tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46545523787657778622024-03-21T20:47:56.196+02:00Photography Figured Out / Kamen KunchevA Photography blog for everyone. Professionals and amateurs will find and discuss the topics they are interested in. Share and comment, after all this is what blogging is all about.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-60103266796149881622015-05-14T13:36:00.000+03:002015-05-14T14:05:04.449+03:00Phone Photography - Who Would Have Thought We'd Be Seeing So Many Phone Images?!Phones and cameras have been advancing in terms of quality, speed and low light performance literally glued to each other over a short, however really turbulent period. Just 30 years ago, what we are doing with our mobile phones today, used to be sci-fi.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiYK7ELL4qb36G5HSHlhyphenhyphenaarHAU4Wmb9aYDtnm46KXTn9tOsHWkK5wQXeHjVmXwXuz_vl0471wdmCNauQxX7FgS4HJ9prSogY-c7C4wnAY2_Y3zcSwzdZ57c4Yd7ff-ONq_eAb2ck4oc-/s1600/IMG_20150513_134608813_edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfiYK7ELL4qb36G5HSHlhyphenhyphenaarHAU4Wmb9aYDtnm46KXTn9tOsHWkK5wQXeHjVmXwXuz_vl0471wdmCNauQxX7FgS4HJ9prSogY-c7C4wnAY2_Y3zcSwzdZ57c4Yd7ff-ONq_eAb2ck4oc-/s640/IMG_20150513_134608813_edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A photo taken with <a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_passport-6457.php" target="_blank">BlackBerry Passport</a> using the Camera++ app with the HDR function on and then retouched on the same device.</td></tr>
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I do have a dSLR and a bunch of lenses for when I need to be creative and get all those great retouch possibilities afterwards at home or the office for various client and own projects. Of course, no phone camera beats the low noise capabilities and the various lens-propelled image enhancements of a dSLR.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgs36tBw6sEFuXSkraNbX4nR3orCu0LWpcuPTmnZIlF0dZ83_O1IgMwvSvCcE9RJ659kL3lq7UlAx9o47-k_EC8962sxrCeiME_xGiyzIgwcbF8pF-McFwWn-ebO4IKVLwtCD81fmJDhc/s1600/port_varna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqgs36tBw6sEFuXSkraNbX4nR3orCu0LWpcuPTmnZIlF0dZ83_O1IgMwvSvCcE9RJ659kL3lq7UlAx9o47-k_EC8962sxrCeiME_xGiyzIgwcbF8pF-McFwWn-ebO4IKVLwtCD81fmJDhc/s640/port_varna.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A photo taken with a <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond90" target="_blank">Nikon D90 dSLR</a> in RAW (NEF) format at dawn and enhanced in Adobe Photoshop CS6.</td></tr>
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Even though my dSLR is older than my phone, the latter still has some catching up to do. I know that this type of comparison may not be fair at all considering the size of the sensor difference and everything that actually makes a professional camera what it is.</div>
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But where do a good camera phone and a regular camera really intersect in terms still image capabilities and video?</div>
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First of all, I like taking close-up macro photos. This is an area where, I can say, my BlackBerry is rather good. I can admit that blurring of the background may not be so nice and the lack of interchangeable lenses could be a little bit of a pain for the final result but I can retouch the images straight away and upload them for all my friends to see. The latter advantage is, of course, applicable for all photos taken by phone.</div>
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Secondly, I like, and who doesn't, landscape shots. This is where a phone camera, and especially a good one, comes in really handy. With a little bit of retouch and choosing a good angle, your images could start to look really nice and professional. The more you experiment with a good higher class mobile phone camera, the better you will become.</div>
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Third, I am really fond of shooting video on my BlackBerry Passport device! This just feels great! The stabilization of the camera, the colors and quality in daylight are all things worth mentioning. I appreciate the ease of use and how I can just take nice casual videos without having to think too much what lens I have on and how I could edit the material afterwards. </div>
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<u>Here's a small bit of advice when shooting video:</u></div>
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<b>Make sure you hold your phone so that the wide side of the video window is at the bottom. After all we all have wide screens nowadays, and while tall screens may become a thing of the distant future it's really frustrating watching "tall" videos, feeling like peeking through a door frame.</b></div>
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When it comes to portraiture, however, I always use my dSLR. I am just used to controlling everything and taking my time using thoroughbred computer/Mac software to re-touch and make things as nice as possible. This is one area I'd not even think about using my phone. </div>
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My final words of wisdom would be:</div>
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Do not try to replace your dSLR with a phone and vice versa. It just won't work. Anyway, try and become as good as you can using both. After all, it's the hand that wields it.</div>
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Please comment, share and let me know if you found this useful. Here's another nice image (try to guess if it's a dSLR or a phone camera image).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYzv4rlioGoyvfMQTLXzhly4QOXfX6OGpFJHBCNsxzxJxtvoIz_RVzvpuTscbzS9sqIXAXvZw_03Va5Ap7nIzVeC906BWaeM_SFWnF0YZkXYpBuK5lXtgw96hl1NSL_oayJ3996_VVsrZ1/s1600/IMG_20150404_114545_edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYzv4rlioGoyvfMQTLXzhly4QOXfX6OGpFJHBCNsxzxJxtvoIz_RVzvpuTscbzS9sqIXAXvZw_03Va5Ap7nIzVeC906BWaeM_SFWnF0YZkXYpBuK5lXtgw96hl1NSL_oayJ3996_VVsrZ1/s640/IMG_20150404_114545_edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-66770866472218887442014-01-26T22:16:00.000+02:002014-01-26T22:17:28.552+02:00January Can Be Rather WeirdWhile in the good old US the weather was hitting new #freezing records, on the other side of the ocean in Europe things were going rather optimistic and we were having the mildest winter in ages. I was loving it until a couple of days ago, when all of a sudden the temperatures dropped, the port got closed and there wasn't even that much snow. It was all ice!<br />
So, what a great opportunity to take some photos in a weather that was as cold as it was beautiful. When there's a lot of #ice and wind you can't really change lenses too much outside and I decided to mount my trustworthy prime 50mm 1.8. It seemed like the right choice and it surely turned out to be so at the end of the day.<br />
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Here was my preparation:<br />
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<ul>
<li>A warm meal</li>
<li>A hot cup of tea</li>
<li>Warm clothes</li>
<li>Dry shoes</li>
<li>2 full batteries for my #camera. It was a cold day so I had charged 2 batteries. Cold drains them faster</li>
<li>Wipe for the #lens</li>
<li>ND filter would have been nice if I hadn't forgotten it at home</li>
</ul>
I did not want to overdo it because it was too icy and slippery. Carrying too much stuff could be dangerous and get you out of balance. You'll see what I mean when you see the photos below.<br />
And here they are:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgE6vaDmspUt8iKIjWBoAGal8dK0jhN8asPkgfybwIxGlPmifzJNykiiZxOT58Yob1As_iCAq3ZTvnOLuiJ_DtweiH97bufcSOrtoxtWwpJXTBwIoLI29FApe5L_6aochSW5rGZQijv603/s1600/frozen_branches_january.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgE6vaDmspUt8iKIjWBoAGal8dK0jhN8asPkgfybwIxGlPmifzJNykiiZxOT58Yob1As_iCAq3ZTvnOLuiJ_DtweiH97bufcSOrtoxtWwpJXTBwIoLI29FApe5L_6aochSW5rGZQijv603/s1600/frozen_branches_january.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6AlPct348r0KyBm_JaiuklwN6YDQyAzmZdvIJ6ZxZ4fFaKlMq_GllPx2d1a2eg16TZwbwMbsVgw2VED0vBLBOz9LyqJksU7lHEp_Gbahib6v9F_uHISdeYFDmbkLn4XcsGJ7OSmywYIZ/s1600/icy_winter_weather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6AlPct348r0KyBm_JaiuklwN6YDQyAzmZdvIJ6ZxZ4fFaKlMq_GllPx2d1a2eg16TZwbwMbsVgw2VED0vBLBOz9LyqJksU7lHEp_Gbahib6v9F_uHISdeYFDmbkLn4XcsGJ7OSmywYIZ/s1600/icy_winter_weather.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FYHi8O_s4TX3seuyhDsqGrNvACi815E7rFopbkDuUCF6g7NSssbcpmKd12-c9z_YKGgENuXptad79U58clAgB1VgmWSV9KVA3a3tfaB3cr398iPayOYrizdZcY1jh3gIDOaBJdLWDG2X/s1600/leaves_in_ice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FYHi8O_s4TX3seuyhDsqGrNvACi815E7rFopbkDuUCF6g7NSssbcpmKd12-c9z_YKGgENuXptad79U58clAgB1VgmWSV9KVA3a3tfaB3cr398iPayOYrizdZcY1jh3gIDOaBJdLWDG2X/s1600/leaves_in_ice.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57f20dIGfQPhCJ5L1XDEnMufPluUoZxe5V97qJBHELX_ti81cQtBLVjP3QOZ1ce6OcQwMQUO0ACdBr2ewRLFWnHwAUspb37Wi0NUKlQ1kzndIR2Th1fH3gFxnKnrY1Fgbhvgn00llpd7E/s1600/frozen_flowers_winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj57f20dIGfQPhCJ5L1XDEnMufPluUoZxe5V97qJBHELX_ti81cQtBLVjP3QOZ1ce6OcQwMQUO0ACdBr2ewRLFWnHwAUspb37Wi0NUKlQ1kzndIR2Th1fH3gFxnKnrY1Fgbhvgn00llpd7E/s1600/frozen_flowers_winter.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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OK, so here's my advice:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Travel light</li>
<li>Don't change lenses when the weather is bad</li>
<li>Watch your step</li>
<li>Get some friends along to make the walk outside in the cold a little funnier</li>
<li>Don't spend too long outside with the camera hanging from your neck - bad for the camera and bad for you</li>
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Enjoy the winter or at least what's left of it this year and don't forget to share, comment and ask!<br />
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Warm regards,</div>
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Kamen Kunchev</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-34192255940048528772013-10-13T11:18:00.000+03:002016-08-18T17:39:09.923+03:00It's been a while...It's been a while since this blog got launched and it appears I am getting more hits than I was expecting, especially for being less than a casual writer. Thanks to all who have read at least 1 article here! I am not really trying to teach or invent new stuff. I just want to be useful and provide an unbiased opinion (as much as I can) on taking photos.<br />
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It's not very easy to support a blog, a website, a photography business and going to work every Monday to Friday... so, please support this site and blog by sharing, liking and commenting. This is important to me as much as it would be important so someone who likes taking photos and would like to read some useful info.<br />
<br />
Thanks!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-68395011565208504492013-09-15T13:07:00.000+03:002013-09-15T13:08:21.724+03:00Good Old Stuff Around The House - A Rainy Day IdeaSo, it was a Saturday morning and the weather was not exactly what I'd call perfect for laid back outdoor photography. I looked around and instead of giving my trigger finger some rest I decided to take photos of old stuff that I had forgotten for years around the house.<br />
