Life Is Good! & PPN Summer Meeting Happening June 28-29, 2015-test

Good Morning Everybody,

Just doing a quick check in with everyone. I have to tell you, life is good. LaDawn and I are back in Mexico for two more weeks enjoying the magnificent sunrises and sunsets, sand, and sea breezes. It’s been a great trip again this year. The image below is our terrace view about every morning – breathtaking!

I head back home temporarily to photograph an event for some of my very favorite clients this weekend – a B’nai Mitzvah of two very beautiful young ladies. I’ve been working with the family for over 15 years.  It will be fun to see all the family again.

PPN Summer Meeting Happening June 28-29, 2015

The big news I want to share with you is about PhotoPro Network’s upcoming Summer School in historic Owensboro, KY.  There’s lots planned so you don’t want to miss it!

Details and Registration RIGHT HERE!!!

This summer’s event  has more than just AMAZING speakers.

Check out the bonus events too:
1) Saturday night Portfolio Reviews
2) Saturday night Photography Business Q&A Panel
3) Flea Market (sell photography items and/or get some great deals)
4) Print Critique ($5/entry, get educated and possibly win prizes)
5) Studio Tour featuring a live shoot
6) Mini Trade Show featuring several venders

LaDawn and I are planning to be there, I sure hope you will too!

Hey gang, that’s the quick update from me this time around.  Have a great May and June.  I’ll see you soon.

Adios for now, David

Tomorrow Night - 12 Keys to Awesome Off-Camera Flash – FREE Webcast!!!

Hey everybody - don't miss this FREE 90 minute July 8th Webcast tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. with award winning photographer, trainer, and author - Michael Mowbray! 

REGISTER FOR FREE RIGHT HERE!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, PhotoPro Network is presenting an entire series of "Members Only"webcasts this year but is making this first webcast open to everybody FREE!!!

Michael is an amazing photographer who has perfected the art of lighting with his little speed-lighting gems. Check out his images here and his new Speed-lighting book "Shoot To Thrill" right here. I just picked up my Kindle copy and can't wait to get into it!

This "LIVE" rapid fire program is just what any photographer needs to take his/her lighting and photography beyond the competition!

FREE REGISTRATION RIGHT HERE!

I’ll be moderating the program with my good friend Paul Goodman – we both hope to see you there!

P.S.  We also have a few copies of Michael’s new book give-a-ways for our audience too!!

Shooting By The Light Of The Silvery Moon: More Budapest Images

Good Morning Everybody,

Today is our last day in Rovinj, Croatia.  We’re planning a short day trip to Porec, Croatia to check out a few of the sites then it’s back to our home away from home and packing the bags for an early departure tomorrow.  Before we head to Salzburg, Austria  I thought I’d take a chance with the internet and share with you the last day’s shoot from our Budapest Master Class. 

Shooting By The Light Of The Silvery Moon

Well, not really the moon light, but some pretty blanketed daylight.  Most of the day was overcast and the clouds were pretty thick in the sky making for a really gray (and dim) day.

The images are quite a bit different from the others I’ve posted so far from our class because today’s images are mostly made with just the available light present in the locations featured in this day’s shooting session.  I’ve got about seven favorites so lets get right to them.

Photo 1: Ballroom Dance

This first image was a quick grab shot.  The ballroom was off limits to all hotel guests because a wedding was taking place in the room in just a few short hours.  As we walked past the ballroom, I asked our model to step in so I could get a quick photo.  We quickly set up the off camera flash, posed the bride and shot away.

My only regret is that I didn’t have a wider lens on the camera.  The room was beautifully set and the wider optic would have captured the grandeur all the better.  But hey, we were going to get kicked out any second so I grabbed what I could ;~) In about 60 seconds I had the image I almost wanted.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 28mm, 1/50 second at F6.3, ISO 800.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella. 

Photo 2: Stained Glass Fantasy

I loved how the stained glass windows lined up the stairs of the hotel and had been eyeing them all week hoping to capture an image or two with one of our models.  This one is probably my favorite.

My technique is the same as what I’ve described in many photos from the week’s shoot – off camera flash through my Zumbrella and balance the light with the ambient.  I did tweak the image in Lightroom 5 for my final result.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12–24 mm lens at 24mm, 1/50 second at F6.3, ISO 2000.  Lighting camera right with Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella.

Photo 3: Dancing In The Clouds

I love this image.  Or maybe it’s the fabulous bridal gown I love.  I have to say, it was the most unusual and beautiful gown I have ever seen.  It was a hit with all the other models and the class as well.

