Aalborg Garden II

Let me post today one more image related to Aalborg Garden band mention in my previous post. Again, a simple lighting setup with one main light with a softbox and a reflector. I like the shape of the body and the nice "formal" look of the photo. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II at 80mm, F10 @ 1/160, ISO 200.

Aalborg Garden

Today I am posting an image I took a few weeks ago. The young gentleman joined a band called Aalborg Garden and wished to have a nice photo in his new uniform. The lighting was provided in my home studio with one light and Westcott softbox on camera right, reflector on camera left and a Canon 580EX II speedlite right behind him. I guess we got a rather very nice result. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II at 75mm, F10 @ 1/160, ISO 200.

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.

Soft Connection

This is another of my favourite engagement shots. It was taken in a beautiful place called Rebil Bakker on a hot sunny day. I placed the couple in a shadow of a large tree with some spot highlights on her hair and his shoulder. The background was much brighter which created a nice high-key effect with the tree branches at the top creating a natural burning effect. I also like the connection of the couple, all in all, I was very happy about this image. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F4 at 84mm, F4 @ 1/500, ISO 200.

Some Time Ago ...

When talking about engagement photos, this is another one I took at a local company Akvavit in Aalborg, producing the famous alcohol products. It was taken in a big production hall where the alcohol is stored in large barrels like the one in the background. The lighting was provided by my shoot-through umbrella to camera left and filled by the on-camera flash bounced against another metal barrel to camera right. I asked the couple to bend forward and made some joke to get the expression I wanted. The sepia toning only adds to the old days feeling of the image. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 58mm, F5.6 @ 1/80, ISO 400.

Playing on the Beach

Today I continue with another photo from the engagement shoot. This time I simply asked the couple to walk on the beach and make some fun with each other. It is often quite relaxing for the couple as they can have some time together without thinking too much about me and my camera. This image is also a good exercise on the basic composition rules of thirds. The horizon line is precisely in the upper one third of the image and the couple is positioned in the intersection of the right vertical and horizontal third. It is also important that the couple is moving into the image and not out of it. All together, I like the photo a lot. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 25-105 4L at 24mm, F13 @ 1/160, ISO 100.

A Kiss in the Sand

The winter has been lasting little bit too long here in Denmark, so I think it is the right time to remind some of the summer days that are hopefully coming again very soon. Today I have chosen one of my favorite photos from last year. It was an engagement shoot on a hot sunny day at a nice beach at Blokhus and I like how the couple relaxed and forgot completely about me being at the place too. I composed the photo in the way that the foreground shows pieces of grass which adds to the depth of the photo and provides a natural framing of the image. I also preferred the final photo in sepia with an extra vignette. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 45mm, F9 @ 1/400, ISO 100.

Grandma, Daughter and Mom

A few months ago I was asked to take a quick portrait of a daughter, mother and grandmother in a restaurant while visiting Czech Republic. I had no extra lighting equipment except for my on-camera flash. So I found a piece of white wall, posted the family tightly together and bounced the flash over my right shoulder against the ceiling, with the wide angle diffuser on. This created very pleasant soft light source, even if the ceiling was very low. The final step was to get the right expressions on their faces and to take the photo. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 70mm, F4 @ 1/125, ISO 800.

Ready to Serve

Today I am posting another photo from Hotel Hvide Hus and its restaurant on the 15th floor. I had to balance the outside light conditions with the interior lighting. This was achieved by two speedlites 580EX II. One to camera left with a shoot-through umbrella and another one bounced off the ceiling on camera right. I used tripod this time as I had to carefully adjust the positions of the camera and the lights in order to avoid reflections on the glass behind the waiter. This was little bit tricky but once I was ready and happy with the result, I simply asked to waiter to step in and took this photograph. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 28mm, F6.3 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

Wine at 15th Floor

I was recently shooting some photos at the Hotel Hvide Hus for their web-pages and other propagation material. The hotel is probably the highest one in Aalborg and there is a beautiful restaurant at the 15th floor with view over the city center of Aalborg. The photo in today's post was light by shoot-through umbrella with Speedlite 580EX II high to camera left and another 580EX II at camera right bounced off the ceiling for fill. Both flashes had to be carefully positioned to avoid reflections in the glass window. I used the new Pocket Wizards with AC3 Zone Controller for quick manual adjustment of power right from the camera. The image was cropped in the way to point to the bottle of wine while showing the beautiful skyline of the city of Aalborg at the background. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 50.

