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Showing posts from July, 2014

Landscape photography

Until now I've only been writing about street photography, but I want this blog to be more versatile. For example about landscape photography, a genre that I don't enjoy at all...  The most stunning images are usually the result of good planning (perfect light and weather conditions), lots of patience (it could take days to get the shot you want) and waking up very early (sunrise!). I prefer the following method: bring your camera along and exploit any opportunity that presents itself. This shot was taken during a short stay in  Engelberg / Switzerland, a beautiful and overpiced place. Most people would have considered the weather really bad that day. I mean, in July it shouldn't be raining. From a photography point of view I didn't mind this at all. Strange weather can make a photo very interesting or impressive. This photo would be hard to plan upfront as clouds and visibility were changing every minute.

The girl with her eyes closed.

Last article  I wrote about setting up a trap and wait until a 'victim' shows up in the frame of your picture. The following photo was composed in almost a similar way. This time without setting up tripod, but by choosing a location where people pass regularly. In this case by bicycle. This shot was taken on the Erasmusbrug , on the side where people descend from the bridge. This feels kind of comfortable as it allows to take photos of people while they pass you in a high speed. Furthermore, the location is a tourist hotspot. Walking around with a camera doesn't make you a freak. After some attempts I decided to keep this one:

Trap your victim in the frame

Earlier this year I spent an evening in The Hague, a city famous for its stylish trams  and hosting our government. Taking street shots at night is not straight forward. You either have to pump up ISO to unbearable values, scare people by using a flash ... or simply bring a tripod. For this shot I did the latter. To be honest, this evening's goal was to get boring architecture shots. I ended up deleted all of those and keeping just this one, turning my back to this famous scenery . After spotting this frame, I imaged how the passing trams would result in a nice 'swoosh' effect when using a long exposure. After setting up my tripod and camera, I took a test shot when the first tram passed: assumption confirmed. After optimising the frame and focusing on the rail (manual), it was a matter of time for a victim to show up. A lady walked into the 'trap' and luckily she didn't move much during the exposure (for a good contrast in sharpness with the passing tram