Johannes Leistner

Our intention was clear but nevertheless it wasn’t an easy task to do. Four flickr friends decided to spend a few days in Prague. A city which is not only well know for its good beer but for its picturesque Old Town, the Charles Bridge, the Prague Castle, …, only to name a few famous sights. In a nutshell, it is a touristy place which holds numerous postcard-like views ready. And exactly those kinds of photographs we didn’t want to take. So this was the deal: visit Prague and refuse to take “nice” photos!

In the search for the ugly sights we strayed through odd neighbourhoods with rotten concrete blocks, took the tram to the very last station (only to find out that there was nothing to find out) and took photographs of every garbage bin we possibly could spot. Often I didn’t even had the feeling to be in Prague, that was strange because why did we decided to fly to Prague anyway then? I guess that is what happens when you plan a tour with other photo-nerds. How can we think of flying to Tokyo together, as planned for next year? At least they have Japanese garbage bins there…

Definitely a highlight was the visit of the Žižkov Television Tower. It has been built between 1985 and 1992 and looks very unconventional with its three concrete pillars that carry the different platform elements. Taking photos of uniquely designed objects is always interesting and in this case it wasn’t a famous sight of Prague but one can recognize Prague by this tower. So these two photos you can see above where actually taken in Prague and showing that tower.

(But I tell you a secret: I did enjoy the famous postcard sites, too!)

I have a new passion: camera tossing. Yes, you heard it right! Toss your camera into the air and you’ll have a good laugh when watching the results. What you get afterwards is always funny and tossing itself is fairly simple.
There are two different results one can expect and they need different settings on your camera. One result could be to produce funny patterns and blurred images (which requires a long shutter speed), I like to take sharp tossing photos where you can see the people on the ground, trying to catch the camera.

For these kinds of photos you should use the following settings:

1.) Take the most expensive camera you can possibly get - no joking! Get a camera which can shoulder a drop on the ground, whether it is the cheapest one or the most rugged one.
2.) Use a wide angle, best would be a fisheye lens. The wider the lens, the more you’ll catch on the photo and it will look like the camera would have been far up in the sky!
3.) Set your camera to self timer mode and turn the autofocus off.
4.) Estimate the height you’ll probably toss and set the manual focus to this distance.
5.) Set the autofocus mode to manual by using the estimated distance.
6.) Use a good compromise for a short shutter speed and a closed aperture, for getting sharp photos with a good depth of field.
7.) If necessary, mount a flash light on the camera, like I did on the second photo. But the flash will make it more difficult to toss!
8.) If you are not alone out there, tell everyone that only you will be allowed to catch the camera! Otherwise people might get insured by trying to catch the flying thing…
9.) Hit the release button, wait a few seconds (depends on your self timer mode) and toss it!

Try this several times, to get a feeling for the camera, the timer and the spin you might need to have the lens facing the ground, when the timer goes off.
Only one time I dropped my Nikon D3 so far… But nothing happened because of rule number 10.) make sure you are standing on a relatively soft ground! And don’t forget to keep smiling when you drop it

Looking for a location with atmosphere and style for your wedding? Then you might want to take a look at the Literaturhaus Café in Hamburg. It is just two minutes away from the Alter lake, in the heart of the city and definitely will add the last bit of refinement to your wedding party!

Also small details and funny situations can add much to the portfolio of photos, wedding couples receive at the end. And I am sure they will be happy to remember those.

As a wedding photographer I am happy to receive feedback of all kinds! Of course it is always satisfying to read a positive one. As today I received an e-mail from last week’s couple. It said this:

“[...] nochmals vielen Dank für Samstag. Du warst ein hochsympathischer, professioneller und angenehmer Begleiter des Tages. [...]”

Translated it is similar to this: “[...] again thank you very much for Saturday. You have been a very likeable, professional and pleasant companion during the day. [...]”

What else could be better? And in this case I can give the compliment back to them: It was a lot of fun to work with you guys and to be part of your great wedding day! I wish you all the best for the future!