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I took out my flashes, did the settings for white background and started digging for interesting out-of-their-time object and this is what I found in about 30 minutes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiV6lYYygFuGDoZPcJwbElxB5qDUeHRyoQwLgLhWL4Sh-WLgeVt9CYQfb6oB_xSzLmLYuZWhkBtrq1a7xeVDZkWisNMUiDymTLEhxLar_rLJx2F8Ax4FObra8wS-phyhALgvinC1g3NDfR/s1600/44a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Vilia Вилия" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiV6lYYygFuGDoZPcJwbElxB5qDUeHRyoQwLgLhWL4Sh-WLgeVt9CYQfb6oB_xSzLmLYuZWhkBtrq1a7xeVDZkWisNMUiDymTLEhxLar_rLJx2F8Ax4FObra8wS-phyhALgvinC1g3NDfR/s400/44a.jpg" title="Old Russian Camera Vilia, Kamen Kunchev" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one is really old and just like the rest of the things below it still works!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_RG2PNFZ8xi31QX4ii7N4UMkjY1NWNxrD1GwDKKDte0IT3Ond5k9uALnWe8dAGA_DKNVF5w-bLpci2ng_SJuYM1vjlJzs1sv-n4i_GRHxcCitcRi7NmDqBQUc5YDLHTEuZ55DkqQcRzQj/s1600/44b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Audiotape" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_RG2PNFZ8xi31QX4ii7N4UMkjY1NWNxrD1GwDKKDte0IT3Ond5k9uALnWe8dAGA_DKNVF5w-bLpci2ng_SJuYM1vjlJzs1sv-n4i_GRHxcCitcRi7NmDqBQUc5YDLHTEuZ55DkqQcRzQj/s400/44b.jpg" title="Audiotape, Kamen Kunchev" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audiotapes were awesome especially if your player had an auto-reverse feature.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmG462G1lO41rdZueyBegK_ei156WdPe-gKJesACHZ0TCGNhYLlHyct5H0NNxDBILyOgC0TWecRgILJ-Geh6NxEj0pugOBTbs-TS_zJXUmri3nMvob-DghYbviGZjlQGhOy_kCHjoGIBI/s1600/44c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Videocassette" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmG462G1lO41rdZueyBegK_ei156WdPe-gKJesACHZ0TCGNhYLlHyct5H0NNxDBILyOgC0TWecRgILJ-Geh6NxEj0pugOBTbs-TS_zJXUmri3nMvob-DghYbviGZjlQGhOy_kCHjoGIBI/s400/44c.jpg" title="VHS, Kamen Kunchev" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I remember renting VHS movies all the time for the weekend and it was awesome!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbezrF2NT2uuYbCZpZT-ShLIsJTC6gPFh7y9S-7OqXJXJ2W5wyG2gTvQhOemVJ9kJ2skDMkKumWMkwAzqI8z6qtuMfhzO17PnGecErkGrFDrlqchbFQEgu_-Zn5A4Y76Wwt6SKOQTMvkAa/s1600/44d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Atari games" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbezrF2NT2uuYbCZpZT-ShLIsJTC6gPFh7y9S-7OqXJXJ2W5wyG2gTvQhOemVJ9kJ2skDMkKumWMkwAzqI8z6qtuMfhzO17PnGecErkGrFDrlqchbFQEgu_-Zn5A4Y76Wwt6SKOQTMvkAa/s400/44d.jpg" title="Tons of fun, Kamen Kunchev" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having one of these would mean you're the man and you and your friends could have so much fun.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUj-oISJfR_gQjSaP44i8GTmxQLA7Wu317gVUj6jIyePx-MEcPEK7Az0x-CFhACCKmRjZ-bb0lRGP6-T9gc8ChC21R9D3dNFCyBo-uAjkNcOmlHKC5hx5ylM3q0uoyOQT1PwCEZIftNgS5/s1600/44e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Back in the days we were using these for so many things." border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUj-oISJfR_gQjSaP44i8GTmxQLA7Wu317gVUj6jIyePx-MEcPEK7Az0x-CFhACCKmRjZ-bb0lRGP6-T9gc8ChC21R9D3dNFCyBo-uAjkNcOmlHKC5hx5ylM3q0uoyOQT1PwCEZIftNgS5/s400/44e.jpg" title="Diskette, Kamen Kunchev" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back in the days we would use diskettes to exchange images, games, store data and boot a computer...</td></tr>
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I really don't know what to do with these, but I know it's all good memories and I don't feel like giving them away. Maybe I am getting old and sentimental but what can I do? At the end of the day we all want to have a taste of the good old times.<br />
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Oh, and it was a good photography practice because I didn't know what I'd find in those old shelves.<br />
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Tell me what you think and post some of your own old stuff images. I guess this is the only way to preserve them as they were.<br />
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Have fun,<br />
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Kamen Kunchev</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-86218476546450574492013-05-28T14:22:00.001+03:002013-05-28T14:28:59.267+03:00Istanbul, the cosmopolitanBeing a photographer and especially a photographer on a cruise ship is one of the things that definitely takes you places!<br />
After visiting Alexandria, Egypt twice we had to stop going there because civil war broke out and it wasn't safe there anymore. Bad luck for all who climbed aboard in an effort to see the famous Egyptian pyramids. I was one of the lucky people cheering in the staff mess for cancelling Alexandria. One of the reasons was that I got a food poisoning (at an Egyptian mall) and another reason was that Egypt smells like the devil's dirty socks. Just for the record, don't get on a public transportation bus unless you're a local. Anyway, let's get back to Istanbul before I get another food poisoning just by writing about Egypt.<br />
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Instead of an overnight at Alexandria the ship changed route and we got to spend 2 nights in Istanbul. The first time we got there it was rainy and a little cold. Well, what can you do about the weather. Having the afternoon off I grabbed my camera and started walking around the city.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCWdt3xTd8MQxNXXMY_0i-JXCTzjvgcHs7OB5z1hGmbT_GacQHMdtuTMDMp6Ot_qhnqx_EWC89JqD_zgCSx2X4bWj7qrVV1YTkcZKh_-BSy8ALKf1SEzfYiPSS_o60syJt0Uf3PY4LVKP/s1600/ist1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Istanbul at night, All rights reserved by the author" border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCWdt3xTd8MQxNXXMY_0i-JXCTzjvgcHs7OB5z1hGmbT_GacQHMdtuTMDMp6Ot_qhnqx_EWC89JqD_zgCSx2X4bWj7qrVV1YTkcZKh_-BSy8ALKf1SEzfYiPSS_o60syJt0Uf3PY4LVKP/s400/ist1.jpg" title="Istanbul night time, Kamen Kunchev" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Istanbul is great for day and night time photography.</td></tr>
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After walking a walking while I couldn't help but notice how lively this city is. I saw most of the Mediterranean in my days of traveling but Istanbul was just one of those places where I just couldn't put the camera down. There are just so many interesting things behind almost every corner. Antique shops, weird lamps, cafes, old trams, mosques, churches... It's just too hard to put it all in one sentence and how do you describe a city that's on 2 continents and has a population of 14 million.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzQR_w_sVhbF8jLyliT1QYpnDk9FCllCoSPjnttZydD-vyri2kY9Mdx7NHe1KXobzXUYj2wI1eUNTMwkgbq7kc2KFwe3A-7dEMtgUXWbSxo1v38Gyuze9L67RvqEdPL7LQu_dSuRo2JoI/s1600/ist2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by Kamen Kunchev" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzQR_w_sVhbF8jLyliT1QYpnDk9FCllCoSPjnttZydD-vyri2kY9Mdx7NHe1KXobzXUYj2wI1eUNTMwkgbq7kc2KFwe3A-7dEMtgUXWbSxo1v38Gyuze9L67RvqEdPL7LQu_dSuRo2JoI/s320/ist2.jpg" title="Istanbul is in the details, Kamen Kunchev" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think Istanbul is about the details.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWSz3o3B7nFmoGhKEU1l48nDOXaJzB7kAXHPo7En3sg76wsE5G3LInd2ta9NBkg2tLatuEUbdMepvZQySF2wRUtDH8wQfTIui08QsbEzps1vGmxOgN3pr1xMqKlPRld9iG_s4DRygks6k/s1600/ist3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by Kamen Kunchev" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWSz3o3B7nFmoGhKEU1l48nDOXaJzB7kAXHPo7En3sg76wsE5G3LInd2ta9NBkg2tLatuEUbdMepvZQySF2wRUtDH8wQfTIui08QsbEzps1vGmxOgN3pr1xMqKlPRld9iG_s4DRygks6k/s320/ist3.jpg" title="Antique shop in Istanbul, Kamen Kunchev" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antique shop close to Taksim square.</td></tr>
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What I got with me was the trustworthy dSLR, 2 lenses - 18-55 kit lens and a 50mm prime. I like details so most of the time I had the 50mm on. I am not much of a landscape guy so...<br />
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Anyway, here's my advice for when you and take photos in Istanbul:<br />
1. It's a huge place so make sure you have all the sites on the map and everything planned<br />
2. Find time to wander during the day<br />
3. Walk on Taksim square and follow the crowd. Step away and take a random small street - plenty of interesting finds for photographers there.<br />
4. Istanbul is about details so get a decent wide aperture lens for making things pop using it properly.<br />
5. Go to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Bazaar,_Istanbul" target="_blank">Kapalıçarşı </a>- there's plenty of things to take photos of and don't mind the locals who'd try to lure you into their shops (it's just that kind of place - you can't get away without buying anything from there).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMM9Q8V5IVqN5OA9bv817BIQQdYDn7ICth0J5qFvxvVi0lfLZMOOovMONGbnDVDpbSeegwToJEY4RQ-aYa5PB4_z1L-CTYHUu5no6ukG3O6jiqOeMyWKZcyhyphenhyphen_aHAhjSh6pveIHYjL6M0k/s1600/ist4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMM9Q8V5IVqN5OA9bv817BIQQdYDn7ICth0J5qFvxvVi0lfLZMOOovMONGbnDVDpbSeegwToJEY4RQ-aYa5PB4_z1L-CTYHUu5no6ukG3O6jiqOeMyWKZcyhyphenhyphen_aHAhjSh6pveIHYjL6M0k/s320/ist4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdpBE1pRbIg9D1thETlJn7U7qf9KRrUCEGq8hlSDfPeFIC_oFsd1IP6SfWAeHtgKnD03NJa9rNwlCu8bEtCDQMszoXELh-7s-9ypZPPH8crT8-8NCIKjLrJo76w_wQxaDSFXpMRNNeMbI/s1600/ist5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdpBE1pRbIg9D1thETlJn7U7qf9KRrUCEGq8hlSDfPeFIC_oFsd1IP6SfWAeHtgKnD03NJa9rNwlCu8bEtCDQMszoXELh-7s-9ypZPPH8crT8-8NCIKjLrJo76w_wQxaDSFXpMRNNeMbI/s320/ist5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well, book a flight, pin the locations on the map, make sure you have the batteries full and memory cards empty and go picture hunting in Istanbul!<br />
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Another great location would be Malta and you can read about my photo experience there by <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/11/malta.html#uds-search-results" target="_blank">a quick click here.</a><br />
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All the best,<br />
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Kamen Kunchev<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0Istanbul, Turkey41.00527 28.97695999999996340.621820500000005 28.331512999999962 41.3887195 29.622406999999964tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-11885213719979967482013-05-27T15:08:00.005+03:002013-05-28T17:57:11.766+03:00Black & White FilmTaking photos on a black and white film could be quite demanding these days. I got the call on a late afternoon for a wedding day assignment and it clearly came out of the blue because I just did not have time to plan and the wedding itself was way too casual.<br />
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Since the couple are my friends I wanted to do something really special so I went on to buy an<a href="http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/2010712125850702.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> ILFORD FP4 ISO 125 Black & White Film</a>. I am not saying that this film is really special, however shooting a special moment like this with a film camera is quite rare in this digital age.</div>
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All set, my <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWrCJVdX3es" target="_blank">Minolta Dynax 3xi </a>had a brand new battery inserted and а Sony lens mounted. At one point I felt I just had to start taking pictures so I can see what the final result would be sooner. Of course, I was backing almost every shot up with my trustworthy dSLR to make sure I have a display feedback straight away.</div>
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After all the excitement of the wedding day I finally sat down to give it a thought. </div>
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Back in the day photographers would really work hard to frame the shot, to consider the exposure and play with the focus to get it right and there was no display to get feedback straight away and no way of telling if someone had blinked...</div>
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Has digital photography actually taken something away from photographers? Maybe it has. We have all the tools now. We take thousands of images at weddings and other special occasions without having to think too much because everything can be cropped, adjusted, re-touched... </div>
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Anyway, I was really happy about shooting both with my digital SLR and on film that day. The photos came out good and really had the retro feel which can be sort of emulated in Photoshop. I personally do not like aging photos using software because it makes them look cheap. That's just my opinion though.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_3zO0FY59jcVr2tj3QzHzq3XlYqClzfLBEwXzgKiNiexYLcpKwfbq53mP46pSIpVjwwv7OxAwT1ProixIii2681rnKn5UZEsxNE0VkiAjxwl22xIgNBmUL1hAkMmUqs4sUYciHLcf5-W/s1600/CNV000010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Black and white film photography, all rights reserved by the photographer" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_3zO0FY59jcVr2tj3QzHzq3XlYqClzfLBEwXzgKiNiexYLcpKwfbq53mP46pSIpVjwwv7OxAwT1ProixIii2681rnKn5UZEsxNE0VkiAjxwl22xIgNBmUL1hAkMmUqs4sUYciHLcf5-W/s400/CNV000010.jpg" title="Film Portrait Photography by Kamen Kunchev" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I really like the good-old-day-feel of the photos shot on film.</td></tr>
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I guess it's the small imperfections of the final result that give the nostalgic and romantic look of the image.<br />
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Here's my advice for shooting special events on film:</div>
