This is my favorite shots from the day.
Click here to visit the full gallery with all 43 keepers.
I also have some shots on film, but haven't gotten the rolls developed yet.
In January I picked up this hideous blast from the past for 75DKK / 10EUR / $12 and for a while I wasn't really sure if I had made a good bargain or not. In hindsight I think it was an okay deal, it's not a fantastic camera but it's fun to shoot and it works. I had hoped for better sharpness from the lens, could be that my sample has a layer of something something on the front and rear elements but I haven't really taken the time to do a propper CLA of the camera. The viewfinder can be compared to looking thru a pair of yellow sunglasses covered in fingerprints, which I'm sure might just be gunk in the viewfinder, but I haven't really figured out how to take that bit apart either.
When I first got the camera I didn't know if it worked, so I loaded it with a roll of Ilford HP5 and took it for a walk with the guys from Platea and shot with it for most part of the day (the keepers from that roll can be seen below in chronological order). To my surprise both the light seals, shutter speeds and auto focus worked seemingly well. To my even bigger surprise the camera sounded like a Nazgul screaming at a fat hobbit when it advances the film, which gave a lot of laughs as street photography is normally a stealthy genre of photography. Not the case with this camera.
So if you come across this camera, in working condition and cheaper than what I payed for it, then I recommend you do a coin toss, because I won't tell you that it's a fantastic camera, it isn't. You are probably going to have some fun with it but, that's true for almost any analog camera in my opinion. When I think about it I actually payed much less for my Canonet QL25 and that old rangefinder outperforms the Chinon in every way, except for it lacking auto focus (sorry, Infrafocus) and has no built in flash. The Chinon also takes two AA batteries, whereas the QL25 takes a discontinued PX625 mercury oxide battery, but that's about as positive as I will get with the Chinon.
The Nazgul sound it pretty fun and it is a light weight and an easy to operate camera to bring with you. I'd surely bring this with me if I was going out for beers and fun, as it's not the biggest loss If I accidentally leave it on the counter of McDonalds in the wee hours of the morning. ;)
]]>This post contains all my favorite images from the first couple of days in New Jersey and New York. While there I got to experience a solar eclipse (only 65% coverage though, so not total) and I got to celebrate my birthday by dining in SoHo followed by a couple of drinks in a sky bar with a view of both Midtown and Lower Manhattan.
Not much else to say about New York and New Jersey as it was mostly work while there, not much time for street photography, so it was all about using the chances that presented itself. The solar eclipse was maybe the best photography moment in New York and the image of my colleagues looking up at the solar eclipse with special glasses is hands down my favorite from the entire trip.
Solar Eclipse 2017Shot with a telephoto lens thru a pair of solar eclipse glasses Step OnBoeing 787 wing
There is no doubt that it isn't the last time that I go to these parts of America. It's terrific people, terrific pizza (italien food in general), great scenery in Jersey, the office was close to a rail road so I got to see and hear the iconic fright train every couple of hours which was cool (locals think you're nuts that you think thats cool) and the weather was a heck of a lot better than in San Diego (weird, I know).
More about San Diego in another blogpost.
New YorkDriving down the A9 George Washington Bridge
The DriverThe chauffeur picking us op at the airport.
DrycleanerPicking up dry-cleaning somewhere in New Jersey
]]>In March of this year I was in Reykjavik - capitol of Iceland - and since I only had a couple of days with a couple of meeting in Reykjavik I didn't really have time to venture outside the city. Pictures from Iceland are usually dominated by the islands majestic landscape as it is really a landscape photographers paradise, but Reykjavik is also worthy of a visit if you have a weekend to kill and a lot of flight-points to burn.
Being a big guy with a decent size red beard, both tourists and local people thought that I was from Iceland, which was quite funny. The Iceland people are a great people, very friendly and very nordic with their sweaters, beards and beer.
Iceland is a country with a booming tourist industry ever since the volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010, which results in some really shabby accommodations at some way to high prices because we booked only four weeks prior to the trip. Fair warning, the hot water out of the tap smells a little of rotten eggs because of the volcanic, didn't bother me but my colleague wasn't too fond about it.
If you fancy a beer while in Reykjavik, steer clear of all the regular mass produced brands and try one of the super beers from one of islands many microbreweries. I ended up in Sæta Svínið Gastropub twice and can only recommend it, for both beer and food. You will surely come across horse meat on the menu at some of the restaurants, it tastes a little like beef but sweeter, but personally I prefer beef.
If it matters, all images where shot with a Fujifilm X-Pro2 combined with a 35mm and 18mm lens and followingly processed with the VSCO camera app during the 4 hour flight home to Copenhagen.
Harpa, Reykjavik Concert HallProcessed with VSCO with g2 preset
Harpa, Reykjavik Concert HallProcessed with VSCO with f3 preset
Reykjavik HarborProcessed with VSCO with m6 preset
Reykjavik HarborProcessed with VSCO with m6 preset
Reykjavik Industrial HarborProcessed with VSCO with s3 preset Processed with VSCO with acg preset
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As with the previous expired roll I wrote about here on the sight, the "Revue Pan 21", I found it in box on the floor at "One Of Many Cameras" here in Copenhagen.
The images below where shot with a roll of "Mimosa Pan Chroma", an ASA40 black and white film that expired in 1965 but must have been stored in a freezer or fridge because the results are remarkably better than the "Revue Pan 21" which expired in 1990.
As with the "Revue Pan 21" there is a very contrasty film noir look to it, not as trashy but with personality and with an interesting effect in the highlights. Personally I like the look of this film and I was fortunate enough to have another roll in storage, and it will be interesting to see if comes out similarly or totally different.
