Foto | Indsigt | Synspunkt

This is a digital representation of the analogue film Ilford Delta Pro 400 . Thanks to Nic Silver Efex Pro 2 it is possible to emulate old film types. Old tree's have a fantastic surface when its bark gets old, broken and weathered - perfect for b/w interpretation. In this photo I chose to underexpose a few stops to emphasize the structure and the triangular shape.

SOS International is the leading assistance organisation in the Nordic region. From their emergency centres in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, they provide acute personal assistance all over the world. My assignment today was to photograph four employees for an "New Employee Welcome folder" and take some photos from the HQ entrances showing their logo. The time slot was short, so I went for a simple set-up with one Nikon SB-910 powered with an additional Nikon SD-9 battery pack and mounted on a light stand with a white umbrella. The flash was angled 45 degrees to the left of the person. On the opposite side I placed another light stand with a California Sunbouncer mounted. The SB-910 was triggered with my trusted Pocket Wizard FlexTT5 and MiniTT1 . In addition I used a PocketWizard AC3 to control the flash output. I used a Nikon D800 with a Nikkor AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. The client asked me to use a brick wall as back drop, which worked just fine. The s...

Portrait photography is a very rewarding discipline - especially when you succeed in capturing the personality of the model and can enhance it further in the post processing. Malene has very classic facial features and can look straight into the camera without seeing the camera. For this portrait I chose a "film noir" post processing style (using Nik Efex Pro). Camera: Nikon D800 with AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G. Light: Two Elinchrom D-Lite-it studio flash

Viggo Rivad is one of the most significant Danish photographers and this summer he turned 90. My daughter and I visited the "Nivaagårds Malerisamling" museum, where a special exhibition of Viggo Rivad's photographs are on display until Januar 2013. Black and white film has always been Viggo Rivad's preferred platform and one of his many life long themes was documenting the life on the bottom of the society. But among the exhibited themes you will also find photographs from his many trips and portraits of artists like Viggo - true masters of their craft.

I was hired to shoot some portraits and group photos for a recent merger between two law firms. The new company is call ELMANN. One of the group photos included app. 20 staff in a small hallway. It was impossible to position my studio light, so I used two SB-910s and placed one in the window sill to the left and one on a small ledger to the left of the stairs from the main door. Both Speedlight heads was positioned straight up into the ceiling, but still shadows where cast on the white wall behind the group of people. It required some work in CS6 to reduce those shadows. Here is the original photo that was used on the front of the invitation for the reception. Here is a photo of the management team - both in suits and running clothing. Last - but not least - I shot 5 portraits for the web site. Here is one example of partner Peter Mollerup. I used a Nikon D800 with AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 and AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 (for the portraits) lenses. Elinchrom studie light w...

I feel like this tree for the moment. But love the simplicity in such a photograph. Architecture and nature in a form of strict harmony....

Yet another of my former colleagues has asked me to create a couple of portraits to be used to update a Linkedin profile and other on-line existence. 

Your Linkedin profile need to be up-to-data and tailored towards "opening doors" for new opportunities. This also include your profile photo. The visual first impression is an extremely important element when your Linkedin profile are being viewed. My former colleague Peter Bausager - who is looking for a new job - decided that he needed a new portrait photo to be used on Linkedin, other on-line platforms and in his CV. If a portrait has to function well on platforms like Linkedin, the face has to fill the major part of the frame. I like to work with natural light and a fill flash, which enables me to work fast and still create some interesting shadows and a catch light. The back drop can be neutral or "busy" but need to be out of focus so it helps frame the face. I'm a fan of the 4:3 format and compose according to the "rule of third". Here is some examples from the shoot with Peter Bausager. If you are living in Denmark and would like me to sho...

Part of a facade with triangular terraces. Imaging everybody sitting on their terraces on a sunny day. So much for privacy.....

Photographing architecture is one of focus areas. And Copenhagen do have many fantastic architectural buildings representing modern city architecture. Here is three photos of the building called "KILEN" (The Wedge) that is part of Copenhagen Business School . The architects are LUNDGAARD & TRANBERG and you can read about the project here .

One of my photographic passions are the edgy portrait. I'm still experimenting and far from ready to display my work in large scale (I also need more models). But from time to time I meet a person that is comfortable in from of a camera and then it is possible to capture something useful.  For this photo we were sitting a big a large meeting room where an abundance of natural light was radiating through the windows. But instead of using the natural light as the main light source I used it as a heavy back light source. I had no flash with me so to prevent Jan's face to become completely dark I increased the ISO to 12.500 and shot at 1/250 sec at f/8.0. Even with ISO 12.500 the digital noise was low (D800 rocks) and I used a vintage preset from NIC Silver Efe Pro 2 to twist the portrait in the edgy direction. My current photographic projet is capturing graffiti art on metal surfaces and combining then to a 3 x Triptych (Nine photos in total). Here is two candidates ...

