Prague with an iPhone app

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During the Photoconvention I met up with the guys from Formatt Hightech.
Now if you don’t already know these guys make sure to check out : http://www.formatt.co.uk/default.aspx they make some amazing filters, I took a test set with me which I demo during some workshops when fighting the sun with strobes plus I will be doing some long exposure shots with them in the coming weeks/months, so keep an eye out for that.

 

Today however I give attention to something else.
They also have an iPhone camera app, now most people will go like… “yeah another one?”
And indeed I had the same reaction, however what I love about this app is the look and feel, of course there is the setting of focus and exposure on different areas in the scene, but… (and I love this) they also have ND filters including graduated and inverted ND filters which can be incredibly handy when shooting under more dynamic situations. Here is a small example of a scene with and without.

19-07-13 - 1

19-07-13 - 2 Do realize that these are straight out of the camera and not retouched in any way.

 

After testing out the ND filters I decided to double up my iPhone to the Sony A99 during a photowalk we did in Prague with Ivan from http://www.fotoivan.eu (the Sony images I will show later). During the walk I shot different scenes with some of my favorite filters in the app. Do realize that this is a real LIVE filter app, meaning you shoot with the look you want, it’s not possible (yet) to add the filters after the shot, a concept I had to get used to but after a while actually liked, you’re really thinking about the look you want and choosing the “film type” / “filter” accordingly.

 

The app itself is nicely done and very easy to operate, and best of all…. it’s free, so make sure to check them out under “tenbelowzero” at the app store, the app itself is called FILTERS!
Click on one of the images to open up the gallery. ALL images are straight from my iPhone, without any retouching.

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Day 3 of the photoconvention

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Day 3 was without a doubt the hottest day of the convention, so I was very happy that the day before I was shown the cellar area (normally off limits) and got the question if I would be interested to shoot there… well to be honest even if the location was not interesting I would have said yes for the simple reason that it was VERY cool (and I mean it was Cool and Cool).

 

This day was all about working with difficult light situations, an extremely high contrast setting, mixing available light with strobes that are using ND filters and of course again loads of attention to technique and coaching the models.

woensdag July 17 2013-663-Edit

 

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Day 2 of the photoconvention

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Day 2 of the Photoconvention was all about telling the story.
Technique is of course cool and should never be underestimated, but without telling the story… well there is not much left to look at.
So this day we worked with different setups (also focussing on technique) and working more towards themes and story telling.

David en Mercedes Juli 16 2013 - July 16, 2013 - 73-Edit

Now I have to be honest….
When teaching it’s very difficult for me to really nail the shots I want, in other words it can always be better, but there are also students who want to shoot, so sometimes I cut some corners, I do think however that the images did turn our pretty well.

 

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Day 1 of the photoconvention

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Today the images from day 1 of the Photoconvention in Austria.
This photoconvention is a yearly workshop week that in my opinion is very well organized and has some of the most jawdropping locations I ever experienced during workshops, last year the location was a great palace, but this year they topped that… A lot of my portfolio is shot during workshops but after workshops like these… well my portfolio will get a big refresh.

 

Next year I’ll be back in Austria and I can really advice all of you to check out www.photoconvention.eu and also visit it next year, most workshops are in German but mine and I think some more will be in English next year.

 

During workshop weeks like this I always have a program.
In this case Day 1 was all about technique, metering the light, getting the right angles, working on speed during the shoot, coaching the model and even an impromptu photoshoot with only natural light to learn about controlling and manipulating shadows. This is probably one of my favorite parts of these workshops, because it’s fun to see that you actually sometimes get more spectacular shots than with strobes, a lot of people are afraid to shoot in harsh sunlight and especially when they are forced to NOT use any modifiers, so it’s just them and the sun. It’s always fun to see the very surprised expressions when they see what can happen if you watch your shadows.

 

Naike Juli 15 2013 - July 15, 2013 - 116-Edit

 

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