Best of the Prague's workshop

I was so thrilled, when one of my Prague's workshopper - Monika - shared with me her pictures taken during a workshop! You have to admit - it is hard to believe that all pictures were taken just during a one day! Thanks Monika! It was a joy to have you in the group! Full album can be found here.

Ani si neviete predstaviť, ako som sa potešil, keď mi jedna z účastníčok môjho pražského zážitkového workshopu zaslala svoj výber! Je naozaj ťažké uveriť, že takto rôznorodé fotografie boli nafotené v priebehu jedného dňa! Díky Monika, som naozaj rád, že sme strávili taký skvelý deň! Viac Monikiných fotografií nájdete tu.

© Monika Kocourková

© Monika Kocourková

Prague's castle at sunset (FLW filter nailed it again!)

We have spent a beautiful Sunday with my Prague's "workshopers". Starting at 4am, trying to capture sunrise, tram's motion, talking to strangers, jumping in front of graffiti wall, seeking for reflections.. and many many more! And then finishing at about 10pm - where else if not pointing at always photogenic landscape of Prague's castle over Charle's bridge? Touristic boat with a big PRAGUE name was just a cherry on the top of the already sweet cake. Gorgeous cloudy sky and of course - thanks to using FLW filter - beautiful enhanced overall colors and structure of the image. Thanks again for an amazing day!!

Seoul, South Korea (around the world; revisited)

I have spent fair share of my time travelling, literally around the world. Many of those trips happened before this yummy and fresh blog has been established. In the past I have shared some of them with closer friends (and of course with Monika, she BTW inspired me to start revisiting older albums). Some of those pictures taken around the world are part of my web albums, however many of them were never properly introduced, edited and shared as they would deserve. And frankly, I like them. Yeah, I am quite proud of them. So as of today I am opening a new, unscheduled serie, called very creatively "Around the world" and I will bring back some of my trips to more or less exotic places.

Today I am returning back to Seoul, South Korea. Did you know, that 99% of cars in Seoul are either black, white or gray/silver? No kidding. To spot even a blue car is very unusual, overall any colorful car is either orange taxi, or Red Bull promotional vehicle. As I didn't have a lot of time to go roaming and shooting, I have just visited a monk's monastery park near my hotel. Without any specific purpose, just to observe... And apart being positively surprised by seeing colors again I also had  a very peaceful time in the middle of the super busy city (second biggest city in the world, did you know that?) I was also lucky enough to get few nice shots, which will always remind me how in June of 2010 I have changed my attitude to South Korea from not a real fan to very likey... Truth to be told, food and very nice people had a lot to do with that.
PS: I miss kim-chi and bibimpa!!

Pridajte sa! Zážitkový foto workshop, Praha - 30.6.2013

Radi fotografujete, ale zvyčajne na to nemáte dosť času a príležitostí? Túžite po jednom dni, kedy sa fotografovaniu môžete venovať naplno? Chcete sa naučiť aj niečo nové, stretnúť sa s podobne naladenými ľuďmi alebo proste len tak fotiť? Vyjdite z rutiny, užite si jeden intenzívny fotodeň ďaleko za hranicami všednosti!

CEZ OBJEKTÍV - zážitkový fotografický workshop, Praha 30.6. 2013! Celý deň od východu do západu slnka na viacerých lokalitách - obrysy starej Prahy za úsvitu, makro fotografia rannej rosy, kreatívne techniky ako zooming, panning, rotating s fotoaparátom, tradičné aj netradičné použitie externých bleskov, fotenie ľudí, interakcia s neznámymi ľuďmi, street photography, použitie širokouhlého objektívu pri rozprávaní príbehov alebo fotografovaní zblízka. Použitie filtrov – od polarizačného po prechodové filtre neutrálnej hustoty.

stolen clown

Well, they say, that your pictures are good, when people will start to steal them...
Apparently my Prague's clown picture (see this blog entry) has to be a good one, as I have found it on a strange website. Without any credit (obviously). But what is even worse - with a horrible and tasteless alteration. Look and decide on your own! This terrible clowns are located here.
I know, even worse things can happen with your work, but anyway.

PS: I have contacted already the website owner and requested to remove the picture. So let's see...