Color Depth

Another image from the yesterday's wedding fashion show. This time it is not a bride but a "guest" with a very nice social dress. I chose this photo because I like the colors in the scene. The blue background and the warm tones on the model and her dress really add to the depth of field as human eye expects to see warmer colors closer and colder colors further away. I tilted the photo slightly so that the lines at the background are not vertical and the photo has more dynamics. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS II at 115mm, F3.2 @ 1/250, ISO 1600.

Bride Fashion

I have visited today the so-called Bryllupsmesse in Aalborg (Wedding Trade Show). Lots of inspiration for wedding dresses, music, photography ... it is clear that the wedding season 2011 is starting soon! There was a small fashion show there too where I was taking some photos. The background behind the catwalk was not very attractive so I moved myself to the side where I saw some blue lights at the background and this was one of the photos that I took. I like its simplicity, rim lighting and nice triangular shape of the wedding gown. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 125mm, F3.5 @ 1/120, ISO 1600.

Aalbog Skyline

Let me finish the series of panoramas I was posting recently with the one from my home town of Aalborg. It was taken from the 15th floor of the Hvide Hus Hotel. It is created from 9 vertical shots in the full resolution of the 5D mark ii, resulting in a huge resolution where the long edge has more than 15000 pixels and the JPG file at 95% compression has about 45 MB. It is impressive how much detail 5D mark ii can record. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 45mm, F8 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

Panorama of High Tatras

Yesterday early morning when leaving the mountains of High Tatra in Slovak Republic we stopped in the nearby city of Poprad and at that moment we got a magnificent view over the mountains. I quickly grabbed my camera and took six vertical shots that I later on stitched together using the software Hugin that I mentioned also in my previous post. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Canon 60mm EF-S macro, F7.1 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

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.

Young Talent

During the weekend here is Aalborg, there was a big festival of starting music bands with some young star performers like the one on today's post. I like the composition and colors of the photo. Given the high ISO, there was very little noise in this photo and the combo of 5D mark ii with 70-200 2.8 really rocks at such situations. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 200mm, F2.8 @ 1/250, ISO 3200.

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.

FotoXtra New Website

Today I am not posting any image with technical explanation, I would simply like to let you know about a new design of my website www.fotoxtra.dk, focusing mainly on wedding and portrait photography. You are welcome to take a look. Even though it is in Danish, there are many photos in my portfolio. Any comments are welcome. Cheers, Jiri

Boxing Vikings

This weekend I attended the Viking Box Cup 2011 boxing competition here in Aalborg. It is not that often I shoot sport but from time to time I like to photograph something new and challenging. And this even was indeed challenging. The light was pretty bad and weak. Essentially typical gym lights high at the ceiling without anything else. I had to push my equipment to the limits this time. Nevertheless, shooting at ISO 6400 and having only 1/200 shutter speed still resulted in a few sharp and decent images. You can see more photos here. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 200mm, F2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 6400.

Quick Family Portrait

We were having a family celebration this Monday where I took a portrait of the young family featured in today's post. I like to be challenged by the environment that I don't know beforehand. It is a good practice in finding good backgrounds and angles. Normally, I would not place the family at the exact center but thanks to the simplicity of the scene and a dominant decoration at the top of the frame, I think it works very well in this particular image. The almost shadowless lighting was achieved by bouncing the on-camera flash backwards against the ceiling. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L USM at 32mm, F4 @ 1/125, ISO 800.

