What's That?

Today I was on a photo-trip with a friend of mine and again, I have hardly ever taken my Lensbaby Composer off my camera!!! This shot is the one I liked most thanks to the composition and the nice cold colors. The photo was not manipulated in any way, I only added little bit of contrast and vibrance in Lightroom, that was it. Love this lens! Can you guess what is on the picture? Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Lensbaby Composer at 50mm, F5,6 @ 1/320, ISO 100.

Edgy

The more I play with my new Lensbaby Composer, the more I like it. The focusing is still quite tricky; I have become better in manual focusing on closer subjects, however, at longer distances using the life-view option works better for me. The photo above I took today during a short walk and I am amazed to see what possibilities this lens offers. It stays constantly on my camera these days. What I like probably most is that it forces me to think hard before taking a picture and manual focusing helps to slow me down. Today's photo was enhanced in Lightroom, I simply used the preset PH Edgy Church and adjusted little bit the curves afterwards. I think that it adds quite some artistic mood to the selective focus and I am happy about the final result. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Lensbaby Composer at 50mm, F5.6 @ 1/100, ISO 640.

Merry Christmas

Yesterday I have got a new toy: a selective focus Lensbaby Composer. This is one of the very first pictures I have taken with it. I am surprised to see how sharp this lens is! Take a look at 100% crop from the area in focus. It is pretty amazing but also quite tricky to achieve a good focus with this lens (manual focusing is the only option here). I am looking forward to more experiments with this new piece of equipment. I have a feeling that it has quite some potential. By the way the lighting was achieved by my on-camera flash pointed to the wall on my left. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Lensbaby Composer at 50mm, F5.6 @ 1/30, ISO 800.

Tropical Island

I am now safely back in Europe and when browsing through the photos I took in Rio de Janeiro, this one kept popping up. I like the colors and the simplicity of this tiny tropical island. Good bye Rio! Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 50mm, F9 @ 1/400, ISO 200.

Santa Teresa View

Today I had a walk up to the Santa Teresa hill in Rio de Janeiro and photographed this stunning panorama. It was raining the whole day but luckily the sky cleared up little bit in the evening so that I could make six expositions that were stitched together in Hudin. I like the result also thanks to the composition: the panorama is bounded from both sides by the green and the U shape of the trees in the foreground does not allow the viewer's eyes to escape. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 28mm, F8 @ 1/100, ISO 200.

Sugar Loaf Panorama

Yesterday I decided to try a panorama photo of Sugar Loaf. I stichted together 7 expositions of vertical photos in Hugein. All expositions were in the manual mode and with manual focus. Hugein works flawlessly and the final result is very nice panorama photo. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Tokina 11-16 2,8 at 11mm, F11 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

A Tropical Paradise

Today I am blogging a photo I took two days ago after my arrival to Rio de Janeiro. The photo is taken from the top floor of the Military Institute of Engineering (IME) on a foggy day (unfortunately it has been raining cats and dogs since we arrived to Rio). I really like how the palmtrees are displayed over the ocean surface, giving it a nice contrast, complemented by the background hills partly covered in fog. The picture was enhanced in Lightroom, in particular I missed some element in the right-hand top corner, so I cloned there the three birds that add a final touch to the photo. In fact the original bird was at some other place on the photo, so I simply moved it to another position using the clone tool and replicated it tree times (see the original photo here). I think that the final result is very pleasing. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3.5-3.5 USM at 38mm, F8 @ 1/250, ISO 200.

Look at You

Here is another photo I have recently taken close by to the shot on the previous post. The girl was lit from the right by Canon 580 EX with 1/4 CTO through an umbrella. I think that the photo worked best in sepia toning. Note the two repeated S-curves at the background that help to bring the attention to the girl and make the photo more interesting. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 98mm, F5.6 @ 1/250, ISO 200.

A Man with Confidence

This is a recent portrait that I have taken on Saturday morning last weekend. The sun was just showing up so I placed my subject in the direction that created a nice loop lighting pattern on his face and used the negative space on the left to add drama to the photo. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 73mm, F5.6 @ 1/640, ISO 100.

A Girl with Roses

This photo I took with three studio lamps (two for the background and one key light with a softbox). I wanted to create a soft and eye pleasing portrait of this pretty lady with roses in the foreground. The photo was converted to black and white in Lightroom and the clarity slider was pulled quite a bit to the left to smoothen the skin. The details in the eyelashes and her mouth where brought back with a selective sharpening tool and by increasing slightly the contrast. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 105mm, F11 @ 1/125, ISO 100.

