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.

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.

Waiting and Waiting ...

Here is a portrait of Lucie that I pulled out a few days ago nearby a small village Ludikov in the Czech Republic. As usual, I used my off-camera 580EX flash to camera right with a shoot-through umbrella. I like the shallow depth of field and the look of Lucie. It feels like she is waiting for somebody, being little bit impatient which is symbolized with the moving fingers of her right hand. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 110mm, F3.2 @ 1/100, ISO 400.

Soft and Dreamy

Today is coming another of my favourite photographs of Marketa. I noticed the nice dramatic wall and when making the picture I planned to allow for lots of negative space on the left. I used short lighting to give a nice shape to her face; the light was provided by my shoot-through umbrella with Canon 580EX II to camera left. I also like the curved body-shape of my model. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/160, ISO 100.

Such Pretty Eyes

While trying to extend my portrait portfolio, I was happy to spend couple of photography hours with a new model Marketa. Among the number of great pictures, the one I present today kept popping out for me. I like the look over the shoulder, with a little bit shy expression in her face. It is a pure natural light portrait where simplicity was the keyword. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 80mm, F5.6 @ 1/160, ISO 200.

Rocky Confident

Today I would like to present another of my recent favourite shots. I saw the nice rocky surface and immediately thought that it would make a good background for my model Barbora. The problem was that it was exposed on a direct sun and I imagined a soft light on her face when composing the photo. The problem was solved by holding a silver reflector above her head in order to block the direct sun light and at the same time providing a nice soft light with my shoot-through umbrella with Canon 580EX II positioned slightly to camera left and casting a butterfly light pattern. I had only one assistant holding both the reflector and umbrella on a monopod at the same time, which was little bit tricky but we managed. The result was definitely worth the effort. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 70mm, F8 @ 1/200, ISO 100.

Summer Beauty

While enjoying my holidays in the Czech Republic I arranged yesterday a photo session with a young model Barbora. We had plenty of time to visit several locations and this shot was one of my favourites. There are a few things that I like here, of course apart from my pretty model. First of all I enjoy the colors where the background nicely complements the model. I applied some vignette to bring the attention more to the center. Second point I like is the pose where I tried to arrange her legs and arms so that there are virtually no vertical or diagonal lines. This adds more drama to otherwise a very harmonic photo. Last but not least the lighting adds the last bits to form this portrait. It was provided through my shoot-through umbrella with Speedlite 580EX II fired remotely through pocket wizards. Enjoy! Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II at 200mm, F5.0 @ 1/160, ISO 100.

Psss ... Listen

Being on my holidays in the Czech Republic, I have been taking some photos of kids. This one I enjoyed most from the yesterday's shoot. I like how the baby and the dog look at the same direction and carefully listen. I was lying on the ground to get a good angle and the light in the face of the baby was enhanced with a silver reflector placed to the camera right. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 115mm, F5.6 @ 1/160, ISO 400.

Kicker Light

This is another photo from the belly dance meeting in Aalborg a few months ago. I placed a small Speedlite 430EX at the back left corner of the stage, equipped with Pocket Wizard FlexTT5. The main light was ambient with a kicker light emphasizing the line of the body and separating it from the background. I also like how the position of the dancer fills nicely the whole frame. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 135mm, F5.6 @ 1/200, ISO 400.

Belly Dance Shapes

The scene at the belly dance meeting was lit very well so I took most of my photos this time with ambient light only. This was one of my favorites, showing nice body shape and flow of the arms. The background was black with only little bit of ambient hitting it, so pulling the Black slider in Lightroom little bit to the right increased the contrast in the photo and erased completely all details at the background. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 118mm, F4.5 @ 1/250, ISO 1600.

Isis Wings

Couple of months ago I photographed a yearly belly dance meeting here in Aalborg and would like to share couple of photos with you. Let me start with this photos of Isis Wings. These wings are fun to photograph and I like the composition of the photos and the colors. I was using only the light from the halogen spots on the stage as the whole scene was very nicely lit. One should be careful because these wings reflect lots of light back to the camera and can confuse the exposition readings. The best is probably to shoot in manual, given that the light situation is not changing much across the scene. Alternatively, one can try to compensate to +1EV up to +2EV on the camera in the AV mode. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 35mm, F4.5 @ 1/320, ISO 3200.

Penguin Again

I could not resist to post a photo of this penguin from Aalborg ZOO. Whenever I take photos in the ZOO I always try to find an angle so that the picture does not reveal that the animal lives in captivity. Usually going down to the ground and finding a simple neutral background works. In this case I zoomed all the way to 200mm and used the aperture 4 (the largest hole on my lens) to blur the background. The depth of field is just a few inches as you can see on the ground. I like the moment and the negative space adding to the feeling of loneliness. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 200mm, F4 @ 1/500, ISO 100.

