Hidden Behind the Movement

Here comes another photo from the workshop I mentioned in my previous post. It is again a natural light photo shot at a slow shutter speed. The image stabilization of my lens helped to keep the model in focus while blurring the net. I shot a few more pictures of this setup but this one I liked most. It is sharp and with a nice shape of the net. Enjoy. Camera spec: Canon 5d mark iii with Canon 70-200 L2.8 IS II at 70mm, F4.5 @ 1/40, ISO 250.

Alone with You

I have just finished editing the last wedding of the season and would like to post a nice photo of this pretty couple in the Kilde park in Aalborg downtown. This was taken at the very end of the photo session  and I asked the couple to look at each other and forget I was there.  This resulted in something I quite liked. I used only the available light. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark iii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 140mm, F4 @ 1/160, ISO 640.

Under the Blue Sky

Here is another wedding couple kissing under the blue sky. I like the image because of the little bit provoking composition where the couple and the bridge are placed far beyond the lower third of the frame with lots of negative blue space at the top. The eye is quickly attracted to the bridge and the couple due to the light contrast of the white wood and thanks to the multiple leading lines pointing towards the bridge. Camera spec: Canon 5d mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L IS at 24mm, F11 @ 1/250, ISO 100.

Colored Harmony

Let me now return to some of the weddings I photographed recently.  Today's image is one of my favorites portraits of this young couple. The posing is easy and relaxed, photographed in natural light only with nice background full of beautiful colors and the colored leaves nicely framing the couple. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 150mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 320. 

Hold me Tight

This is one of the engagement shots I did this autumn. The photo was taken with natural light only and the backlight separated the couple nicely from the green background. Compositionally, I placed the couple off center to create a dynamic portrait showing the nice background too. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 105mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 400.

Bride in Red

I am travelling these days, visiting the city of Macau. Couple of days ago I was at a famous place of St. Paul's Ruins where a wedding photography is taking a place almost constantly. I saw this beautiful bride and while the photographer was getting ready for the next shot, I smiled at her and she kindly allowed me (with her eyes) to take a photo. I really like the colors of the background and her dress, the negative space in the image and her soft expression. What I pity I didn't get her email to send her this photograph ... Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 200mm, F4 @ 1/320, ISO 2500.

Far Away and So Close

This is a photo from my recent engagement shoot. I am posting it because I like the dynamic tension in the photo created by placing the couple on the opposite sites of the image and at the same time their eye connection. The lighting was just he ambient light and the body poses add the last bit to the whole scene. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II at 95mm, F2.8 @ 1/125, ISO 800.

Pipaluk on a Ride

I took this image couple of weeks ago as a part of a series I photographed for the parents of this pretty young girl from Greenland. As usual, the setup was easy. I found a green background without a direct sunlight and placed the girl further away from it so that the long focal length and F3.2 made the background completely blurred. Unfortunately, the position of the girl let some direct sun beams hit her face and T-shirt, so I asked someone to hold a larger silver-black reflector between the sun and the girl, with the black side facing her. This created a very nice and soft light on her face with some catch-lights created by reflections from the nearby buildings. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II at 200mm, F3.2 @ 1/400, ISO 400.

Happy Family

Many weeks have passed without me blogging any new photo. I took many photos I would like to share in the meantime, there was just not enough time during this busy period for me. Anyway, it seems that things calmed down again and I hope to continue my regular blogging frequency. Today I post one of the very recent family portraits I took. I like to use off-camera flash but this photo is just a natural light. The main reason being that when photographing children, I like to keep my setup as simple as possible. I simply positioned the family under a tree with the sun behind them and made sure that there was a nice pleasing background behind them, preferably without any areas directly lit by the sun. Then it was just the question to entrain the family and press the shutter at the right moment. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 400.

Pull her Down

The wedding season is starting here in Denmark and a few days ago I shot my first engagement session this year. I had a beautiful couple to work with and we were even lucky to get a sunny and a relatively warm day. When scouting the locations, I found this older building with nice yellow walls with a dominant corner. I though it could be fun to separate the couple by this corner. To increase the dynamics, I placed the corner edge to about 1/3 from the left. Then I asked the couple to connect their hands and look at each other. The final point was to get the right expression, so a simple request "pull her down" took care of the rest. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 155mm, F5.0 @ 1/160, ISO 320.