Foggy Stuttgart

Talking about landscape photos, whenever browsing through my pictures, this particular scene always pops out somehow. I took it in 2005 in Stuttgart near the university campus on a foggy evening during a nice sunset. The cool color toning contrasts nicely with the orange sky and gives it a moody atmosphere. A longer lens at 70mm (or rather 112mm on 20D body with 1.6 crop factor) allowed me to pick up the interesting part of the scene without any disturbing elements. I wish I had with me a tripod that time but still the result looked very fine in my eyes. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 70-200 F4 USM at 70mm, F4 @ 1/800, ISO 800.

Taj Mahal at Sunrise

Well, here is another photo of Taj Mahal in India, one of the side buildings, taken during the sunrise. I like the colors and the simplicity of the photo. Camera spec: Canon 20D with 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 80mm, F7.1 @ 1/1600, ISO 200.

Blue Sky of Macao

This is a nice photo of Macao taken a few weeks ago right after the sunset. I like the blue sky contrasting to the warm tones of the city light and the subtle reflections of the blue color on the roofs of some of the houses. The camera was placed on my Manfrotto mini-tripod, my best friend on all my travels. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 45mm, F8 @ 8s, ISO 100.

Highkey Wedding Photo

Let's take a look at how easy it is to take high-key photos with no extra equipment. Just wait for a cloudy day, position the subjects against the sky and dial up the exposition by something like +2EV or use the manual setting. No flash was used for this picture. I also think that sepia toning on this wedding photo works particularly well. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 65mm, F5.6 @ 1/125, ISO 400.

Balcony Life

Visiting Macao provides the tourist with two different views. Rich casinos and five star hotels in one part of the city and blocks of flats for ordinary Macao citizens in the other part. I definitely preferred to walk through the other, less known, part of the city and here is an example of a beautiful balcony I saw the other day. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 105mm, F5,6 @ 1/250, ISO 100.

Macao Catering

I loved walking at night through the narrow streets of Macao and observe the life of the local people. My camera was set at high ISO so that I can capture the atmosphere of the street life without any flash that would destroy the moody feeling. This was one of my favorites photos taken at a small restaurant near the harbor. I think it speaks best at sepia toning as it eliminates the otherwise busy surrounding. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 3,5-4,5 USM at 28mm, F5,6 @ 1/200, ISO 1600.

Macao Street Life

Here is one more photo of a street life, this time in Macao that I recently visited. I was walking through the narrow streets of the old city when I saw this old man sleeping with quite some interesting foreground which includes some dancing shoes. The colors were little bit manipulated in Lightroom in order to achieve a more dramatic look. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 83mm, F5.6 @ 1/100, ISO 800.

Hong Kong Rickshaw

Hong Kong is a city with many surprises, amazing places to visit and last but not least many interesting people to photograph. I quite like this photo of a riskshaw waiting for the next customer. Partly because of this awaiting expression in his face and partly because of the contrasting red and green colors filling in the negative space to his left. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 105mm, F5,6 @ 1/320, ISO 400.

Great Websites about Photography

Today I would like to post some selected sites related to photography that I follow. So here we start:

• http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/

This is the blog of David Ziser that I follow almost on a daily basis. David provides here top quality information about photography techniques, lighting, composition, business tips, photoshop/lightroom tricks. Every week a new video and a lot more. Highly recommended to take a look at and browse in the video archive. I have learned so many useful tips on these pages, thanks David!

• http://strobist.blogspot.com/

Another great site about using off-camera flash. A great source of inspiration and a must see place if you are into portable light technique using the small strobes.

• http://www.squeezethelime.com/

I really enjoy the articles and videos posted on this project page. Perhaps not updated that often as the other pages but high quality information. Do not forget the check the links to the blogs of Bert and Pieter!

• http://www.jasminestarblog.com/
• http://jeffascough.typepad.com/
• http://www.jerryghionisblog.com/

Here are a few blogs that I like to return to. Very inspiring photos. Do not forget to check also Jerry's educational videos. What an incredible energy he has, definitely worth seeing (chapter 13 is for free, don't miss it).

• http://www.interviewsbycrashtaylor.com/interviews/

If you are into wedding photography, you can read here interviews with top wedding photographers and hear what gear they use, what defines their style and other stuff.

And finally, if you are looking for some affordable gels for your little strobes, take a look here http://flashgels.co.uk/.

That's all for today, hope you have enjoyed some of these great places!

SMS Me

Here comes another photo I took during my recent trip to Hong Kong. I was passing through the streets of this amazing city and spotted this woman typing an SMS message. The lines on the right hand-side immediately caught my attention and I pressed the shutter button without being observed. I believe that this image demonstrates a strong composition as the lines bring all focus onto the woman while creating an interesting negative space at the same time. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 F at 80mm, F5,6 @ 1/250, ISO 800.

