Gone Fishing

Techniques for creating blur in your images

Digital Photography Shool has a very interesting article on how to use blur creatively.

Photo by Jeff Kubina

Photo by Mr.Bones

Their article about the weekend challenge contains links to a lot of interesting articles about different techniques to try out.
Read it HERE.

Memories of Brighton

The beach in Brighton is a popular place for people to walk the dog. Facing south - the sun rises and sets on each side of the beach at the spring and mid-autumn solstice.

The West Pier has been distroyed by two fires, the latest in 2003. With only the skeleton left it is an even more prominent landmark.

In these images I tried to copy the mood from the old English postcards. I added a b/wh layer that I reduced the opacity of, to about 50%. I then added a gradient map with a split toning preset and also reduced the opacity of this layer.

Pocket Wizards

I finally invested in radio triggers for my flashes. So this image is from my first assignment with the new triggers.

When using the flash off-camera you can either use a cable, infra-red or radio signals. The spiral cable that also transmits the aperture, shutter speed and ISO is simply not long enough. The next option is a longer cable but then you in principle need to set these values manually on the flash.

You want flash 2 to communicate with flash 1 and I set that connection up with infra-red signals.
Then the cable won't work and your soft-box is in the way of the infrared signals. You name it.

This was the point where I was ready to invest in radio transmitters. Strobist recommended PocketWizard Plus II set but Interfoto told me they would not be importing them anymore so I invested in a PocketWizard MiniTT1 and a PocketWizard FlexTT5 instead.

With using two flashes you really scould have two Flex'es - one for each flash.

Boat Reflections

More fun with reflections in the water of Oslo harbour basin. The top image is flipped horisontally and 180 degrees.
In the second image I was fascinated by the ripples.
the third image is the reflection of a ferry, flipped vertically. You can see the trees on top of the rampant of Akerhus Fortress.

Let There be Light

This sunday was spent on a workshop using studio light. We worked with two models and this is Jeanette from Dream Models in Oslo. Anette was the makeup-artist.
Combining the afternoon sky with the studio light fascinated me in the first image, and in the second image I used an angle that would show the reflection in the piano.

Smoke on the Water

With minus 20 degrees Celsius I am surprised that the water in Oslo Harbour has not frozen. Instead there is this fascinating swirling frost smoke that really stands out when it is shot agains the setting sun. It can almost look like waves but the sea is flat. The green to the right is the "wall" of the dock, reflected.

I keep forgetting to bring bread but these ducks haven't given up on me...yet :-)

Rope Swing

We spent New Year's Eve with friends in Devon, and this image is from a walk along a riverside.

It shows trees reflected in a pond, and a rope swing hanging from above. I made it a point to place the swing in an "empty" area of the image.