All the below black and white images are the result of the Mimosa PanChroma being shot on a Yashica MAT-124 twin lens refleks camera. The developed negatives where scanned on a Canon CanoScan 9000F II and has had little to none post processing done to them.
Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma
Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma
Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma
Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma Expired film - Mimosa PanChroma
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It was built in 1945 for the danish ministry of fisheries and spent most part of its life as an inspection vessel. Before it was towed to Simrishamn in Sweeden it had been used as a house boat, anchored in the waters behind Christians Havn in Copenhagen.
The yard had already begun plucking away the old machinery in the belly of the vessel, with the first major step being the removal of the large 8 cylinder diesel engine from the 1980's (originally it had been fitted with a 6 cylinder diesel).
Upcycling is everywhere, even when it comes to costal vessels, and the future for this particular vessel looks very bright as it is going to be turned into a luxury yacht / diving vessel. Personally I couldn't think of a cooler retirement plan for an old workhorse like the M/S Vestkysten.
Enjoy the images. :)
]]>The answer is YES, if you don't store it properly. The storage conditions will surely effect the film more than it's age, so if you keep it in a fridge it should be good.
The film shot here was a "Revue Pan 21", an ASA100 black and white film that expired in August of 1990. Storage conditions are unknown, but when I got it I found it in box on the floor in the store along with a handfull of other expired 35mm and 120 film.
There is a trashed film noir look to it that I like, probably caused by the emulsion sticking to the backing paper in camera or during the development, but it would have been nice if the images behind were more visible.
Expired film - Revue Pan 21 Expired film - Revue Pan 21 Expired film - Revue Pan 21 Expired film - Revue Pan 21 Expired film - Revue Pan 21
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Last year in April, I went on a businesstrip to Vancouver in Canada. I went there to visiting shipyards and shipowners in the Vancouver area, but ended up growing really fond of the city in just a couple of days. I have been wanting to write a little about my trip and experience for the past year, but for some reason it's ended up taking exactly a year and it's not really what I set out to write. I was hoping for something profound about street photography in Vancouver, but it's become more of a short summarization of my trip and my thoughts.
Being a street photographer at heart I usually prefer to take public transportation as much as possible when I travel, it's kind of hard to do street photography in a cab on the highway, so the sky train from the airport to down town Vancouver was an obvious choice. According to a very nice lady that I talked to during the 23 min commute, It was built for the 2010 olympics, for transporting all the tourists to and from the airport and around town, and the residents of Vancouver have become fond of it since.
Vancouver Sky TrainProcessed with VSCO with m5 preset
I stayed at pretty nice hotel down town, hotel "Le Soleil", close to the city center and close to the harbour. If it was on my own dime, I would have chosen something a little more sparse because I hardly spend any time in hotel rooms, except for when I am sleeping (and charging batteries) or getting ready to go out.
Although it was a business related trip I was fortunate enough to have most part of a day to myself, getting time to walk around town and see the sights. I was hoping to find a dinner or café down town for breakfast, but I hadn't given much thought to it being a week day so I ended up having a granola bar and a coffee at a Starbucks just outside the entranceway to Granville Island.
Granville Island is worth a visit if you're in Vancouver, a little island filled with specialty shops, a food market, workshops, galleries and of course a marina. I was there on a week day during springtime and I can only imagine the horde of people that would descend upon the island on a Saturday during the summer holidays. All in all a must visit. I can recommend checking out the little store that only has office supplies. I spent 40 min just looking at pens, notebooks and cards, which probably says something about me (positive I hope).
Vancouver SkylineVancouver seen from Granville Island
Another place that deserved a visit if you find yourself in Vancouver is the harbour, which features some interesting buildings and historical landmarks (marked with plaks with historical trivia). If you move along the harbour east you might as well swing by "Gastown" which is the old historical part of Vancouver, this is also a part of town where you can find some great restaurants.
If I have to mention a "negative" thing about Vancouver it would be the large number of homeless people in the city. If you walk along Granvill Street, towards Granvill Island, before 9 in the morning, you will see a lot of homeless people sleeping in the sides along the shops, especially in the entertainment district. From my canadian sources (my neighbor actually) the eastern part of Canada advise the homeless people to travle southwest to avoid the hard and cold winters in the east and north, they even pay for their buss fair to the Vancouver area. It's a pretty nuts policy, but makes sense if you see it from the perspective of the homeless - Go to Vancouver or freeze to death. It would however make more sense to take care of the homeless where they are, instead of exporting them to Vancouver, but I guess no country/government is perfect.
Zensize-PKR-20160413-GR5B6112 I genuinely wish my stay in Vancouver had lasted for a week or more, so I would have had time to see all of Vancouver, photograph and enjoy it. You know the impression or feeling when you get to a place and you think "I wouldn't mind living here", that is the impression that Vancouver left me with.
Below are my best shots from Vancouver, in no particular order.
Vancouver Harbor The LotShot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with B6 preset TelevisionShot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with B6 preset Processed with VSCO with f2 preset Dumbster StridebyShot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with C2 preset Zensize-PKR-20160413-GR5B6099 Shot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with G2 preset Wet VancouverShot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with B4 preset Shot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with A6 preset Shot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with B1 preset Shot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with G2 preset Zensize-PKR-20160413-GR5B6104 Zensize-PKR-20160413-GR5B6257 Zensize-PKR-20160413-GR5B6162 Shot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with B4 preset Shot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with F3 preset Zensize-PKR-20160413-GR5B6245 Shot with Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 Processed with VSCO app, with ACG preset Luminous Drapes Zensize-PKR-20160414-GR5B6322 Processed with VSCO with lv03 preset Processed with VSCO with b6 preset
Processed with VSCO with c1 preset
Processed with VSCO with b6 preset Zensize-PKR-20160413-DSCF7322
]]>It belonged to my grandfathers brother, who had bought it from an American while working in Greenland for a period in the 1970's.