The Eyes of Love

This photo was taken about two weeks ago at a destination wedding in Macao in front of the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral. I really like how the viewers attention is drawn directly to the eyes of the bride. The couple seems very relaxed and enjoying the late afternoon after getting married. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 USM at 72mm, F5.6 @ 1/160, ISO 400.

A Wedding in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is indeed a great place to get married. I took this photo on my last trip there but unfortunately it was quite foggy so I had to use a graduated filter in Lightroom to give a punch to the skyscrapers at the background. The photo was taken with a natural only and I think that the colors play together quite well. If you plan a destination wedding in Hong Kong and need a photographer, let me know ... Camera spec: Canon 20D with Tokina 11-16/2.8 at 16mm, F11 @ 1/60, ISO 100.

Thinking of You

This photo is one of ma favorites. The light comes from the shoot-through umbrella with my old Metz 54 MZ 3 flash and 1/4 CTO gel to the camera right, providing a very nice highlight to shadow play on the right cheek. The closed eyes add to the mystery. The background was turned to BW in Lightroom to emphasize the main object. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 IS F4 at 99mm, F5,6 @ 1/20, ISO 800.

A Moment of Silence

I took this picture a few months ago and I though I would share it for today's post. It is a simple natural light portrait which emphasizes the harmony of the moment. The triangular pose formed by the positions of the hands leaning on the horizontal bar always works. To soften the shadows on her face I placed a silver reflector to camera left. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4F at 87mm, F5,6 @ 1/250, ISO 800.

Oslo Sunset

About two weeks ago we were on a ferry trip to Oslo in Norway. We were very lucky to experience a beautiful sunset scenery that I want to share with you today. The photo was slightly improved in Lightroom by increasing the vibrance and contrast little bit. Still the colors are true and pretty amazing. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 65mm, F11 @ 1/640, ISO 100.

Prague at Night

This spring I visited Prague for a few days and one late evening I noticed the beautiful play of colors at the Charles Bridge. Luckily I had my Manfrotto mini-tripod with me (well, actually I always have it with me) and took this exposure. The colors are only little bit saturated in Lightroom, otherwise this is how the photo looked when I took it. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Tokina 11-16 F2,8 at 15mm, F8 @ 6s, ISO 100.

A Portrait in Autumn Colours

Last weekend I had a very pleasant photo shoot with two kids of my wife's friend. This is one of the pictures that I liked most. The nice separation from the background was achieved by underexposing it by one stop. The light is coming from the camera left where my assistant is holding a 430EX flash with 1/4 CTO gel and a shoot-through translucent umbrella on a monopod. My Canon 5D synchonizes only up to 1/200s, however, with the new PocketWizards Flex and Mini I could actually achieve a synchronization at 1/250s, which allowed for a better background blur at F4. The young lady was very happy with the final result. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4F at 168mm, F4 @ 1/250, ISO 100.

A Small Girl in a Big World

Here is another natural light portrait which I like quite a bit. The positioning of the girl quite a bit off the center to the right (even behind the rule of thirds) adds some drama and expectation to the photo, while on the other hand the blue/violet color tones allow the viewer to calm down. Another point which I think makes the photo to pop up is its simplicity. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Sigma 50mm 1,4 at 50mm, F2,8 @ 1/160, ISO 100.

Oh my Darling ...

I really like this portrait I took in spring this year. The day was cloudy and provided very even soft lighting so it was nearly impossible to take a bad picture. The long zoom lens at F4 helped to achieve a nice blurry background attracting the attention to her eyes. The depth of field was just a few centimeters so even the eye further away is out of focus. But as long as the front eye is perfectly in focus, the photo looks very sharp. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with 70-200 4L at 172mm, F4.0 @ 1/200, ISO 200.

Running for Joy

I took this photo several years ago. I managed to get about three shots and this one was the best and the sharpest one. These little dogs can run really fast, so it is a good idea to go for the servo mode. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 at 105mm, F7.1 @ 1/200, ISO 200.

A Break Dancer

A few years ago I was visiting Stuttgart and met a bunch of very skilled break dancers performing on the street. I asked for their email and send them a few pictures I took during their performance. We exchanged a few emails and quickly agreed on a small photo session in a nearby park. This picture was one of the best thanks to the diagonal composition and the fact that all leading lines point towards the dancers face (the leg, the ground line of the right hand-side buidling, the join line between the left and right hand-side bulding). The colours were slightly enhanced in Lightroom. The photo is natural light only with a little bit on-camera flash as fill-in. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 at 30mm, F8 @ 1/125, ISO 200.