PPS: Update; two days later...Website owner reacted very quickly, apologizing for unintentional usage (apparently she got a picture from somebody else) and "double  clown" is now gone.

eiffel, part 6 - the last one (and the most postcard-ish one)

Enough teasing. Here it comes. The most classical Eiffel tower view, the most classical postcard shot. Something you HAVE to shot on your own, otherwise it doesn't count and you were NOT in Paris :) Well, mademoiselle Eiffel is very photogenic, no doubt about that. And her illuminated, curvy shape against a dusky, cloudy and colorful sky has no competition in Paris. So here I was. After playing enough with a carousel and flashes shots, I have finally arrived to Trocadero and I am fighting elbow to elbow with all other photographers and thousands (literally!) tourists to get the best available position. Keeping en eye (other one, which wasn't glued to the viewfinder) on roaming individuals who had a tendency to kick to my tripod (yeeah, and this is not something you want at the end of your 20 sec exposure! :)

Obviously - when is the best time to shoot a vertical picture? Right after the horizontal one!

eiffel, part 5 (flash always available)

Back to my Eiffel series. This post is the second to last and then I will give you a break for a while. Picture has been taken just a 5 minutes after the one with carousel, about 200m away. On the way to the top of Trocadero stairs I have noticed this unusual angle and situation, where the tower would appear like growing from the bushes. Obviously, bushes were pretty dark on the picture, just a silhouette of it (see the shot at the end). So my flash came handy and during a 20 sec exposure I have fired a simple burst to lighten the foreground in front of me and achieve a sense of the tower nested in the green.

Nikon D800, 24-70mm at 42mm, f/22 @ 20 sec, ISO100. Manual, off the camera flash at 1/4 of power, with a distance about 1 meter.

Same as above, but no flash

windy (delicate dandelion)

We had so much fun with Monika last Sunday, when she came with this idea. She briefed me: "I want to take a picture of dandelion seeds in the air on the black background". And I had to come up with a solution. Fortunately my flash came handy and with an easy set up. Using flash I was able to create a pitch black background in the middle of our living room - WITHOUT any black background itself! Key is to underexpose your picture 3 or 4 steps and then just manually set you flash power based on the given aperture.

In our case aperture was f/11 and Nikon SB-900 calculate to set flash distance about 50cm. Shutter speed to underexpose the picture was calculated at 1/160 sec @ ISO 100.
Strong direct blow to dandelion and firing the camera at the same time - and voilá! Shot is the straight output from the camera. Pretty cool, huh?
Couple of "behind the shots", just to confirm there is no black background, really.

eiffel very colorful (part 4 )

Ok, now we are getting to a more "postcard" version of the Eiffel tour. As you can see, it was a very cloudy day, and about an hour prior the dusk I was blessed with a 5 minutes of gold sunshine rays. Both of this has been captured in this HDR composite - heavy clouds above the city and a slight moment of the sun greetings, just above the horizon.
But trust me, this is still not THE postcard one Eiffel, that one will come later ;) Stay tuned.

eiffel, part 3 (black and white angles)

Climbing up - and exploring a different angles. Still the same tower, but look how many opportunities you might find!

eiffel, part 2

Getting closer to the tower. Morning of the "visit to the top". Unfortunately, majority of the tourists in Paris has the same clever idea like us, to come early morning for the opening (9.30am) and our line looks like neverending. While moving quickly at the beginnig, the closer we got to the cashier and entrance, the slower it went. At the end we spent 3 hours (!) just in queue. Total time from the beginning of the line to the top and back five hours! All other activities for that day were cancelled... ;) Well, we did it ... and kids were soooo happy. This shot has been taken in the middle of waiting line. Expect more to come

eiffel, part 1

When you are visiting Paris, you can't miss Eiffel tower. It is really visible from almost everywhere!
Obviously I have taken few nice classical "postcard shots" as well (they will come later!), but let me first start to present THE tower from some different, a bit unusual angles.
This one has been taken next to a small carousel and as I LOVE the motion in the pictures, I had to incorporate a carousel into the frame. Mind a beautiful sky - all brought by favorite dusky FLW filter, otherwise picture is almost straight out of the camera.