I was hired to photograph two men dressed like knights representing the fight between "good" and "bad". A photo of each knight will be combined to one where they are standing opposite each other in a confronting manner. The final photo will be used on big posters, a website and in various marketing and PR material. It was a great occasion to test my new Elinchrom Portalite soft box and Elinchrom reflector with grid (more directional light). We shot against a black wall and although there were some light spill - it wasn't critical. Here are my post processed versions. I'm not assigned to do the post and have delivered all files as none processed RAW-files to the customer. So I'm exited to see the final outcome. And here is a very short video with just a glims of how we arranged the light and worked with the model.

How difficult can it be was my initial thought when I asked to photograph (I don't want to use the word "shoot") a baby. The mother Malene is a former colleague and I also know her husband Rasmus. It's a lovely family and they live on the country side in a small town just aside a corn field. Lot's of good natural light and a fairly spacious home. The day we had chosen for the event turned out to be one of the hottest days in Denmark ever recorded. And there was no wind. The sun was burning hot and bright from a clear sky, so I had to photograph indoors using my Elinchrom D-Lite lamps and a California Sunbounce. My assistent (my daughter) was a great help. As you can imaging we were all sweating a lot and the little newborn - Emma - was also not comfortable. In addition the D-Lite lamps produced additional heat. My equipment was a Nikon D800 with an AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. In close quarters like this I couldn't use the AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8. I used bot...

When we drove back to Denmark from our summer home in Piemont, Italy, we decided to break the trip in two and stay over in Würzburg . We found a lovely little hotel a couple of hundred meters from the Old Main Bridge to the old city centre. As you can see on the first photo its a gorgeous old bridge and many locals was having a glas of wine various places in the bridge. In photo two you can see the Fortress Marienberg. Next year we will play our stay over so we get enough time to take a closer look at this lovely city. The following text is from Wikipedia: On 16 March 1945, about 90% of the city full of civilians was destroyed in 17 minutes by 225 British Lancaster bombers during a  World War II  air raid. All of the city's churches, cathedrals, and other monuments were heavily damaged or destroyed. The city center, which dated from medieval times, was totally destroyed in a  firestorm  in which 5,000 people perished. Over the next 20 years...

Even a boring scene can be turned into something interesting in post processing. The special radiant effect was achieved in PS by blending a color layer and b/w layer. Both photos got prepared in LR4 and exported to CS6 as layers. Exposure:  1/125 sex at f/5.6, 0EV, ISO 100, A program, 56mm Equipment:  Nikon D800 with AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8

Every year we hear about press photographers being killed while trying to capture a decisive photo and document the truth. They also have to face a bunch of moral issues while being close to death and people in need of help. In my opinion it is vital to capture a photo that can influence decisions on a large scale. But when faced with the choice of either keep taking pictures or trying to change the course of a situation by personal interaction (and maybe risk your own life), I can only imaging the moral issues a press photographer must deal with in a few decisive seconds.

As amateur photographers we start shoot everything and hence nothing. I have been doing this for so many years that I'm embarrassed to count them. But in 2012 I decided upon a photographic project involving grafitti on metal surfaces. I will made 3 triptych - in total nine square photos - and each photo has to fit visually nice to its neighbor. The first triptych is ready and is measuring 80 x 30 cm. Now I'm hunting for the next three square grafitti on metal scenes. I think I found one in Milan last week. What do you think? Now I have to find other scenes that visually matches this one. The hunt has begone....

I'm writing an article on Nikon Speedlight SB-910 and hence has to experiment with it. Once again I persuaded my daughter to act as a model. As light modifier both the standard SB-910 diffuser and a white umbrella has been used. Straight out of camera and converted to b/w in LR4. The umbrella is very close to her face giving a wrapping soft light.

Copenhagen has some amazing architecture - old as new in a visual harmony. Personally I like the old restored buildings as their patina is real and architectural design functional. For this photo I've chosen a dramatic color toning, vignetting and contrast to emphasize the heavy functional construction.

I'm writing a little book about how to use flash in photography. This also involves a lot of experimenting with different set-up - mostly simple set-up that all photographer on a budget can afford. My standard set-up is a Nikon D300 with a 50mm f/1.4 mounted on a tripod. On another tripod a SB-900 Speedlight  (the updated model is named SB-910) is mounted with the standard SB-900 diffuser on and an additional white umbrella. You can also use a SB-700 Speedlight . I can wireless tricker the SB-900 unit with Nikon's CLS (Creative Lighting System) and using the built in flash og the D300 as commander. But I have chosen to add a Pocket Wizard FlexTT5 to the SB-900 (Receiver) and a Pocket Wizard MiniTT1 (Transmitter) to the D300. On top of the PW MiniTT1 a PW AC3 is mounted (Light Power). In addition I have added a Nikon SD-9 battery pack enabling the SB-900 unit to recharge faster and extending the time the SB-900 unit can operate before battery depletion. This is a more exp...