The Palace of Justice

Putrajaya in Malaysia is a great place to visit at night. There are absolutely no people at all and all buildings are lighten up. This photo of Palace of Justice was taken at around 1 am from my mini-tripod at the ground level. The symmetry of the buildings, reflections and colors were really great. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Tokina 11-16 2,8 at 12mm, F8 @ 3.2s, ISO 200.

Petronas Twin Towers

Sure, everybody has a photo of these famous twin tower buildings in Kuala Lumpur. The towers have been photographed from all possible different angles and positions. It is very hard to come up with some original composition, so I tried at least to provide a less usual angle for the shot. As I didn't have a standard size tripod so I dialed up a higher ISO and leaned by elbows against my friend's shoulder. His hands were also working as gobos to protect my Tokina 11-16 from some nasty side lights which were causing several reflections in the photo. Indeed, Tokina lens is really an amazing piece of glass but it suffers from reflections quite a lot. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Tokina 11-16 2.8 at 16mm, F5.6 @ 1/15, ISO 800.

Putrajaya Bridge at Night

Here comes another photo from my recent trip to Malaysia. It is a bridge in Putrajaya in the administrative complex of the country. We went on a night trip along side the local river (thank you our taxi driver again for the warning about snakes!) and I took several amazing night shots of buildings and bridges. I liked this one perhaps most, mainly because of the wide spectrum of colors and the buildings in the background peeking out behind the bridge construction. Camera spec: Canon 40D with 28-105 3.5-4.5 at 88mm, F8 @ 13s, ISO 100.

Tourist Map Lighting

I have just returned from a trip to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and will share some pictures I took there with you, starting with this quick portrait. We visited the telecommunication tower in Kuala Lumpur from where there is an astonishing view on the numerous skyscrapers. I was traveling light and had only my Canon 430EX II on-camera flash. The direct flash looked very ugly in this situation, no details in the object's face and numerous reflections in the glass behind. The ceiling was too high to bounce the light over my left or right shoulder as I needed to properly expose the background as well. In this situation, I would normally use my reflector to bounce my on-camera flash off. However, what to do if no reflector is available? I suggested another friend of mine to take off his T-shirt and hold it up but he (as expected) refused :-) So we were looking for something else to reflect the light off and at the end used the tourist map of Kuala Lumpur. See the attached photo of this free and highly portable reflector setup. The map was placed relatively close to the object's face and we obtained very nice directional lighting emphasizing the feel of depth in the face.

I would also like to discuss the composition of this photo. Note how the space is divided into two spaces of about the same size. On the left part of the photo are Petronas Twin Towers, nicely framed in the glass window frames. I placed my friend's face into a triangle in the right part of the photo and his right hand connects the two spaces. The uniform colors add to the harmony of the whole composition. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Tokina 11-16mm 2,8 at 16mm, F8 @ 1/250, ISO 200, Canon 430EX II on-camera flash bounced off a tourist map to the left.

Durgam Cheruvu, the Secret Lake

This landscape photo was taken in the city of Hyderabad during one my trips to India. It pictures Durgam Cheruvu, also called the secret lake. A perfect place for a small picnic. We had the pleasure to visit this lake during the sunset time, which provided perfect colors and I was lucky enough to have my Manfrotto mini tripod to allow for a 4s exposure. The photo was slightly enhanced in lightroom by adding a graduated filter for the sky and by increasing the saturation and the black point. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 at 28mm, F11 @ 4s, ISO 100.

Cowherd from India

Here comes another picture from my trip to India. We were on our way to Agra and stopped in an restaurant near the road. The place was on countryside and after our lunch I took a quick walk at the backyard and found this young man taking care of cows. He kindly agreed to pose for my camera. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3,5-4,5 at 95mm, F5,6 @ 1/400, ISO 100.

Sunrise at Taj Mahal

Let us leave the belly dance for a while now. Today I would like to show you something different. A few years ago I was traveling through India and had the pleasure to visit the famous Taj Mahal. The composition of this photo is pretty straightforward: dead centered accenting the amazing symmetry of the building. There is a slight mirror reflection in the water, I just wish I had a wider lens with me that time so that I could have come closer and get more of it. What I think is special about this particular picture compared to what most tourists get on their compact cameras is that there are no people on the photo. This was achieved first of all by getting up very early in the morning. I remember that when I asked our driver to depart from our hotel at around 4:30 am, he could not believe his ears. It was little bit foggy that day but the first sun beams offered some beautiful, nontraditional colors. Still, there were a few people left on the photo (it is virtually impossible to be alone in a place like this) which I could quickly remove in lightroom using the clone tool. Camera spec: Canon 20D with 28-105 3.5-4.5 at 28mm, F8 @ 1/200, ISO 200.

