The snow is mostly gone, here on the prairies, but it will be some weeks before we see greenery and flowers blooming. I can’t wait! It has been a long winter and I sure could use a bit of color. Late spring or early summer images are great for it because all is fresh and green is bright and not dimmed by dust of late summer days.
We are lucky here in Alberta, because some nights are full of light show. We had a couple of gorgeous Aurora showing last fall and I have managed to capture some shots without leaving the city.
I know, I know it is winter and everybody posts winter photography, but I am not ready for it yet. I see it outside my window every day, so I want to see something warm, colorful and pretty. Hope you are in need of this as well.
It has been a while since I’ve posted anything about Elk Island National Park. So, I think, it is time for some lovely sunset from the beginning of summer, when all was green, flowers were blooming and days were warm and long.
The Nuremberg Imperial Castle is an impressive building dating from around 1150AD. It was restored to it's original shape, as it was almost completely destroyed during the last war. The main Luginsland Tower is open to visitors, and can be climbed with a promise that one can actually see the Bavarian mountains.
After coming back from a long day in Wurzburg, visiting churches and practicing a little street photography, we had a enough energy left to visit the Nuremberg castle to see if we can catch the sunset. It seemed like a good location
Both villages that we visited in France were absolutely teeming with people. A perfect place to try out street photography. It wasn't easy at first as there was literally too much to take in.
This is going to be a series of posts of my little excursion to Europe. History repeats itself, as 3 years ago, I manage to get the first Fuji camera, the X-Pro1, a few days before the family European vacation, and the whole trip was shot with that.
When I heard that there was a walkabout being organized in Calgary, I quickly jumped on the occasion. Not everyday you get to meet The Fuji Guys in person.
Street photography was never easy for me. I'm too big of a chicken, when it comes to pointing a camera, even a little Fuji X-E1 at strangers. It seems to me that every time I point a camera at someone on the the street, they will come over and beat me up, to a pulp. I like the work of people like Bruce Gilden, but I don't have the guts to confront strangers like that. My way is discreet. I do a lot of hip shooting, or using long telephoto lens from a safe location :) . Hip shooting is a gamble, specially when using a new focal length, which I'm not used to. This was the case when I mounted the Fujinon 23mm on the Fuji X-E1, and tried hip shooting the Freemont Street in Las Vegas.
I'm used to hip shooting street photography, with a wider lens, so a lot of shots with the 23mm Fujinon lens were misses. Horrible misses. I knew starting this experiment I would need some practice, and it showed. Still, I was able to catch a few interesting frames, and didn't get beat up... I think I can count that as a success :) . Fuji X cameras are perfect for this type of shooting. They are small discreet and quiet. People do not notice you as much. It's not like having a big white Canon lens. Maybe this summer I will be able to go out practice more hip shooting, and aiming my camera properly. Here are some of the shots I captured in Las Vegas. Enjoy!
I don't know if you can call this street photography, as there are no streets really... so what do you call beach people photography? I guess I'll stick with street photography, since to me that definition basically says, that these are candid photos of people. Just the setting is a bit different from a street.... it's a beach. Anyhow, now that we got this out of the way, let's continue. I really enjoy photographing people. I am normally the biggest introvert you'll ever meet, and going out among people and taking their photo, scares the crap out of me. I'm usually the creepy creep, training my lens on you, from far away :)
When people are not aware that you are taking their picture, they behave as they normally would. The moment they spot a camera pointed at them, their behaviour changes instantly. They either hide, give you a fake smile, or just pretend to ignore you, but their natural behaviour, that moment, vanishes with out a trace. This is why I try to use either a very wide angle lens, or a long zoom. The wide angle is perfect for hip shooting. What I mean by that is, you pretend to adjust settings on your camera, and without raising the camera to your eye, you take a photo. Or you carry the camera nonchalantly in your hand, and point in the general direction and hope for the best. Wide angle lenses are best suited for this, as it is hard to miss the subject. Other lenses require lots of practice, to know exactly where to point to get that awesome image. Changing from a 17mm to a 35mm lens had disastrous effects, as none of the hip shooting images came out. I just didn't know how to aim the lens properly. So my tip to you is... try hip shooting, or find some balls and don't be afraid of people :D
Here is some examples of beach street shooting, enjoy!
