It's too bad that the most beautiful time of year in New England is also the shortest. Next up, WINTER!
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Autumn is finally here, our favorite time of the year! Here's an end of summer assortment of fruits and flowers from our garden. Martina picked everything and styled these shots that will become part of our stock photo portfolio. The look of natural sunlight was created with one diffused flash placed on camera left. The kitchen table added a nice rustic feel.
It's been an amazing 2 years living here in Poland, but on August 31, we move back to Sterling, MA USA. Living in Europe has led to many great photo adventures and also many great friends made along the way. Yesterday, my photographer friend Jacek and I woke up to catch the sunrise over the Old Town Market Square here in Kraków. We tried to get some cool drone footage over the square, but the batteries were not cooperating and it crashed a couple times. After those mishaps and a bloody finger, we switched to our traditional cameras and tripods.
Especially in the summer the main square, the largest medieval square in Europe, fills up with tourists pretty quick, so it was nice to get there early and make some photos without the crowds. It was really sad being in this beautiful place for the last time, but at least we will have some great memories.
See you in Sterling!
At this moment, my weather app says 95 degrees F and feels like 120. How to beat the heat? Danboard has the right idea. I caught him running through the fountain outside our apartment building. Stay cool everyone!
We went in with a few ideas from the bride to be as well as some of our own, and came out with some fun "Save the Date" and engagement photos for the new couple. Natural light and a beautiful park created a great setting for the shoot. Contact us to schedule your session! www.baumgartcreativemedia.com
Being only a short plane trip from Poland, Cyprus was an destination to cross off the list before we move back to the U.S. It was a great experience to roam around the ancient stone ruins set against the backdrop of bright turquoise water. We spent most of our time alternating time between the sea and pool at the resort and sightseeing around the historic coastal city of Paphos. About 2 hours northeast of Paphos was the interesting city of Nicosia, located on the border of the Greek and Turkish sides of the island. Immediately crossing the border, we were welcomed by the sound of the call to prayer echoing from a nearby minaret. Besides that, it was noticeably quieter and more peaceful, although a bit run-down, on the Turkish side with lots of interesting architecture.
This was a fun portrait shoot that took us all over the city. Tomek and Marzena wanted some shots that were a little different than the traditional, posed wedding photos. Of course, we made some traditional shots too, but we focused more on some fun poses and situations throughout Kraków.
Besides the fact that he had to wear a CPAP mask over his face for a couple hours, it was a pretty relaxing photo shoot for our model, Patrick. We were making some lifestyle product photos for the SoClean CPAP sanitizer from Better Rest Solutions. They were looking for some fresh photos for their newly launched website, Amazon store, and other marketing material. We didn't have a real bed in our studio, so we faked it with a chair, ottoman, and some pillows and blankets. Check out their new website at www.betterrestsolutions.com to see some more of our work.
This Falcon Miniature is the newest addition to my vintage camera collection. It was made in 1939 by the Utility Manufacturing Company in New York. The body is made of Bakelite, and it takes 127 roll film. It came with a 50mm lens with a fixed aperture and fixed focus. The simple spring rotary shutter offers only one speed, 1/25.
It's nice to also have the original box. Can't wait to find some 127 film and test it out!
There's no predicting mountain weather, it can change so quickly. The Tatra Mountains near Zakopane, Poland are no exception. What to do when the weather doesn't cooperate? No need to put the camera away! There are always good shots to be found. Since the cloudy skies and fresh snow cover made the views naturally monochromatic, I decided to work with it and go for a black and white treatment. Not much beats hiking through deep snow in the mountains with a camera and tripod!
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Black and white winter photography of Tatra mountains in Poland by Jeff Baumgart
Playmobil photographer in the snowy mountains by Jeff Baumgart
Mustache Monday begins on Dec 28!
Starting tomorrow, every Monday we will be posting a portrait from our Mustache Collection, an ongoing photo project we started over a year ago. All the fun of a real mustache without the awkward growing-in stage and no worries about how much of your lunch is living among the whiskers.
I have visited England before, but this was my first time in Yorkshire. What a beautiful, peaceful place! Even on a foggy December day, the landscape was amazing. Much of it was still so lush and green. Most of these shots were taken in and around the town of Holmfirth. Enjoy!
Congratulations Rafał and Natalia! This was another first for us, a wedding shoot in Europe! What a great place Kraków is for wedding photos. Nothing like what we have back home in New England. I really like the custom here in Poland where the formal wedding photos are made a week, or in our case, a couple months, after the actual wedding day. This is nice because everyone is much more relaxed and there is plenty of time to make some nice shots at multiple locations without keeping the hungry wedding guests waiting. In Kraków, it's very common to see a bride and groom along with their photographer posing throughout the Market Square and other parts of the city on any day of the week.
For tourists and visitors from other countries, especially the US, this is something special to see. When Martina and I were photographing Rafał and Natalia, I turned around to see a group of 5 or 6 people taking their own photos of us!
We recently finished a delicious photo project for a chocolate toffee snack called Buster's Bark. What was interesting about this project is that our client was willing to ship some of their product from the US to us here in Poland where we are currently living so that we could make some photos for their website and brochures. We converted a section of our apartment into a temporary "studio". With props from IKEA and the local home center, my wife Martina got to work on the styling. We wanted the look of natural light, but because of the changing weather conditions we chose to use off camera flash for a more consistent look. We even took some to a cafe in the market square here in Kraków for some additional shots. It was a fun and tasty project!
Check out www.bustersbark.com to see how our photos were used on the website. While you are there, you can order some of these delicious homemade snacks for yourself!
Not much to say, just some photos from our trip last week to Poznań, a city in north western Poland.
A new gallery collection has been added to the website!
This will be a collection of Travel Photography for viewing and of course prints for sale. The first 3 galleries are from recent trips to the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Ukraine. Thanks so much for looking, I hope you enjoy the photos!
Actually, you don't really have to hunt for them at all. There are some shrubs outside of our building that seem to be a perfect habitat for ladybugs. Armed with a 100mm macro lens, tripod and a collapsible reflector, I tried to get a few photos of the ladies. They don't move around a whole lot, so they are fairly easy to photograph. I had one shot set up perfectly, but just as I was pressing the shutter, it flew away. The result was a cool photo showing a ladybug like I have never seen before. It's amazing how those tiny wings fold up so precisely under that fragile little shell.
This is the view as you travel up one of the paths that lead to Wawel Castle. The sun was low, the balloon was high. My wife says it reminds her of a scene from a Bond movie.
Last night I headed out to make some long exposures. They ranged from 6 - 15 seconds. Here are a few of my favorites from the night.
Wow, 2013 is over! Still no snow here in Poland, but there are plenty of tiny white lights that make a great portrait background. See you next year!
