CET Lighting Seminar with Hana Pekařová of CLIQUE Models
Written by Nicole Lewis (San Francisco Art Institute)
CET Photography in Prague, Student Correspondent, Spring 2013
Model Hana Pekarova of CLIQUE Models
Near the end of February, CET organized another lighting seminar for our photo department. This seminar consisted of a full day of working and shooting at an off-site studio space (From 10am-7pm!). It was a bit more formal and intensive, and we were lucky enough to be supplied with…
- An amazing stylist, Renee Le Petit. Who also doubled our awesome hair and make-up artist!
- Absolutely stunning clothing pieces from a local fashion designer, Karolina Jurikova. As well as some of the most creatively designed shoes I’ve ever seen, by shoe designer Markéta Šohajová.
- AND a gorgeous photography studio that had beautiful stone walls that gave us a nice, more organic alternative to the usual white and black backdrops with huge windows that allowed for natural light to shine throughout the studio all day. The best part of it all was that the studio doubled as a loft, where a local Czech photographer (and friend of our Lighting seminar mentor) actually lives. I couldn’t believe the space we were photographing in. It was exactly the kind of space that I dream of living and working in one day. Everything about it screamed ARTIST, it was just the best environment to get the creative juices flowing – I could go on and on about it, but I will stop now.
To accompany us during the shoot, was this army of cameras. I was super excited to shoot with the Mamiya RB67 – a beast of a medium format camera that I checked out at our school, FAMU. I also shot with my Rolleiflex medium format camera (I will post the photos once I scan in the negatives!), and of course, my Canon 60D.
(Chris and Rachel shooting!)
(Our lighting mentor, Honza, helping me with a quick lighting test.)
(And our lovely model, Hana, modeling even during her breaks.)
Here are some of my favorite shots from the day, enjoy!
Here is my sequence for a homework assignment I shot for my Fashion Photography class. The theme was “mainstream,” it was very broad and general so I didn’t really know where to start. I thought of what American ads I was used to seeing while growing up, and the one campaign that stuck was the “Got Milk” advertisements. So I thought, why not create one of those? But instead of the classic milk moustache, I decided to douse my model in the lactose liquid as well. 
And lastly, here are my two favorite shots from my roll I shot with the Mamiya! (Inspired by my absolute favorite photographer, Guy Bourdin.)
Lighting exercise – CET Photography in Prague
Posted by Kim Strozewski, Director of CET Prague Programs
The CET Photography in Prague students have the chance to shoot in a professional studio and practice working with lights and models. They first work on lighting and photographing products, then move to working in a studio. They have the chance to work with a professional fashion model and stylist. A professional photographer instructs them on the best way to use the lights in the space. Check out the photos below and notice the cameras and lenses that our students have the chance to use. Also, click here to check out the recent blog post of current student, Nicole Lewis (San Francisco Art Institute), and learn about her experience at the lighting workshop.
CET Lighting Seminar & Photo Shoot with Hana Abrahámová
Written by Nicole Lewis (San Francisco Art Institute)
CET Photography in Prague, Student Correspondent, Spring 2013
Model: Hana Abrahamova
In February, the CET Photography students got to participate in our first portraiture/lighting seminar. And by CET photo students, I really mean myself, Rachel, and Chris – since we are the only ones in the whole department. At first, I thought this was extremely odd, only having 2 other people in your classes, but I’ve grown to like it a lot. Since there are so few of us, we have more say in what we want to do in classes and in our workshops/seminars. Plus we get a chance to know our professors and the photographers that come in to teach us on a more personal level.
(quick behind the scenes shot that I snapped while Rachel was shooting)
(more BTS photos from my Iphone)
The lighting seminar was very informal and fun, our teacher – Honza, allowed us to work freely with the model and helped us come up with ways to achieve different lighting techniques and conditions (ex. Soft/diffused light, harsher/brighter light). It was nice to have an unstructured learning environment rather than listening to a professor lecture about lighting techniques for three hours. For the day, Rachel was able to book a professional model, Hana Abrahamova, through an agency – Czechoslovak Models. Which made our day of shooting run so much smoother (THANK YOU Rachel!!). Overall, it was a great day, and I am extremely pleased with the shots that came from this seminar.