The photograph is just a simple window light image.  What I like about the composition is how I positioned the bride against the relatively plain-looking, rectangular wood paneled shapes in the background.  I had to be careful with my camera position that her profile fell in between the rectangular shapes you see on the back wall.  Had I been less careful and caught one of the shapes on her face, it would have completely distracted the viewer from my main subject. By stepping back and really using a longer focal length lens I was able to compress this mundane background into something that looked quite pleasing.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 119mm, 1/40 second at F5.6, ISO 12,800 – yep, that’s right – super high ISO. 

Photo 4: Line Dance

This is another straight available light photograph.  From the second floor of the hotel LaDawn spotted the arrangement of the outdoor furniture below and thought it might make an interesting setting for a portrait.  It looked compositional interesting to me so we went to work.  I carefully positioned Clara among the pieces of furniture till I had the composition I wanted.

Notice that the only vertical element in this image is the model.  Everything else is a diagonal line.  I think it’s that “contrast of line” that makes the image. The lines seem to frame up our subject perfectly.

The original monochromatic feel of this color image created by Clara’s black jacket and the very dark rattan furniture led me to de-saturate the image completely for an interesting black & white photograph.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 135mm, 1/100 second at F5.6, ISO 3,200. 

Photo 5: Beauty Among The Ruins

This is a very simple, straightforward portrait made once again with the existing light of the scene.  The light was coming in beautifully from camera left and really defined Clara’s facial features splendidly.  Notice too that with the very broad light source how beautifully her eyes are illuminated.

Compositionally, I wanted to pick up the repeat of the architectural elements you see in the background. By positioning our subject opposite the vanishing point of those elements your eye is easily drawn directly to our lovely subject.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 260mm, 1/100 second at F5.6, ISO 3,200. 

Photo 6: Evening Beauty

I’m wrapping this series of images with my second favorite image of the day. (My favorite was the image I posted in yesterday’s post.) This structure is right of the entrance of the Gellert Hotel. I’m told by one of the locals that it is not everybody’s favorite piece of architecture in Budapest.  It design seems incongruent with the historical surrounds of the city.  Hey, what can you say – some like it - some folks don’t. I happen to like it for this image especially.

I think it offered a very cool background for this photograph.  The sun had long since set but I was still able to pick up a little sky color with my exposure.  I like that the sky did not go deep black.

I knew I needed to add my off-camera flash – Zumbrella/speed-light combo – to get the dimensional lighting I wanted. The initial test shot needed something else though.  The subject was blending into the background too much.  I needed a back light.  And, my little speed light did the trick nicely.

The combination of center symmetry composition and by “go-to”  lighting gave me the shot I was looking for.  Hope you like it too.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 28mm, 1/160 second at F5.6, ISO 400.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella and Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite pointed at the subject 12 feet away at 1/2 power.

Photo 7: Gellert Girl

This image is a variation of yesterday’s image.  I just shot it with a much wider view.  I do like how I pulled in most of the Gellert Hotel for this composition. This image is without the added backlight of yesterday’s post [link] but still looks pretty cool.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12–24 mm lens at 12mm, 1/25 second at F5.3, ISO 1600 Lighting camera left with Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella.

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  The sun is shining bright (finally) and the air is cool.  It’s a perfect day to take another exploration around beautiful Croatia.  Check back again soon and I’ll share a few more of our travel experiences with you.

See ya’ soon, David

”Too Beautiful For Words”

”Too Beautiful For Words”
©David A. Ziser

This is probably my favorite image from the Bulgarian State Opera House shooting session.  Why?  Because of it’s “wide angle wonderfulness”!  I’m always stoked by the ultra wide view of my Sigma 12-24mm lens.  In this spectacular setting, the wide angle view really added to the ultra dramatic look of this image.

Composition was simple – I simply centered the subject in the middle of the frame and lined up the edge of the frame with the horizontal lines on the floor to add to the perfect centered symmetry.  The easy pose and beautiful lighting did the rest to make this a beautiful bridal image.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12–24 mm lens at 12mm, 1/20 second at F5.6, ISO 1600.  Lighting camera left with Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella. Additional backlighting supplied by a second Canon speed-light positioned on the floor about 12 feet behind the bride. And a third speed-light behind the bride illuminating the ceiling behind and above her. Enjoy!  -David

More Slovenian Travels & Budapest Master Class Update: A Day At The Opera – Part 2

Good Morning Everybody,

Yesterday we headed out to explore more of the countryside. We had heard about the quaint little town of Ptuj – pronounced pa-too-ee – I know, our letters in the US don’t sound the same in other parts of the world but with a little practice you eventually figure it out ;~)  Anyway, Ptuj is the oldest town in Slovenia and is located on the Drava River. It also is home to one of the oldest wine cellar in Slovenia dating back to 1239.  You guessed it – we had to take the 90 minute tour.

