auckland | black and white challenge #2

Continuing with my black and white challenge. For the street photography is black and white somehow natural… This one was made at my trip to Otara market in Auckland, New Zealand. It was GREAT place for roaming and photo-enjoying. But when I later told my kiwi friends where I was, all of them shockingly asked: WHERE the heck have you been? Apparently it is not the most safest and top recommended place for tourist in Auckland. Anyway. This young man and his grandma worth the trip! 😉 Pokračujem druhým dňom s čiernobielou výzvou. K street fotografii tá čiernobiela proste pasuje… Túto som nafotil počas výletu na Otara trh v Aucklande na Novom Zélande. Bolo to FANTSASTICKÉ miesto na foto vychádzku, fakt som si to užil. Ale keď som potom svojím kiwi kamarátom povedal kde som bol, tak sa chytali za hlavu, že TOTO definitívne nie je miesto, kde by sa mal turista sám vybrať. Ale tento mladý muž so svojou starou mamou za to stáli! 😉

black and white challenge #1

I have been nominated by Marketa for the black and white challenge. To post five black and white pictures. You know me, I am a color guy, you won’t find a lot of black and white images in my portfolio. However, I have accepted the challenge! It will give me the opportunity to go through my library (it is allowed!) and maybe even to process few of the newer ones in BW only… OK, So here we go, #1. My all time favorite – Naked ladies, aka unbelievable morning sand dunes in absolutely unique and stunning Death Valley, CA! Bol som nominovaný Markétou do Čiernobielej výzvy. Musím sa pochváliť piatimi svojimi čiernobielymi zábermi. Ako ma poznáte, som oveľa viacej na farby, nenájdete veľa ČB záberov v mojom portfóliu. Ale možno práve preto som výzvu prijal! Aspoň mi to dá priležitosť si prejsť portfólio (to je dovolené!) a možno aj spracovať niekoľko novších úlovkov do čiernobiela…OK, takže, záber #1. Moja dlhodobá favoritka – Nahé ženské, alebo neuveriteľné ranné pieskové duny v jedinečnom Death Valley v Kalifornii!

ode to lemon – project 52 | week 29

I have started this year’s project 52 with a mold in our fridge (see here) and by posting following pictures it might look we are quite messy household. But trust me – that is NOT true! 😉 It just sometimes happens… You know, fridge might have a mysterious corners and lemon might be not needed for a week… But then, oh man, it is a joy to take a picture of it! So yes, it is an ODE TO LEMON and its beauty 😉 Thanks Monika for a cool tip! Tento rok som projekt 52 otváral záberom na pleseň v našej chladničke (viď tu) a tak pridanie týchto fotografií by mohlo vytvoriť dojem, že v našej domácnosti panuje bordel. Ale verte mi – to v žiadnom prípade NIE je pravda! 😉 To sa proste len niekedy tak vyvrbí. Však viete, chladničky niekedy mávajú také tajomné zákutia alebo proste človek niekedy nepotrebuje citrón aj celý týždeň… Ale potom – to je ale skvostný objekt na fotenie, však?! Je to tak, ÓDA NA CITRÓN v plnej kráse 😉A ďakujem Moničke z cool tip!

kids were here – project 52 | week 26

That was an easy topic to pick up. It was just a matter of a proper moment. As they happen to be here, and then there…During our holidays, we spent also two day in Tuscany, Italy and visited Pisa with famous Leaning tower. Gosh!!! It really is leaning quite a lot!!Anyway, when we promised kids, that they will have real Italian pizza in Pisa – you should see the speed they picked up! 😉 And pizza was just gorgeous! BOLI TU DETI – Toto bolo ľahká téma, bola to len otázka správneho načasovania, keďže oni naozaj zvyknú byť chvíľu tu a potom zase tam 😉Počas dovolenky sme strávili dva dni aj v Toskánsku a navšívili aj Pisu s jej slávnou šikmou vežou. Koxo!! Neuveriteľné ako sa fakt nakláňa!!Nuž, ale keď sme deťom sľúbili, že di dáme pravú talianskú pizzu, priamo v Pise – čéče, tí ale pridali do kroku! 😉 A musím ešte pre úplnosť dodať, že pizza bola absolútne skvelá!

project 52 | week 28 – view from the window II.