Lost In Praha: The Epic Scavenger Hunt
Written by Nicole Lewis (San Francisco Art Institute)
CET Photography in Prague, Student Correspondent, Spring 2013
Charles Bridge
Just imagine yourself getting lost in a beautiful, unknown city, walking down a street paved with cobblestones, with your warmest winter coat wrapped tight around your body. In front of you, and to the left and right, endless cobblestone paths beckon you to explore what they have to offer. And when you lift your chin up to the fresh winter sky, beautiful architecture scatters your line of sight. Little cafes and stores in a language you don’t understand are just beginning to open their doors for the day. And red trams come frequently, ready and able to take you anywhere your heart desires. Dogs walk freely by their owner’s side, liberated from their leash, as if they were friends instead of mere pets. The dogs travel everywhere, they can go on the metro, in the cafes and bars, to the mall…It’s really amazing how well trained they are. These are just a few of the little things that have made an imprint on my mind, and it still feels so unreal.
The first weekend we arrived was one of the coldest Prague has experienced all winter. Although, that didn’t stop us from braving the icy and snow-filled streets for a 6-hour long scavenger hunt this past Sunday. CET split up the students in groups of 5 and sent us on our way to complete a page long list of various tasks and questions that forced us to explore the wonderful, unfamiliar Praha. It was the longest, most interesting scavenger hunt I’ve ever experienced, and I was lucky enough to be put in a group of students that were just as excited and determined to win as I was. I think the coolest thing was the fact that we all came from different departments within the CET study abroad program (Film, Photography, Central European Studies, & Jewish Studies). It was nice to meet people from the other programs that I would have never met otherwise.
My awesome scavenger hunt group – Jeff, Ellie, Eva, Kendra, and I, after we walked all the way to the top of a huge hill just because one of our tasks was to replicate a photo on a postcard we were given.
And here is my winter rendition of a classic Praha postcard picture. How we managed to find the exact shooting location of the photographer, I have no idea. I literally looked up and told the group that the tall building on the snowy hill looks high enough to get a photo close enough to the postcard picture, and it was! We were pretty stoked.
A wider view of our shooting location! It was so pretty!
On the other side of the tall building that led us up the hill, was a beautiful snow-covered park where kids were sledding in the snow, and people were walking hand in hand with their significant other or their dog. It was really breathtaking. Our group decided to take a short break and enjoy our surroundings, plus we found an awesome bench/swing to sit on.
Jeff taking a photo of us taking a photo of him on the awesome swing.
Another highlight of our adventure was the fact that we managed to get to the top of one big hill with out any complications, yet more than half of us fell and slid while attempting to climb this little hill.
I saved my camera, although my pants, socks, and shoes got soaked in the process…
Eva trying to navigate us to our next destination while we had no clue what stop we were at, surprisingly she was a very good navigator and the reason why we did not spend the whole day entirely lost.
Next, we made our way back to Old Town to tackle some of the other tasks we were given. For example, go to different bars and collect as many beer mats (coasters) you can find, go to Praha 1 – find a cafe and take a sugar packet, purchase matches from Bohemia Bagel, and bring back a receipt from the cheapest thing you can find. We also were required to answer questions like how to say “I love you” in Czech, who is the president and prime minister of the Czech Republic, and what time is the next train to Berlin and where is that station located.
We were told we weren’t allowed to use the internet (which all the other groups did anyways), but one of the girls in our group was very adamant about following this rule so I am happy to say that we did this purely on our own!! With the help of random Czech pedestrians and workers, of course.
By the way, even the underground metro stations are beautiful.
Finally, our last stop for the scavenger hunt was to find a famous writer named Kafka’s grave in a huge cemetery. The cemetery was beautiful and quiet. As we searched for the grave, reading a map in a language we have yet to understand, we wandered around for about 45 minutes enjoying the peacefulness of it all. Near the end of our search, we realized how pressed for time we were (we had about 30 minutes to get to a restaurant for dinner – which we of course had no clue how to get to), we gave up and settled for an unnamed grave that we were about 50% sure was Kafka’s. Later that night, we were informed that we were wrong, however we still got points for attempting to find it.
And that wraps up my first adventure in Prague! Oh – and if you were wondering how we did on the scavenger hunt, we came in 2nd place. We did win little Czech language dictionaries though! Which I assume will become extremely helpful in the future, especially for the Czech language intensive class we are all currently taking.
Cau!!
CET Academic Programs