Harvest time! Just magnificent trip to Burgundy in France with great friends. And passing hay bales around village of Donzy was irresistible. See also what kind of session Monika created there… Lovely!
Author Archive: Patrik Banas
project 52 | week 21 – the beauty of the metal
Theme of the week 21 is the beauty of the metal. So to do it right I went to the small local “home depot” to buy the proper screws – I have visualize them in my head before the shoot, so I knew what I am looking for! Well, they had them, but about hundred of them cost around 100 bucks! But the shopper assistant Pierrette was kind enough to agree, that I can return them following day, when I shared my story, why I need them. So I have spent the night screwing around 😉Set up was easy – bunch of screws, two flashes and small flashlight. All of them with the color gels and I got several different combinations – what a program for Friday night! And here are some of the final results. Definitely beauty of metal! (Behind the scenes shots at the bottom).PS: All picture were made in the camera, no photoshopping, just a minor contrast and color compensations in LR. Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm, Nikon SB900 with blue gel, f/22, 15sec, ISO 100. Shot in the dark, and after firing the flash, pointing with small LED flashlight with red gel in front of it (see behind the scenes shots at the end) Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm, Nikon SB900 with blue gel fired from the side, LumoPro Manual flash with red gel fired from the bottom. f/22, 1/10sec, ISO 100. Screws placed on the glass, covered with white canvas, imitating white, matt Plexiglas (see behind the scenes shots at the end). Nikon D800, Nikkor 24-70mm, Nikon SB900 fired from the side, LumoPro Manual flash with blue gel fired from the bottom. Shot in the dark, and after firing the flash, pointing with small LED flashlight with red gel in front of it. f/22, 20sec, ISO 100. Screws placed on […]
project 52 | week 17 – picture of somebody who is taking a picture
Back to my project 52. This is quite an interesting theme and quite an easy for me. Being quite often around Monika’s session (and actually being her official backstage photographer) gives me a lot of opportunities to take a picture of somebody who is taking a picture. This one was particularly unique, as the photographer, was really “on the edge”. Few more centimeters and she (and her camera!) would be in the pond. Well, thankfully, she kept her balanced and as a reward, she got a spectacular pictures on that nice Sunday morning. PS: Second picture is not only showing……how really she was at the edge, but also could be a good candidate for a theme of week 12 – in the center (and/or at the edge)… would you agree? A som naspäť v projekte 52. Tohto týždňová téme “Fotka niekoho, kto fotí”, je zaujímavá a pre mňa pomerne jednoduchá. Nakoľko sa často pohybujem okolo Monikiných foto sessions, mám kopec príležitostí nafotiť niekoho, kto fotí (koniec koncov, bol som menovaný oficiálnym fotografom na zábery spoza scény ;). Táto jedna je obzvlášť špeciálna, nakoľko fotografov siahol doslova “na okraj svojich možností”. Ešte zopár centimetrov a bola by (aj s foťákom!) v rybníku. Chvalabohu, udržala rovnováhu a za odmenu získala v to skoré nedeľné ráno nádherné fotky. PS: Ten druhý snímok len potvrdzuje, ako blízko okraja naozaj bola a dokonca ma napadlo, že by to bol aj dobrý kandidát na tému č. 12 – V strede, a/alebo na okraji, čo poviete? 😉
stone sculptures
To continue with the stone sculpture story from the previous post, I have also added flash… but let me start from the beginning. During my morning jogging around the Geneva lake I have met this interesting “Stone sculptures”. Somebody had fun! At the first sight i though that it is just some artistic exhibition with a help of really strong glue, but I was proven wrong! They were just… well stacked stones. So I have memorized the place and the same evening I was back, hoping it wasn’t ruined yet. Thankfully, Swiss are very disciplined and everybody appreciated the composition instead of ruing it. So I have tried several different angles (as seen in the previous post) but I was really mesmerized by the shot from the bottom against the beautiful cobalt blue dusk sky, which thanks to arriving storm got even more dynamic!My camera with 11-16 wide-angle (obviously, so late on a tripod) I have aimed against the sky and decided for aperture f/16 which determined the correct exposure at 1/4 sec. But already in the morning I got an idea to try, how those pillars would look like, if I would call for a help of my flash with some colored gels and lighten them against the darker sky. Unfortunately, I have forgotten to pack my color gels, but I have managed to overcome that by visit to local Office depot and brought with me a bunch of simple colorful, transparent sheet covers. Flash in manual exposure has been set to full 1/1 power, distance apx. 1 meter (3ft). I have handheld the flash on my right and with a help of Pocket Wizard I have taken the picture above. And when I have impatiently checked the LCD monitor I have almost fallen to the lake, cause I […]
peace at the lake shore
