Carrus Navalis 2010

YouTube version:



Vimeo version:


I visited the downtown of Aalborg today to watch a street parade called Carrus Navalis. Apart from taking photos, I decided to test the video capabilities of my Canon 5D mark ii. Unfortunately, I didn't have any external microphone, so the sound quality is rather poor. The footage is ok for the first try, however, the video quality after the encoding degraded little bit but I think that it is acceptable. Unfortunately, when watching on Vimeo in HD, the video is jerky from time to time. So I used also YouTube to see if there is any difference and it seems that it plays smoother via YouTube on my computer. I would appreciate if you could leave a comment on this blog and let me know whether YouTube and Vimeo played smoothly on your computer in full screen and whether you saw any difference in quality. Thanks! On Vimeo, be sure to watch it in HD (possible only from the Vimeo page). Enjoy! Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L USM, build-in microphone, hand-held.

Stained Glass Window

A few days ago I took a walk to downtown of Aalborg and payed a visit to Budolfi Church. The church is really worth visiting and what drew my eyes when walking inside the church was this beautiful stained glass window full of colors. In some way I think that this is quite an interesting photo. Camera spec: Canon 40D with Canon EF-S 60mm macro 2.8, F5.6 @ 1.125, ISO 400.

Color Structure

I took this photo on my way to work several months ago. It is a very simple picture with no dynamic lines and the factory at the background adds a little bit of irregularity. Still, it was attracting my attention every time I saw it in my gallery, so I decided to post it. I believe that there is some interesting structure in the photo. And yes, I have boosted the colors little bit in Lightroom. I have also recently read an on-line article related to this issue called "What Makes a Great Photograph" at KenRockwell.com and it really speaks from my heart; a highly recommended to take a look at! Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon EF-S 60mm Macro 2,8 at 60mm, F8 @ 1/500, ISO 200.

Ireland's Potato

This is a photo I took about a half year ago at my trip to Macao. It is one of the busy streets downtown and what drew my attention were the signs decorating the street. The only one I could understand were "Ireland's Potato", so this became the title of the post. The colors photo were modified little bit in Lightroom to add little bit of nostalgic feeling. This is the kind of photo that brings back my memories from the trip. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 USM 3,5-4,5 at 72mm, F5,6 @ 1/125, ISO 800.

On the Air

I took this photo last year at a job fair. The squares at the backdrop were full of color and very bright, which allowed me to make the background behind the man with the phone very dark. The main subject was lit with my off-camera flash Canon 580EX II with Lumiquest Softbox III positioned to the left and slightly behind the subject, creating a more dramatic Rembrandt light pattern. An on-camera flash was used for a little bit of fill on the axis of the camera. The lighting diagram is outlined to the right (click on it for a larger view). And yes, this was not a candid shot, I simply asked him to stay at the place and pretend a phone call. I liked already the original photo but then decided to use the gradient tool in Lightroom to make the right third of the picture black and white and it turned into an even more interesting photo. For completeness let me say that I used the brush tool with exposure set to -4EV to clean up a few distracting objects behind my subject. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark ii with Canon 24-105 4L at 47mm, F5,6 @ 1/100, ISO 200.

Abandoned Home

Today I am posting a photo from the city of Ruse in Bulgaria. The city has a sad history. First in 1980's the close by chemical factory located in Romania had been polluting the air to such a degree that many Ruse inhabitants were forced to leave and even more people left after the economical decline in the forthcoming decades. As a result, even though the city is growing again these days, one can find many abandoned houses and blocks of flats as on today's photo. The picture was taken with my favorite lens Tokina 11-16 2,8 at 11mm which allowed me to get quite close to the building and capture this unusual perspective adding to the impression that the building is about to collapse at any moment. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Tokina 11-16 2,8 at 11mm, F9 @ 1/60, ISO 100.

In the Rythm of Tango

This photo a took a few years ago at a ballroom dance competition in Brno in the Czech Republic. I really enjoy the diagonal lines of the legs and arms and the expressions in the dancer's face. Luckily the light at the ballroom was quite strong, so I used the on-camera flash just for a minor fill. And how can I tell they dance tango? Well, this is clear from the holding of the couple and most clearly from the position of woman's left hand. I was self a competitor in standard and latinamerican dances and this really helps me to estimate the right moments where a photograph shall be taken. I might post more dance photos in the future. Camera spec: Canon 20D with Canon 28-105 F3,5-4,5 USM at 93mm, F7,1 @ 1/250, ISO 800.