People
Once again I was volunteered to shoot a clothing show that a local senior citizens' group put on. Like previous times my dad was one of the runway models, so he was unable to shoot the event, hence me doing it. Plus it's an interesting experience to shoot that stuff, since it isn't quite what I usually do.
Read MoreI had the privilege of visiting the Danish capital across the water two Saturdays in a row, so I got quite a few pictures, both during the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk (which I've written about in an entry two weeks ago) as well as an outing there with my fellow board members of my photo club. So I'm sharing some street scenes from the latter trip today.
Read MoreIt's perfectly alright to touch the merchandise!
This week’s blog post is one of those “the things you do for family” moments. My dad had said yes to be one of the “runway models” for a local group of senior citizens’ fashion show, so for rather obvious reasons he couldn't be the photographer...so I (was) volunteered. I also learned a few things, since I don't do event photography that often.
Read MoreHe landed safely much further down than I thought he would.
It's almost the middle of September and fall is definitely upon us. With cold mornings and that almost crisp air when the skies are clear. I don't mind, although I wish we'd had one of those long-lasting heatwaves that just settles for awhile this summer. But then again, it's Sweden we're talking about, so heatwaves are not too common!
Still...park life happens at all times of the year, fall, winter, spring OR summer, and the images in this blog post are all taken in and around Pildammsparken on a late afternoon in September 2015.
Read MoreTwo friends overlooking the Öresund outside The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
During the week since my last posting I've been at three museums: The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, The Malmöhus Castle Museum and the Museum of Sketches in Lund. That's definitely not my normal dosage, but this week that's how it lined up. Out of these museums the one in Denmark was definitely the biggest, both in floor space, exhibition size as well as crowd sizes. It is interesting to see people reacting to artworks at exhibitions, what moves people to respond in different ways, so this week's post is mostly people in those three museums, with a shot of the great hall at Malmöhus Castle thrown in just to share some scenery.
Read MoreThe weather has not been especially good for photography in the last week. Great for gardens and farmers in need of irrigation, but not so much for those of us with itchy photography fingers! And it is still pouring down as I write these words, so this week's post is from a day trip to Copenhagen from a few weekends ago.
Read MoreAt the Harbor Festival in Limhamn, Malmö, Sweden 2014
As photographers we're often told to make sure we don't shoot into the sun, because then you risk getting all kinds of issues with too high contrast ranges between the bright and the dark parts of the image; and if we do have the sun in the frame we risk getting flares big enough to make J.J. Abrams wince...
Sometimes though it makes for a very interesting effect, creating strong silhouettes and backlighting our subjects.
The image of the man with the water-jet thingy is an example of mine that turned out pretty good in this regard. This was not a conscious effort on my behalf to shoot silhouettes, but a product of the location where this performance took place. I couldn't shoot this any other way but against the light, and the combined glare of the sun and the reflection of that in the ocean made for a lot of light pouring into the camera. I didn't mind because it looked cool when I did a quick glance on the LCD, so I went for it.
Then I read the "Into the light" article by Lee Frost in the September '14 issue of Black+White Photography about this phenomenon (naming it contre-jour, from the French for "against the daylight")) and how it is a perfectly "legitimate" form of photography, used to great effect in dramatic landscapes, silhouette photography and other such situations. Turns out my accidental foray into this sort of photography was an example of that.
At the train station, Lund, Sweden 2014
Then I began to look through my files for other examples of contre-jour photography, and discovered it's a technique I've used several times without even thinking about it, or giving it a name. The girl's backlit hair in this image from the Lund train station is an example of the effect, giving her a halo, while the bench they sit on is fairly dark and contrasty. The silhouette effect here is nowhere near as strong as in the waterjet photo, but it still has hints of the same thing.
It's definitely a technique I will use in the future...and now I can call it by its fancy name too...although I probably won't. :-)