On-Location Portrait

Today I am posting another portrait I took a few days ago. While traveling light with only two flashes, I could still achieve a studio quality portrait. The main light was my 580EX II with shoot-through umbrella to camera left and I placed a white towel to camera right to soften the shadows. The background light was done by the small 430EX II placed behind my subject. No color filter was needed as the wall was actually red/purple, so the effect came for free. I also like the expression of the model and the connection in her eyes. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 at 93mm, F5.6 @ 1/125, ISO 160.

X-mas Smile

X-mas is coming soon and while visiting my parents in the city of Trebic in Czech Republic, I had the opportunity to photograph this cute little girl. It took some time before she got comfortable with the camera but then the images looked great. I used my portable light studio, a speedlite 580EX II with a shoot-through umbrella and a small 430EX behind the subject for the illumination of the background. I was experimenting with Pocket Wizard zone controller to remotely adjust the flash power and it worked like a dream. It seems that this will become my standard on-location equipment. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 105mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

A Safe Place

Today I am posting an image of a few months old baby in the arms of her father. I like how the baby was exploring the surroundings (and me with my camera) from a very safe place close to her father. Lighting was provided by a studio strobe on camera right with a silver reflector to fill in the shadows and a small Canon speedlite 580EX II with a diffuser is placed behind the baby to illuminate the background and create a subtle rim light. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 135mm, F16 @ 1/125, ISO 200.

Baby on the Way

I like this photo where the couple hold the belly and they look at each other. It is simply the connection between them which works for me. Lighting was provided with my studio lights with an umbrella softbox as the key light and a silver reflector for fill. The white background is lighten just by one studio light where feathering is used to make sure that the light spreads equally on the background. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 88mm, F8 @ 1/125, ISO 100.

Relaxed and Smiling

Here is my favourite photo from a recent photo session in my home studio. I like the relaxed expression of the happy couple. The white shirts and high-key background make the image very simple, focusing all the attention of their faces. The photo was edited in Lightroom 3 and I was very happy about the result. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 95mm, F11 @ 1/125, ISO 200.

Happy, happy ...

Here is another image I took a few days ago. This happy smiling baby really shines on this photo. Apart from this, there are a few things that make the photo interesting. I placed the head slightly off the center and was waiting for the moment when the eyes look towards left (to the center of the photo) to restore the dynamic balance. Also the head position is not following the axis of the shoulders, something I often try to achieve when photographing adults. Here no posing took place, simply waiting for the right moment while entertaining the baby in the mean time. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 115mm, F11 @ 1/160, ISO 200.

Curious Eyes

I was photographing kids over the past weekend and this is one of my favourite photos from one of the session. I like the happy look of the girl and the smile on her face. This is for me the main challenge when photographing kids --- to make them relax and forget about them being photographed. Otherwise the light setup is pretty easy, main light through a softbox to camera right (creating a broad lighting pattern on her face) and reflector on the left. Behind the girl there was one Speedlite 580 EX II with a diffuser lighting the gray collapsible background. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 200mm, F14 @ 1/125, ISO 200.

Dynamic and Elegant

Last week a took a photography workshop in Prague and today I am presenting one of the portraits that I like quite a bit. It is a simple one light setting with a reflector to camera right and a background light. What I think works well is the direct, confident yet soft look of the model with a less usual off-centered composition which breaks the overall softness and adds some dynamics. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 149mm, F10 @ 1/160, ISO 100.

Sunset Portrait

Today I was visiting a summer house of my parents and we experienced a beautiful sunset. I had luckily my camera with me but only a limited set of accessories (read it as one on-camera flash). I was thinking how to light the portrait of my parents and then I saw a white fishing house on the shore, moreover with relatively white wall where I directed my flash to in order to bounce the light back on the scene. Finding the right spot for my parents to stand was little bit tricky (see that attached photo with the location of the fishing house and the place where they stand) but we managed and pulled out a nice photo with great directional light. The same photo with a direct on-camera flash would be flat and artificially looking. The light coming from the right direction was the key to this more pleasing portrait where the light looks definitely natural and more attractive. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L USM at 35mm, F8 @ 1/125, ISO 800.