Continuing (re) exploring pictures from Corsica trip and I have realized that I have two more shots to include under “View from the window”, probably even more poscard-ish 😉 First one has been taken on the one of the 189 steps of King’s Aragon staircase in Bonifacio. (Co-star: Silverwind cruise, in the very background Sardinia…) And that one, on the opposite side of the Bonifacio city, with the view into a natural inner harbor.Red boat was just eye-catching and irresistible… Pokračujem v znovu objavovaní fotiek z Korziky a narazil som na zábery, ktoré ešte spadajú pod tému “Pohľad cez okno”, dokonca sú ešte hádam aj viac pohľadnicovejšie 😉 Prvá nafotené na jednom zo 189 schodoch kráľa Aragona v Bonifaciu. Vo vedľajšej úlohe: výletná loď Silverwind a vo veľmi vzidalenom pozadí už Sardínia…A druhá je fotená na opačnej strane mestečka Bonifacio, s výhľadom na prírodný, vnútorný záliv. Tá červená proste bola neprehliadnuteľná a neodolateľná…

project 52 | week 28 – view from my window

Got back from our “summer” holidays in October. Downloaded 1920 pictures (82GB!) which we have collectively taken together with Monika…Oh Corsica, I miss you so much! We had just fantastic times! I know I am going to provoke, but I can’t help! 25-29C all the time at the end of October, water around 23C and we were swimming and enjoying sea everyday! Beaches? Incredible! But most of all, we just had a beautiful and relaxing time! My first time ever in Corsica and I want to go back immediately! Love it!! OK, enough exclamation marks 😉So, to stay in project 52 theme, here’s a “View from our window”…. You can for sure expect much more pictures soon, because Corsica was photogenic and we have enjoyed taking pictures there… Morning, during a day, evening and even during a middle of the night. Stay tuned… Tak sme sa vrátili z našej “letnej” októbrovej dovolenky. Stiahol som 1920 fotiek (82GB!), ktoré sme s Monikou spolu nafotili… Oh, Korzika! Už teraz mi chýbaš! Mali sme sa fantasticky! Viem, že provokujem, ale nemôžem si pomôcť! 25-29C každý deň – na konci októbra, voda okolo 23C, akurát na každodenné kúpanie a čľapkanie sa! Pláže? Proste neuvriteľné! Ale čo bolo najdôležitejšie, mali sme sa proste úplne skvelo a strašne sme si oddýchli! Bola to moja prvá návšteva Korziky a už teraz sa chcem vrátiť! Úžasné! OK, dosť bolo výkričnikov 😉Takže, aby som ostal v rámci témy projektu 52 – tak pridávam “Pohľad z okna”…Už čoskoro začne pribúdať mnoho ďalších záberov, nakoľko Korzika bola úplne fotogenická a užili sme si to aj po fotografickej stránke… Ráno, cez deň, podvečer, večer, o polnoci… Ostaňte naladení!

project 52 | week 27 – windy

What to do if you are in a nice place, you have a few moments to take a picture, but you still are missing that “interesting object” to spice up the cool wall? Well, throw yourself into the frame! Nikon D800, 24-70mm @ 45mm, f/14 @ 1/3 sec, ISO 320 Čo robiť, keď sa nachádzate na krásnom mieste a máte pár chvíľ na fotenie, každopádne však v zábere postrádate nejaký ten zaujímavý prvok, ktorý by to celé trochu oživil? Vrhnite sa do scény! 😉 Nikon D800, 24-70mm @ 45mm, f/14 @ 1/3 sec, ISO 320

project 52 | week 33 – “33”