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1. Hold the camera steady (especially when shooting low ISO film).</div>
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2. Watch the framing.</div>
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3. You never know if someone had their eyes closed until you see the images so take more than one photo at the important moments.</div>
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4. Shoot with your dSLR as well so you can back yourself up and play it safe.</div>
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5. Developing certain films can be a pain so ask who can do this for you before decisively buying a certain brand.</div>
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6. Before embarking on such an adventure make sure that you've shot several films and know your dated equipment.</div>
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Please share, comment and ask questions!</div>
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Regards,</div>
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Kamen Kunchev</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-63778418606377738562013-03-30T14:54:00.000+02:002013-03-30T15:00:46.070+02:00Easter Close-up!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, it's Easter time this year! Enjoy! I decided to go out and take some photos of nicely painted eggs to share with my friends and this is what turned out.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Easter Eggs - this photo has all rights reserved by its owner." border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6EZAZw3HsxlWH54UNAVYFAhxCgG_WezfOdDs8wKbFG0rmzYYypINwCfobi0PPUCXMsVdtuJrrLV4Nw5XFJAWPsz_Di9W06ey12vyhCW3BKqhn9a8r4zCMW-EWmbVZvn0bjZQBS_GNSxl/s640/easter+eggs+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Easter Eggs by Kamen Kunchev" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contrast is always a good idea.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Easter Eggs - this photo has all rights reserved by its owner." border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdPmT7BjEtHxQMm18qUp4eyjoBFYSqWWUByCrnOju_TnBucU_AQC1jJq9VVGov5NAiyTJI2_60tZVghdsM4a6aZxH-DAp-j5NqesVqjFbdZdWVGI_mlMWYOvn4kmM3GrBK6mzW6z3rLo-B/s640/easter+eggs+5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Easter Eggs by Kamen Kunchev" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contrasting colors also works great.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Easter Eggs - this photo has all rights reserved by its owner." border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHAueNU693MwOaNfL2UUdcqppK2QnrK3pdBxFVG1FEZ7cygKK10BLdsDI1ovnelWk1Wiw3hXRfwjqAUOOz6NQtue0AmJ2eQAiJT9fsXMJMzriYeLhcEeqU2LKcPqF872G8kZozcr7OsQP2/s640/easter+eggs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Easter Eggs by Kamen Kunchev" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Placing objects in a line is not always the best thing.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Easter Eggs - this photo has all rights reserved by its owner." border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgVdDn_aabHiWClHfUu4w1eSLEErzSm948A3yBDuXvpWPIcw8i4HzD2VoCRsVbl2k7-CY5zlqdpeuzIZQmLVzryc5sv3pveDCX-dGhY3SV5f2wKNw2EDC9yOog81dwHTd1qP1buMmoXKa/s640/easter+eggs+6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Easter Eggs by Kamen Kunchev" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A classic "family" portrait.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And here's my advice:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Use various backgrounds for your shoot.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get colorful props</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If the eggs are too pale mind the light because you might if it's too strong you'll get harsh shadows and burnt areas.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Work for the bokeh by getting close to the object, open the aperture wider (<i>f4-f5.6 should do in most cases if you're close enough</i>).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can shoot with your favourite portrait lens (<i>I did not need a macro lens or a vario for any of these</i>).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get a friend to take photos with you so you can have more fun.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, I guess this about covers it. For more questions and advice send me a message via the comment box below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best and a happy Easter,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-28676002420683940392013-03-10T21:55:00.002+02:002013-05-07T08:15:28.637+03:00Macro and Getting Kinda Close<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to go back to details and shoot some macro these days. It's been a while since my last post and quite some time since I had the chance to go out and have some fun while shooting, so why not macro.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting really close and taking worthy photos could be quite a challenge especially if you don't own a good close-up lens (<i>or none at all like me</i>). I guess I must have become rather rusty with this as it took some time to take several nice images.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgB3sFi02ugzu8VwT6-37tl0dnstqSB5Jf3urOfzTHbi86QOZzuD58482bfdgRSf4HW-aqnJ1SebMD4wDxZDk8l_qrtEs6BbPKztfA6e0y7YC3nlkJW4ruJjkfiqz6CmRIKnyGt1ofXh3/s1600/%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Камен Кунчев, all rights reserved" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgB3sFi02ugzu8VwT6-37tl0dnstqSB5Jf3urOfzTHbi86QOZzuD58482bfdgRSf4HW-aqnJ1SebMD4wDxZDk8l_qrtEs6BbPKztfA6e0y7YC3nlkJW4ruJjkfiqz6CmRIKnyGt1ofXh3/s200/%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B51.jpg" title="Bugs Macro by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZpgi1z_wFYb8oZNBH50QgCvc7H5SbhjTJ3md42ZBD1nASMvEU8gBjRWLxee0DxSaBXzyArkHEsC8ih3x0XIYVVm72miHY4LAzBIxuEHd8NH8EBc8TDc_7Rynr4SrUsnjzJH4ZAS7zF0Mb/s1600/drops1%D0%B0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Камен Кунчев, all rights reserved" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZpgi1z_wFYb8oZNBH50QgCvc7H5SbhjTJ3md42ZBD1nASMvEU8gBjRWLxee0DxSaBXzyArkHEsC8ih3x0XIYVVm72miHY4LAzBIxuEHd8NH8EBc8TDc_7Rynr4SrUsnjzJH4ZAS7zF0Mb/s200/drops1%D0%B0.jpg" title="Water Drops by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you go shooting close-up photography it is essential that you have more than enough light and all the patience in the world. Don't expect to go home with tons of good images and be prepared to scrap lots of the photos especially when shooting at a wider aperture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And talking about aperture, I wouldn't recommend going for those values that usually give you a swell bokeh in portraiture (<i>f1.8-f4</i>). At these you will be losing focus constantly and gaining blur. It all works on different scales when you get this close to objects so experiment a lot and take several shots of an a object while refocusing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituS6Xt-nz7iFAHckcTi4nxtOpBsrGP_8UXg1gkQKnrZKrYEvp1gmlGJenKVatJ1ktLiWagzGPhghpgzJvaTrkZNYWyRX-eycy9d5KqCHJ8pAgtoOSYioJ4W1uSwOTXocATZPIqtX5aQ7Z/s1600/DSC_5864%D0%B0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEituS6Xt-nz7iFAHckcTi4nxtOpBsrGP_8UXg1gkQKnrZKrYEvp1gmlGJenKVatJ1ktLiWagzGPhghpgzJvaTrkZNYWyRX-eycy9d5KqCHJ8pAgtoOSYioJ4W1uSwOTXocATZPIqtX5aQ7Z/s320/DSC_5864%D0%B0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I do not own a macro lens but there are 2 ways you can get away without having to buy one:</span></div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get one of those magnifying glass type lenses you can mount in front of your lens. These glasses will give you lots of distortion around the edges when mounted on wider lenses but will deliver nice results on a prime lens.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or you can simply buy a reverse ring adapter for you 50mm prime lens and use it as a macro lens (<i>if it has an aperture control ring</i>)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both of these methods are rather cheap you will have to focus manually to get where you want but it's a good start if you don't want to spend too much on casual macro shots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can also check out my tips on <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/flower-photography-yes-its-different.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">flower photography</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have fun,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-31014800128450992672012-12-31T18:32:00.000+02:002012-12-31T18:37:10.547+02:00With only a few hours left of 2012<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not too long now until the end of the year of the apocalypse, the year of a few global and personal disasters and the year that made me a better man. Well, good riddance to 2012 and hello to 2013!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I grabbed my <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/10/that-mirror-lens.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">500mm mirror lens</span></a> and decided to go for a walk downtown in the final hours of 2012. Here are 2 of the photos that I'd like to share with you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enjoy and share!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6MsTTn7fRlk/UOGsWLrkZAI/AAAAAAAABnA/sX9V3XA80zY/s1600/ny1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Free to share" border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6MsTTn7fRlk/UOGsWLrkZAI/AAAAAAAABnA/sX9V3XA80zY/s400/ny1.jpg" title="New Year's Eve by Kamen Kunchev" width="265" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C3OvWeMgt4Y/UOFDUO-QFPI/AAAAAAAABmc/n-mr_Ua2xig/s1600/ny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Free to share" border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C3OvWeMgt4Y/UOFDUO-QFPI/AAAAAAAABmc/n-mr_Ua2xig/s400/ny.jpg" title="New Year's Eve by Kamen Kunchev" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With over 3300 views since July 2012 this blog has brought me lots of confidence and a couple of new friends. Keep reading and sharing and I wish you all the best in 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Regards,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-40450145242743080702012-12-30T01:59:00.001+02:002012-12-30T01:59:07.841+02:00Shooting Portrait Outdoors - The Bride!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It doesn't really matter if we're shooting the bride's first or second (<i>or third) </i>marriage, she has to look her best and I mean magazine best!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most often time is not enough for the shoot and I have to act fast and act right to make sure that I have the proper settings not to mess up capturing the event.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbaUdPJOIgQb_Mj2PkUGGuV7gyVTq_dc0xlc8nHgRKRZ-veBKcEovFGdoQO6zw49agSFf_AV-oYaqFmQppgjpyUqv7m2jOMLdGYtawOicN-jqJSQw-t_1VdvcNJFIGevFr7NEYDTeuC78n/s1600/bride+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="All rights for distribution of this image belong to Kamen Kunchev!" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbaUdPJOIgQb_Mj2PkUGGuV7gyVTq_dc0xlc8nHgRKRZ-veBKcEovFGdoQO6zw49agSFf_AV-oYaqFmQppgjpyUqv7m2jOMLdGYtawOicN-jqJSQw-t_1VdvcNJFIGevFr7NEYDTeuC78n/s320/bride+1.jpg" title="Wedding Photography by Kamen Kunchev" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, here's what happened behind the scenes:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A week before the wedding I went looking for a unique place close to the restaurant. It all had be in one day so I knew that my time for taking more artsy photos was very limited.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I prepared myself with flashes and all that but used none because the light was fantastic. I helped myself with 1 light reflector though.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I mounted a prime lens for the shoot so I could get a nicely blurred background and emphasize as much as I could on the bride.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I made sure I had enough light on the face of the bride. It's always good to set it all up first and have less to fix later.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had a fellow photographer helping me out throughout the shoot (<i>this is really important and can save your life!</i>). That's the guy holding the reflector for the photo above!