We also toured the Ptuj Castle as well which turned out to be quite a nice surprise with so much to see from the castle including rich historical details,  to 15th and 16th century paintings, weapons,  armor, musical instruments, and cultural costumes.  It was a very nice day in Ptuj. 

We then discovered we were less that an hour from Zagreb, Croatia.  We decided to add a third country to our itinerary for the day.  After a few passport checks we were on our way.  Zagreb was a busy, bustling city of nearly one million people.  We also hit it during rush hour and were stuck in traffic for a while.

The first thing that hit LaDawn and I was the amount of graffiti painted everywhere – a real turn off for the both of us.  But in all fairness we need to give the city a second look since it is always on the recommended list of most travel guides.

We finally got back to our cottage about 6:15, just in time to enjoy the evening sunset and a glass of fine Slovenian wine.  It was a good day.

OK gang, that was the travel update.  Now let’s get on with more images and descriptions from my Master Class two weeks ago – here we go…

Budapest Master Class Update: A Day At The Opera – Part 2

I mentioned a few days ago that the highlight of my Master Class with my good friend Clay Blackmore was shooting at the famed Hungarian State Opera House.  Check out  A Day At The Opera – Part 1 right here.  I had so many favorite images from that day’s shoot, I decided to spread them out over two posts.  Good news – today I finally get to show you the rest of my FAVS.  I hope you enjoy them.

After shooting on the main staircase of the Opera House from about every conceivable angle, I couldn’t resist trying a few more locations.  We had three instructors working at this location – that would be Clay, Jared Platt – our Lightroom instructor who was also on board for the week, and myself. With a little exploration of the surrounds here are a few more images from the day’s session.

Photo 1: I wondered out onto the balcony to see what was happening – photographically speaking.  The street surrounds were cluttered with buildings, power lines, signs, cars, trucks, pedestrians etc.  It was mid-day direct sun-light, not the ideal lighting but often what we face on a wedding day. I did spot an area that I thought would make for a nice portrait of our Daniel Craig look-a-like male model. I’m thinking…. if I can really constrict the background and just use the windows of the building across the street as my background, those windows would create the repeating element I’m often seeking to enhance my portraits. It became a tight crop but I think it worked well for this image.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 200mm, 1/500 second (HSFS) at F5.6, ISO 200.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite directly.

Photo2:  This image was made from the balcony of the Opera House as I looked down at the street below.  While photographing the portrait above, I looked over to the street below and loved the lines I saw in my potential composition. Look at the gentle S-curve line running through the scene just to the right of the bride.  The row of traffic barriers across the top of the image served to frame out the top part of the composition. The street lamp offered a nice visual balance to the rest of the scene.

All I had to do was light my subject.  That was accomplished by having my assistant, Roland in this case, bring the light in from camera right.  I got the direction of light I wanted without having to settle for the less dramatic/flat natural light.  I love how the image turned out.

DAZNOTE:  Roland was pretty close to the subject to get the intensity of light on the subject that I wanted.  In fact, he was in the image.  But, like I’ve said many, many times, when you need to photograph your assistant to capture the lighting needed to enhance your image, be sure they are in a “Photoshop-able” area of the scene so you can simply remove them in post ;~)

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 50mm, 1/800 second (HSFS) at F5.6, ISO 200.  Lighting camera right with Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite directly.

Photo 3: On our way back into the Opera House, LaDawn suggested that I make an image at the main entrance and try to pick up the beautiful ceiling detail.  I thought it was a great idea and we set up the shot. 

The problem was that the ambient light was so bright, we were going to lose the ceiling detail in the exposure.  I decided to not only backlight the bride, but light the ceiling as well with a third Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite directed toward the ceiling. I got the exact result I wanted.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12 – 24 mm lens at 22mm, 1/200 second at F5.6, ISO 200.  Lighting camera right with Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella. Additional backlighting supplied by a second Canon speed-light and a third speed-light on the ground, behind the bride pointed towards the domed ceiling above the bride.

