Big announcement! My big photography role model, teacher and friend Bryan Peterson offered me and Monika an opportunity to join expansion of his “baby” – The Perfect Picture School of Photography – outside English speaking part of the world. And I’m thrilled to share, that Czech and Slovak version of PPSOP will be starting this fall, where Bryan and I will be helping you to get The Perfect Picture! Meanwhile, please be our guests and visit www.ppsop.cz, where you can watch Brayn’s welcoming video and sign up for updates. Stay tuned…BTW – you can like us on facebook.com/ppsopcz too. Veľká novinka! Môj fotografický vzor, učiteľ a priateľ Bryan Peterson ponúkol mne a Monike možnosť spolupodieľať sa na rozširovaní jeho Školy Perfektnej Fotografie mimo anglicky hovoriace krajiny. The Perfect Picture School of Photography (PPSOP) je celosvetová jednička v online fotografickom vzdelávaní a s radosťou vám oznamujeme, že od jesene štartujeme spolu s Bryanom kurzy v češtine pre Českú a Slovenskú republiku. Zatiaľ vás radi privítame na našej stránke www.ppsop.cz, kde sa môžte dozvedieť viac o škole, pozrieť si Bryanove uvítacie video a prihlásiť sa k odberu noviniek. Ostaňte naladení…A nezabudnite si nás tiež “obľúbiť” aj na facebook.com/ppsopcz …

My dear Monika came with a great idea. To offer a quick 4 hours workshop for a beginners who still dare to switch from a full automatic to a manual mode on their DSLRs. But the best part of this great idea was, that “fee” will be donated to somebody who needs it – little Danik would benefit out of it. It took her only a few hours to fulfill 7 offered spots and during our stay in Prague we met on Saturday early morning with great and enthusiastic photographers. Not even a heavy rain stopped this short but intensive event to happen 😉 And after a quick update on balance of  “the photography triangle” we were freezing action, implying motion, panning, zooming – and jumping (for a group photo). And just a short gallery of our trials taken during a workshop.PS: Big thanks to all participants for their passion, and for supporting Danik. At the end we’ve collected 3.000 CZK.

While roaming in Seoul’s old part of town I’ve found this interesting pattern – bunch of wooden sticks. Initial frame just simply filled with sticks was pretty OK, but I’ve tried to find a way how to make it a bit more appealing. And here’s the final one, using two simple – but very effective techniques. First – I’ve broken the pattern with something visually different. In this case I’ve inserted a piece of plastic rose (looks pretty fresh, huh? 😉 from a nearby store “decorations”. But still not dramatic enough to my taste as you can see below. Midday overcast light didn’t help too much, pretty dull, right?So, as a second improvement, I’ve added a strong sidelight using my beloved flash SB-900 – flashing OFF the camera, just a less than meter away. And voilá! Which one do you prefer more? I definitely like more the one above 😉 Taking your flash off the camera is super easy. All new digital Nikon cameras and flashes will allow you to shoot without Pocketwizard or similar radio controlled tools, just staying in the visible distance to camera. Give it a try. If you have any issues, shoot me an email, I’ll be glad to help and guide! 😉Ahoj! Patrik

Yes, of course I’m talking about a very specific source of light – fireworks. Actually, there is not a better time and the place in a whole world then to be on 4th of July in US… We packed our kids and Monika throw to our van our gears too and we’ve got to our favorite place with a spectacular view to our local firework show. At the end we finished with the only one composition, as kids were pretty amazed, so we preferred to enjoy this entertainment rather with them. However, even only one single composition rewarded us with a few nice soooo classical shots 😉 Enjoy! BTW – I can’t take whole credit for all pictures, we were both either enjoying kids or capturing this source of light, so (c) patrik and monika! 😉 PS: During a summer you might get close to some fireworks, so here’s my setup, which I’ve tried already in Singapore and got as a tip via ppsop.com newsletter (sign up, it’s always full of great tips!) Secure your camera to your tripod Use your remote or cable release Set your camera in manual mode Set your ISO to 100 Set your exposure to 4 seconds Set your aperture to f/11 Set your lens to manual and then to infinity focus PS2: And sooo unfortunately, I’ve got this additional great tip for cool creative way of shooting fireworks on 5th of July from a son of my colleague – but I’ll be trying for sure next time!

Still processing pictures with my models. Tons of them, more to come.This is a mini set called woman in black or how can you easily create two different persons, so unexpectedly with blond hair or bright green eyes respectively. Camera and lights are a beautiful magic things, you can create whoever you want…

Experience with a real (I mean now hired and paid) model. Blonde one was from Russia, being in US for about three weeks, barely speaking English, so with my poor level of broken Russian I was able to navigate her. And for those who will immediately ask – no, my significant one wasn’t with me and yes, she knew what I’m going to shoot! I was actually with a bunch of other photographers, including women too! 😉 Cool experience with lights, flashes, pocket wizards, remotes etc…! And believe or not, this one is 14 years old! She was with her mum, being her guardian, agent and supporter whole the time. Same Russian girl as the one above, now with her face too…

Well, they are everywhere. At the beginning we only noticed empty ugly shells at the trees. Then first ugly bugs. Then disturbing noise, lately changing to unbearable noise! There are thousands of them only in our garden. Millions in our area. Cicadas  As we googled out on wikipedia, they are digging out from the ground every 13th years (!), they are more or less harmless, and they’ll live only a few weeks. In the middle of the July they should be gone. OK, but they are still extremely ugly and when one of them will sit on your shoulder…. ghrrrrrr!But we have to give them a bit of the credit. They are beautifully colorful and kinda photogenic. Especially under a macro lens. PS: Now we know where Aliens and Sigourney Weaver got inspiration for their mutual friend! 😉PS: updated with a “behind the scenes” picture. And this is a behind the scenes shot. “Studio” has been built inside, as even a slight wind made cicada very blurry. To our surprise, one of the two model was so shocked, that hold still for almost a 10 minutes!