Nikon D800, 24-70mm at 28mm, f/22 @ 10sec, ISO 100

747

I'm getting ready for one new exciting trip. Well, I won't fly 747 JumboJet as on the picture below, I just got in to the mood of revisiting one older folder. This United long-hauler has been captured in Tokyo Narita airport with a such a dramatic, cloudy sunset sky. I was homesick and couldn't wait to start boarding for my almost 12 hours flight. Tons of fantastic freash sushi has been eaten, though! ;) Have a safe flight too!

spiral

I was visiting office building last Thursday and when I get off from its pretty unique stairs I have looked up and was amazed! Pretty nice, huh? I think I will get back to this place to take few more pictures...

morning traffic in verbier

What to do in a famous ski center Verbier when you do not ski? Set alarm for 5.45am, wake up staff at the reception to get out of the "chalet" and go out to capture this unbelievably curvy road to Verbier. Well, weather didn't cooperated as I hoped for (plan was to have much more snowy mountains in the background). But to my surprise, there was at least quite a traffic to get a car light trails.

golden surprise!

It got out of the egg. It is hiding behind the bushes and it glows with a golden color! What it could be?

Playing and utilizing set up and props Monika had for her Easter Spring collection (which I highly recommend to check out here!) As I currently love playing with my flashes, I brought two of them, connected them via PocketWizzards and set up an easy scene. One flash is lightning the scene in the front, actually bringing a bit of details and contrast to white eggs. And obviously, there is a second flash behind the grass, with a amber gel, imitating familiar "sunset" shot (which you can see for example here).

So, the question is - what is hidden behind the bushes? 

Have a fun with flashes and enjoy your spring time!

360° fly around bardejov's st. egid basilic

My first "video trial". Well, "kinda video". 83 shots of my hometown basilica of st. Egid.
Môj prvý video pokus. Nuž, "akože video". 83 záberov baziliky sv. Egídia v mojom rodnom meste.

It's all started with prepared and printed map with a circle around the basilica tower. Just not to get lost.
Príprava začala vytlačením mapy s kruhom okolo veže baziliky. Aby sa človek nestratil.

tapeta na stiahnutie | zasnežený bardejov

Ďakujem všetkým za pozitívne komentáre k zasneženému Bardejovu. Pre veľký úspech a pripomenutie čarovnej krásy bardejovského zasneženého námestia si môžte záber stiahnúť vo vysokom rozlíšení do vášho počítača ako tapetu a dennodenne sa kochať ;)

Tapetu si môžte stiahnúť kliknutím priamo na fotografiu alebo na tento odkaz.

let it snow!

Visiting my hometown Bardejov (very far north-east corner of Slovakia) during New year time - of course armed with our gears. As our new PPSOP.cz course about flashes is approaching, I can't miss any opportunity to flash around. We are opening on February 1st and myself and Bryan are thrilled to welcome you there!
And when is heavy snowing outside - that's the best occasion to pull out the flash and bring the snowflakes into a picture! Following shot was made straight in the camera.

It was really snowing heavily, but with a longer shutter speed you need for a twilight time picture, snowflakes wouldn't be visible. So during my 1 sec exposure I have fired my SB 900 (off the camera, triggered with Pocket Wizards and with amber gel on) at full power - and voilá - snowflakes are here ;)
Beautiful evening. Even it was 3rd of January, the air smell and looked completely like it was just a few days before the Xmas!
Nikon D7000, Nikkor 24-70mm at 32mm, ISO 250, F/6.3 @ 1 sec. Nikon SB-900 at full 1/1 power.

panoramic athens

One more return to my rich Athens folder. At the top of the small rocky hill, right across Acropolis (when they've kicked out tourists after 5pm), I've spent about two hours. You know, as usual. Playing. With flash, without flash, wide angle, street zoom. And - with FLW filter I have taken this panoramic shot. Made out of 8 vertical shots, each taken at f/8 @ 10 seconds. Enjoy by clicking and opening a bigger size.