Hi Stranger!

Here is a photo from our local ZOO in Aalborg. I like the direct look of the giraffe and the simple background. The photo was exposed for the animal and the clouds provided a nice high-key look. No flash, just natural light. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 163mm, F5.6 @ 1/500, ISO 200.

Sofia Sunset

Here is another photo from my recent trip to Sofia. It was taken from the window of Rodina Hotel on the 12th floor. I was getting back to my hotel room and saw the beautiful play of sun behind the clouds. Grabbed my camera and took a few shots. A few minutes later the show was over. One has to stay alert all the time ... Camera spec: Canon 40D with Canon EF-S 60mm 2.8, F8 @ 1/60, ISO 200.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

While visiting Sofia in Bulgaria, I went to see the famous Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. There were some clouds in the sky and I moved little bit to the side to make a more dramatic photo of this impressive building. The wide 11mm Tokina lens helped with the impression. The final touches were done in Lightroom 3.0. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Tokina 11-16 2.8 at 11mm, F9 @ 1/250, ISO 100.

Carnival Beuaty

I took this photo during the Aalborg Carnival and I decided to post it today. First of all, the dancer is very pretty but there are a few other elements that make this photo to pop up for me. The composition follows the golden rule of third and she is presented on the light background and the negative space on the right is darker which adds some balance to the scene. The dancer's face is in almost a perfect classical 2/3 view (she is photographed so often so I guess that she knows how to pose without any thinking :-) and my on-camera fill-in flash is used to add some catch-lights to her eyes. Because I was close to her at the telephoto end of my lens, F5.6 was enough to provide a pleasing blur of the background. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 159mm, F5.6 @ 1/500, ISO 400.

Carnival Parade

As promised here comes another photo from the carnival parade in Aalborg this year. What I like on this photo is the expression and engagement of the dancer as well as the composition. When I photograph such events I always try to hide the surrounding buildings, street signs etc. This time I used the opportunity that the outfit of the dancer covered the whole frame in my camera. I simply don't like the corners on my photos to be empty ... Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 70mm, F5.6 @ 1/500, ISO 400.

A Guitar Hero

Yes, there was again the great Aalborg Carnival this weekend and I have plenty of photos that I have to edit at some point ... Today let me just post one of them from a concert of the group called Superstition that took place on Saturday afternoon. There was still lots of natural light and this mixed with strong tungsten spots added a nice warm tone to the guitarist, contrasting nicely with the somewhat cooler tones at the huge LCD background. This is essentially how the shot came out of the camera. There was no flash used and the trick was really the composition and timing. I was waiting for the rotating background screen to show the player in order to use the repetition. That had to synchronize with a good expression of the guitarist. During one song I was able to get about 4-5 great shots and this was one of the best. Hope you will like it too. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 70-200 4L at 91mm, F5.6 @ 1/640, ISO 400.

Grease Style

Not a long time ago I was asked by our friends to photograph their daughter. There was a nice, old car standing in front of their house and I was thinking about how can I create something special for them. It was a sunny day, everybody was relaxed and the famous musicals Grease and Saturday Night Fever came to my mind. I opened the front door of the car, ask the girl to sit with her legs crossed over and suggested the position of her hands to make the photo look natural. Then it was a question of finding the right angle so that the leading lines point to her (there are really many of them on this photo) and press the shutter. The main light was provided by my off-camera speedlite 580EX II with 1/4 CTO gel to camera left and the accent light at her hair is thanks to the sun. Normally I would shoot with an umbrella but the sun was very strong so I fired a bare flash to create the butterfly lighting pattern. The picture also took a deal of postprocessing in Lightroom but it never saw Photoshop. I followed a great Lightroom tutorial by Scott Kelby here to create the effect I wanted. I might write little bit more about this in some future post. But now let's return to the sixties and seventies and enjoy the photo! Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 82mm, F13 @ 1/250, ISO 200.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Let me post a third picture that I took on my S90 compact camera recently. I was impressed by the light at the end of the tunnel on one morning couple of days ago. Lucky enough, I had my S90 with me that day. The photo was taken in JPG so that highlights at the end of the tunnel are completely blown out but I really don't mind it in this kind of situation. The ceiling and the ground were full of dark green which was very easy to selectively desaturate in Lightroom. After cleaning a few color spots with a brush and adding some vibrance and vignetting, the photo was ready just in a few minutes. Camera spec: Canon Powershot S90 at 6mm, F4 @ 1/25, ISO 80.