The best camera is the one you have with you. You’ve heard that many times, right? So do I. And today it happened – walked into this great composition with my iPhone only! Couldn’t resist anyway. 33 swans (including those two I had to crop their feathers from the final shot! 😉 Najlepší je ten foťák, ktorý máte so sebou – už ste to určite počuli, však? Aj ja. A dne sa mi pritrafilo vojsť do takejto skvelej kompozície len s iPhonom. Ale aj tak som neodolal. 33 labutí (vrátane dvoch, ktoré mali v zábere len pár pierok a z výsledného záberu som ich vyrezal! 😉

project 52 | week 24 – household

Finally managed to get semi-transparent white plexi-glass to be able to shoot “white in space” pictures at home. Yeaah, I know, it took us a while 😉 Anyway, on my Saturday morning walk to local bakery (while raining) I got an idea, how those homeless snails (which were everywhere!) would look like in the white space and if they would be as transparent as flowers or fruits. Well, you can see by yourself. Fight for the last remaining household begins! 😉 And the winner is?! 😉PS: Idea and tip how to shoot with the white board can be found in this older Bryan’s video. Which is exactly where I have shot few my previous white floats – see examples here.PS2: One would not believe how those creatures can be fast! I have carefully staged them and while getting to the camera’s viewfinder, those bastards were inches away!!! ;))) Konečne sme doma zvládli si zohnať vlastné biele, matné plexisklo, aby sme mohli fotiť zábery “v bielom priestore”. Hej, celkom nám to trvalo, však? Každopádne, v sobotu cestou do pekárne – keďže pršalo – som dostal nápad, že ako by v bielom priestore vyzerali tie slizniaky (tak doma voláme tých bezdomovcov bez búdky). A že či by tiež boli tak priesvitný ako ovocie alebo kvety. Nuž, presvedčte sa sami. Bitka o poslednú voľnu domácnosť sa začala! A víťazom sa stáva?! 🙂PS: Kliknite na toto video, kde Bryan vysvetľuje ako sa fotí s takýmto plexisklom. Mimochodom, je to presne to miesto, kde som nafotil svoje predchádzajúce biele zábery po prvýkrát…PS2: Človek by neveril aké rýchle tie malé mrchy dokážu byť! Opatrne som si ich nastaval a nakomponoval a kým som sa pozrel cez foťák na záber, tak tie potvory boli už centimetre mimo!!

project 52 | week 22 – strawberries (fireworks again!)

And I did it again. Used the firework opportunity (Vive la France!) during our recent trip to Burgundy and shoot fireworks during the explosion and “defocused” at the same time. I have used this technique already two years ago (see here), but I still had a lot of fun! All pictures were taken with 24-70mm street-zoom lens at 70mm and I was again amazed what a fantastic creation I was getting right out on my screen! How to do that? Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm, f/8, 1/2sec. No editing whatsoever, output straight out of the camera. It is actually very simple. Technique is similar to the “zooming” one, but this time during a one second exposure you are rotating with your focusing ring on your lens.1) find a firework in your area 😉2) use a medium size telezoom lens (somewhere between 70-120mm)3) go manual exposure and turn off your automatic focusing4) set up an exposure to f/8 and shutter speed for 1 second. (Here you can play with shutter speed between 1/2 to 2 seconds, longer exposure can give you a longer strikes, but you might get a lot of light into a frame.)5) aim the camera to expected center of the explosion6) in the moment of the explosion push the shutter button and at the same time – during the 1 second exposure – rotate your focusing ring from one side to another And that’s it! This time versus my previous attempt I haven’t used the tripod and found it much easier and faster to aim for the center of the explosion. And still think that the “explosion roses” are as beautiful as previously.That easy! So go on, find your firework and share what you have captured! 😉 I’m looking forward to it. PS: Still fits into the project 52, the […]