shuter speed games

No doubt playing with shutter speed is one of my favorite activity! There are zilions way how you can utilize shutter speed, but panning and zooming is one of the most common. So it is not a surprise we have spent a lot of time playing with a shutter speed during my recent workshop in Prague! And while I am waiting to get pictures from my "workshoppers", here are couple of those, taken during the lovely Saturday in Prague.
Shutter speed used in the pictures below was somewhere between 1/8 - 1/20 sec.

Zážitkový fotoworkshop | Praha, sobota 12.októbra/října Pridajte sa!

Nový termín!

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 12. října/októbra 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.

lines 2 (brittany uncovered)

Mystery lines mentioned in my previous [teaser] post were taken during my trip to Brittany (Bretagne), where in the port I was fascinated by all masts lighted by the golden evening light against thick grey clouds. And as always when possible, I was "working my subject", trying what the long shutter could make with such opportunity. It turned out it could make very interesting abstract, don't you say? ;)
More sailing pictures soon!

lines [small teaser again]

I am retrieving my recent folder and I couldn't resist to ask: What is it? Answer will be here soon!

bretagne... is coming!

I had recently a fantastic trip to Bretagne, France. Expect more ocean view pictures soon!

foggy day

It is just a mid of September, but it is already so foggy depressing... I am definitely a summer type!

malmo: at the pier

Third and last post from my Malmo trip. Still only with point and shoot camera ;) At the end of the my morning roaming I have found such a photogenic pier! Monika's envy it! It was probably 100m long and a combination of the elements of the design (in this case line and color) were so irresistible... Enjoy!

Malmo: blue "thingy" and turning torso

Those strange big blue metal things were next to the sea. They looked like some huge old boat spare parts - perhaps an anchor holders? Not really an expert... But they were so attractive, that is for sure!
And below also few shots from Malmo's iconic "Turning torso" tower...
PS: BTW, did I mentioned all of those picture has been taken by point and shoot pocket size camera? Yup! Leica DLUX4 rocks!

Malmo, early morning

My first trip ever to Sweden. To Malmo. This city always reminds me the end of the Jule's Verne and the end of his book 20000 leagues under the sea. For a long time I thought it is the same place as Maelstrom! Maelstrom!, which are actually the last words Captain Nemo is shouting at his submarine Nautilus, before disappearing and sinking...
Anyway, trip was a short one and again, only with a compact point and shoot!
But I managed to get one early morning for myself and it has been proven again, that my little Leica with a combination of a great light can do miracles! Look at this one "snapshot", which has been enhanced just a slightly.
More to come! Stay tuned...

Kiev in all colors (and only with a compact camera!)

Kiev, I do apologize. For my prejudice going there to expect a "little Moscow". Kiev, you are nothing like Moscow, you are much better! Full of colors, green areas, less rush, less traffic and a much more smiles.
It is funny to realize, that I have travel all around the world, but I haven't visited country which is neighboring my home country.

And I also did an experiment. As Monika needed my the most favorite travelling lenses for her sessions, I've decided to travel only with my compact Leica D-LUX4. And it was a fantastic experience! Leica allowed me to shoot in RAW, to shoot in a manual mode, but the most important fact was, that I had no choice of lenses. So I have to milk the situation with what I had. Obviously, that means, I was more in a "street photography" mood, which was a good decision when you get to places like Saturday's flea market or one of the thousands churches in Kiev. Enjoy!

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!