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.

Focus on iPad

Another photo from the fair exhibition that I like. The person is nicely separated from the background and the symmetric green bars on the sides of the frame provide a good framing. I also like motion blur at his right hand pointing at the iPad, but best thing is the light. It was a pure ambient light but at the background there were placed two bluish spots pointing exactly at the right direction and providing cool accent lights on both sides of the figure. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 70mm, F2.8 @ 1/100, ISO 2500.

I Want this Job

During this week I was ask by DES Job Fair organizers here in Aalborg to do some short photo reportage documenting the event where students from the university meet with companies in order to establish connections. Here is one of my favourite photos I took. I was working completely with ambient light only as I didn't want to disturb the atmosphere with my on-camera flash which was moreover impossible to bounce (ceiling more than 20m high) and off-camera flash would attract too much attention. I found my scene from a distance, set the camera to manual in order to have consistent exposures and then took several frames to get the right expression. On the photo above I like that it has a clear foreground and background and the main two objects in the middle are nicely separated by a shallow depth of field. This creates a feel of dimension. Shooting at ISO 2500 is absolutely no problem, after a slight noise reduction in Lightroom 3 the photos look like shot at ISO 400 on my Canon 40D. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 70mm, F3.2 @ 1/100, ISO 2500.

Life-Coaching Video

Today I am posting another video that I recorded on 5D mark ii. This time I was shooting a short introduction video for our local life-coach. The task was to create a short, friendly and relaxing introduction to her homepage www.forandringsrum.dk. It is spoken in Danish, but give it a try and let me know what do you think? When you play it in full screen, make sure you switch the full HD quality on. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L IS and 70-200 2.8 IS II lenses, Rode Stereo VideoMic with dead kitten.

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.

Bertinoro Landscape

I am visiting Italy these days and would like to post a view that I captured yesterday. It is from a small town called Bertinoro. I really enjoy the view from the town situated on a steep hill and even though I don't take many landscape photos, sometimes I just cannot resist. I like all the lines and curves in the image as well as the top of the street lamp in the right bottom corner and the feel of depth it adds to this image. The colors were, as usual, improved in Lightroom but there was no HDR used. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Canon EFS 60mm 2.8, F11 @ 1/160, ISO 100.

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.

Nordkraft

I have recently had a chance to visit an old industrial building Nordkraft in the city of Aalborg that is changing into a modern cultural and sport center. All the old brick walls and steel constructions of the old building were preserved and complemented by nowadays building materials resulting in a really interesting mixture of styles. Our guide through the building said that either you love it or hate it; nothing in between. I think he was right, it is a very impressive building worth visiting. I took several photos but the one I post today is particularly interesting thanks to the converging lines in the whole image: the lights and ceiling cooling boxes, the metal bars on the walls and the tables on the floor all point to the same point in the middle of the frame. The lighting in the room was mixed and little bit distracting, so it was quite natural to covert it to black and white. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Tokina 11-16 2.8 at 11mm, F5.6 @ 1/25, 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.

Dreamy

Here is another portrait of Katerina. I found several repeating pillars in a shade with beautiful soft light. Only ambient light was used this time, providing a very gentle look and dreamy feel. I think that the composition is also pleasing thanks to the repeating pattern and the diagonal lines achieved by slightly tilting the camera. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 90mm, F2.8 @ 1/100, ISO 200.