PS: and one more extra bonus - different place, different time. I personally like a lot strong line elements here. And I've just changed white balance to tungsten to pop up street lights.

athens in colors

My usual place to visit when in a new city is a flea market. Visiting Athens at the beg. of December (lovely 22°C!) - Monastiraki open market and surrounding areas were an obvious tip from my local insiders. At the first sight, place look a bit dark, but when you look closer - colors are everywhere!

heavy clouds above athens

Cloudy, with a chance of bankruptcy...
OK, I know, such a kind of cheap joke I should avoid. I should - but I couldn't resist! ;)
It was a lovely afternoon/evening. After the light shower - and before heavy rain. And I also got several glances of  beautiful sun rays....

project 52 | week 20 - in the kitchen (aka really BIG fork)

It is 8 meters high. And it is stuck right in the Geneva lake. It is a navigational point of nearby food museum - Alimentarium. I've always wanted to take a shot, but I wanted to avoid touristic chliché (as the one at the bottom :)
I had an idea for a while - obviously, now when we are finalizing new PPSOP.cz Flash course, it involves flash. Actually two of them. I've waited for the nice dusk sky color and aimed both my flashes (set at full power with red gel) at the fork. It took me a while to manage a proper direction and get the best reflection, as fork was about 15 meters away from me - but it was definitely a reward after two hours on a cold Friday evening. You gotta admit, that fork is definitely hard to miss now!

This is how the regular shot would look like prior the dusk - nice silhouette possibilities, but still not so dominant part of the picture as I wanted.

greece without processing (again, FLW filter makes miracles)

I'm spending weekend in Athens (21.5°C on 1st of December!That's kind of winter I can live with! ;).
As I do not have my comp, I wanted to share only two pictures, where NO post processing has been applied at all.
First one is again a prove of Bryan's well shared tip - FLW filter makes miracles with the sky, when shooting after the dusk (see my previous example here).

05 dec - picture updated, sensor speck removed. photograph is still untouched

And as I am finalizing our new PPSOP.cz Flash course - I am obviously playing a lot with flashes recently. In my view - a beauty of combining ambient and flash light source offers just vast opportunities! In the background - famous Acropolis (under heavy construction). Highlighted tree in front lit with radio controlled, off the camera located flash NIKON SB-900 with amber gel.
Again - no processing has been applied - this is a straight out of the camera shot.

View at Acropolis  from the nearby hill.

xmas (and lights) are all around us

How about yourself? Do you feel Xmas coming? Yeeah, Xmas are really all around us. Few days ago I've stopped by in one of the shopping mall and a simple escalator ride quickly made me pulling out my camera and tripod. Decorated glass side of the escalator has been decorated with a myriad of small Christmas lights (see at the very bottom). And with a 2 or 3 second long exposure I've got a fantastic time machine ride into a shopping paradise! So next almost an hour I've spent riding up and down all three floors and waiting for a bit more colorful jackets. You wouldn't believe, but 98% of people wear black or very dark coats, jackets and jumpers! C'mon!! Live life in colors! ;)

I love playing with a shutter speed!

charlie

A small tribute to my favorite comedian. I have grown up with his silent movies... It was always a treat to enjoy weekend's afternoon with him. Do you guys, who grown up in CZ and SK remember "Komik a jeho svet"?

It is Charlie Chaplin's statue located in Vevey, Switzerland. Shot very late evening at the dusk. Front red color created with flash and red gel, Yellow hair color is actually street lamp behind
Nikon D7000 @ f/9 and 15sec, ISO 320. Flash at 1/1 full power, with red gel, located at about 2m away.
PS: And here's the shot without the help of flash. Pretty dramatic difference, huh?

macro is so cool!

It is amazing what you can find, when you'll get close enough.

project 52 | week 38 - last moments of the summer

What an incredible weather for a weekend at the end of October with 22°C. And definitely the last moments of the summer, as following week we got 2°C and first snow. Hope my trees and light will heat you up a bit!

project 52 | week 39 - in a motion

What to do while waiting for your menu in the restaurant? Keep your shutter opened for a little bit longer and follow the wave. And you will get a beautiful motion. I love to play with opened shutter speed...

1/2 second, ISO 100, f/8

And you must admit that the motion one looks much cooler than a regular shot below.

love at lake's shore (fall is all around us)

Like all my fellow photographer friends, I couldn't resisted to go out and shoot ALL THE COLORS of this beautiful fall. Obviously, my chosen spot was romantic enough to attract those teenagers, deeply looking into each other eyes for a long time. 

They were so involved in their agenda, they didn't notice myself aiming at them with my tele-zoom at all. Anyway, thank you for being patience models, and if you by any chance recognize yourself,  let me know! Would love to give you a credit! ;)
PS: Nice example how to bring a scale into a picture, right?

broken car

Reflection reflection reflection. A loooooot of reflection! And zero Photoshoping.