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I cracked a joke to break the ice and have the bride smiling and thinking it's all a breeze.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you may have noticed from my <span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/shooting-portraits-outdoors-fun-and-easy.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">previous articles</span></a> </span>I like simple setups and basic stuff when shooting. I also manage to achieve a very good performance while shooting only on manual settings. This way I can be sure that I will take the photo the way I want it and not the way my camera is guessing. This way I get consistency from image to image, camera to camera, and one shoot to the other.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkoHM4SUTaAcfe2gzj2h3_Kd6X2TbralfjY6ut0WjsSR5xFzrdVloZ-G-XdE1KBB0zROVflifedGdjZBOtZ_yHJHTXoBLDA1lNVTRn_finuMci5kQKspwtvjQVEjvKqE6Sap5WYVkVdQDG/s1600/bride+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="All rights for distribution of this image belong to Kamen Kunchev!" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkoHM4SUTaAcfe2gzj2h3_Kd6X2TbralfjY6ut0WjsSR5xFzrdVloZ-G-XdE1KBB0zROVflifedGdjZBOtZ_yHJHTXoBLDA1lNVTRn_finuMci5kQKspwtvjQVEjvKqE6Sap5WYVkVdQDG/s320/bride+2.jpg" title="Wedding Photography by Kamen Kunchev" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, let's move on, shall we?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Different setups can be applied using multiple flashes and reflectors but remember that it's the final result that counts and it doesn't really matter how professional you looked using all your equipment for the shoot if in the end the images look bad.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The good preparation is not in purchasing the best equipment. It's about the right equipment for the case, the timing and the location (<i>with a little bit of improvization</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We need to have the bride looking feminine and beatiful in all our pictures. We need to always have her in focus (<i>always</i>) and either follow the rule of the thirds or keep her in the middle. This is where she'll like to have herself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch out for overexposing the dress! This is really important because the bride will want to look at how wonderful she looked on that day with her dress on. So, try and expose the dress right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check your shots for shut eyes. If you don't you'll be deleting images without any chances of recapturing or giving them to the bride.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure the bride is relaxed and she's showing only happiness and smiles in every picture that you take.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If this is your first shoot of this kind then look at and learn all the classic poses and do not experiment unless you have lots of classic shots already stored safely on your memory card.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check out how to build a nice <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-wedding-collage.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">wedding collage here</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How about the<a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/07/wedding-photography-other-kind.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;"> other wedding photography</span></a>?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or you can practice some <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/12/shooting-portraits-outdoors-update-2.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">casual winter holidays portraiture</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is probably my last article for 2012. Enjoy the holidays and don't let your cameras rest too long!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-30141243481134194582012-12-09T19:58:00.000+02:002012-12-09T20:53:53.157+02:00Shooting Portraits Outdoors - Update 2<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've been really busy lately and am now working a daytime job... Photographers need a steady income too and so I had to resort to being a manager during the day. That's not so bad because now I am enjoying the little time I have for shooting even more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This update is about my latest outdoor shoot with an extremely beautiful young model that seemed to like experimenting (<i>with photography</i>) just as much as I do. It's almost Christmas so I took her out for a warm cup of tea and pictures by the jolly holiday lights downtown. I didn't know what was going to happen so I told her in advance that this is purely an attempt at what could go with zero good photos in the end.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfsryp2iK0ef-bsa7QZARPPwuIjBXg75h0p20Hy3E1K7rkm3ztWrwBftQUHMWD1AmbD8hJ-tQQ7Gp-haiGC4CgA2j6t0ius9oAemII2xNy5CfyeeDmMXA_WFtUjIPFPqUMABVAi_7CrrW9/s1600/winter+portrait+model+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfsryp2iK0ef-bsa7QZARPPwuIjBXg75h0p20Hy3E1K7rkm3ztWrwBftQUHMWD1AmbD8hJ-tQQ7Gp-haiGC4CgA2j6t0ius9oAemII2xNy5CfyeeDmMXA_WFtUjIPFPqUMABVAi_7CrrW9/s320/winter+portrait+model+1.jpg" title="Winter Portrait, Photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="212" /></span></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5kfwy8qxnSuvS7Uh915qSoJ4TXOBTbPfFCPS0hd7UVlOeDOIX0c9ABlbLsNGRcJd1XZCm6_cbOaHRtKVxhIQUjF3eZyji4kA8dizF7vGUsBOoLWF8GBOCzExfX5tzdDaBFZx6zzr-SWQ/s1600/winter+portrait+model+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5kfwy8qxnSuvS7Uh915qSoJ4TXOBTbPfFCPS0hd7UVlOeDOIX0c9ABlbLsNGRcJd1XZCm6_cbOaHRtKVxhIQUjF3eZyji4kA8dizF7vGUsBOoLWF8GBOCzExfX5tzdDaBFZx6zzr-SWQ/s320/winter+portrait+model+2.jpg" title="Winter Portrait, Photograph by Kamen Kunchev" width="212" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30X_5Ttem9pYT8sDLmlD3bfoZHIzGHCekABUzNFVlQsGOs3NQ9ODEZriS4hbE0bChQklWILAW8qPR9VMZJwp3Vduu_XME9cDlG_Nz-GqggkPcixNVm_ixiRwgz_GRFf0W97ZoAv4R6Wz6/s1600/winter+portrait+model+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30X_5Ttem9pYT8sDLmlD3bfoZHIzGHCekABUzNFVlQsGOs3NQ9ODEZriS4hbE0bChQklWILAW8qPR9VMZJwp3Vduu_XME9cDlG_Nz-GqggkPcixNVm_ixiRwgz_GRFf0W97ZoAv4R6Wz6/s320/winter+portrait+model+3.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I won't lie, I did very little preparation before the shoot because I was going to be outside in the cold weather since the morning and spend the whole day through before the shoot running errands. I had to travel light so I just picked my 50mm prime lens and my trustworthy dSLR, checked the battery and the counter for remaining shots. So far, so good!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's my advice for this type of shots:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ask your model to avoid dark colors for such photos.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The weather is cold so get a warm drink before the shoot.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure you have mounted wide aperture portrait lens (<i>this will give you the needed shutter speed and wonderful bokeh at a lower ISO setting</i>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/iso-friend-r-foe.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Do not be afraid to use ISO between 400 and 800</span></a>! Play around with the ISO if you feel the shutter speed is dropping below 1/45 (<i>or 1/60 if your hands are shakey from the cold</i>).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure you have a nice background and sufficient front light.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this case if you manage to use your settings and location right you won't need a flash (<i>just like I did not need one</i>).<br />I guess the rest is just practice so please read my <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/11/shooting-portraits-outdoors-update-1.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">update one</span></a> and the original<a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/shooting-portraits-outdoors-fun-and-easy.html" target="_blank"> <span style="color: cyan;">first article on outdoor photography</span></a><span style="color: cyan;"> </span>for more details and advice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy holidays and keep shooting,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-24335799102561951112012-11-26T20:53:00.001+02:002012-11-26T20:53:39.703+02:00Painted With Lights: The Xmas Markets of Slazburg<a href="http://paintedwithlights.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-xmas-markets-of-slazburg.html?spref=bl">Painted With Lights: The Xmas Markets of Slazburg</a>: Elise and I spent Thanksgiving in Salzburg, Austria. Below you can see a quick time-lapse that I put together of the Christmas markets. It...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-66299338941733331102012-11-16T22:29:00.000+02:002012-11-17T22:16:42.596+02:00Malta<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, Malta! A small island country in the middle of the Mediterranean with compact and friendly population and own language which is an interesting mixture. Anyway, English is the official language as well as their own Maltese so travelers have no problems getting along with locals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, why am I writing about Malta anyway? I don't have much of a choice really - it's a wonderful place for photography. Back in my days as a cruise ship photographer I would visit Malta on a schedule and it became my favourite port.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSk9n6gF3LY25q0Wy7wDdax_7ed2PLvF_vKxxgQj0IGu9ywXN_09iWodOh6BMrgZ2V-pJmMdb5O1DvEKyq9v2adVCW2YpPS3oUtK-fS4oEUR5p5cw-g8RNl7jgILnfbgdKQm7bpmWTVZaq/s1600/malta+valletta+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the author!" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSk9n6gF3LY25q0Wy7wDdax_7ed2PLvF_vKxxgQj0IGu9ywXN_09iWodOh6BMrgZ2V-pJmMdb5O1DvEKyq9v2adVCW2YpPS3oUtK-fS4oEUR5p5cw-g8RNl7jgILnfbgdKQm7bpmWTVZaq/s200/malta+valletta+1.jpg" title="Maltese Architecture, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old stone buildings that survived turbulent<br />
timesare a great opportunity for<br />
photographers and film<br />
makers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcKwGGCg9RfBQScd6PnIHuEzrfFRXHlh7tMf0xxeVc_Ra-T2P-Jy0WA82uHZQtCyavFxY1pe29adbkg5Wl66BIC__qthpfWWXdLMT9VWJzdRPMiUqBV6pPuNyoC7V_ymSVONUb8DFbNlI/s1600/malta+valletta+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcKwGGCg9RfBQScd6PnIHuEzrfFRXHlh7tMf0xxeVc_Ra-T2P-Jy0WA82uHZQtCyavFxY1pe29adbkg5Wl66BIC__qthpfWWXdLMT9VWJzdRPMiUqBV6pPuNyoC7V_ymSVONUb8DFbNlI/s200/malta+valletta+2.jpg" title="Maltese air trip, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tourists can book a round-the-island trip and<br />
enjoya view from above. I didn't<br />
have time for this unfortunately.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For such a small place the island presents just too many opportunities for sightseeing. One could just wander around on foot, get a regular bus, use a hop-on hop-off transportation or get a round-the-island trip by plane. I just didn't have the time for the air trip but I enjoyed myself a lot just taking random turns and ending up at where people were just having coffee or resting from busy tourist routes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To my great surprise, there are parks with fat cats that just stand there eating. They have small wooden houses and just walk about all day. It's not the Indian cow cult but still... a little weird.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53wZZJQI127jPfplPcVJgx-QiHGGX8tfE3hvHofrkAmlwp3PARsSUu_vADicFxagQ7m3WemIx4y_AzYMRDV-SR4Qvzm1yECMazOOmEiC4f_pIiaYJ3ZMfIwhyphenhyphen5aU6PH513OpDPcsRjj1G/s1600/malta+fountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer." border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53wZZJQI127jPfplPcVJgx-QiHGGX8tfE3hvHofrkAmlwp3PARsSUu_vADicFxagQ7m3WemIx4y_AzYMRDV-SR4Qvzm1yECMazOOmEiC4f_pIiaYJ3ZMfIwhyphenhyphen5aU6PH513OpDPcsRjj1G/s200/malta+fountain.jpg" title="Maltese fountain, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes you have to take the photo.<br />
I used some HDRretouch technique<br />
to boost the sky here. I hope I didn't<br />
overdo it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOS1E4GbwvR7p_-3Gjh262uLQefdzl_PZWr7exKFYJDsxicdQgAGA3mXhgcNRe_P-yhoonwKd1PpWE-0rAMM-_01i67nuTsqQ0nDbeYJfnpX9u_sKEVzR4fZERVcgeeqqm4JQPnFq40Vv/s1600/malta+imaginarium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer." border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOS1E4GbwvR7p_-3Gjh262uLQefdzl_PZWr7exKFYJDsxicdQgAGA3mXhgcNRe_P-yhoonwKd1PpWE-0rAMM-_01i67nuTsqQ0nDbeYJfnpX9u_sKEVzR4fZERVcgeeqqm4JQPnFq40Vv/s200/malta+imaginarium.jpg" title="Is this a Maltese imaginarium, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So, they have imaginariums<br />