As if the camera wasn't exciting in itself, it turnes out there was a roll of exposed 120 Fujicolor sitting in it. I doubt that anyone in my family has shot this camera in the past three decades, so I am looking very much forward to getting it developed and see whats on it, if anything.
I regards to shooting this Twin Lens Reflex the next step is to clean the mirror and lenses on it, load it with a roll of 120 (maybe a new 1.4V battery for the meter) and it's ready to go.
The biggest challenge might be remembering to exposure manually, since I'm all to accustomed to shooting with a digital camera with a multitude of built in assistance. It will be a learning experience - the metering/exposure process and also restricting myself to only the 12 frames on a roll of 120 film - and I hope that it will gradually render me a better photographer.
]]>My X-Pro1 is finally whole again, thanks to a little help from another Japanese camera manufacturer.
From day one my X-Pro1 was missing the rubber eyepiece for the viewfinder, I bought it used from a fellow Platea member who lost it while at a photography workshop in Rumania. It was impossible to get a new eyepiece from Fujifilm Nordic, because they would have to order several hundreds, so I did a quick fix with a piece of rubber profile that I trimmed and glued into - an O-ring of sorts - so it fit snugly in the threaded hole of the viewfinder. It wasn't really the best solution for protecting my glasses and although it did provided a bit of a rubber lip my glasses have ultimately payed the price over the past year and are now in dire need of replacement.
So three weeks ago I finally got around to looking for one online and ended up ordering a replacement eyepiece from an Ebay store in Japan. Before ordering I did a little research and I can verify that the replacement eyepiece for a Nikon FM3A/FM2/FA/FE2 fits perfectly on the Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera body and looks ace.
I installed the new eyepiece with a bit of middle strength Loctite to prevent it from unscrewing and coming off, like the original eyepiece had done.
UPDATE: About two years after installing the Nikon eyepiece I had to replace it again, but found it to be near impossible to remove from the camera body due to the Loctite. I actually had to make two notches in the eye piece with a Dremel tool, in order to remove it. So please refrain from installing it with Loctite.
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Mid of January I was out driving along the coast, wanting to do a quick seascape. The weather was foggy and the water fairly calm, perfect for what I wanted to do photographically.
Having recently read a blog post by Paul Sanders about his minimalistic long exposure seascapes, I was very inspired to try out something similar if I could find something interesting to photograph. I passed this kind of boat lift, out in the water, parked the car and got down to the waters edge.
As soon as I had gotten my tripod and camera set up, I realized that my filterholder and filters where lying comfortably at home on the couch where I had put them as to not forget them as I packed my camera bag. Being without filters, I tried come combinations with the largest possible apperture, lowest ISO etc., but without really getting an exposure long enough to give that smooth water that I was hoping and looking for.
In desperation I walked back to my car and got several pair of sunglasses, in the hopes that one of them could work as a kind of ND filter. The outcome was surprising, in a positive way, because it worked - but with a noticeable color cast.
The sunglasses must have somehow toyed with the cameras auto white balance. Sure I should have metered a WB manually, or used the cloudy WB, but I'm a run-n-gun kinda photographer so that detail eluded me as I was more busy trying to get a long enough shutter speed.
With a little post processing it became kind of alright, in its own special kind of way.
Sunglasse as ND filer = Noticeable color castTried using a pair of sunglasses as an ND filter in the lack of an actual filter, which resulted in a noticeable colorcast. Some may like it. Corrected sunglass imageWith a little correction, it became alright in its own special kind of way.
If the pink color is to much it's always possible to convert it to black and white, which I was actually thinking of doing.
Using the sunglasses also resulted in some fun artistic variations, as here (below) where the glasses where about to fall off and caused me to knock the camera mid exposure. I like the eery feel that the motion blur has added, so much so that I might try to deliberately create it the next time I'm out photographing.
My intention with this post isn't to inspire anyone to do seascapes with sunglasses, simply an encouragement to not give up when you are missing that "vital" piece of gear. There is probably an image to be had if you allow yourself to be a little creative and improvise.
]]>Saturday I attended a concert with danish dancehall trio Bikstok Røgsystem in my old turf Køge, at the little venue Tapperiet.
I didn't expect to be able to bring my camera, so I just had my street photography setup with me (Fujifilm X-Pro1 + Fujinon 18mm f/2 R) which isn't the most ideal setup for concert photography. In Denmark it's usually not allowed to bring a camera to concerts, but being a small venue and a down to earth act I guess they didn't feel the need to enforce that kind of restrictions on the audience. Today everyone has a smartphone with a camera anyway, and who in their right mind would bring their camera to a concert and then following night out on the town (me, I can't leave home without it).
Seeing as I only had the wide 18mm lens with me (28mm equivalent), I decided to shoot images that included the audience and captured mood and energy of the concert. I didn't geek out fully with my camera, first and foremost I was there to enjoy the concert and it was a blast.!
Here is what I got out of it.
]]>A lot has happened in my personal life over the past three years, I became a father to twins, got a new job, moved to a new apartment (twice), so my general involvement on social medias has been less than impressive. So now that I find myself having energy and time for my personal interests, I discover that the number of media sites available to photographers have multiplied significantly.
Now you have:
Flickr
500px
Google+
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tumblr
Pinterest
YourShot (National Geographic)
Stocksy
VSCO community
Ello
EyeEm
...and many many more that I can't remember or know about...
When I discover a new platform, my first thought is always "I've better create an account and use this" but why on earth would I get involved in yet another social media platform. It seems that the amount of aspiring photographers is very high, it must be in order to support so many platforms. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the dreamers are represented on nearly all of them, which leaves me to wonder how they find time for photography. If you have a dream of one day making it as a photographer, the best way to spend your precious time would be photographing and improving your skill-set, not maintain 15+ social media accounts. Try to do both and you will either give up or end up stressing yourself.