All you need is a car - and a reflective material o course. In my case, all that was available at my location found last weekend. That building is soooo nice and so easy to take pictures in it...

project 52 | week 25 - architecture

Still can't get enough of this photogenic, shiny building I have found over the weekend. This I believe clearly falls under "architecture", right?

project 52 | week 41 - colors

As promised - a bit more pictures taken at the location of this very photogenic building I have found over the weekend. This impressionistic-ish, "aquarelle" picture has NOT been created in Photoshop. Not at all, straight out of the camera, as you can see here.

It's just a simple reflection of the actually quite boring surroundings, reflected in this metallic siding of the building. Below you can see behind the scene shots and how the building looks like. And before you will scroll down - try to guess what is this big PINK spot? Answer is inside the article...

project 52 | week 34 - autoportrait

Truth is I am a slightly behind with my project 52, but when I have something good to post, I can't miss the opportunity. Yes, this is an auto portrait, and IT IS me. And no, there IS NO post-production involved, no "punching plugin" has been applied. I've met a fantastic building, where I have spent 2 hours shooting its very special reflective,  metallic, punching sidings. Obviously, security guy with a German shepard got suspicious  (after two hours!), so I had to leave the premises. Anyway, a WHOLE more to come...

Voice Activated Difuser Holder

Have you heard about a special photo equipment, which will help you improve your pictures tremendously?
It's called VADH. And it stands for Voice Activated Difuser Holder.

You say, and VADH will listen and will do whatever you will ask. Perfectly automated, no wires, no wireless triggers required. VADH has several other similar products in their portfolio, like more famously known VAL (Voice Activated Lightstand, terminology courtesy of Joe McNally and Bryan Peterson :)

Yes, and that's me and my new role :) While hanging out with Bryan in Chicago and preparing other videos for some new courses coming to PPSOP.cz I have become a very handy VADH.

and WITH the help of difuser

without difuser

Full PPSOP phototip available here.

city beach

If there's no beach nearby, why not to create one in the middle of the city? Literally. A bit of sand, beach chairs and something what should evoke beach umbrellas - and voila! Kids with sand toys are welcomed...
Oh, and BTW, did I mentioned absence of the sea?

Colorful umbrellas caught my attention immediately when I was driving around. In order to keep a nice color of the sky in sunset and "umbrellas", I faced a situation with a pretty dark chairs, more like a silhouettes. So I've called for a help of additional, miniature sun. Remotely connected off-the-camera flash with amber gel, placed right behind the purple pole... Definitely more interesting, as to my taste orange colors well fits to the overall colorful image. So when you miss sun - bring your own one ;)

hello kitty

I love you sweet heart!

Creatively correct exposure

Hneď v úvode nášho vlajkového kurzu Naučte se exponovat kreativně na PPSOP.cz sa obšírne venujeme názornému vysvetleniu rozdielu medzi správnou expozíciou a KREATÍVNE správnou expozíciou. Pri každej fotografickej príležitosti sa môžete rozhodnúť pre niekoľko kombinácii nastavenia clony a rýchlosti uzávierky. Aj keď tieto kombinácie zaistia správnu expozíciu, v našom kurze vás naučíme, ako nájsť a zvoliť práve tú z nich, ktorá je kreatívne správna. Tú, ktorá vás aj ostatných nadchne a zaručí vám úspech.

Na názornom príklade nižšie máte možnosť niekoľkokrát vidieť kolotoč nafotený v tej istej dobe. Aj keď  všetkých 5 snímkov má rovnaké svetelné podmienky a ich expozícia je správna, je úplne evidentné, že výsledné zábery sú s použitím rôzneho času uzávierky diametrálne odlišné.

A určite s nami budete súhlasiť, že zábery č.4 a č.5 zaujmú diváka viac, ako tie predchádzajúce a dovolíme si tvrdiť, že sú kreatívnejšíe v porovnaní napr. s "obyčajným" záberom kolotoča č.1. 

