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Fredrik Arnell Photography

Portrait: Purple Dress

We scouted the entire La Côte (the coast of Lake Geneva between Geneva and Lausanne) to find a good spot for this session, and at Nyon we happened to stumble across this extremely narrow jetty with the Alps as backdrop. The high probability of falling into the water of either of us or the lighting that was placed precariously in the water to camera right was a thrilling spicing to this session. A rogue wave got me, but both Matilda and the lighting managed to keep as dry as was possible.

Model: Matilda Tehler
Location: Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: EF 85/1.2L II USM
Light: Canon 580EX II in umbrella as key light to camera right, Elinchrom Skyports

Portrait: Alley

I am trying to catch up with all the post processing I have to do. This is a session from a couple of weeks back, when Matilda and I went out in metropolitan Couvet for a session. A quiet and mellow session in an alley. Only one light source was used apart from the ambient. The intention was more to get to know the 85L than anything.

Model: Matilda Tehler
Location: Couvet, Switzerland

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: EF 85/1.2L II USM
Light: 580EX II in umbrella, radio popper

Ahh! My 5D Mark II broke!

The recent trip to Italy was not kind to my equipment. A lot of portrait sessions and urban landscapes in all kinds of weather. Most things survived - but not my 5D2! It ended up showing a cryptic Error 30 and stopped wanting to take pictures - in Rome of all places - the most photogenic city in Italy (after Venice of course)! Well, I have now broken out the trusty 1Ds Mark II while the 5D is on repair in Zürich which was scheduled to take "over two weeks"!

On a side note, I have now refound the love for the 1 series bodies - they are really amazing! But the 5D's have their advantages of course.

Crazy skies continue

I had a portrait photo shoot around Lake Geneva yesterday, and in between I had the opportunity to capture the sky that turned more and more crazy.

Skies in Jura

People say it rains much in the Jura. It might be true, but the rain often passes quickly, and when doing so the sky sometimes turns crazy - like last evening. A few snaps taken during a break in the portrait post processing marathon!

Jura skies. Obviously with polarizer ;)

The new 85L

Now two weeks after receiving my new lens, the somewhat exotic EF 85 mm f/1.2L II USM, I begin to be able to handle it. Sure, I have used the 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 for some time now, but this lens is really something special and unique! The praises for this lens never seem to stop in the forums, and I now understand why - creamy drop-dead gorgeous out-of-focus blur, not comparable with anything else that I have tried, and the amount of blur that can be created is really over all expectations!

However, a lens this special is not mastered easily - focusing with such thin depth of field is a real challenge. I have for the first time had the need to change focus screen to a high precision matte surface screen, an Eg-S. This really helps in judging focus as well as manual focus when need. As a matter of fact, the standard focus screens only show lenses wider than f/2.8 as if they were f/2.8, which makes it very difficult to focus properly as the DOF can be as thin as 8 mm (!), and that is thin.

Not only that, it also required microadjustment for the first time. It is quite amazing how easy the new microadjustments are, in comparison with sending the lens in for adjustment (and the bill associated with it!). A +8 adjustment made the lens focus perfectly.

Finally, a test shot to show how insanely short the depth of field is. And this is supposed to be the railing of my balcony - hardly discerable. Nothing fancy, only a snapshot.