Hidden Behind the Movement

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

Net Beauty

 I have recently participated in a workshop on nude photography and would like to show you one of the photos I took during the workshop. There is not really that much nudity on this particular photo but I really like the expression of the model and her look. Window light was used to create this photo and I on purpose changed the composition so that her face is leading the eyes out of the frame, creating a nice dynamic tension. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark iii with Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS II at 80mm, F3.2 @ 1/200, ISO 640.

A Tram Tunnel

Here comes another photo from the workshop of black and white photography mentioned in my previous post. We moved down to the tram station where a nice directional light was coming from one end of the tunnel. I asked the model to look towards the light and pressed the shutter button, resulting in this pleasant portrait of our beautiful model. Camera spec: Canon 5D mark iii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 120mm, F2.8 @ 1/200, ISO 800.

Black and White Beauty

It has been more than a year ago I posted my last photo. The reason was that I was simply too busy with photographic assignments and didn't really find the time to blog about my pictures. In the meantime I gathered bunch of nice photos that I would like to share. Today I start with the first photo that I took recently at the workshop of black and white photography in Brno. I enjoyed the way the workshop was run and today's image is one of my favorites. It was photographed in a natural light in a small tunnel close to a local supermarket. After setting my camera to a correct exposure, I was together with my model exploring different poses until I ended up with something interesting and dynamic. Hope you will enjoy today's photo and stay tuned for more to come! Camera spec: Canon 5D mark iii with Canon 70-200 2.8L IS II at 100mm, F3.2 @ 1/250, 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.

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.

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.