If you look up to people like Chase Jarvis or Joe McNally, who are both present on many social media platforms, then bear in mind that they made it before cameras were digital, at a time when it took 50 minutes to download a song with Napster using a 28kbit dial up modem (remember those). Both McNally and Jarvis were self made photographers long before they got involved with social media, even long before social media as we know it today existed. I bet that they have someone on their staff who handles their Twitter-, Facebook-, Instagram- and Google+ accounts because they are more wrapped up in shooting, elsewhere.
Taking pictures beats drowning in an ocean of social media.
]]>I did a photo shoot with the masterminds behind a new jogging event here in Copenhagen, City Run Copenhagen, that will be more focused on the experience and the scenic tour of the rout, rather than the performance and time of the individual jogger.
The evens has gotten coverage by some of the largest danish news agencies, and along with that also some of the photos we had taken, in particular one.
Click the photo to see all images from the shoot.
Politiken:
Politiken: City Run Copenhagen
Metroxpress:
Metroxpress: City Run Copenhagen
Løberen:
Løberen: City Run Copenhagen
Happy new year, may your 2015 be very photogenic.!
]]>About nine weeks ago I was out photographing the Copenhagen Cantate Choir and mid concert one of my two Canon EOS 5D's locked up and the viewfinder went black. As I took off the lens it became apparent that the mirror had come off the shutter and gotten stuck, luckily it hadn't damaged the sensor or the rear element of the lens.
I have only read about this issue, with this 5D model, on Canon's homepage, and have never come across an actual case or testimonial from a photographer. If you should happen to stumble upon this post, maybe your during a background check of the 5D prior to a purchase, I can assure that Canon covers this particular issue via an extended warranty.
]]>Here are some recent examples of my images being used, click the dates above the image to go to the article, the last one was used on two different sites.
July 08, 2014 - "Coaching to Courage: Emma's story" - A story about how "Faithwalking 101" helped Emma gain the courage to stand up for herself and allow herself to be vulnerable.
September 26, 2014 - "Comparing myself to the world" - A blogpost by a young man, about how he deleted all of his social media accounts in order to get back in touch with god.
March 11, 2014 - "Learning to fully trust in god" - An article about giving god all the credit, all the blame, and letting go of responsibility.
September 14, 2014 - "The gift of failing" - A small piece about leaning from making mistakes.
June 02, 2014 - "Culture Change: Recognize the Value of Commitment" - A very long article about how the church needs to man up in order to fill their seats and regain members.
September 30, 2014 - "Had sex, dumped Jesus: The spiritual perils of immorality" - An article about what the modern christian should think about before having sex outside wedlock.
]]>Yesterday I posted this photo on Flickr, and now 24 hours later it has gotten 21,400 views and 315 faves, becoming my most viewed photo ever on Flickr. Needless to say it made the Explore list on Flickr, in the top 5 even, making this my best ranking photo on the Explore list as well.
No pressure... No pressure at all... ;)
]]>DeLock, where have you been all my life... well, just the past nine months.
When I was bitten by the full frame bug nine months ago, and switched to Canon EOS 5D mark 1's, I was faced with a couple of drawbacks that I had to work around. One of those drawbacks being using a card reader, for the CF cards I now use, instead of just using the built in SD card reader in my MacBook Pro.
SanDisk CF cards Sandberg card reader
So about a half a year ago I bought a Sandberg multi-card reader (image above), after reading some positive buyer reviews on Amazon, but now six months later it died on me while I was preparing for a shoot the next day, making sure that the CF cards where empty before formatting them in camera. I'm glad it didn't die in the middle of unloading images from an important shoot or anything, because most issues with quality memory cards are caused because they where corrupted by a cheap or bad card reader.
]]>Below is some of my favorite final shots from the wedding day.
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To any fellow camera geek out there I can tell that Jakob's weapon of choice for this hike was a Fuji X-E1 with a 18-55mm lens and iPhone 5s. I am amazed that he went with such a light setup because I would easily have sacrificed food for a couple of extra lenses and a tripod. Yes, photography will probably kill me at some point. (7-9-13 / Knock on wood)
Post-processing was carried out in Lightroom 5.
Enjoy!
click the image to go to the essay
]]>If you don't know the danish photographer Jacob Holt you should really check him out, it's really power full stuff... Journalistic style photography from America during the 70's and 80's, covering mostly the minorities and the ugly sides of existence such as drug abuse, racism etc...
Looking at Richard Avedon Hilma af Klint, and the girl on the stairs. Running Man? Huge Wind-chime Looking at Hilma af Klint Hilma af Klint, in XL Hilma af Klint Hilma af Klint, up close
]]>I just got a mail today from the art department in the danish public broadcasting network (DR) today, because this photo of mine made it into their exhibitions during the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest.
The photo will be showcased in one or more exhibitions called "This is us", an exhibitions with the purpose of showing all the Eurovision Song Contest turists, and the public of denmark, how we danes live our lives and what our home looks like.
Check out the facebook page of DRkunst, to see the other photos that made the exhibition.
]]>I recently joined the National Geographic Your Shot site, where all members can submit to the pool of images in the hopes that theirs will be picked up by one of the editors and published online and in the magazine. Occasionally National Geographic puts up an Assignment where members can contribute with 3 of their images fitting the theme/story, so far I have posted images for two assignments, the assignment pool is then curated by one of several National Geographic photographers. The assignment is then later run as a story online, maybe even in the magazine, but I have yet to make the cut.
