux Professional Matte 230, Tecco BTS300 Baryt Satin and Hahnemühle Photo Rag Satin.
Oliver Ritter-Wolff
Honorary Chairmen (posthumous):
... for over 50 years photography with heart and soul, 35mm and medium format.
From portraits to long-distance travel motifs, diving and underwater photography, airplanes and historic sports cars. Everything that inspires me, where the subject and light is right. This results in an extensive and high-quality image archive. Cooperation with well-known stock agencies and publishers like Gruner & Jahr. From schoolbooks to billboards, Europe to Africa to the USA. Photography - a part of my life.
Various diving trips, as a member of the "German Underwater Club Darmstadt (DUC)" (history), with over- and underwater photography led me in the 60s to 80s, among others, to Israel, Egypt, Kenya and the Bahamas, when the underwater paradises of that time were not yet overrun by mass diving. In the context of the DUC, he participated in the development and testing of underwater housings for cameras.
Several photo trips to the USA, to California, Arizona, Utah and Florida, as well as several times to New York City made it possible for me to photographically document the fantastic landscapes and cities.
On two African trips to Kenya I had the opportunity to get to know the Indian Ocean, the endless expanses of the Serengeti and the Massai Mara - with their incomparable wildlife. Another Africa trip to Namibia took me to the regions inhabited by the Himba people.
In Europe, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and many other European countries and cities were visited on various photo and sailing trips.
I have been doing editorial sports photography since the 1970s in the context of motor sports and air show events, so that an extensive picture archive has developed in this segment alone.
The technical basis of my photographic work over the "film" decades were various systems from Nikon (FE2, F2, F3 HP), Canon (T90), Minolta (Dynax 7000i, Dynax 9000), Leica (R4/R4s, M6), Rollei (2.8GX, 3.5F), Zenza Bronica (SQ-Ai), Mamiya (M6) and Hasselblad (503CXi).
Since 2009, I have been working exclusively with the Leica M (M8), as well as the Sony Alpha (a850) system, which is based on the Minolta-AF SLR-System I used and appreciated back in my slide and film days. Previously, systems from Canon (EOS 5D), Olympus (E-300, E-500) and Samsung (GX-10) were in use.
In medium format scanning, I use the Epson V750 Pro for digitizing.
Dieter Riecke
(† 20.11.2010)
Business management studies, including a focus on IT data processing, led me full-time to client/server development in an IT department. The experience I gained over the years also proved very helpful in photography, as IT skills became increasingly important with the advent of photographic digitization. Ultimately, this combination - but also Dieter Riecke's many years of analogue picture agency activities as the initiator of the riwodot.de idea - led to the launch of professionalized picture agency activities as well as profiling, scanning and printing services in May 2005, on which riwodot.de was founded. Since 2013, the focus was on the picture agency activities, as well as color management profiling services.
Pigment inkjet print services - a focus of offerings until 2012 - were only offered on demand, up to a maximum of 24 Inch. Commercial business operations were discontinued as of December 31, 2014. By popular request, the domain riwodot.de, since 01.08.2015, within the framework of a "non-registered association" cost-covering further operated. The association name is analogous riwodot.de n.e.V.. The goals of the n.e.V. are described in the statutes. Analog 35mm film and medium format photography - mainly on slides - were the technical focus of my photographic work in the film days and still form the basis of the potential picture agency portfolio. Systems from Contax, Minolta, Nikon, Zenza Bronica, Hasselblad and Mamiya were primarily used. With the switch to digital photography, this picture archive was further built up by an extensive pool of original digital photos. In addition to the stock photo agency portfolio, which continues to expand, color management and profiling services remain the focus of my association work.
Stock photography in the areas of historic automobiles, documentary photography with a focus on Germany, landscape and still life, as well as "fine art photography & print" are, along with color management, the core of my association work.
In the first digital years I first worked with a Canon EOS 10D, then intensively with the Olympus Fourthirds system, which at the time, however, was not developed further in the desired scope and thus did not represent a real perspective. Subsequently, various DSLR and DSLM systems (microFourthirds to digital Medium Format) were used.
Current Systems:
Sony alpha FE System
The Sony alpha FE system allows me to capture my entire spectrum - from sports photography to fine art landscape and urban photography - in the best possible way. It also meets my requirements for portability in terms of compactness and weight, which has become increasingly important to me over the years.
OM System
In addition to Sony, the OM System is primarily used for macro and infrared photography.
Apple
In addition, an iPhone 14 Pro is always useful, especially if you don't have a system camera with you.
Our color management process is supported by Datacolor Spyder and Calibrite Studio technology.
In slide and negative film medium and 35mm format, Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED, Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED, and to date an Epson V750 Pro scanner have been used for digitization until 2020. However, the digitization of analog film material has been done additively with the Sony a7rV (ILCE-7RM5) and the Sony G 2.8/90mm OSS Macro lens, since 2024.
In "FineArt Print" I relied until the end of 2012 on the HP Designjet z3100-24 with pigmented HP Vivera inks. At the end of 2012, I switched to an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 with UltraChrome K3 inks. This was used until 2020. Since 2022, the Epson SC-P700 with UltraChrome Pro10 inks has been used for our 13" prints. Preferred FineArt papers are; Sihl Masterclass Satin Baryta Paper 295, MOAB Entrada Rag Natural, Photolux Professional Matte 230, Tecco BTS300 Baryt Satin and Hahnemühle Photo Rag Satin.
Oliver Ritter-Wolff
Honorary Chairmen (posthumous):
... for over 50 years photography with heart and soul, 35mm and medium format.
From portraits to long-distance travel motifs, diving and underwater photography, airplanes and historic sports cars. Everything that inspires me, where the subject and light is right. This results in an extensive and high-quality image archive. Cooperation with well-known stock agencies and publishers like Gruner & Jahr. From schoolbooks to billboards, Europe to Africa to the USA. Photography - a part of my life.
Various diving trips, as a member of the "German Underwater Club Darmstadt (DUC)" (history), with over- and underwater photography led me in the 60s to 80s, among others, to Israel, Egypt, Kenya and the Bahamas, when the underwater paradises of that time were not yet overrun by mass diving. In the context of the DUC, he participated in the development and testing of underwater housings for cameras.
Several photo trips to the USA, to California, Arizona, Utah and Florida, as well as several times to New York City made it possible for me to photographically document the fantastic landscapes and cities.
On two African trips to Kenya I had the opportunity to get to know the Indian Ocean, the endless expanses of the Serengeti and the Massai Mara - with their incomparable wildlife. Another Africa trip to Namibia took me to the regions inhabited by the Himba people.
In Europe, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and many other European countries and cities were visited on various photo and sailing trips.
I have been doing editorial sports photography since the 1970s in the context of motor sports and air show events, so that an extensive picture archive has developed in this segment alone.
The technical basis of my photographic work over the "film" decades were various systems from Nikon (FE2, F2, F3 HP), Canon (T90), Minolta (Dynax 7000i, Dynax 9000), Leica (R4/R4s, M6), Rollei (2.8GX, 3.5F), Zenza Bronica (SQ-Ai), Mamiya (M6) and Hasselblad (503CXi).
Since 2009, I have been working exclusively with the Leica M (M8), as well as the Sony Alpha (a850) system, which is based on the Minolta-AF SLR-System I used and appreciated back in my slide and film days. Previously, systems from Canon (EOS 5D), Olympus (E-300, E-500) and Samsung (GX-10) were in use.
In medium format scanning, I use the Epson V750 Pro for digitizing.
Dieter Riecke
(† 20.11.2010)