Objavte svoj fotoaparát a naučte sa fotiť v manuálnom režime. Prejdite do módu "M" na svojej digitálnej zrkadlovke a prihláste sa k nám do kurzu Naučte se exponovat kreativně. Foťte s nami - naučíme vás to!

photo © 2012 by Patrik Banas | blog.patrikbanas.com

i love motion

It is not a secret, that I love playing with my shutter speed, so I couldn't miss the opportunity to go the shoot carousels at city fair event in my home town over the last weekend. Then we end up 6 photographers together and we became main attraction of the evening with 6 tripods and big lenses playing around :)
We had tons of fun, we asked kids around to be our models and  they've enjoyed it a lot too.
Like for example this girl below. I do not her name - and if you know her - let her know I'm looking for her to send her pictures...

lantern festival

Lantern festival in St. Louis Botanical Garden! What a splash of colors! And the worst part? I couldn't decide where to be during those magic 20 minutes, when the sky was so beautifully cobalt blue. Well, looks like I'm going to have one more trip there!
More info about Lantern festival can be found here.

By the way, white dragon you can see in the middle is about 20 meters (apx 25 yards) long and has been crafted from thousands and thousands of china porcelain plates, spoons and egg bowls! Porcelain has been imported in huge wooden boxes directly from China, together with about 20 Chinese specialists. They were knitting it together for a few weeks. Amazing!!

v správnej chvíli na správnom mieste

Zachytiť ten správny moment je veľmi často záležitosťou byť v správnej chvíli na správnom mieste, ale aj tak sa nám nemusí vydariť pôsobivá fotografia. Poďme sa pozrieť na rozdiel medzi správnou expozíciou a kreatívne správnou expozíciou tak, ako to ja a spolu s Bryan Peterson učíme v Online Škole Perfektní Fotografie.
Obe fotografie, ktoré vám tu ukážem, boli nafotené v tom istom čase a myslím, že budete súhlasiť, že obe sú celkom vydarené. Skvelé osvetlenie a farba oblohy za súmraku, výrazný svetelný element a čo je podľa mňa veľmi dôležité - pridaný ľudský prvok, ktorý fotografiám dodáva perspektívu a definuje dimenziu záberu. Jedná sa o jednu z atrakcií (neviem či úplne sedí slovo kolotoč?), ktorú som stretol na "jarmoku" v mestečku Ballwin (tam, kde sa mi podarili aj tieto nádherné ohňostroje). Je to niečo ako vláčik, ktorý sa točí dookola v kruhu a ten kruh samotný rotuje okolo svojej osi.
Ale, aj napriek tomu, že obe tieto fotografie majú technicky správnu expozíciu, nie sú rovnaké. Rozdiel medzi nimi je to, čo v našom kurze v kurze Naučte se exponovat kreativně nazývame kreatívne správna expozícia. Čo to je? Je to celkom jednoduché.

Obr. 1

Toto je záber č. 1, expozične správny a celkom pekný, ale dala by sa táto scéna zachytiť aj inak? Samozrejme! Totiž, aj napriek tomu, že existuje niekoľko správnych kombinácií nastavenia hodnôt expozície (clona, rýchlosť uzávierky, ISO), výsledky, ktoré dostaneme nie sú vždy rovnaké a zvyčajne len jedna z nich nám dá výsledok, ktorý je najviac "sexy".

V mojom prípade to bola tá, ktorá zaistila zachytenie kolotoča v pohybe - teda rýchlosť uzávierky otvorená na 4 sekundy, ktorá zachytila tento svetelný kruh (spolu s citlivosťou ISO 200 a clonou f/16). S touto expozíciou som dostal záber č. 2:

Obr. 2










Jasné, mohli ste dostať viacmenej tú istú krásnu farbu oblohy a to isté množstvo svetla povedzme pri ISO 800, clone f/4 a uzávierke 1/100 sek. ALE - práve tá rotácia, ten najzaujímavejší prvok na zábere, to UFO, "či-čo-do-kelu-je-to-za-hviezdnu-bránu?" by tam vôbec nebolo. A dostali by ste niečo podobné ako na zábere č.1. Správna a pekná expozícia, ale... chápete, čo mám na mysli, však? Musíte uznať, že záber ktorý som nafotil počas rotovania celej konštrukcie je výrazne pôsobivejčí, ako ten obyčajný záber č. 1.

4 legs puzzle

Well, truth is, that this hores HAS 4 legs. You just need to comlete the puzzle by the end of the week ;)

Picture taken at Grant's farm and starring iconic Budweiser Clydesdales.