Assignment - Love Snap
Assignment - Biodiversity
More Quantity then Quality
It seems that the pool is being used in the same manor as Flickr, so there is more quantity than quality. They limit the maximum number of images that one member can contribute during a week to 15 images to hinder people from taking advantage of this. In my opinion this number could be lowed to something like 7 in a week because it would force the members to be a bit more critical and selective with their work, potentially changing the quantity to quality ratio.
]]>I managed to find the article at www.photopromagazine.com, although with fewer images than the printed article.
At one point I chose Aperture as my go to software for filing and editing my images, but it so happens that all the awesome software for adding film effects like grain etc. is quite expensive and will often be a standalone piece of software that makes a processed copy of the image, prolonging the processing time and adding a new file to Aperture that is three times as large as the original file. These problems can however be totally avoided by creating a Kodak Tri-X preset for Aperture and I did so by looking at how a program like Silver FX from Nik Software renders the b/w tones and what kind of curve adjustment it uses.
Below you can see the result of my efforts and I think that I managed to nail the b&w conversion pretty well, but the grain is hard to recreate with the adjustments found in Aperture and it is really a big part of the Tri-X look. A grainy look can still be achieved if you bump up the ISO on your camera, and turn down the noise reduction in both camera and Aperture. Notice the difference in file size on the two images.
Feel free to download the preset, try it out and leave feedback. I hope you like it.
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Here are some recent examples of my images being used, click the dates above the image to go to the article.
March 26, 2014 - Buzzfeed used this image in a post about the two lions, and two lion cubs, being euthanized to make room for a new male lion.
March 11, 2014 - An article about future development in smartphones used this image.
March 06, 2014 - A Bosnian website used this image in an article or interview about feminist authors in Bosnia (from what I can tell with google translate).
February 07, 2014 - A gossip website used this image in a story about 4 employees at a group home for disabled adults in New York, that where arrested for encouraging two severely handicapped men to attack each other for their amusement.
]]>For those who don’t know Thomas, he is a known street photographer from Switzerland with over 19.000 followers on Flickr (I have about 450 followers), so how he had come about contacting me was a bit of a puzzle at first. It turns out that he had seen and liked some of my recent work, which lead to him emailing me.
We meet up at the Hard Rock Cafe close to Copenhagen Central Station and proceeded to walk across the middle of town with no particular destination in mind. Our 6 hour walk ended up taking us past the shops along Strøget, thru the Kings Garden (Kongen Have), across Amalienborg Castle, allong the harbor, around Christiania, ultimately ending up at the Central Station. I don't know about Thomas, but I went home with a lot of great shots, see them after the jump, and a slightly different take on street photography after talking with a street photographer that has really emerged himself into the genre for the past couple of years.
Check out Thomas Leuthard's Homepage, Facebook, Google+ or Flickr, to see his fascinating work in street photography.
So THAT's where I parked my car..! Shooting Burger King Christiania Lunch Scooter Mayhem Hangtime CPH Skate Boy Hugging the Skateboard CPH Skate Girl
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Check out the three images below.
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What changed my attitude toward copyrights where the way that photographers Thomas Hawk and Trey Ratcliff broke it down in some of their Photography@Google lectures, arguing that if you want people to see your work you have to make it more visible and what better way to do this then let the world use it for whatever, where ever.
I'm not going to explain how Creative Commons work, they do a pretty good job in this video.
This image is a perfect example of why it is sometimes crucial to shoot in RAW format, especially when in street photography, because the moment often only lasts a couple of seconds.
I use a sligstrap when I walk around with my camera, always having it set up so I know that I can grab it and take the shot quickly. Being ready is alpha and omega for street photography but sometimes lady luck flips you off, but as long as you shoot in RAW there is a chance that the shot can be saved.
In the case of this shot, my camera was in M (manual mode) instead of AV (aperture priority), because the 5D classic doesn't have a locking mode dial, and my manual settings where 1/15 sec, f/2.8, ISO500. The manual settings resulted in a very overexposed image, as you can see at the bottom of this post, and at first I didn't expect it to be salvageable.
But because it was shot in RAW, I was able to drop the exposure slider to -2 stops in Aperture and retrieve most of the details in the overexposed areas of the image. I did a b&w conversion, because the colors where a bit washed out, added a bit of polarizing to further darken the image and ended up with the result you see at the top. So this is a reminder to always shoot in RAW, regardless of the mode.
]]>Just got this cable release from Yongnuo, for my recently acquired Canon EOS 5D, fairly cheap from Amazon.
The quality of the cable release is good, it's small and light weight, pretty much what you would expect. I like that the cable comes out of the bottom of the release handle, instead of the top, and this was the only one I have seen for Canon with that feature (if you can call it a feature). The action of the shutter button is nice, it has half press, and the ability to lock for use with the cameras bulb mode.
I am very much looking forward to using it in the field.
]]>I recently acquired a Canon EOS 5D, sure it's an old girl but it works beautifully.
Having used only APS-C sensor cameras up until now I can honestly say that the fuzz about full frame cameras is justified. The viewfinder is big and bright, the build quality is fantastic, and best of all the image quality is noticeably better, resulting in sharper and more noise free images.
The 5D is an old camera, the first affordable full frame camera to hit the market aimed at enthusiasts and semi-pro's back in late 2005, but it still got the moves. Many of its features are very similar to what you would find in consumer cameras today, but in many aspects this old girl still wipes the floor with them.
There are however some minor downsides to this camera compared to modern consumer alternative, but I don't mind:
Let's look at the upsides of the 5D compared to a modern consumer camera:
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In the past couple of months I have developed a real flair and fashination for street photography, capturing people in their everyday chores, breaks, thoughts etc. There is something very satisfying about capturing a person at their most thoughtful moment, capturing a feeling in a photo, a piece of their personality. Sometimes it might not be a person but the atmosphere of a place that you want to capture, getting a person in the frame for scale or as a lure for the eye helps add more dimension to the image and accentuate the atmosphere.