Photos 4, 5, and 6: Next we headed back into the Opera House.  Everyone else was hanging out on the second floor of the building which gave me complete reign on the first floor and what spectacular sights awaited us! Just look at the architecture and detail of the mosaic tile work throughout the floors, walls, and ceiling – unbelievable!!!

Lighting was basically the same for each of these three images – one on the bride, one for backlighting, and one on the ceiling behind and above the bride.  The only real change was in camera position or lens zoom setting to modify the composition and/or crop of the images. Pretty cool, don’t you think?

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12–24 mm lens at 24mm, 20mm, and 22mm respectably, 1/20 second at F5.6, ISO 1600.  Lighting camera left in the first image, then moved my assistant to camera right with Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella for the second and third images. Additional backlighting supplied by a second Canon speed-light positioned on the floor about 12 feet behind the bride. A third speed-light behind the bride illuminating the ceiling behind and above her.

Photos 7 and 8: As I continued to explore the surrounds I discovered a great vantage point with me laying on the ground shooting up to the ceilings of the other floor levels above me.  WOW! What a site.  It was tricky to get the bride in a somewhat comfortable position – I was in “pain” by the way laying on my back in a half “sit-up” position to frame the bride up the way I wanted.  Who says wedding photograph can’t improve your abs :~)

Again, exposure and lighting was pretty much the same as with the previous three images with the addition of that third light illuminating the ceiling above and behind the bride.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12–24 mm lens at 22mm, and 13mm respectably, 1/20 and 1/30 second respectably at F5.6, ISO 1600.  Lighting camera right for the first image then camera left for the second image using a  Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella. Additional backlighting supplied by a second Canon speed-light positioned on the floor behind the bride. And a third behind the bride illuminating the ceiling behind and above her.

There you have it, a great set of images from a super fun filled day of shooting at the Bulgarian State Opera House.  Boy, I can’t wait to go back – maybe next year :~)

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Hey gang, that’s going to wrap it for today.  I’ve got one more day of shooting to share with you so I hope you’ll check back.  It’s another fine set of images I think you’ll enjoy.

Have a great one and I’ll see you soon,

David

”Trottin’ Hot!"

”Trottin’ Hot!"
©David A. Ziser

This image was captured during our shoot up on Castle Hill. I positioned Anna along the long pedestrian walkway you see in the background of this photograph. I've then backed way up and racked out my Tamron 28–300 mm lens to soften the background substantially.

Since I was working in the shaded area I didn't need to resort to high-speed flash sink. That allows me the extra firepower to get the beautiful lighting on the scene that you see in this image.

The lower camera position eliminated the brightly lit pathway from the photograph bringing all the viewer’s attention to my beautiful subject. A few tweaks in Lightroom 5 finished the result.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 218mm, 1/200 second at F7.1, ISO 1000.  Lighting camera left, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella.

My Budapest Master Class: Shooting At Buda Castle, Mighty Fine Photos!

Good Morning Everybody,

What a great second day  to our Master Class we had  in Budapest.  The icing on top of the cake was the beautiful walk back to the hotel and a full day of shooting and dinner at the fabulous French restaurant, Plavilion de Paris. Most of the class, including LaDawn and I spent a lot of time photographing every course that passed by our eyes (mouth).

Like I said in yesterday’s post – this is truly the city of lights for Eastern Europe!  This first image, below, is of the Parliament House, construction starting in 1885 and completed in 1902 and at the time was the largest parliamentary building in the world I s located along the Pest side the Danube River.  This is clearly the most famous landmark in the city with it’s 691 room and it’s magnificent dome can be seen from miles around.

A little further down the river is one of the eight bridges that span the Danube.  This is the third newest the bridge of Budapest the Elizabeth Bridge.  Along with all the other bridges of the city they were blown up at the end of World War II. It is bright white cable bridge and definitely sets itself apart from the landscape.  At night, it is just beautiful to see.

We had a great second day for our Master Class in Budapest, Hungary. Clay and I both started out with PowerPoint presentations to set the tune for the week and lay out the plan for our week of shooting.

After lunch we headed up to the Buda Castle quarter. This area spreads out over a large area with pedestrian walkways, small shops, museums, and the historic castle itself. It offers plenty of great places for photography. Let’s take a look at some of the images I captured during our visit.

Buda Castle Quarter – Great Location, Great Images!

Image 1:

When shooting outdoors I always try to make the sky as rich and blue as possible. The way I accomplish this in the first photograph below is by using high-speed flash sync on my 600 DX – RT strobes. That allowed me to use a smaller f-stop and a higher shutter speed to under expose the sky just slightly. The off-camera flash also allows me to put the dimensional lighting on the subject that I always want.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Canon 24-105mm IS lens at 65mm, 1/1600 second at F9.0, ISO 200.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite directly.