in Malta? I don't know<br />
how this works but it<br />
looks kinda weird.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, here was I walking around in Malta with my trustworthy dSLR thinking "Oh, what a great place to shoot a movie!" but so many people have walked around with the same idea and you can<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Malta" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;"> click here</span></a> for a list of movies shot Malta.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's get back to photography and let the guys with deeper pockets shoot some great movies. Malta is not only spectacular on the outside but it's great to enter some of the old buildings too, like the St. John co-cathedral. Don't miss it! It's full of artifacts and history from Templar times!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gOeBx8F2GSk9jeM20W-IRBclyigHYCuT6pGpG49SQHei9RM09ERxQaLcG7ng_k8YfRh4Ymae7EKoYcOkYlLwWNqN0-ucc5ia6q1iew5mk6CKzufBof5PDe8lsjlf9a9md48iB7d9rfuO/s1600/malta+st+john+altar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7gOeBx8F2GSk9jeM20W-IRBclyigHYCuT6pGpG49SQHei9RM09ERxQaLcG7ng_k8YfRh4Ymae7EKoYcOkYlLwWNqN0-ucc5ia6q1iew5mk6CKzufBof5PDe8lsjlf9a9md48iB7d9rfuO/s200/malta+st+john+altar.jpg" title="Inside the St. John co-cathedral in Malta, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The altar of the co-cathedral<br />
seemed<br />
rather<br />
spectacular.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-CZWw1ORxJ4OIYQ3oqcnMg4tTzfRH4jknGDPx4QHfaUrVYyPHHoW8AnM40_ZsTf6Uz2lq1f4QxZT7Wr36PEXjwQjuprWyF_0QOJjayUo8sN8gCX_iYfr8SYVwP7kkOEpFcQURhez6Kk3/s1600/malta+st+john.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-CZWw1ORxJ4OIYQ3oqcnMg4tTzfRH4jknGDPx4QHfaUrVYyPHHoW8AnM40_ZsTf6Uz2lq1f4QxZT7Wr36PEXjwQjuprWyF_0QOJjayUo8sN8gCX_iYfr8SYVwP7kkOEpFcQURhez6Kk3/s200/malta+st+john.jpg" title="Inside the St. John co-cathedral in Malta, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wall and ceiling paintings astonished me<br />
even after my visit to theVatican.<br />
It was amazing even though<br />
the scale was smaller.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really spent a lot of time visiting places on foot. It was a great experience especially for a man like me who likes taking unexpected turns and ending up in off-the-course places. I wish I could stay and take photos at just about every corner but I can't... You know, going back to work is something we all have to do.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRk_vePFshNF01UbUXf4RXq7ke2nFL7v-eZjC9yS7yPWSRJWLKKrdSJaMWAADkNnrxRpPgS9SzrhmBar226lDJ_hLglsXkuWT_QKo-nRnja0NVgVxZwINNePdPCqI-O7bE00AhUogfVdZ/s1600/malta+skyline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRk_vePFshNF01UbUXf4RXq7ke2nFL7v-eZjC9yS7yPWSRJWLKKrdSJaMWAADkNnrxRpPgS9SzrhmBar226lDJ_hLglsXkuWT_QKo-nRnja0NVgVxZwINNePdPCqI-O7bE00AhUogfVdZ/s200/malta+skyline.jpg" title="Skyline Malta, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Going on foot gives you a different<br />
view of things and<br />
takes you interesting places.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1hStaFJvQTESgvXcuYFp5A_t0TwNvTrNM0jExXyGlKIy_9XuuT5gJKMkifZPgnQv7HHXuxdIoy-MbwjRBqagyK8hXYD6bCOZv0h3oZ3DgE1PVgsL-XRrtreSK_9iF1Rvd9s9CK4eTFK7/s1600/malta+street.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="All rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1hStaFJvQTESgvXcuYFp5A_t0TwNvTrNM0jExXyGlKIy_9XuuT5gJKMkifZPgnQv7HHXuxdIoy-MbwjRBqagyK8hXYD6bCOZv0h3oZ3DgE1PVgsL-XRrtreSK_9iF1Rvd9s9CK4eTFK7/s200/malta+street.jpg" title="Maltese street, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some streets you just take<br />
without knowing what's<br />
on the other side of the hill at all.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I will visit Malta again soon, that's a promise! I will take lots more photos and return to tell. My stay there was so enjoyable I just didn't want to leave. All I have now is a bunch of photos, nice memories and a good friend who lives there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you get a chance to visit, please do! If get a chance to stay longer, go ahead! Bring your camera along and lots of big memory cards, you'll need them. Oh, what a nice place for photographers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0Pope Pius V Street, Valletta, Malta35.895725258659063 14.5101928710937535.844270758659064 14.431228871093751 35.947179758659061 14.589156871093749tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-72721241902706498282012-11-04T21:39:00.001+02:002012-11-15T17:07:18.296+02:00Shooting Portraits Outdoors - Update 1<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alright, I'm done post-processing the photos of some shoots I had over the past weeks. As the title brings the spoiler, this is a short update on outdoor photography. I will add a few samples here from my latest shoots and have a little talk with you guys and girls that stumbled upon this article regarding shooting nice outdoor portraits.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjW3fPfPe6E8MHItDytaHVXuIa8Eyo1G0SJy_RVSFYfzFBZb-04Dw3wtsM7M4EG0_s1VsQapwX2PdE0OpCJmpFe0VKPqVegZXFdUSPSZcAiamFzciRjCczCAPclnW8ppwai-WB4bh5unKQ/s1600/DSC_4194web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Outdoor portraiture, all rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjW3fPfPe6E8MHItDytaHVXuIa8Eyo1G0SJy_RVSFYfzFBZb-04Dw3wtsM7M4EG0_s1VsQapwX2PdE0OpCJmpFe0VKPqVegZXFdUSPSZcAiamFzciRjCczCAPclnW8ppwai-WB4bh5unKQ/s400/DSC_4194web.jpg" title="Outdoor portrait, Kamen Kunchev" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Choose your background wisely and you'll be able<br />to control the mood and the overall feeling that the<br />photo brings.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsL0G516jAw4mDvZhdytzLWn3HgdIVTJWFAkXqdCpvnx-MLURNlJji66_E8Nf9osS1onl5OZwb3PFZFBpwNZ2Q2NjVIRAvcDM6r5UY44RaqOuXJEqiIWzcdKdToVA9UaNGVHd2KgErDTS/s1600/DSC_4132web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Outdoor portraiture, all rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsL0G516jAw4mDvZhdytzLWn3HgdIVTJWFAkXqdCpvnx-MLURNlJji66_E8Nf9osS1onl5OZwb3PFZFBpwNZ2Q2NjVIRAvcDM6r5UY44RaqOuXJEqiIWzcdKdToVA9UaNGVHd2KgErDTS/s400/DSC_4132web.jpg" title="Outdoor portrait, Kamen Kunchev" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes the slightest interaction<br />with the environment could make<br />the photo really interesting.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrdelvKeoPUn-C9NjY8aKXKOU9StKiIgaAaVCvsM3Vx1iHQK8bXiYi7lqv_I2y-dw0D6Xrj8-7Fx_tYvIR_lHXwfzmQQkx-ZXIrtZtTq4U8xFmcASIso_GNMmqxx2T5uoXusoAA7YDRHer/s1600/hristinata2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Outdoor portraiture, all rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrdelvKeoPUn-C9NjY8aKXKOU9StKiIgaAaVCvsM3Vx1iHQK8bXiYi7lqv_I2y-dw0D6Xrj8-7Fx_tYvIR_lHXwfzmQQkx-ZXIrtZtTq4U8xFmcASIso_GNMmqxx2T5uoXusoAA7YDRHer/s400/hristinata2.jpg" title="Outdoor portrait, Kamen Kunchev" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking at the camera is not always necessary. Try and create a mood while taking the photo which will remain captured there forever.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I do photography I like keeping things simple and come up with the concept first - the type of photos, the location and the model. Later, I do some research and get acquainted with the place and the model before shooting. I want to know for sure that she'd be comfortable with all the details and we can just go ahead and take some nice photos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I do not like bringing all my "tools" when shooting out in the open so I travel light and bring only what's needed. I pick the light (<i>time of the day</i>) in a way so that I won't need too many flashes (<i>if any at all</i>) and grab one or two reflectors to get the natural skin tone (<i>white balance with natural/available light</i>).</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFcx-TzKsaz81lXOpNYDNnVbYBNENIkvm6hFYoEEqcSiflMjw8p240RPWomNeDToJ0wjOxiMrgSnE_L-x1TgSeViT-gncR-yDA7JUW5yEV_x5L5Qf3StzzYvmaM51YGENJ4deMAeeRPBm/s1600/Grunge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Outdoor portraiture, all rights reserved by the photographer!" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFcx-TzKsaz81lXOpNYDNnVbYBNENIkvm6hFYoEEqcSiflMjw8p240RPWomNeDToJ0wjOxiMrgSnE_L-x1TgSeViT-gncR-yDA7JUW5yEV_x5L5Qf3StzzYvmaM51YGENJ4deMAeeRPBm/s400/Grunge.jpg" title="Outdoor portrait, Kamen Kunchev" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shoot different styles, poses and at various locations<br />that match a certain mood. Use backgrounds that<br />separate the model from the background.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me know your thoughts on outdoor portraiture in the comments below! Share, comment and enjoy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can read more tips, tricks and view more samples in the original article <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/shooting-portraits-outdoors-fun-and-easy.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">by clicking here</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-73446545761202204592012-10-27T00:38:00.004+03:002012-11-15T17:07:59.004+02:00The Wedding Collage<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, you open those folders with images from the wedding and start looking... for the shots that are really meaningful and show the moments of true emotion and feeling. That's the kind of photos we want in a nice collage that sort of sums up the wedding and displays what happened. It all starts a lot earlier though.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HjSlEydPH1U5NuA8RPncvzRU1Dt0qqMFOvfFsVSFQYkC3NBWLlKUzIpqG7-FjFvflrwAZsOBKlN3j8M6qFp0a8oUkJjimcmKEwYGroJ67iDCQyAHQQC0wY3VlxqpGz-1Nnx3KhAvWIBc/s1600/Kolaj+3a+30x40web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HjSlEydPH1U5NuA8RPncvzRU1Dt0qqMFOvfFsVSFQYkC3NBWLlKUzIpqG7-FjFvflrwAZsOBKlN3j8M6qFp0a8oUkJjimcmKEwYGroJ67iDCQyAHQQC0wY3VlxqpGz-1Nnx3KhAvWIBc/s400/Kolaj+3a+30x40web.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It all begins with careful planning about what happens when and where I need to stand to capture the meaningful moments. I like going to the places where I'll shoot earlier and estimate what settings I could use and details. I do not like going unprepared and do make myself as familiar as possible with the conditions. Further on, I get acquainted with the itinerary and usually have it printed out for me and the second photographer so it's all clear and we do not miss a thing. Oh, yes, the second photographer is really a must when you shoot a wedding. Once-in-a-lifetime events require a trustworthy assistant.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyway, let's skip ahead and move on to the collage. Pick the shots when something important is happening in the itinerary. Check the list and you'll see the moments. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Select the photos for the collage and get creative. It's great to have the newly wed in all the collage shots. After all, this is what the wedding is all about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure that the retouch you do is the same for all shots (<i>I desaturate and make sure the exposure is the same to avoid big differences</i>). Relatively chronological order is fine but not necessary.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prepare a canvas in you photo editing software that is standard for bigger printouts and remember to leave some space for where the frame will cover the collage (<i>this is a must</i>)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Work in layers for every photo and apply changes separately.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make the arrangements so that what you think looks better and more important takes more space on the canvas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Double-check if you haven't missed something interesting and create a couple of collages so the you family (<i>I mean the bride</i>) can choose from for a nice print.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do not make the pieces of the collage too small.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Work with a canvas of at least 300 dpi to get a high print quality (j<i>ust don't overdo it with the dpi value, ok?</i>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Need more info? Comment, ask and share!