I almost always process my street shots in black and white, because the colors have a tendency to disturb the eye of the viewer. A shallow depth of field is often a must because it helps draw attention to your subject by isolating it from the rest of the image. I almost always have my camera set for aperture priority with an aperture of f/2.8 and the AF set for the center focus point only. The reason I use those settings is because I can focus quickly with the center focus point and recompose no matter what scenario, f/2.8 separates the subject from the background at close distance and allows for a fairly fast shutter speed minimizing the chance of blurred subjects, furthermore f/2.8 is the smallest aperture recommendable if you are focusing and recomposing because smaller apertures have to shallow a depth of field to work when recomposing. The benefit of always having the same settings, and knowing those settings, can be crucial for capturing a moment as it occurs, in my experience you seldom get a chance to fiddle with the settings before it's to late.
When it comes to lenses and camera body's for street photography bigger doesn't always mean better, because the big camera and lens will alert people or even scare them off. Ideal would be a smaller "pocketable" camera like the Fuji X100S or similar, Fuji being one of the more expensive options. This is why my old Canon EOS 400D and the very affordable, and highly recommendable, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens is my go to street setup because it's light and doesn't look all that intimidating.
ISP Magazine
In the four weeks it's take me to write this blogpost I have been contacted by "Iternational Street Photographer Magazine", urging me to submit some of my street photographs for their Best of Street Photography section. I have since submitted several images, many of which you will find in this post. I'll be sure to write a post if one of the images are ever published.
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I finally got around to replacing my old JCC sling camera strap which I have been really pleased with for the past two years or so but, when I read about the newest addition to JOBY's lineup, the UltraFit Sling Strap, I knew that it was time to try something new.
Since I got the JCC camera strap I totally stopped looking at all the other brands of straps on the market because they all fill the same shoes, all being detachable sling straps with adjustable length. The downside to the regular sling strap is that you have to chose between having a long strap that makes it comfortable to shoot the camera or, having a short strap that makes it comfortable to carry the camera because it keeps it tight to your body minimizing the amount it can move around as you walk. I would recommend the JCC strap to anyone just starting out in photography because it is a cheap alternative to the expensive Sun-Sniper or Black Rapid straps, offering the exact same functions.
First impression
The JOBY UltraFit Sling Strap is definitely the most thought-out camera strap on the market right now, removing almost all the downsides from the standard sling strap, making it possible to carry your camera tight to the body with the strap extending when you grab it and bring it up to shoot. When your done shooting you just have to tighten the strap again, which is much easier than it sounds.
Having used this strap for a few weeks now I have to say that the strap lives fully up to my expectations. I feel more comfortable carrying my camera everywhere now and the fact that it sits tightly at my side or back, not bumping around, makes the weight of the camera seem less apparent. Carrying a camera and a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens around, pushing 2.7 kg, for a couple of hours isn't an issue with the UltraFit Sling Strap. The higher carrying position, between waist and armpit, also removes any chance of accidentally bumping the camera and lens into things as you make your way through a crowded room.
One downside
There is however one downside to the strap and that is the way it attaches to the camera. The integrated thumbscrew and hinge makes the strap a bit troublesome to detach, making it less than optimal for landscape photographers or other areas of work where a tripod is needed. This one downside can however be solved with a JOBY UltraPlate allowing for the tripod shoe and strap to be mounted at the same time. I have yet to test this in practice, because I haven't been able to find the UltraPlate in a Danish store yet.
Score: 4/5
Combined with the JOBY UltraPlate it would be a solid 5/5.
]]>Two weeks ago I had the privilege of shooting the wedding photos of a young couple. Other than being a great experience all round, it also made for the perfect opportunity to test out my "new" lens, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM.
The 70-200mm f/2.8 really came to it's right in the church and I have to say that I am very pleased with my recent acquisition. During the actual wedding photos I used the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 IS USM which never seem to let me down.
The wedding shoot was carried out at Vallø Castle, a small and still fully functional castle in the middle of the danish countryside, surrounded by a gorgeous park about to change into it's fall colors. In this post are featured some of the shots that I am particularly happy with from that day and we even ended up getting some really good results using the Brenizer technique (see my previous post Brenizer for a short introduction to the technique), an example of which can be seen below.
For some of the shots I also got to use my homemade "Flash Pole", constructed from a regular 3-4 meter telescope pole used for painting ceilings, a machined flash adaptor (for which I will put up drawings in a future post) and a standard flash shoe bracket. The shot where the bride is leaning against the tree is taken with this contraption, getting the flash in between the camera and her about 3 meters up, held by a helper. My idea with the shot was to underexpose the surroundings by about 1-2 stops, really making her stand out and giving a fairy tale look.
H+M Wedding No.02 H+M Wedding No.06 H+M Wedding No.07
H+M Wedding No.11 H+M Wedding No.12 H+M Wedding No.08 H+M Wedding No.04 H+M Wedding No.10
]]>The other day I found out that I had passed 100.000 views on Flickr, which really astonished me because my profile only had 55.000 views 9 weeks ago. I must be doing something right when my work has generated 45.000 views in just 63 days, which really inspires me to improve and take even better photos.
]]>As I wrote in my previous post my GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) is running wild these days and now I have something to show for it, a mint Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM that I am really excited to use.
This is a really sharp lens, sharper than I was expecting, and the build quality is exceptional. The downside to this lens is that it weighs 1570 grams (in the specs), making it a bit cumbersome to carry around like I often do with my other lenses.
Stay tuned for some tips on how to turn a regular telescope pole for painting your ceilings into a cool speedlight accessory.