Alberta skiers are a hardy bunch. Even lack of snow and generally hot temperatures of a brief summer season, does not deter them from putting on some skis and going for a run. I happened on a couple of them training. It was quite an sight. Lucky I my cameras with me to document the event. Some of you might find it silly, but I had this idea for a very long time. I think the main problem with realizing it, was finding someone crazy enough to actually do it. I finally found that person and the little project could go ahead. It was a lot of fun shooting it. I can finally cross it out of my projects..... or can I? :) Looking at the images after, I think I could go one step further, expand on the idea. Hmmm.... rusted gears in my head are starting to spin, I just hope I don't break anything :) For now I'll let you enjoy the current project....
As you can see from the title, I had a tough time classifying these images. They could be part of a boudoir set, or part of an lifestyle series studying the human form. Thus I decided on art, as it is very general :). I guess the only thing that suffers here is my SEO, I think I can live with that. I just really like these images, and even though they don't fall into any theme (I personally called them Yoga), I still wanted to show them to you. There is something about them that is calming, peaceful.... I let you judge for your self. Enjoy!
In the last post I was talking about lifestyle photography. Today I wanted to talk about portrait photography. I know that some look at portraits in a very traditional way. I, on the other hand, have a bit of a different view. I guess you can call them more candid, or lifestyle... I find that a traditional portraits can be really beautiful, I like to add a little extra emotion or story. Some may not call these portraits at all. I like to engage the subject in a conversation, and during our dialogue take the photographs. We usually joke around, which allows for the genuine smiles to appear. I also like to include elements from the environment, which then really becomes an environmental portrait. All these names, in reality do make a difference. Here are some examples of what I mean. Enjoy!
A couple of weeks ago, I spent a very nice morning at an abandoned farm with Miss N. It was a perfect day to experiment a little. With three cameras and 85mm f1.8, 50mm f1.2 and 35mm f1.4, I had plenty of options. I really don't like changing lenses in the field, as this introduces dust into the camera. Also having a mirror less cameras makes it even worse, because the sensor is fully exposed when the lens is removed. Miss N, was absolutely wonderful to work with. Full of energy and full of ideas to add to the whole session. We started off very early in the morning, at 6:30am, just to be able to catch the best light. Miss N was ready from the start. It is great when you working with a person like that. The whole session is a lot more fun and time just flies by. We got a lot of images that day, and I would like to share with you some I would call lifestyle photography, with a beautiful woman, a beautiful dress and the contrast of an old farm. Enjoy!
I was playing with 645 Pro photo app on the iphone. It's quite an interesting app, with a lot of options for film and format. Then edited via Snapseed app. They were done while on a walk with Konrad and our little dog Atos. He's not little anymore mind you. I think he doubled in size in the last month and a half. At least he's a good mosquito catcher, of which we have an abundance. Atos is doing his part. Here are some of the photos from that walk. Enjoy!
While making images at tourist destinations, you will always run into people. I always try to catch a few shots of them, while they are not paying any attention to me. This makes it easier if you are carrying a small camera, that makes almost no noise. Enter Sony NEX line. I have one of those and coupled with a 24mm f1.8 lens it's perfect for street/candid shots. Just carry the camera by your side point it in the fight direction and snap. The shutter is nearly silent, and the whole system is very discreet. There is always a chance that you might miss the action, but by not raising the camera to your eye, the people you want to catch, act natural. Here are some candid images I captured... but the last were posed portraits of the family. HDR too. Enjoy!
Wishing you all a wonderful Valentine's Day! Enjoy it and share the love with your families and friends! After all, we all deserve a little happiness! Kasia