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-37618815023394700272012-10-26T08:07:00.001+03:002012-10-26T08:12:06.418+03:00Painted With Lights: Budapest - a beautiful city with a turbulent past<span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://paintedwithlights.blogspot.com/2012/10/budapest-beautiful-city-with-turbulent.html?spref=bl">Painted With Lights: Budapest - a beautiful city with a turbulent past</a>:</span> Purple Sunrise over Budapest Travel Budapest lies Northwest of Bulgaria, in Hungary. Most easily (and economically) accessible by a...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-12686914397173093852012-10-25T11:40:00.001+03:002012-11-15T17:08:56.457+02:00Car Photography Update<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have a special treat for everyone who likes car wallpapers. I am releasing for free 15 car wallpapers that I created over the past few weeks. Please, enjoy and share, this is all the support I need at the moment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Download the HD wallpapers from the torrent linked below or leave me a message with your email and I'll attach it for you.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://1337x.org/torrent/416136/High-Resolution-HD-Car-wallpapers/">http://1337x.org/torrent/416136/High-Resolution-HD-Car-wallpapers/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">P.S. You can read my tips on how to take photos of cars at shows <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/10/car-photography-parked-cars.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">by clicking here</span></a> or scrolling down.<br /></span></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-36214399767391389782012-10-24T00:21:00.001+03:002012-11-15T17:11:12.294+02:00That Mirror Lens<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know such are no strangers to photographers who like to experiment and have no problem with darker and less sharp lenses. All the tech geeks that are into shooting with the sharpest and most expensive lenses should stop reading right now. This article is about taking photos with modest equipment, manual focus and old school hardcore photography.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's what you can't shoot with a long prime mirror lens:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Weddings</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fast moving objects</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Macro</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Panoramas</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Also, don't expect to capture great photos (<i>or any at all</i>) in low light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you still want to continue reading, we are about to discuss how great long mirror lenses actually are and I have to say I am not selling mine even though I do not use it too often.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mirror lenses are good for:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Long far away shots</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Learning to actually focus manually and capturing the moment without hesitation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Learning to properly frame the shot from a distance</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Learning to hold your camera really steady</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Taking amazing close-up shots of birds/wildlife (<i>even though the sharpness will not be the same as a regular lens</i>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Street photography</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Video (<i>from a tough tripod</i>)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now that we know what we can do with a mirror lens let's go ahead and point out the pros:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Price - lower class manual focus mirror lenses are extremely cheap!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Weight - really light! I am talking just amazingly light compared to regular lenses.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No blades or complex mechanics inside (<i>hence the price</i>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bokeh is a WOW! Seriously, try taking a photo against a sparkly background and you'll see what I am talking about. The doughnut bokeh is just amazing.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKz6cdjjCvT_2pXJ0teFK6xtgeA5C5DSVpUsZEpc8yC57bbN00ySWgAbZcL2_grSO4TvhxcbY3Sehaa7X5pCpFZYBz6BtT0XMU2jXq9eBolpgMeJ_k7RGN2YYcRi9OdIXjdZ-O-u_zOGxV/s1600/dove+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kamen Kunchev, all rights reserved. Use only after advising with the owner!" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKz6cdjjCvT_2pXJ0teFK6xtgeA5C5DSVpUsZEpc8yC57bbN00ySWgAbZcL2_grSO4TvhxcbY3Sehaa7X5pCpFZYBz6BtT0XMU2jXq9eBolpgMeJ_k7RGN2YYcRi9OdIXjdZ-O-u_zOGxV/s400/dove+1.jpg" title="Mirror Lens Bokeh Sample 1, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 500mm mirror lens does a really nice job when I want to get close to birds without scaring them away. Notice the doughnut bokeh caused by the lens' specifics.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This video was quickly put together having some moments shot with a 500mm mirror lens. The first, last, bus and seagull shots were taken with this lens mounted on a D90 camera. It gives a nice soft effect as well as the nice doughnut bokeh all over.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My advice, get one, study it and enjoy it for its low price, minimum weight and unique bokeh. I know I won't be selling mine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-33583878494201230632012-10-15T10:27:00.001+03:002012-11-15T17:11:57.806+02:00Car Photography (Parked cars)<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, here was I at a car show in my area yesterday checking out some tuned BMW's, an Audi that goes from 0 to 60 in less than 2.8 seconds, an old Russian truck and lots of other vehicles, watching as people were swarming into the event and taking photos everywhere. Some car shows are really like that and it's not very easy to get a nice shot that also looks sellable. Here are some samples and tips.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7CtJPuOU4LlvcqhewkvsQIDIRR-1DRxuNSjkxZsIk7MqxrN3gclHiIGuBNDDOGo-C9ySKZyqppzqO1zFPdwZUzqrsqJ_o4EmDCcLxPwU70aEzT5sgu4lDqDXPwE-i-ODGdxFKpnTC8hE/s1600/porsche_wallpaper_1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="All rights reserved. Use only after advising with the owner of the photo." border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7CtJPuOU4LlvcqhewkvsQIDIRR-1DRxuNSjkxZsIk7MqxrN3gclHiIGuBNDDOGo-C9ySKZyqppzqO1zFPdwZUzqrsqJ_o4EmDCcLxPwU70aEzT5sgu4lDqDXPwE-i-ODGdxFKpnTC8hE/s200/porsche_wallpaper_1a.jpg" title="Porsche, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAExS4Ch4FHlni2fsHBgEwh_9eoyXOWeL3T1UuCNtKcRMJSIb3asZhsVocCAR0x7kWC2P298d4QKBgPZ4hkDULo8stfyqK4lDN6NMhdoVJ7nXvJcddYFGRYlmYzm7NpBbxdRcOjMeAySRj/s1600/DSC_3823a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="All rights reserved. Use only after advising with the owner of the photo." border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAExS4Ch4FHlni2fsHBgEwh_9eoyXOWeL3T1UuCNtKcRMJSIb3asZhsVocCAR0x7kWC2P298d4QKBgPZ4hkDULo8stfyqK4lDN6NMhdoVJ7nXvJcddYFGRYlmYzm7NpBbxdRcOjMeAySRj/s200/DSC_3823a.jpg" title="Old Russian УАЗ truck, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvwwd8d5XUJbNgjlhyphenhyphenSF7v7-1Fvh8U39fqSJ4bTL-3tfsMmhXaj7tcb0Zel38EdvLK3v3_zXrbYNJ91g39XRvkJVe96wLsED8eKDPqVDKT-pXHOxhky_i328NBqtjVfzAxTxPQs5YraWX/s1600/porsche_engine_wallpaper_1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="All rights reserved. Use only after advising with the owner of the photo." border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvwwd8d5XUJbNgjlhyphenhyphenSF7v7-1Fvh8U39fqSJ4bTL-3tfsMmhXaj7tcb0Zel38EdvLK3v3_zXrbYNJ91g39XRvkJVe96wLsED8eKDPqVDKT-pXHOxhky_i328NBqtjVfzAxTxPQs5YraWX/s200/porsche_engine_wallpaper_1a.jpg" title="Under the hood, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUaEDTAVCNYYs4JeNNeG9mA_tC0KdiTneOlbS4nQOYJtJfdPlDvagE-ePVkTW8cgZh0KsQCwiiy2cQnwb9veYTXcirSSPX9KI7spT8W7wGQP4t5FU7aRy4M7BQT9vmqd8F4_62AS9hQ3qH/s1600/lada_wallpaper_1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="All rights reserved. Use only after advising with the owner of the photo." border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUaEDTAVCNYYs4JeNNeG9mA_tC0KdiTneOlbS4nQOYJtJfdPlDvagE-ePVkTW8cgZh0KsQCwiiy2cQnwb9veYTXcirSSPX9KI7spT8W7wGQP4t5FU7aRy4M7BQT9vmqd8F4_62AS9hQ3qH/s200/lada_wallpaper_1a.jpg" title="Tuned Russian ЛАДА, photo by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the people passing by get in the way all the time so make sure you get a photographer's pass and enter before the show officially starts for the day. If you are a regular visitor and want some nice shots here's my advice:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do close-ups of recognizable parts and insignia but never only insignia and never just parts. Try to make the brand and car itself look complete and recognizable without showing the whole thing.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you shoot under the hood try and get some branding insignia as well. It will draw the attention of all the people who know nothing about engines as well and will make the photo more interesting. If all is custom then get some curves that look interesting and could bring up some associations like a female body, a revolver's drum (<i>like in the bottom left photo</i>) or anything that people could unwillingly tie to something they know. The photo of the engine will not roar or smell like oil but if taken in an interesting way it will go deeper than the scent or noise of a revving engine.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch for the reflections off the car's paint or chrome parts. You really don't want other cars there to be recognized or people's distorted reflections in your shot. It looks worse than having them in the background.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like using shallow depth of field (<i>wide open aperture with values between f2 and f4</i>) when I shoot at car shows because I really do not wish to have all the folks and other cars in the background having any clear lines. I shoot car by car and need to keep things simple so I blur what I do not want to emphasize on using wide aperture value.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do not use a (<i>friggin'</i>) flash! Most of the times it will give you reflections that you really do not want in the photo.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch for your own reflection. You need to be like a vampire - no own reflection in the shots.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whether you want to post-process the the shots and make them look more vintage or whatever, it's all up to you when you have good material to work on. I shoot RAW so I have more options to work with from the start. To me the most important part in this case is to get there as early as possible with the proper lens on, batteries charged and an empty memory card so I can make the best of the show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://kamenkunchev.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/car-photography/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">More samples here</span></a><span style="color: cyan;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-56019420146560484072012-10-02T21:28:00.001+03:002012-11-15T17:13:01.721+02:00The Portrait Lenses<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I recently argued with a person on the internet about portrait lenses and I think it's very important to actually know what makes a certain lens good for portrait. First of all, we need to know our location and the space that we require for the shoot and right after that we need to choose the proper lens.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's answer one simple question:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why are some lenses good for portrait and some are just not doing the trick?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The answer is simpler than we think. The secret is not in the aperture, it's not in the size, the weight, the brand or the stabilization... It's all in the aberration, and I mean the distortion of objects (<i>face, body etc.</i>) The less distortion we have in the image the better our models look. This is highly dependent on the focal length and, to some extent, on the sensor's crop factor (<i><a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/crop-vs-full-frame.