Image 2:

I love the backlit grasses at the location in which we were shooting. I asked our model, Anna, to get comfortable in the grass and backlit with her with the sun. Not only was she backlit but all the grasses were as well. All I needed to do was bring my flash in from camera left putting beautiful lighting on her face and shoot away.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Canon 24-105mm IS lens at 58mm, 1/1600 second at F9.0, ISO 200.  Lighting camera left, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite directly.

Image 3:

I love this next photograph! Again, the grasses are backlit but I illuminated Anna a bit differently. In this image I intercepted the suns rays with my 84 inch Westcott translucent umbrella, I like to call it “the cloud”. That gave me a beautiful, soft, directional light falling on her face.

Since I had to open up for the proper exposure on her, the grasses around her not in the shadow of the umbrella went even brighter giving me and almost infrared look to the image.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 129mm, 1/320 second at F6.3, ISO 200.  Lighting camera right, sun through Westcott 84 inch translucent umbrella

In all of these images I’m sharing with you today (and yesterday) I'd like you to notice that I've maintained a loop lighting pattern on the face of the subject in each instance. It's the loop lighting pattern that creates the detail, depth, dimension, and saturation to the images I try to create.

Image 4:

In this next image we took a vantage point on the Buda side of the Danube River.  Budapest is actually two cities. Buda is on the western side of the river and Pest, pronounced Pesht, is on the eastern side. Both cities were united in 1873. Anyway, the vantage point from Castle Hill over to the Pest side of the Danube River is always a breathtaking sight.

This image was a bit of a challenge to capture. It was an extremely bright, sunny day. That meant that my exposure needed to be for the brightly lit areas within the composition. My subject was almost silhouetted in the shadows of the castle and was much darker.

I brought my flash in  from camera right and put my typical loop light illumination on the subject. With a little tweaking in Lightroom 5 I was able to raise a density of the shadows, add richness to the sky, and get this great image of our subject.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 129mm, 1/320 second at F6.3, ISO 200.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite directly.

Image 5:

This last image below is strictly available light. I saw one of the students working with Anna and noticed the beautiful loop lighting illuminating her profile against the castle towers in the distance. I simply positioned the subject against the background that I thought best fit the composition and then shot away.

Again, a little postproduction Lightroom 5 sweetened the photograph to its finished result.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 55mm, 1/320 second at F6.3, ISO 1000.  Lighting camera right was just the natural daylight.

We finished the day about 8 o'clock in the evening and all made our way downhill to the beautiful and delightful French restaurant, Plavilion de Paris. Everyone had a great time reminiscing, joking, laughing, and enjoying each others company, the delicious food and wonderful Hungarian wines. It was a long day but one fantastic experience.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. We have a few more days off  in Budapest and LaDawn and I are going out and check out some more the sites. After a rainy and windy day yesterday the sun is out the skies are blue and we're ready to take on the city one more time.

Be sure to check in again soon because I can't wait to tell you about our shooting session at the Budapest Opera House. One fantastic and unbelievable location and one fantastic set of images – I can't wait to show you.

Viszlat  (VEES-lat) for now,

David

My Budapest Master Class – Part 1

Good Morning Everybody,

We landed safe and sound in Budapest, Hungary Monday just over a week ago. The flight was about 11 hours with an additional 3 hour layover in Paris – not a bad place to have a layover – although we spent the entire time in the airport ;~)  After gathering the bags we hopped a taxi and made the 30 minute trip to beautiful downtown Budapest and checked into the Gellert Hotel – one of the “Grand Dame” hotels in the city.

Just as we pulled up to the hotel we were spotted by many of the class members, my buddies Jeff Medford and Roland Pallagi, and fellow instructor Clay Blackmore.  Clay and I conducted the same class in Tuscany, Italy just a year ago.

DAZNOTE:  BTW, here are a few links below to my blog posts about our Tuscany Master Class experience – checking out those posts will give you a flavor of the class.  I think Budapest is going to be – just more exciting!  [link 1]     [link 2]     [link 3]    [link 4]

It was great to catch up with old friends and we were all fired up for the Master Class to begin on Tuesday.  I said it to myself a million times, “This is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited in all of my worldly travels!” 

After checking in and a short rest, LaDawn and I set out to explore the close by Gellert neighborhoods on the Buda side.  The city was bustling with color, sounds, smells, and energy.  It was a good first day.

