bardejov is spinning too

I am very proud of my home town, beautiful Bardejov. Old and well preserved city at UNESCO heritage list. Always happy to get back home – and find a new way to photograph it. As this is my season of night and star trails photography I wanted to see, if I would be able to capture stars above the heart of the city – main square with iconic City Hall and St. Giles Basilica.I have pointed camera towards the North to have the center of spinning in the middle of the picture and yet I have included the rest of the square at the bottom, thanks to quite wide 16-35mm lens.And then just waited for two hours with my dad and friend Milan (thanks both!) – just chatting in the middle of the city. Once I have collected 190 images (see below), we packed and back at home I was immediately amazed when my camera spit out the first results! Those spinning circles just accent the city itself, you gotta agree… Enjoy it! PS: Join me for my night photo workshop and I’ll be happy to share, how to photograph and produce such images. More info about workshop here. Nikon D800, Nikkor 16-35mm @ 16mm, f/11, 190 x 30 sec, ISO 320 Som vždý hrdý na svoje rodné mesto, nádherný Bardejov. Staré ale pritom zachovalé mesto na Unesco zozname kultúrneho dedičstva. Vždy sa rád domov vraciam – a vždy rád hľadám nové spôsoby ako ho nafotiť. A keďže som momentálne zaťažený na fotenie nočnej oblohy a krásnych hviezdnych čiar, tak som chcel vyskúšať, či by som dokázal zachytiť hviezdy nad srdcom mesta – starobylým námestím s ikonickou radnicou a Bazilikou sv. Egídia. Zamieril som fotoaparát na sever tak, aby som stred rotácie mal uprostred záberu a pritom aby som stále mal […]

about a girl and horse

Photographing horses has a special dynamic which is hard to replicate with other animals. Especially when they are in a motion – you have to appreciate how 500kg can smoothly move, run and jump with all elegance! But usually you do not have the opportunity to get first perfect shots right or ask their riders to repeat that last jump, so you can get a better angle! Try that during your next steeplechase visit 😉 So when Jane and Jessica approached us with an idea to have Photo walk dedicated to horse riding – I knew immediately: This is it! Jessica is a wonderful, patient and photogenic horse rider and Quinta’s is her best buddy, who enjoys every minute with her and is very patient too! Quinta’s stables are located in a picturesque valley with even more picturesque mountains in background. And weather? Well, nice, sunny, but still with a snow at the top of the mountains. Can it get any better? Actually yes – Jessica and Quinta’s really showed off and everybody in our Photo Walk group were able to get great pictures. Thank you Jess and Jane! And please pass a little carrot to Quinta’s as a token of our appreciation 😉 PS: All pictures taken with Nikon D800. As we had a lot of sun, we were able to keep ISO down to 100-200 and still get a short shutter speeds between 1/1000 – 1/2000 to freeze the action. Fotenie koní má špeciálnu atmosféru, ktorá sa dá ťažko navodiť pri fotení iných zvierat. Obzvlášť keď sú v pohybe – vtedy musíte oceniť eleganciu s akou sa 500kg dokáže pohybovať, bežať a skákať! Zvyčajne ale nemáte príležitosť nafotiť hneď prvý záber perfektne alebo požiadať jazdca aby zopakoval ten posledný skok, aby ste malo lepší uhol! Skúste to nabudúce, keď budete na […]

under the bridge

Under the bridge is my favorite song, but going literally under the bridge it’s worth to go to get nice shots. Okay, a bit further away it’s also worth it. But the main point is – when there is an inclement weather – get out to shoot! There are pretty good chances for a fantastic shots. Big clouds, colorful sunset, rainbows, wind… you name it! In my case, sky was so dark, that it looked it will start to rain any moment. But strong wind not only carried those clouds away, but took them so fast, that even 30 seconds exposure created smooth sky usually made during 4 minutes exposure.Enjoy my view at Bratislava’s castle (not only taken under the bridge…). Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm @ 24 mm, f/10 @ 10 sec, ISO 200 Pod mostom je moja obľúbená skladba od RHCHP, ale dostať sa doslova pod most stojí za to, aby človek získal skvelé zábery. OK, tak aj trošku ďalej od mosta stojí za to. Najdôležitejšie na tom ale je to, že ak je vonku nepríjemné počasie, tak treba ísť z domu a fotiť! Je dosť veľká šanca na získanie skvelých záberov. Veľké mraky, farebný západ slnka, dúha, vietor… na čo si spomeniete. V mojom prípade keď som vychádzal z domu, bola obloha tak tmavá, že búrke doslova viseli nohy. Ale silný vietor to všetko nakoniec nielenže rozfúkal, ale hnal ich preč tak rýchlo, že aj 30 sek expozícia vytvorila krásne hladké nebo, ktoré zvyčajne trvá nafotiť 4 minúty.Užite si môj pohľad na Bratislavský hrad (nafotený nielen pod mostom…). Nikon D800, Nikkor 16-35mm @ 16 mm, f/22 @ 1/20 sec, ISO 100 Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm @ 24 mm, f/22 @ 30 sec, ISO 50 Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm @ 35 mm, f/9 @ 4 sec, ISO 200