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">click here for more </span></a>on full frame vs. APS-C sensors</i>). Longer lenses produce images with a lot less distortion. Ideally outdoors I'd shoot with an 85mm or longer lens <i>(if you have a vario lens make sure to keep it zoomed at over 50mm</i>) to steer clear from any distorted faces. My big love however is the 50mm prime lens that gets me the results I need. It's small and it's perfect for outdoor portraiture.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, if I want to shoot in a studio a vario lens is required. Some people who rarely do studio shoots will go ahead and start proposing prime lenses for studio portraiture but people who know the trade will tell you prime lenses are pretty much useless between four walls. The reason you need a good vario (<i>basically anything between 18 and over 100mm would be nice</i>) is that studio shoots take a certain amount of time that can't be expanded too much (<i>studio hours, models, make-up artists, stylists and what not</i>) and we want to get the job done so shooting with a prime lens means moving lights back and forth as well as setting</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">their strength</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> over and over again. And all this because if we want to zoom in on the model with a prime lens we have to take a step forward and drag the lights (<i>all front lights that would hit our back for standing in front of them</i>) with us instead of zooming in with a vario lens and taking the framing we want.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By using vario for portrait shoots in closed spaces we solve many problems and make the shoot possible. Just make sure you're not too close to the model at a smaller focal length to avoid distorted images. Zoom in and out using the vario and don't zoom out all the way because it will be a disaster.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A good vario lens will get you where you need to be at the studio but nothing beats the bokeh of a prime lens when shooting outdoors. This is one of the main reasons people get a nice 50mm prime lens (<i>apart from its low price of course</i>). You have lots of space behind the model and lots of space to move around and take angles and go around outdoors so this is the best option for the case. Indoors, however, you need a sharp vario with as little aberrations as possible to cover different framing from one line of shooting without moving the lights too much. You will be using aperture values between f5.6 and f13 on a single-color background so forget about the bokeh of the 50mm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Write your questions below and I'll be more than happy respond. For <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/lenses-so-many.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">more on lenses click here</span></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-68566579546276957762012-10-01T22:33:00.000+03:002012-10-01T22:36:04.838+03:00Whatever Happened To The Exciting APS-C Cameras?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great APS-C (<i>cropped sensor</i>) cameras! What on earth happened to them?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are going to talk about a certain trend in the industry (<i>mostly the titans of the industry</i>) concerning the latest APS-C cameras. First of all, I am really unhappy about how things are working out lately and let me tell you which APS-C cameras I find exciting in a few examples:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nikon D70</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Canon 40D (30D, 20D)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nikon D200 (D300, D300s)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What makes these exciting? They're old and produce lots more noise at higher ISO values... but those were the days...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All of these (<i>and you may add more models to the list</i>) had a secondary display on top to help you set the camera faster. All of these had a reasonable size and were built solid taking significant damage over the years going 'meh' after occasional bumps. All of these had 1/8000 max shutter speeds and the D70 had a flash sync speed of 1/500! So, we were getting solid, sturdy cameras with APS-C sensors that performed rather well <i>(for their time</i>) and were literally the quality of a full-frame camera. All the controls were there, all the settings. Nothing short of awesomeness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I used to be a cruise ship photographer and took quite a few photos with a weathered D200 camera. This camera was built to last and probably another person is using it right now on the ship sailing in the Mediterranean. If only this camera could speak... I noticed it had everything, all the settings, all the controls, all the modes and it was just easy to get used to learn it all. It just worked. No software upgrades and updates. It was all there and a photographer would feel safe taking it out in harsh conditions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the Canon 60D first came out I was thrilled but then I took it in my hand and realized the disappointment. It was just plastic. All of it was plastic and it felt cheap. I've taken shots with 30D. I knew what a real dSLR was supposed to feel like and this wasn't quite the experience I was used to. Then I went to Nikon and got their D5000 for a spin. OMG, it was just another toy - light, plastic, no secondary display. What on earth happened to the line of cameras that were supposed to replace the ones I loved? Yes, the sensors were better but the experience of shooting went downhill for these cameras. Then I tried 1000D, 600D, 650D from Canon - no way Canon had produced those. Nikon went D3000, D3200, D5100 but I just couldn't believe how they had stopped making the line of cameras that felt like cameras and had replaced them with plastic toys. No secondary displays on any of the APS-C models, no full controls on the body... It all felt like enthusiast-class-look-at-me-I-own-a-girly-camera-plastic-toy thing.<br />I felt betrayed. I'll miss those cameras. They are slowly turning into the <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-great-old-film-cameras-beirette.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Beirette, Vilia</span></a> and Smena of the old age. I hope Nikon and Canon will come up with a new generation of beloved APS-C ready-for-combat cameras soon so I won't miss them too much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-14493000202728958512012-09-26T15:18:00.000+03:002012-09-26T15:18:59.658+03:00Autumn Leaves<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's a beautiful autumn outside and it's hard not to wear your camera around your neck. Wonderful colors draw my attention from everywhere and the soft afternoon light makes this season the perfect time for outdoor photography (<i>more on outdoor portraiture <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/shooting-portraits-outdoors-fun-and-easy.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">click here</span></a></i>). Usually I go outside shooting female portraits but I also like mounting my 50mm prime for shooting dry leaves and all the beauty around without models and special setups.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's my advice on taking wonderful leaf photos in the autumn:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Mount a wide aperture lens for the sake of shooting with a shallow depth of field and a higher shutter speed (</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">it gets windy and you could be experiencing poorer light conditions</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure you have the proper white balance set on your camera. This will make the colors look realistic and the tones will be friendlier to the eye. The rest you can do in any image-editing software.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Figure out a way to create contrast and what's in focus will pop out. I use 2 ways to do that. The first one, I try to have some sky in the photo which gives me a real color contrast between the blue sky and the warm colors of the leaves. The second, I look for a depth in the background that really makes the object pop and nail the attention.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you shoot try and follow the rule of the thirds. This will give more air in the photo and more emphasis on the object.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Light is generally softer so don't restrain yourselves to shooting only in the late afternoon when you'll have a very small window of opportunity for taking many shots.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you do not like how things are in front of the camera go ahead and rearrange the leaves or whatever to make it look the way you think is cooler.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch your exposure. The light coming through the branches and leaves could be deceiving so check your settings and results before and after every shot.</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVfmCGMJsvdt46Tjb9ZvnXG91njzsfuv4Vl4DZRPkTwVevJJ4S-ZAy6_AQYp8iQ0XgTKmgwm0iYFNqi5AGgDnrq2KJYZg4eTCPB5-TfyaS_J5QfWfx0JlQPk9XRG3OoaQzrPp38ZZLfJX/s1600/wedding+bouquet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVfmCGMJsvdt46Tjb9ZvnXG91njzsfuv4Vl4DZRPkTwVevJJ4S-ZAy6_AQYp8iQ0XgTKmgwm0iYFNqi5AGgDnrq2KJYZg4eTCPB5-TfyaS_J5QfWfx0JlQPk9XRG3OoaQzrPp38ZZLfJX/s200/wedding+bouquet.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmt_wFhNBHNdx41IV6Fpq3O_rmXXQqC46zPTSFCkuiYspn3UsTl4or04ykHxWMQ9sV0BAY3nJI4MuDRe7_HqGiPbB1MGevrCDLs8SeLS0oIULvj3DTifoAUY2liM0bUsmYw0ERIbj21Xk4/s1600/autumn+1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmt_wFhNBHNdx41IV6Fpq3O_rmXXQqC46zPTSFCkuiYspn3UsTl4or04ykHxWMQ9sV0BAY3nJI4MuDRe7_HqGiPbB1MGevrCDLs8SeLS0oIULvj3DTifoAUY2liM0bUsmYw0ERIbj21Xk4/s200/autumn+1a.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Got questions? Use the form below to post comments and I'll be more than happy to respond or extend the article.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For more info on shooting flowers and taking wonderful nature shots <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/flower-photography-yes-its-different.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">click here</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now go and get those lenses dug deep in the autumn leaves. Who knows, a photo like this could be a contest winner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-7766196370150186242012-09-12T15:51:00.001+03:002012-09-12T15:53:49.641+03:00Smoothing Skin - The Big Fail In Photoshop<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Smoothing skin, airbrushing, making wrinkles disappear... How much of these is OK and how much is too much? Where do we draw the line when we retouch the photo?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me go back a little bit and tell you what got me literally enraged. First of all I love photography because when I do things right I get a positive reaction in people that I've never even met before. It's the thing that provides perpetual energy for me - as long as I make people happy with my skills they will keep making me happy back and I will go on taking nice photos. Second, capturing a certain moment requires knowledge, practice, skill and trusting your gut. Taking great photos does not require any Photoshop skills, however Photoshop requires nice big files that can be edited and retouched to look more enticing and interesting to the eye.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Having all this in mind, I keep looking at online galleries of portraits, wedding shots, advertisements and what not photos of people and keep getting disappointed. I see all the pretty colors, nice composition and, to my disgust, the flat, toneless, poreless skin!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's some advice on taking photos so you won't have to retouch too much:</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Set your lights properly. This means that you should watch for shadows and burns on the skin.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Set the exposure right.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Set a proper ISO. This will give you less grains in the shadowy areas so you won't have to fix that later and lose skin detail there.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure you use a good angle so you won't show too much of any skin imperfections.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The general idea is to take a photo at optimum conditions so we won't have to spend hours airbrushing and trying to recover or hide what we didn't do right with the camera.