While walking at the lake shore, I have discovered those balancing stones sculptures. When I have realized, they are REAL and not glued – I immediately knew I need to get back with my camera. And it was worth it!This one is all about the wide angle and foremost subject telling the story of the peaceful evening. But there were couple of more shots, where I have enjoyed playing with my flash. Those will come later… © Patrik Banas, Nikon D7000 with Tokina 11-14mm at 11mm, f/22 @ 25 sec, ISO 100 Na prechádzke okolo brehu jazera som objavil tieto kamenné súsošia. Keď som zistil, že nie sú nijako zlepené ale fakt sú takto vyvážené – tak mi hneď bolo jasné, že sa musím vrátiť naspäť s foťákom. A stálo to za to! Tento záber je hlavne o širokouhlom objektíve a o dominantnom prvku v popredí, ktorý dokáže vyrozprávať príbeh toho úžasne kľudného večera… Ale nafotil som ešte zopár ďalších, kde som sa vyhrajkal s bleskom. Tie prídu už čoskoro…
project 52 | week 13 – hapiness
Give me a camera, 50mm prime lens and nice and shiny object… and I am happy as a child! Chandelier in the one of Swiss “Hôtel” was so irresistible, that I gave up happy hour in the bar and just walk around, laid below, play with the aperture and shutter speed… And then just very quickly edited in LR within 5 minutes… So you can say – pure output out of the camera. Yes, that’s also a happiness for me! Chandelier itself is at the very bottom… Dajte mi do ruky foťák s 50mm objektívom a nejaký zaujímavý, trblietavý predmet… a som šťastný ako blcha! Tento luster v jednom švajčiarskom “Hôtel” bol tak neodolateľný, že som obmedzil pobyt v bare a namiesto toho som sa len prechádzal okolo lustra, ľahol si pod neho a len sa tak hral s clonou a uzávierkou…Potom som to len narýchlo za 5 minút, prehnal cez Lightroom, takže myslím, že to viacmenej vústup priamo z foťáku. Áno, aj takto vyzerá pre mňa šťastie! Samotný luster je úplne dole…
project 52 | week 11 – song
Where is a shot, there will be a song…Theme of the project 52 this week is SONG, and it was quite easy to match a song to this different angle of Arc Triomphe in Paris, France (yes, that is what is it). It was a fine Sunday morning with Monika and quite a fun to lay down on my back under the arch and then realize, that all of the sudden all tourists started to raise their heads and shooting towards the sky 😉Oh, and the song is the classic – Aux Champs Elysées! ©Patrik Banas, Nikon D800 with Nikkor 14-24mm at 14mm, f/22 @ 1/13sec, ISO100 Ak máte záber, tak pesničku si už nájdete… Témou projektu 52 tento týždeň je PESNIČKA a tak bolo pomerne jednoduché napasovať skladbu na tento záber Víťazného oblúka (áno, to je to čo to je). Mali sme nádherné nedeľné dopoludnie s Moničkou a bolo to celkom zábavné si ležať na chrbte rovno pod oblúkom a potom zistiť, že zrazu všetci turisti začali zdvíhať hlavy a mierili svojimi fotoaparátmi smerom hore 😉 A ozaj, aby som nezabudol, tá skladba je klasická Aux Champs Elysées!
project 52 | week 14 – silhouettes
Timing is everything!Správne načasovanie nadovšetko! Huge thanks to my darling Monika! For the trip itself and for her sacrifice, to stay in foyer to take care of all bags and tripods. Guards to Musée d’Orsay were really really not opened to let us go inside with all our equipment. We negotiate at least DSLRs with two lenses. Scotty (the model) and myself went inside, Monika waited. Isn’t she a perfect!?Obrovské poďakovanie patrí Moničke! Za celý ten trip a za tú obetu, že ostala čakať v hale a strážila všetky batohy a statívy. Ochranka z Orsay múzea bola veľmi neoblomná a nechcela nás pustiť do vnútra so všetkou výbavou. Vyhádali sme aspoň zrkadlovky s dvoma objektívmi. Dovnútra som teda išiel iba ja a Scotty (model zo snímku), Monička na nás čakala. Nie je to úžasná polovička?
Rendez-vous in Paris
I got a date (or I should say rendez-vous!) this weekend. Very special one! My dear one has invited me to Paris. Just like that. Only two of us and cameras!We met extremely nice people and took a lot of nice pictures (they will be coming soon). But most of all – we had a nice weekend with “a lot of kisses, hugs and baguettes” 😉PS: Mademoiselle Eiffel joined us for a double-date…PS2: Thanks Babaj, Miška, Honza a Scotty! Nikon D800, 70-300mm, f/11 @ 4sec, ISO 320 Tento víkend som mal rande (teda rendez-vous, aby som bol presnejší). Veľmi špeciálne. Moja drahá polovička ma pozvala do Paríža. Len tak. Iba my dvaja a foťáky!Stretli sme strašne milých ľudí a nafotili kopec pekných fotiek (čoskoro ich tu pribudne viac). Ale čo bolo najdôležitjšie, mali sme nádherný víkend “s kopou bozkov, objatí a bagiet” 😉PS: Slečna Eiffelová sa k nám na chvíľu pridala do dvojky…PS2: Ďíky Babaj, Miška, Honza a Scotty!
project 52 | week 12 – in the center (and/or at the edge)
A bit complicated theme this week. I was clueless for a while, when the inspiration came right in front of me. During our Sunday afternoon walk we happened to be right along the path of some motorbike parade. Hundreds (!) of bikes of all kinds, all honking and reving up the engines. Quite ugly background, so quick reaction was: do some panning! After a quick review on a display I knew I have the one for “in the center, or at the edge” 😉 Tento týždeň trochu komplikované téma. Zo začiatku som bol totálne bez nápadu, ale ako to už zvyčajne býva, inšpirácia prišla sama, až pred objektív. Počas nedeľnej, rodinnej prechádzky sme sa zrazu vyskytli hneď vedľa nejakej motorkárskej spanilej jazdy. Stovky motoriek (!) všetkých tvarov a chutí, trúbili, vytáčali motory. S pomerne nudným pozadím som zareagoval panningom a po rýchlej kontrole na displeji som zistil, že mám aj jeden “V strede, alebo na kraji” 😉 Few more bikers – I told you – all ind of bikers 😉 Ešte zopár motorkárov – veď som vravel, že všetkých tvarov a chutí 😉