Shadow Play

I love anything that has to do with shadows and silhouettes! Here I chose a vantage point that allowed me to shoot straight agains the sun. This gives better control of the shadows. Better than shooting from the side.

Suitcases and Shadows

This image was taken at Oslo Airport last summer. The late evening sun was facing the travellers and thus casting long shadows. I was standing on a bridge above them,  shooting like a madwoman and trying to get my single focus point to hit the head of the unsuspecting travellers.

Yesterday I came in third with this image in Oslo Kamera Klubb, Picture of the week. The subject was "Koffert", meaning suitcase. A word that is also subject to other interpretations in Norwegian :-)

A night at the Opera

A preview from my new series.

The Brain is Alone

A band that had a concert in Oslo tonight has a song called Hjernen er alene, which literally means The brain is alone. I asked the people who set up the light for this dog - if it was for some reason? The lady explained that the dog was called The Brain. And was the dog of the lead singer in the band. I guess I should have known.

Repeating Objects

One thing to look for when composing pictures is repeating objects. I discovered the lady in the painting inside the window and waited patiently until I could also include the reflection of the woman passing behind me, and also her shadow.

Shadows and Highlights in Photoshop

The camera is not capable of seeing the same range of light as the eye. For that reason you get shots where the bright is too bright, and the dark is too dark. This picture can serve as an example.

I wanted to capture the details of the granite floor where the light from the big windows lights it. I also wanted details enough in the shades to separate the shadows of the two men from the dark floor.

The solution is the tool "Shadows / Hightlighs" i Photoshop. It resores details both in the shadows and in the highlights. Here is a video tutorial from YouTube.

Wall of gold

If you have been on the roof of the opera house you will have noticed that the colour of the wall is closer to silver than gold.

Two elemens contribute to the golden colour.

The first is that these images are taken at sunset. The low sun coming in from the side is of course also the source of the shadows.

The other tip is to set your white balance to Cloudy, that warmes up the tones of your image even more.

"Jump!" discussed in podcast

My favourite photography author is creating a series of 20 podcasts. In episode 14 he discusses my picture "Jump!".

The picture is taken on the roof of the new operahouse in Oslo. The sun comes in from the side, which is why the two shadows to the left are almost mirror images of the two jumpers.

I underexposed to get the silhouettes and to make sure the wall was not "burnt out".

All Within the Frame Podcasts

When you least expect it

The low sun placed a shadow on the wall.

The Cone Heads in Digital SLR Photography Magazine

I was pleasantly surprised when digital SLR Photography contacted me and asked if they could print this picture in the March 2009 edition of the magazine. Yes, Yes, Yes please!

The picture was taken an early morning in Ullevålsveien in Oslo. The sun was very low and the street was wet. Probably because the street was sloping slightly, the head became sharp, but reminded me of the Cone Heads from Saturday Night Live. So the series was called The Cone Heads.