Can You Feel the Movement?

Finally let me post one more picture closing the belly dance photo session I was writing about recently. This time the image was taken without any flash in order to achieve the motion blur. I really like the play of colors and the feel of movement. These pictures are easy to take and often provide very attractive add-ons to a photo reportage. Just dial on some slow shutter speed (1/4 to 1/10 second works best for me) and wait for the right moment when the dancers start to move, rotate or jump. Camera spec: Canon 40D with 24-105 4L at 24mm, F7,1 @ 1/4, ISO 400.

Young Talent

Here comes another picture from the belly dance meeting. The technique I used was the same as described in the previous post. Using an off-camera flash from the side and slightly behind the subject gives consistently very pleasing results. This makes a clear difference compared to using a direct flash that will definitely cast some ugly shadows on the curtain in the background (no matter that it is a black one in this case). Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with 24-105 4L at 70mm, F6.3 @ 1/200, ISO 400.

Belly Dancer

I wrote in my profile that I am interested in creative lighting techniques but the pictures I have posted in my blog so far used mainly natural (btw. who says that one cannot be creative with natural light!). Anyway, here comes a photo I took at a local belly dance meeting this spring. I used an off-camera flash (Canon 420EX set as a slave in group B) mounted on the stage in the top right corner on my Gorillapod SLR-zoom tripod. This set up was very easy and very quick. My on-camera flash Canon 580EX II with Lumiquest Mini Softbox was set as a master with ratio about 1:4 in order to provide some fill-in light. Finally, in postprocessing I used the brush tool in Lightroom to darken the corners of the picture and to create a nice spot-like circle around the dancer's feet. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with 24-105 4L at 84mm, F6.3 @ 1/200, ISO 800.

A Special Moment

Sometimes you take a first look at a photograph and you immediately get the feeling that you captured something special. The picture above is an example of such a photograph: a farther with his daughter share a special moment. What do they think about? At least in my eyes the photo is full of emotions and I am very glad I captured these exact expressions in their faces. In fact, they already though that the photo-shoot was over and were not aware of me taking this quick candid picture with my tele-photo lens. This is usually the best moment for recording true emotions of the photographed people. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with 70-200 4L at 200mm, F4 @ 1/200, ISO 320.

Grandpa Is Posing

My grandpa is soon turning 88 years and a few days ago I had the opportunity to take his portrait. The sun was high so I used my on-camera flash to fill in the hard shadows on his face. What I like on the photo is the composition which divides the space in three parts with my grandpa standing in the middle. The contrasting colors---beautiful blue sky, green grass and brown cottage wall---add a dramatic feeling to the photo. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with 24-105 4L at 24mm, F8 @ 1/400, ISO 50.

Saint Michel at Night

I little bit less than a year ago I was at a conference at Saint Malo in France and we had a conference trip to Saint Michel. This place was amazing and at night I took this long 15 second exposure of this rocky tidal island. I used my portable manfrotto mini-tripod placed on one of the tables in a nearby restaurant where we had a delicious dinner. Camera spec: Canon 20D with 28-105 3.5-4.5 at 105mm, F6.3 @ 15s, ISO 200.

Bulgarian Beauty

I took this photo during my recent trip to Ruse in Bulgaria. It was just a quick candid during a political meeting on the main square in Ruse. I like the soft light on her face and the reflections in her glasses. The shoulder of the man in foreground provided a nice framing and a feel of depth. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 3.5-4.5 at 105mm (168mm on full-frame), F5.6 @ 1/125, ISO 800.

A Portrait of my Farther

I took this portrait of my father about a week ago. We were visiting a summer house of my wife's parents and the old window frame together with a soft natural light provided a result I was very happy about. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark II with Canon 70-200 4L at 200mm, F5.6 @ 1/800, ISO 1600.

Wedding Photography Workshop

On July 23rd 2009 I took part in a whole day workshop on wedding and reception photography in Brno given by a professional photographer Jan Branc from Prague. This was a very interesting event, in particular the afternoon exercises with our beautiful models Veronika and Michal were a real fun. Take a look at some of their pictures.

My personal goal on this workshop was to take as many shots as possible in natural light only. Since I got my new Canon 5D mark II I realized that noise in high ISO images is not that much of an issue any more and I am rediscovering the beauty of natural light portraits. I think that I got a couple of great shots of Veronika and Michal. A few more images can be seen here.