HDR Addition to November 2013 Snapography

I don't shoot HDR (high dynamic range) photos often but I sometimes enjoy making this type of photography, especially for the dramatic effect and for getting contrast of the sky and clouds.

I headed out before a thunderstorm to a corn field, which turned out to be an old  halloween corn maze. I spend a good hour on looking for a good spot and then trying to get good composition - both were much harder than i could imagine. I ended up with 11 HDR photos but  maybe only a couple of them I like. I share with you one of them in my November 2013 Snapography. 

Learning how to travel light with photo gear

Let me start by saying that I've been shooting with DSLRs for the past 4-5 years. I really got used to them but they are too heavy for me when travelling or going for holidays. I recently bought my first in a long time point-and-shoot - Coolpix P7800. I'm heading out for Florida tonight (road trip) for a week and i won't take a DSLR with me. I guess it will take me a bit to adjust and I'll have to learn now to travel light without a DSLR.

What I really like is, because I don't have a huge and heavy DSLR with me, I have much more space in my bag and I can take a couple of speedlights without worrying for my back (yeah, I'm getting old). Previously, I almost never took a speedlight with me (mainly because of weight of my bag), so I hope that thanks to this change of my photo travel habits, I'll use speedlights and come up with some more creative travel photographs.

Snapography = Snap + (Phot)ography

Doing a 365 project and forcing myself to take a picture everyday is not something I would enjoy. So I came up with a Snapography project; I guess you know by now it's a combination of snap + (phot)ography. 

Make sure to regularly checkout my website and the section on Snapography. Link to Snapography November 2013 is here. 

Learn Lighting Techniques with Strobox Vol.3 Photo Book (Promo Code)

Strobox.com is a great community site for sharing lighting schemes and learning new lighting techniques from others. They just released their third book, Strobox Vol.3 (both digital and printed versions) with a selection of 50 photos. This year's Strobox's book was produced with the help of Udi Tirosh, a photographer and a blogger of DIYPhotography.net. I'm particularly proud of this announcement because one of my photographs has been selected and features in Strobox Vol.3 photo book.

The book is a great source for lighting inspiration and learning . There are two version: - e-book available here: http://goo.gl/z4oktn - softcover print version: http://goo.gl/T5oyNh

To get 20% off the print version, use promo code OCTOBER20 (must be all capital letters) during checkout. Hurry up because it's valid only until the end of October 2013!

Dear ModelMayhem wanna-be models, please don't …

put half-naked or bikini pictures in your portfolio, with you butt sticking out postures that say 'hump me'; well, unless you want to get a job in Hooters or a strip club. Before I continue with my ramble, let me give you some feedback. I'm a European photographer who moved to Memphis in June 2013. I was a freelance photographer in Belgium and I occasionally used ModelMayhem to network and find models and make-up artists. I started using the website much more often when I moved to the US, and I was really surprised with what type of pictures female models put in their portfolios.

At first I thought that it might be a culturally artistic difference and that I simply didn't understand the US photography and the American-style of ModelMayhem. Maybe I was right, maybe I don't understand it and my photography style and believes don't fit in the US. But hear me out…

I spent hours, hell, days and weeks on searching for aspiring and/or interesting models with potential for producing interesting photographs but I all kept finding were nasty looking portfolios. You ask: What are 'nasty looking portfolios'? I'm not sure how to explain it without swearing. Just try to imagine (for obvious reasons I can't publish here examples) a portfolio full of half-naked or biking pictures in stripper shoes (if you don't know what these are, don't worry, I just learned it myself - click here); where a model bends in unnatural way, sticking her bust and butt out. Do you get the picture?

If you ask me, these are not pictures suitable for a modelling website and I'm rather repelled than attracted as a photographer by such pictures. However, these pictures are perfect for applying to Hooters or a strip club. But again, I might be wrong. You know, these culturally artistic differences…

To clarify, not all aspiring models have these type of pictures in their portfolios; but from what I've seen so far, most of them do in Tennessee and the neighboring states. In my personal and humble opinion, it's just sad.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Konrad moves to the US!

Well, what can I say more? :) I've been given an opportunity to move to the US, where I'll be working on some new and exciting personal photography projects. This unique and once in a lifetime opportunity came quite fast and unexpected. It took me some time to take my decision but there you go: I'm moving to the US! The move will be very soon because if everything goes according to the plan, I'll touch the US soil already at the beginning of June (yes, next month!).

The US Photography Projects

I don't know yet what my photography projects will be in the US. It's something I have to decide on quite soon. For sure, they will involve traveling, people and culture. I decided to drop studio photography and focus on outdoor and on-location photography. I really enjoy putting a subject in a unique and special environment and combining natural and artificial light. There is also a certain degree of unpredictability when shooting outdoor (changing light, environment, etc.), which makes it so exciting for me.

