POTD 8/3 2013: Bike portal

"Bike Portal" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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Another early SLR days photo, this one from the path around Brabrand Sø, Denmark, on a slightly hazy Spring morning. The bicyclist was not entirely accidental (as I remember it), but something I waited to get. That the rays turned out so well was more luck, and even so I had to do a fair amount of fiddling to get some parts of them to not be discolored. I found this picture so successful that I used it for the professional business cards back when I had a photo business.

POTD 7/3 2013: Greedy gull

"Greedy Gull" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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An old picture, from the ferry between Denmark and Norway. The gulls were quite proficient at sweeping in and picking food from between people's fingers.

This was not long after I got my first SLR, so I was testing its limits - which turned out to be surprisingly wide. What I like about this photo is that I got the texture on the body and at the same time the wings spread out like that adds drama. It's slightly cropped from the right and bottom to focus on those parts. Unfortunately, there is a slight amount of movement to the gull, even though the shot was taken at 1/1000th of a second.

POTD 3/3 2013

"Hazy morning landscape II" ©2006 Lars Clausen
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I'm going back through some of my best pictures from previous years, to getting into the rhytm of uploading and posting and iron out wrinkles in my workflow. This shot is from not long after I got my first SLR, from a morning shot on Mols. I like how the mist creates a sense of distance and a golden, otherworld glow, but I have had trouble getting the details the way I like them.

A lack of preparation on my part...

My brother +aurin ræder and I have started a mutual photography challenge. The first challenge is to make a picture of "soft water" using "high key". Not too hard here in winter, I think, we have a nice river right downtown and snow abounds. Alas, my lack of preparation (and an unstable Gorillapod) thwarted my first attempts.

I had to wait for +Mickey Blake to come home so +The Frida Diaries wouldn't feel all abandoned and start barking. No problem, she comes home with about an hour before sundown. So I start packing up my gear, find lenses, pick a tripod (I have three, plus a monopod for hiking), look for the neutral-density filter in all the wrong places, etc. etc. By the time I get out the door, almost half an hour has gone, and it's cloudy so there won't be much late light. By bad luck of the U-bahn draw, it takes as long again to get down to Thalkirchen, plus some time to get to an interesting water spot.

By the time I found something looking like what I had in mind, the light was low enough that the lack of an ND filter was not an issue. At ISO 100, I got 15s at f/8 right away, easily enough to blur the water. Putting my Gorillapod near the water's edge, I aimed for various shots at low angles including some interesting water and snow-covered rocks. Only a few shots in, the light was too dim for that, and I had to up the ISO. A few shots later, the only way to get enough light was to take out the small but bright pocket light that +Richard Jørgensen had provided me with years back, which just happened to be in my pocket. First time I tried light painting, in theory - in practice, it was just a main light. Focusing was of course awful, though using the flip-out display with manual focus seemed to work ok. It was hard to tell, really. Eventually, my light gave out, and I had to return.

Back home, my shots turned out horrible. Every single one was either shaken or stirred blurred, or both. While the compositions seemed OK, there was just not enough detail to be really striking. It was hard to tell if the focus was off, or the Gorillapod had just bent downwards during exposure. In either case, failure.

Morale: Prepare your equipment ahead of time, so you don't have to spend valuable light-time doing it at the last moment. Also, I need to get more used to what the Gorillapod can and can't do.

Photographer for hire

If you like my photographic style, and would like to hire me for a photography session in or around München, drop me an email. Just don't expect me to be cheaper than a professional photographer - I don't want to underbid already hard-pressed people depending on this for a living. Also don't depend on me for anything hugely important, like big advertisement campaigns or really expensive weddings. I am, and for a while at least will stay, a proficient amateur. I have practised until I can get it right. Professionals have practiced until they can't get it wrong. With a professional, you will get a good result. With me, you might get a great result, or you might get a failure.

But if you like what you see, and want me to try it out on you or yours, I'm always up for challenges. I even do kids and animals well, much to my own surprise.

Painterly photos

Every now and then, I come across a photo that looks more like a painting than a photo, and they always fascinate me. I want to make photos like this.

I am not sure what makes them so painting-like, but I guess it's a combination of limited palette, deep focus, very well-laid soft light with details in the shadows yet some really dark areas. This example shows off +Hugh Jackman in this way:

My equipment

For those into the technical details of my photography, here is my current equipment:

Canon EOS 60D - just upgraded this month, after rigorous testing of the alternatives. I knew I wanted a flip-out screen, and that fortunately limited my options. The 60D won out by having much superior controls, which by now is the more distinguishing factor.

Canon EOS 350D - my first DSLR. It's old and has crufty AF, so it plays backup camera.
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro - my most beloved lens, it renders beautifully but is not long enough for photo walks. I use this for portraits as well as macros.
Canon EF-S 55-250 f/3.5-5.6 IS - my walk-about lens. Long enough to capture details, barely wide enough to get context shots.
Sigma 18-125 f/3.5-5.6 - my "vacation lens". I end up regretting whenever I only bring this, but I have nothing else that's this wide. It renders flatly and with smushed colors.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 - for low light.
Induro AX-214 tripod - very flexible, good sturdy design, comes with a nice carrying bag and a little bag with extra spiked feet. It's nice.
White foldable bounce, 60cm wide - portable yet useful.
Strobist flash - somewhat less automatic than Canon or even Promaster, but very flexible powerful for the price.
Canon remove release - best $25 I ever spent on camera equipment. Lives unobtrusively on my strap and allows immediate or 2-second delay shots. Nothing else, and that's what I need.
Lightroom 4 - my favorite photo program. It slices, it dices, it even uploads to this blog.
CarrySpeed shoulder strap - solves the problem of the strap having to slide around your shoulder when bringing up the camera. Well worth the €50.

I have a penchant for the odd combinations (as evidenced here and here), and they're fun to play around with, but I will eventually need something better than what I have now. An ultra-wide, a better mid-range, perhaps, and a body with good AF, swivel screen, better ISO and per-lens micoradjustment are all pretty high on my list.