Three Times Framed

Another photo from the City of Brno, at the hill called Petrov, right below the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. The pillars provide an excellent shooting location. I decided to frame my model Katerina in a perfectly symmetric composition. The first frame is given by the borders of the photo, the second frame are the outside pillars and the last frame is formed by the pillars at the background. The repeating patters make the composition interesting. In order to break the symmetry, I asked my model to take a slightly asymmetric pose. Light is ambient with a rim light from the back provided by my 580EX flash. You may wonder where was the light placed. Well, I cheated little bit. As there was no way to hide it behind the model, it was actually placed on a monopod and my assistant (hiding behind the right pillar) was holding it about 3 meters behind my model. See the attached image as it came out of the camera. The stick of the monopod was then removed using the clone tool in Lightroom 3.0. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 85mm, F4 @ 1/160, ISO 200.

Centered and Dynamic

Today I am presenting a portrait of Katerina which I took during my visit in Brno, a beautiful city in the middle of Moravia in the Czech Republic. This photo is about two things. First, it is the pose of the model with many diagonal lines adding lots of dynamics. Second, it is the composition. I placed my model into the center of the frame knowing the all lines will point towards her; and see there are really many lines this time. Regarding the lighting, this is a simple one light shot with shoot-through umbrella to camera left, creating the loop lighting pattern on her face. This type of lighting works simply all the time. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 85mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

Reflections

While taking portraits of Veronika we found some rain water puddle from yesterdays' storm and I immediately though of taking some photo with reflections. I simply asked her to place one of her hands to the water, which provided a nice diagonal shape in her body and took the shot with little bit of on-camera fill-in flash. The resulting image worked best in sepia toning. I should keep in my mind to use natural reflections more often in my photography, one or two such shots are always a nice addition to the series of portraits. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 70mm, F4.5 @ 1/400, ISO 100.

Flower Romance

Here is another simple portrait of Veronika. Using F4.5 at 200m blurred nicely the background, allowing my model to pop out. It is important for portrait photography that hands look natural, which is most easily achieved by occupying them with something, in this case by holding the flowers. I only asked my model to place the elbows further away from the body so that there is some air between the body and the arms, making the figure visually slimmer. I used on-camera fill flash. As I shoot mostly in manual and the image was taken shortly after the jump below, I forgot to change the settings. Normally, I would go for 1/500s at ISO 100. Nevertheless, the expression after the funny jumps was more important for me because if I was fiddling with the camera settings, she could get quickly tired and lose the expression. All over, I think that the final result is pretty pleasing. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 200mm, F4.5 @ 1/1000, ISO 200.

Jumping for Joy

A few days ago I had the change to photograph an 8 years old model Veronika. I found out that in order to relax the atmosphere when photographing children, asking them to jump often brings lots of fun and more natural expression in their faces. I set my camera to manual at 1/1000s in order to eliminate the motion blur, added little bit of on-camera fill-in flash, decided on my composition (note the leading lines pointing towards her and the larger tree on the left balancing out the image), asked her to jump and pressed the shutter release. I enjoy the result a lot. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 85mm, F4.5 @ 1/1000, ISO 200.

Summer in BW

Let me post today a landscape photo from nearby a small village Valdikov located in the Czech Republic. I was thinking about the composition when making the image. First of all, the rule of thirds was applied such that the horizon is where the upper two thirds meet and the small white fishing house is located also where the vertical thirds meet. There are moreover several lines leading towards this small house (note for example the branch starting the the lower right corner and extending towards the house, followed by the shadows in the water). Finally, the whole picture is framed using the branches of the trees in the foreground. The image was converted to BW in Lightroom 3. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 24mm, F16 @ 1/60, ISO 200.

Atelier Portrait

I had recently a change to photograph Marietta in the atelier of a Czech painter Frantisek Hanacek. The atelier was full of great paintings and in this portrait of Marietta I have chosen to show only a fraction of the paintings at the background, hinting at the place where the portrait was taken but not distracting the attention from the main object. The light was provided as usual by my 580EX II speedlite with shoot-through umbrella to camera right, defining a beautiful mask of her face via a loop lighting pattern. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 105mm, F5.6 @ 1/125, ISO 400.