Follow me in the US

If you've been following my website/blog and my Facebook, Twitter and/or G+ accounts, not much will change. The website and the blog's addresses will stay. I might create an additional website (or two) that will focus on my photography projects.

Why it's not worth buying Nikon D7100 ...

... for someone who already owns a Nikon D7000. Nikon announced last week it's new DSLR, Nikon D7100; and if you're a Nikon shooter, then this information probably doesn't come as a surprise from me now. Before the announcement, I was quite curious what D7100 will be like, most probably because I was considering buying it. I shoot cropped-sensor DX - I currently mainly use Nikon D7000, so I saw upgrading to D7100 as a natural step. However, I quickly changed my mind - I most likely won't upgrade to Nikon D7100 and here is why.

I don't want to start a war here but I don't see much of a change and upgrades between D7000 and D7100. Ok, it has a bigger sensor (24 vs 16 megapixels), bigger back monitor size (so crucial! - yes, it's sarcasm ;) ) and better movie recording. The only thing that I could see any sense in getting D7100 is that its high ISO performance is improved over D7000.

However, for me personally, it doesn't make sense in investing extra money only for slight improvement in high ISO (even though d7100 is cheaper than D7000). I have to admit that I was never in the camp of those who want 'the best & the most recent' camera. Of course, like every photographer, I'm enthusiastic about gear but I like to distinguish between what is new & cool and what I really need.

Having said that, I don't really see a need for getting D7100, especially that's I'm really happy with D7000. I might get however next update, like D7200 though. :)

That doesn't mean that my photography gear's wish list is not long. In fact, it's much longer than I can afford unfortunately. I guess I'm more of a 'light guy'. I prefer to invest in light modifiers, softboxes, strobes, upgrade wireless flash triggers, etc. Just image what lighting goodies I can get for the value of a D7100 :)

How an iPhone has become my carry-around camera

I use a DSLR (I'm a Nikon shooter) for my regular photography jobs and assignments. I also take it with me when I travel but I was a bit tired of carrying it around on my travels, especially that it's quite heavy (the battery grip adds lots of weight to it) and I wanted to have an all-in carry-around small point-and-shoot. I decided to buy Canon S100 but, for some reason, I was postponing buying it. Then, just a couple months ago, I bought a second-hand iPhone 4s and everything has changed. 

I was really surprised how quickly my new iPhone has become my point-and-shoot camera. I was every more astonished how it has become my main camera during my travels.

The Good

Quality - I think that the quality of the pictures for a phone camera is great. Although many (if not all) point-and-shoot cameras on the market have much more than 8 megapixels (that what iPhone 4s has), it's not about the pixels here.

Panoramas - Shooting a panorama is a new function built-in to the iPhone's camera software (I think panoramas were introduced in iOS 6). You just slide the phone from left to right and the software automatically stitches the picture together. It works really great!

Geotagging/GPS - That's my favourite feature when I travel and when I take pictures of potential future photo shoot locations.

Sharing - And of course I can instantly share the pictures on social networks or other websites.

It's always with me - I think it's self-explanatory. I always have my phone with me and so is my phone camera now. I don't have to worry to remember to take my point-and-shoot with me, because the phone is always in my pocket.

The Bad

No RAW - that's quite obvious, iPhone doesn't allow you to shoot in RAW. I thought I would miss this feature but so far, I don't. I haven't had a need (or desire) to post-process pictures taken with an iPhone on my computer. I just use the phone for mobile photography, I edit pictures on my iPhone (or iPad) and that's it.

No Controls - Well, that's a big negative thing about the iPhone for me. I can't control the shutter speed, aperture, ISO - something that as a professional photographer I'm really used to have and use on my DSLR. Do I sometimes miss this feature on my iPhone - yes. Does it prohibit me from taking pictures - definitely not. And, some apps allow you to control at least some of these (I'm not sure how 'real' shutter or aperture control can be with these apps, so don't take my word on that, please :) ).

(All pictures in this article were taken with iPhone 4s and most of then post-processed with an app on an iPhone)

Brussels Viewfinders Photo Club - Guest Speaker Announcement

Just a short announcement (which also helps me in keeping this blog alive *cough* *cough*). I was invited by Viewfinders (the English speaking photography club of Brussels) a couple of weeks ago to be their guest speaker at their first meeting of the new season. I feel really honored to give a speech for Viewfinders, especially that this is probably one of the biggest and most popular photo club in Brussels. The announcement about my appearance together with a short interview is in their September 2012 newsletter here. The meeting will be on 19 September 2012 (Wednesday) at the Swedish Church (Svenska kyrkan) near Merode Metro and Cinquantenaire Park, Brussels. It starts at 8pm and my speech will start at 08:30pm.

If you have some time that day, join us! You can come over even if you're not a Viewfinder's member to check out the photo club and decide if you would like to become a member.