The next day, Tuesday, after a quick meeting with the class to layout the plan for the week, we were all off on our own to explore Budapest’s wonderful architecture, beauty, and history.  LaDawn and I found ourselves taking a tour of Dohány Street Synagogue, the second largest synagogue in Europe [link].  We took the fascinating tour and took in all aspects of this historic structure.

DAZNOTE: The Hungarian Jews were persecuted severely during the Second World War with more that 550,000 Jews being shipped off to concentration camps – the third highest of all European countries –with many, many never surviving and killed those awful times [link].  It was then only ten years later that the famous 1956 uprising against Russia began eventually gaining for Hungary their true independence. It was finally in 1990 that Hungary became the democracy it is today. 

I share these facts with you because that is what I find so fascinating about our travels.  We are walking through the recent history [link] of the beautiful country which has been through so much turmoil in recent years.  Yet, here we are today giving a Master Class in this beautiful city.

The Gellert Spa Shoot

After a full day of taking in as much of the city as we could it was back to the hotel for the first shoot of the week’s Master Class.  Jeff Medford, my good friend and coordinator of the Master Class had arranged for Clay and I and the entire class to have access to the famous Gellert Spas, one of the most famous and most beautiful in all of Europe.

Roland, a native of Budapest and also my assistant at last year;’s Tuscany Master class had arranged for our beautiful models – and beautiful they were, they were gorgeous!  The class broke into two groups and we proceed to the spa.  WOW!  That’s all I could say.  What a fabulous place to photograph!  Let me share with you a few of my favorite images from the evening’s session.

Spa Session

Photo 1: The goal was to achieve a nice balance of the flash exposure with the ambient light to bring out the beauty of the spa setting.  I also placed Anna in front of the vanishing point as part of the compositional elements I desired in this image which subconsciously draws the viewers attention directly to Anna’s beautiful face.  Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12 – 24 mm lens at 24mm, 1/20 second at F5.6, ISO 2000.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella.

 

Photo 2: Wide angle lenses are so cool in these types of locations. Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12 – 24 mm lens at 12mm, 1/20 second at F5.6, ISO 2000.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella.

 

Photo 3: The lighting and the perspective really make for a dramatic image.  This is an example of how we used my Z-Ray Flashlight to pin-point the light with little spill onto the marble columns and also used a second flash for  back lighting to add dimension to Greta’s hair. Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 28mm, 1/20 second at F5.6, ISO 2000.  Lighting camera right from my Z-Ray Flashlight

 

Photo 4: The super wide angle lens really draws the viewer's eyes directly to our subject.  Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Canon 8-15 Fisheye at 15mm, 1/50 second at F5.6, ISO 3200.  Lighting camera left from my Z-Ray Flashlight,  and balancing for the ambient light of the spacious lobby area of the spa..

 

Photo 5: I really like the accentuated converging lines in this image.  This was a small lesson on back-lighting against the  really reflective marble surfaces. An additional Canon 600 EX-RT was placed not of the ground, as I usually would do, but on a chair hidden from view by the leg of Anna on the left. Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Sigma 12 – 24 mm lens at 12mm, 1/40 second at F5.6, ISO 3200.  Lighting camera right, Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite through my Zumbrella.

 

Photo 6: Look how the colors carry from the painting to the color of the Anna’s dress in this image.  Another example of using compositional elements within an image to create dramatics, not only with color but the sweeping C-curve of the red hair in the painting contrasting with the S-curve of the model. Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 77mm, 1/40 second at F5.6, ISO 3200.  Lighting camera right, from my Z-Ray flashlight.

 

Photo 7: This is an image of one of the student attendees, Angelea. I love the repeat of the eyes in this image. Angelea’s exotic look with the the hidden expression of the female in the painting. Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with my Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 168mm, 1/40 second at F5.6, ISO 3200.  Lighting camera right, bouncing off the highly reflective wooden bench Angelia was standing upon creating the loop lighting pattern from my Canon 600 EX-RT speed-lite.

A BIG thanks to Angelea, one of our Master Class attendees, for standing in as my model for this image.

Not a bad start for the first day of shooting, do you think?  I’ve got lots more images to share with you over the next several days from the Master Class so please come back later this week as I continue to share the images and experiences of The Budapest Master Class. It has been a TERRIFIC week!

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today. The class wrapped on Sunday and LaDawn and I are spending a few more days in the city before moving on to our next location.  Have a great rest of the day and I’ll see you soon!

David