]]>Last week I turned 30 years old, a huge event some might say, but I didn't feel a thing.
The past year has been pretty turbulent for me, with having two kids and all, but I somehow managed to keep on top of photography, although a lot of my shots where taken while walking around with a baby stroller.
Above are two photographs; to the left is a self portrait I took handheld on the day of my 30'th birthday to try and commemorate it, to the right is the photo I uploaded on my birthday last year. I was kind of hoping that a pattern of improvement would be obvious, but non of the two photos look like any form of effort so it only proves that you don't have enough time for flickr on days such as your birthday.
Age aside, the coming year feel good photography-wise. I have a wedding shoot coming up which I'm looking forward to and before it I'm looking to gear up with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, a 3" Hoodman Hoodloupe, a second Yongnuo YN560 II speed light (or Kung Pao as Zack Aries likes to call it), a reflector and a medium sized soft box. Later in the year I might ad a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM for portrait work and maybe upgrade my camera body to a 6D or 70D, but I haven't really made up my mind about going full frame or not.
So stay tuned in the upcoming year, hopefully my blogging will become more frequent then it's been so far.
]]>I posted this shot on Flickr the other day and it got a staggering 1.879 views in the first 24 hours, making it my first photo to get over 1.000 views.
Funny enough the statistics for the image only shows a total of 77 views in the first 24 hours, but 1,897 views all time. The way they collect the data for the statistics doesn't seem to fit with the new way they show the images on the front page stream etc. I'm guessing that you now gain a "view" every time someone scrolls past your image on pages like the Explore list or in their contacts recent photos.
I'm definitely not complaining, just puzzled that the numbers don't add up.
]]>I recently noticed that one of my shots got featured on the Canon You Connect gallery, the top 30 images, which I take as a huge pat on the back. The images in that gallery are sent in from all over the globe by photographers more advanced than me and with equipment far superior to mine.
Lets hope that Canon doesn't find out that I used a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM lens for this shot, a beautiful piece of glass that unfortunately had issues with back focus and after trying all of the shops lenses and having my camera and lens at Visual Service DK for calibration twice, I ended up swapping it for the Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM which I haven't regretted for a second. The only thing I miss from the Sigma is the weight and build quality, the Canon just feels a bit more "plasticy" compared to it.
]]>When buying a new camera body I doubted that I would ever use my Canon EOS 400D again, unless it broke, and the same goes for my nifty fifty (Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II) when I upgraded to the f/1.4. Both pieces of gear where the catalysts to my obsession with photography and lately I have found a new use for them.
I nearly always have a camera with me, so my old 400D + 50mm f/1.8 has become the camera and lens combination I bring when I don't want to bring the upgrades. All photos in this post where taken with this winning combination and when I look at them I cant help but think, that I might have rushed into upgrading a bit to soon.
Bottom line is, if you have an old camera just sitting on a shelf or in a bag, bring it whenever you feel that it's properly a bad idea to bring your newest. Put some milage into your old gear and capture those memorable moments and great candids that would otherwise pass you by. You might even get more interesting shots with your old camera because you are less protective about it and likely to take some risks with it in hand.
]]>Two days ago I got my number fifteenth photo on Flickr's Explore list, but what's it all about.
For avid users of Flickr like myself, it can become quite an obsession to get your uploaded photos on Flickr's Explore page. The exciting thing about Explore is that it provides some extra exposure for your photo resulting in more faves and comments, likely boosting the photographers confidence as it did in my case.
To get a confidence boost you first have to make it into the daily 500 photos that gets explored, but that's not easy. The "rules" governing the daily 500 photos isn't all that easy to figure out and they are said to be constantly changing. I have read many theories about it, and my favorite is the simple math version where the number of views on the photo multiplied with the number faves and comments, devided by the number of groups the photo is, give you a number indicating the photos "interestingness".
Views x (Faves + Comments) / Groups = Interestingness
But from past experience the number groups do seem to have an effect on the possibility for Explore. The photo above made it to #436 on the list and was in a total of 15 groups and if we do the math for that Explore the calculation would look like this...
512x(25+7)/15 = 1.092
...and If we compare that to another Explore of mine that made #62, which was only in 1 group...
304x(36+25)/1 = 18.544
...which could be a good indication that this rule of thumb does apply. The higher the number (interestingness) the better placement you get on the Explore list. So if we say that this formula is valid, we can deduct that the best way of getting your photos on Explore is thru being social on Flickr. Other than taking awesome photographs, you need to make friends, comment and fave on some of the fantastic images in the photo-ocean that is Flickr. You gotta give a little to get a little. And at one point you realize that your real interest on Flickr is to get feedback and connecting with other photographers, being inspired by their work, more than chasing the rush of Explore.
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I just ordered 500 business cards with this design so now it just a matter of convincing people that they want it.
It's good to have ambitions and set goals for yourself, but it's a little intimidating.
]]>As soon as the sun is out and the temperature is a little above 12 degrees celsius, danes tend to put on their shorts and proclaim that it's the first day of summer. I was on my way to a birthday party so I was in a dress shirt and jeans, sweating like a beaver, pushing our twin baby stroller thru the park with 14 kg of baby in it.
As always I had my camera with me and I got to squeeze of these three shots.
]]>Last year I got the opportunity to do a photo series for the company Rebteknikeren, co-owened by my cousin (handsome fellow with the red helmet), during their window-cleaning gig at the Tietgen Dormitory in Copenhagen. The company specializes in performing various maintenance tasks on buildings via rope, eliminating the need for scaffolding, lifts etc. making them a cheap, green and subtle alternative to the conventional methods.
For the shoot I borrowed my buddy Jacob's Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 IS USM lens to give me a more leveled perspective, evening out my angle on them with the long reach. It was a bit of a mistake borrowing the lens because, now I really want one.
