Thursday 28 November 2013

Splash´n´kajak vol. II

Got a few video clips from the photo session with k-polo.dk

I still have a lot to learn about shooting video with a DSLR, so I hope I get the opportunity to capture the Kayak guys once again!!


The video below is the exact same, but in a higher quality..


The video was shot with a Canon 7D + Sigma 10-20mm in Hugyfot underwater housing, at 1280x720p with 60fps (that could be slowed down to 30fps for slowmo-effect). Most of the video was shut at F/4.0-5.6 at 1/160 sek and ISO1600. Post production was done in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects.


Saturday 23 November 2013

Splash´n´kajak

It was about time to try out my new underwater housing for my Canon. So my work colleague, Rasmus, arranged a meet-up with his Kayak Polo Team at the local pool. Equipped with mask, snorkel, fins and obviously my camera, I got down beneath the surface...

 

...only to realize how vulnerable I (and importantly my equipment) was when surfacing for air. Basically, I was trapped in a boiling pot of foaming, paddle-fighting maniacs, so I soon found myself back on the dry and safe edge of the pool again. 

That being said, how cool is this sport!?! A fast paced team game, where brute strength, technique and tactics culminate in a boat-borne battlefield of splashing water.

Visit their webpage to learn more and get exhausted while having a blast!  




So most of the shots were taken from the pool edge, holding the camera down in the water to obtain the surface/underwater split shots.

Equipment used: Canon 7D with Sigma 10-20mm lens in Hugyfot underwater housing. As no flash was used, I had to push the ISO all the way up to 640-1600, leaving the images a bit grainy. Shutter speeds at 1/60 - 1/-120 were used to capture the action without freezing the image completely. To get as much as possible out of the light, I used apertures between F/4.0 and F/5.6. 

 
Thanks to all the polo-folks for a great day at the pool! I´ve uploaded these and a lot more images from the day here: Ze über cööl Kayak Polo Gallery

I´ll upload a video from the day as well, so stay tuned...
 

Friday 8 November 2013

End of season

Two weeks ago we headed to Frederiksdal skov, a lovely forest just north of Copenhagen, to absorb the bright and warm autumn colors.

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For some reason several tree trunks were labeled with this vivid pink spray. We thought it looked pretty cool in the midst of all natural colors..
  
All portraits were shot with the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens at 1/80s and f/5.6 (or f/7.1 for the image above), ISO 320. We used a very subtle fill flash (Canon 430ex II at low power set manually) to make the model stand out a bit.



We spotted this lonesome tree in the middle of the shades and gray trunks of a pine tree forest. It almost glowed as if it was on fire when the penetrating rays of the sun fell on its leaves.  

To capture the dark mood of the scenery, I underexposed the image by 2,3 stops. Shot at 1/100 sek; f/7.1, ISO 800



We thought that our little son would enjoy the idyllic scenery, but he fell asleep 5 minutes after we got out of the car..and we had to wake him up three hours later, when we had to put him back in the baby car seat again. Anyway, I think all of us enjoyed the trip..

Thursday 17 October 2013

Autumn colors

Yesterday Storm and I went for a little afternoon stroll in our park (Assistens Cemetery). Storm is usually drawn by the movements of wind in the trees, but the magnificent autumn colors just have a hypnotizing effect on our little boy.



Equipment: Canon 7d with Canon 60mm macro, ISO 320, 
All leaves shot at F/3,2 or 4,0 for higher depth of field. Close up one Storm´s eyes shot at F/2,8. Shutter speeds varies from 1/40-1/120 sek


Tuesday 6 August 2013

Tree bugging

Yesterdays walk in the park resulted in a new little pet for our flat: A beautiful green tree bug. As we were walking, it landed on my shoulder. Not knowing that it was a photo-enthusiastic biologists shoulder it had landed on...

I took him home to our living room for a small session.



Here our little friend is posing on some green lettuce.
To get the lighting right, I used an external flash (Canon 430EX II with Cactus V duo radiotriggers). A Canon 60mm Macro was used to get up close.  
Shot at 1/250 sek, f/9.0, ISO 320.




The flipside of the bug was revealed by placing the mirror taken from our bathroom. I was quite surprised how cool this actually came out :-)
Shot at 1/250 sek, f/16, ISO 400.