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once we get there and load the photos into our editing software here's what I'd suggest:</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do NOT blur it all out! Not even newborn babies have porcelain skin.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leave some pores. Skin has pores and they are everywhere! This is what skin is all about.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do not sharpen the eyes in exchange for blurring the face. This will make the blurring look even worse.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you soften the image then soften the entire photo. If you are sharpening some areas make them look natural</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Think about what's aesthetic and not about what's smooth.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had to write about this because I saw a wedding photo where the husband had his 5 o'clock shadow (<i>no retouch there</i>) and the wife was pale and smooth as porcelain. Come on, who are we fooling? People know what they look like and photographers can't fix that. We can only fix what the photos are like. Let's try and stay real and not cross the thin line between smoothing and wiping. Of course, if our models asked us to wipe their faces clean from pores and wrinkles and we get paid for that... but that's a different story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Think of a great idea, do a nice setup of lights, find a nice spot... all the rest is less than significant or a matter of chance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kind regards,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-57701780716111078632012-09-05T09:39:00.001+03:002012-11-15T17:13:36.697+02:00Best Natural Backgrounds<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, this article is about outdoor portraiture and what we need to know about making the photo equally good not only in terms of proper camera settings but also when it comes to choosing the best natural background. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Making a good choice in this aspect will make our model stand out better and turn our photo more interesting delivering the right emphasis on what we want to show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me make one thing clear before we start with my selection of backgrounds. By 'natural' I mean 'available outdoors'. We are not talking about the backdrops that we buy for the studio. If you want to read more about studio backdrops please <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/backdrops.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">click here</span></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My obvious number one outdoor background is the natural bokeh created by light that's hitting leaves. This is truly amazing and gives me the one-of-a-kind randomness of the environment that I can play around with in Photoshop to produce a really enticing image. All you need is a wide aperture lens (<i>I shoot with a classical 50mm prime</i>) and stay within the range of F2.8 to F4 for maximum sharpness. When I shoot such portraits I keep a fair distance between the model and the background to create a nice bokeh and give my photos the third dimension that most studio shots really lack. You need to know what you're doing here and use a diffused flash, a light reflector or both to make sure that light gets properly distributed on the areas of emphasis.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ817REFeTFQoC-JtywLIZj-L2pITLfbrCNPQJ6rkQg7KIKmlBHlbyMY4r98x3ZOKLVcSTCw5Q-ARa1Jz_Z40wYJPDtnzZAhw1U76rv0YsBybtL5A5PFZL-FeIUdnvQ1X59vua9Nyd794-/s1600/DSC_0828a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="all rights reserved by Kamen Kunchev" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ817REFeTFQoC-JtywLIZj-L2pITLfbrCNPQJ6rkQg7KIKmlBHlbyMY4r98x3ZOKLVcSTCw5Q-ARa1Jz_Z40wYJPDtnzZAhw1U76rv0YsBybtL5A5PFZL-FeIUdnvQ1X59vua9Nyd794-/s200/DSC_0828a.jpg" title="Portraiture by Kamen Kunchev" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My second favourite background is the repeating pattern. Such shapes one can not find in nature because nature doesn't work this way but still we can be creative outdoors and find an old fence that we can shoot against. These patterns will make your model's face and body really pop out and you will get the needed emphasis exactly where it should be. The eye will go straight for the model's figure and face. Keep in mind that such photos can be made without a really wide aperture. We can simply use a lens without too much aberrations. Otherwise the straight lines of the background we chose will look curved at the edges of the photo. Another thing that is essential, do not leave harsh or any shadows on the background. If you do your portrait will look like taken with a small compact camera. Get a colorful pattern (<i>a brick wall, a painted or old fence</i>) and you'll find out that the results will turn out to be more than eye-catching.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVHA5BLSIsFsEqNvksnSrWwFoMZXxXmlbK3IXm4oauVzonVkmvHgDFXJEWsa9kv9ZksM1nwgkk48qbuwVEF0xpUFdoyC1LY8Fz0taLAmp1FOD-nMszS0e2DMZpos-UBRscOsjz3fauhcJ/s1600/portrait+model.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="all rights reserved by Kamen Kunchev" border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVHA5BLSIsFsEqNvksnSrWwFoMZXxXmlbK3IXm4oauVzonVkmvHgDFXJEWsa9kv9ZksM1nwgkk48qbuwVEF0xpUFdoyC1LY8Fz0taLAmp1FOD-nMszS0e2DMZpos-UBRscOsjz3fauhcJ/s200/portrait+model.jpg" title="Portraiture by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Autumn leaves present a great opportunity to shoot different angles and experiment a lot. I like going for a late afternoon shoot with one reflector and work until dusk. Such photos give a nice and warm feeling because of the background color and are really easy on the eye.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6cbcipr96U39KBv_zy96KZXNwcscd3ydiX1ErEfWR2Gw2F_hIRC24wszmsgNmtQtnDSibpTYWNdEi3fV42_O2UzTZV_bBFzn27TLYSerrTohbBYugtQaWmL3Gk0lyYIo8eDDGHbRZnrJ/s1600/autumn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="all rights reserved by Kamen Kunchev" border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6cbcipr96U39KBv_zy96KZXNwcscd3ydiX1ErEfWR2Gw2F_hIRC24wszmsgNmtQtnDSibpTYWNdEi3fV42_O2UzTZV_bBFzn27TLYSerrTohbBYugtQaWmL3Gk0lyYIo8eDDGHbRZnrJ/s200/autumn.jpg" title="Portraiture by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XLeVlemtHpoSQksoKn21LTnoZxbm6Vg6d3zWSRGz0kRbQWcnFQkXqSRXoFmwWIyETrSxh4Gm8jt2OR4lUvGgXMf8nEJGrkIZFCr_-guTR-1MXW_qKrvs1QQFYstjBfsutdOPDayyg-al/s1600/autumn+leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="all rights reserved by Kamen Kunchev" border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7XLeVlemtHpoSQksoKn21LTnoZxbm6Vg6d3zWSRGz0kRbQWcnFQkXqSRXoFmwWIyETrSxh4Gm8jt2OR4lUvGgXMf8nEJGrkIZFCr_-guTR-1MXW_qKrvs1QQFYstjBfsutdOPDayyg-al/s200/autumn+leaves.jpg" title="Portraiture by Kamen Kunchev" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wouldn't want to make this list any longer even though I have plenty more favourite backgrounds. I will leave it at 3. Maybe you could post your 3 suggestions and we can discuss them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Final words, use your background to build up on the idea of a third dimension, mood, season, place etc. Don't just go ahead and shoot like you would at the studio. Outdoor portraiture could be very demanding and usually requires good timing, careful selection of place and even choosing the right model. More on outdoor portrait photography <a href="http://photofigo.blogspot.com/2012/08/shooting-portraits-outdoors-fun-and-easy.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">click here</span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have a great day,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14958660275457473802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4654552378765777862.post-25930474416281840602012-09-01T21:03:00.003+03:002012-09-01T21:05:03.536+03:00Photography - Adding Value<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before we really start and get into what adding value to your photos is, I want to make a point that there is no such thing as 'a professional artist'. This is an oxymoron and you should try your best to realize this. You're either a professional or an artist at one time. When you have a great idea and you want to experiment having fun all the way and then take all your time to make it as you want to have it, that's your 'art time'. That's when you feel free to invent and experiment. That's when you can just scratch it all off and start anew. However, going pro means dealing with what someone else wants, tells you to do, compromise, deadlines etc. so at the end of the day you get properly reimbursed for your trouble. And this doesn't just apply for photography.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How do we add value to our photos? Where do we look for adding value? I'll tell you right now we are not talking about exposure, ISO, lenses or sensors. We are looking at the service and the person with the camera.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all we, as photographers (<i>not artists</i>), work with people and people need attention. People need to feel special and looked after. Photos that we take remain in time associated with a special moment. We need to take pride and responsibility for capturing this moment. From the first contact we need to stay professional and listen to what we're told so we can make notes and do what's best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Second, we need to maintain proper etiquette and set of manners from the start to the delivering of photos. Remember, be polite, well-dressed, do not rush your clients, give them time to think, listen and make suggestions later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Third, look as presentable as possible without overdoing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fourth, do not be late. Artists are late. Professionals get there before the client does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fifth, work with reasonable deadlines. Say exactly when the shoot starts, ends, and how long the client will have to wait for the photos. People want to see their wedding photos before their kids marry. Your clients will appreciate a job well done within a reasonable time frame more that just nice photos at some point.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now we have some info about how to add value to your photos from the first contact. How about the shoot?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First, get there on time to prepare the equipment and make sure everything works.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Second, check again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Third, meet the clients and give them time to prepare. Think about giving them time to prepare beforehand so it's all in the estimate and you won't have to cut the time for shooting short.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fourth, be polite and explain every pose assuring you maintain a distance from the client.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fifth, tell a neutral joke or two to break the ice and make them smile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally, when the shoot is over thank your clients and confirm the time frame again so there are no misunderstandings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Delivery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First, go ahead and make sure you make it on time with processing the shots. That's why people have schedules and reminders in writing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Second, deliver with the same manner you've started the job. Clients like consistency. That's why they will recommend you and come back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Third and final, throw in something extra. Do additional printouts, add a more artsy style to some of the photos or simply call the client and tell them the photos will be ready sooner. Be creative about throwing in something extra but don't overdo it and don't do the same thing twice because people will start seeing it as a part of the price anyway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If, by any chance, I missed something please comment in the field below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the best,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kamen Kunchev</span></div>
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