Lonely Trees

I am visiting High Tatra mountains in the Slovak Republic this week and today I had a walk nearby the town of Stary Smokovec. I took three photos of the lonely landscape with a few alone-standing trees and stitched them together using Hugin. It was a foggy day so the mountains in the background are not visible, but I think that it only adds to the loneliness feeling in this image. Most of the trees where taken down by a storm about six years ago and it will take many more years before the nature restores the landscape to its original beauty. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Tokina 11-16 2.8 at 11mm, F9 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

Winter Lines

Today we were downtown in Aalborg and I took this portrait. Not that many days ago I was walking through this place and saw the lines of trees without any leafs. I immediately knew what kind of image I want to take here, so today I made it. I love the leading lines, all pointing towards my subject and the shallow depth of field. Also the colors, though not that typical for winter, are very harmonic. Even though I had my off-camera flash equipment with me, I didn't need it. This is a pure natural light portrait. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 200mm, F2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

One of Many

Today evening I was browsing though some of my images and this one brought my attention. It was taken only a few months ago at the local ZOO and I really like the repeating pattern of the orchid (at least I assume it is an orchid). Also the colors looked nice but I could not remember what lens I took it with ... only after examining the EXIF I realized that it was taken with my pocket camera Powershot S90! Camera spec: Canon Powershot S90 at 6mm, F2.0 @ 1/1000, ISO 80.

Elegant Body Lines

Today I am presenting another photo from the fashion show last Thursday. What I like about this one are the nice lines in the body of the model combined with the warm a saturated light atmosphere. As in the previous post, the high ISO capabilities of my camera in combination with 2.8 telephoto lens saved the shot. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 200mm, F2.8 @ 1/250, ISO 3200.

Friis Fashion

Yesterday I visited a fashion show in Nordkraft, downtown of Aalborg. The show was organized by the fashion shops in the newly build shopping center Friis and was attended by many local citizens. Unfortunately, the lighting of the catwalk was not ideal at all. At the last stop the models were standing in almost a complete dark. What a pity. Anyway, I managed to get a few interesting shots. The one I present today focuses on the detail of the dress and what I think makes in interesting is the tension in the photo. Human eye normal expects to see warmer colors in a closer distance and colder colors little bit further away. Placing objects in the scene to follow this rule allows to create a feel of depth in the photo. In today's post the colors are placed in the opposite; warmer further away and colder on the main model. I really like the drama this trick allows to create. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 200mm, F2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 1600.

Musician from KL

I found recently this photo in my Lightroom catalog and I really liked it. It is shot in a very low light situation with the excellent Tokina lens at F2.8 and at high ISO 1600. Lightroom 3 did a good job in reducing the noise and I also like the long exposition time which made the hands of the musician (from a local band in Kuala Lumpur) very blurred, emphasizing the motion and the dynamics. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Tokina 11-16 2.8 at 16mm, F2.8 @ 1/20, ISO 1600.

Orange and Blue

Another photo from Aalborg Carnival that I like to present today is called Orange and Blue. The position of the dancer is more out of the center creating a more dynamic composition. What makes the photo interesting in my eyes is the contrast between the warm orange background and the cold blue dress of the dancer. The light is a pure ambient as in the photo below. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/400, ISO 500.

Screem for Joy

Today I am posting my favourite photo from Aalborg Carnival and the battle of carnival bands. The show took place in an open stage which was lit by excellent tungsten light spots, so there was no need for any flash. I really like the energy in the photo which shows how the dancers of the Vimoroz group enjoy their show. What adds to the photo is the background, which is evenly populated with relevant objects related to the show with the light spots at the top of the frame. I love this image. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/500, ISO 400.

Who Is There?

I took this image while walking in the city of Brno this summer. There was a wedding shoot taking place and a wedding photographer was doing well her job. The couple was posed behind a pillar and I though that the view I got from my position was worth capturing too. Luckily I had my long lens on my camera, so I could get the shot without anybody noticing me. I love the image, it is full of expectations ... and trust me, the bride was gorgeous. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 200mm, F4 @ 1/500, ISO 200.

Innocent Blue

Natural light coming from the right direction on a cloudy day is hard to beat. It creates almost shadowless portraits like the one on the image posted today. My model Marietta provided this very strong look with innocent but determined accent. It was my favourite photo from the shoot. I hope you will enjoy it too, just make sure to click on the photo to see it in larger format. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 155mm, F4.5 @ 1/160, ISO 200.