Other than getting some really cool shots of the guys hanging from their ropes, some detail shots of their gear and a couple of portrait on the roof, I used the opportunity to get a couple of shots of the dormitory itself and the view from the roof.
- View of Copenhagen from the roof of the Tietgen Dormitory. -
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Have a great weekend and remember that sometimes it's family that's the most rewarding thing to take pictures of, and it's moments like these that's worth remembering in a frame.
I sometimes get all caught up in processing images, updating flickr and attempting to blog somewhat frequently, that I forget to take the time to appreciate what's right in front of me. This image now greets me every time I pick up my cellphone, to remind me of just that. :)
]]>When I walk out the door I always have a camera with me, be it the camera in my iPhone or my DSLR, and as Chase Jarvis said "The best camera is the one that's with you".
Last week I found myself at a conference in Copenhagen and ended up living Chase Jarvis's saying, or something like that.
On the first day of the conference I only had my iPhone 4S on me and got a great shot of VP. Brian Thompson presenting "Creo 3.0" and you could say that the iPhone was the best camera at the time and for the job, being more discrete than a DSLR allowing me to capture the subject without disturbing it or my surroundings. (The sepia one is taken with my DSLR and the 50mm f/1.4 the second day.)
On the second day I brought my DSLR and got the shot of the Vestas turbine and Bella Sky, and for these shots the DSLR was necessary, allowing much more control of the shutter speed and the metering. In order to get the movement from the turbine blades in the shot of the Vestas turbine a very slow shutter speed of 1/25 second was needed, slow given the conditions and being handheld. The shot of the Bella Sky Hotel is really a composite of 9 shots, taken with the exposure locked to avoid a new metering for every one of the 9 shots, allowing for an easier merge of the photos in photoshop.
You could say that "The best camera is the one that's with you" is overall true, but the camera that's with you will also govern what you will and can photograph. So if there is a good probability that something photogenic will be in your path, bring your bulky DSLR along, unless you know that the stealth of a camera phone is really what the situation calls for like on a night out on the town.
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The other day I came across this ferocious looking Mercedes Benz and did a Brenizer type shot of it.
The Brenizer method is called so after Ryan Brenizer, an acknowledged wedding photographer from New York, who developed this cross between the panoramic stitch technique and the shallow depth of field of portrait photography. The result is a wide angle portrait where the subject really stands out from the background in a very characteristic way, unlike what you would get with a wide angle lens.
In this particular case the focus was set for the emblem of the car, shooting with an aperture of f/1.4 for that shallow depth of field, and I then took 9 photos which I went on to stitch in PhotoShop.
I am quite happy with the result and it is definitely a technique I am going to use the next time I shoot a wedding couple or portrait.
]]>I have learned over time (also read it somewhere) that a good rule in photography is to always move around your subject, look for new angles and different ways to frame it, and Domus Vista is a really good example of said rule. Previously I had only seen the building from the road driving past it, and that is not a flattering angle on it, so seeing it up close and from all sides really changed my view on it. You can imagine that this large concrete structure, on a grey and cloudy day, looks like nothing more than a sad relic from the cold war, with the soul purpose of being able to survive the nuclear holocaust.
So two weeks ago I decided to take a long walk with the kids, only about a 30 minutes walk from where we live, and I ended up discovering that it is way more photogenic then I thought. I was actually so surprised/thrilled that I went back a second time to look for more angles on the cold war behemoth and I think the trips really paid off.
Domus Vista is a residential building from the late 60's designed by danish architect Ole Hagen, the tallest building in denmark until 1976, and for 35 years it was the tallest residential building in Scandinavia. This skyscraper has a mall, a library and 470 apartments, and I bet the apartments facing the center of copenhagen have a pretty spectacular view. Imagine getting up on the roof, with your camera on a tripod, during the golden hours.
The birth of "Slow Blogging"
With this post I realize that, I must be one of the slowest bloggers out there. We shall call it "Slow Blogging". ;)
A series of shots I took yesterday at the beer company Carlsberg's "new" brewery (ca. 1880). These are the famous (maybe only in denmark) four full sized asian elephants sculpted in the granite foundation, looking to hold the entire weight of the building on their shoulders. A truly marvelous gateway, the elephants symbolizing Carl Jacobsen, the founders, four children. Well, technically he was the son of the founder J.C. Jacobsen but he started his own brewery because he didn't quite see eye to eye with his father when it came to brewing beer, classic father son struggle, building a brewery to show off his old man.
Fun fact: Carlsberg discovered a strain of yeast (pure yeast) back in 1877 for the production of lager, made the discovery public, and it is now the most commonly used yeast for the production of lager.
First blogpost...
It's been a while since I started this page to show off some of my work with a camera and the blogging never seemed to be very urgent since the content, the completeness (if that's even a word), wasn't there... It's getting there, so now a blog post is in order...
If you look at the content, there is now a tab called Aperture. (web layout changed, but you can find the page here: Aperture) As described on that page, Aperture is about as common as soft toilet paper in a public restroom... I have spent a lot of time trying to find some material on the usage of Aperture, by now I know most thru trial and error, and came up empty on most issues... So why not make a section to help other Aperture users get a leg up when processing, file managing or whatever...
I even got as far as adding a couple of presets that I did for the picture "Log Lady" and "Orange Dingy"... Both presets are uploaded to presetpond.com, a page that I have found to be quite useful when searching for presets for Aperture... I'd really like to try out the preset package from VSCO since I have seen and heard great reviews on it... Look up Nathan Smith on youtube for his demo of the presets...
Nathan Smith VSCO Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poTNKb5gd68
Nathan Smith's homepage is also a very good source of Aperture knowledge... http://www.photonate.com
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