Photographing Anita Sikorska – one of Poland´s most stunning models

PICSPIRATION SUNDAY: I had a chance to photograph Anita Sikorska, an exceptionally good Polish photo model, last weekend. With such a professional model it is hard not to get at least a few good images.

For the last two years I have organized photography workshops in Krakow together with Polish photographer Pawel Wodnicki.  The workshops are run over a weekend and cover topics like portrait, fashion and artistic nude photography.  Participants have mostly been from Norway.

• Sign up here to learn about our future photography workshops in Krakow
• See a video from the workshop made by one of the participants, Martin Stamnes

Although I usually photograph landscapes, organizing the workshops have given me opportunity to also try a different type of photography.

For the last two workshops Anita Sikorska has been one of our models. She is a professional model with big success in Poland – exemplified with her Facebook page having more than 40.000 likes.

During our Sunday afternoon session I finally got a chance to take some shots myself as well. And photographing a model like Anita Sikorska is a true pleasure. She is not only beautiful (she won one of the regional Miss-competitions in Poland this year), but experienced in working with photographers and very professional and friendly. In short: It is very hard to come out of a session without a few good images.

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About the photos of Anita Sikorska

In these photos I have used a very wide aperture. In fact it turned out that the aperture was too wide on many of the exposures.

Wide aperture has an obvious effect in portrait photography: It blurs the background and foreground – and focuses all attention on the model.

But it can also be risky. You need to be extremely careful with the focus point – and it can be easy to miss. I used an aperture of 2.0 on most of the exposures – and I probably should have taken it down a step or two make sure the important details in the face were in focus.

On the other hand: When the focus point is right these type of photos can turn out to be very good.

• Photo shoot with Polish model Katarzyna Biadun

Picspiration tips for portrait photography

• Face expression is everything in portrait photography. Therefore you really need to communicate well with your model.
• Use a wide aperture for portrait photography. It should be wide enough to blur the background, but not so wide that you lose control of the focusing
• Focus on the eye which is closest to you. It is ok if part of the face is slightly out of focus as long as the nearest eye is spot on sharp.
• Be careful with sun in the model´s face. Better photograph in the shadows, or by using a reflector to spread the light.

Creating sensual artistic nude photos

Photo location

Other images from same shoot with Anita Sikorska

I love the dreamy expression of Anita Sikorska in this image. Here the depth of field is extremely low, due to apertur of f/1,8. Taken at shutter speed 1/200. Photo: John Einar Sandvand

A black and white version. Contrast has also been increased in this image of Anita Sikorska. Photo: John Einar Sandvand

Outdoor studio effect. Taken against the sun, but with two of the other participants holding a transparent reflector behind Anita Sikorska to diffuse the light. Exposure has been set at her face, which makes the background all washed out, thus the studio look-alike. Photo: John Einar Sandvand

Anita Sikorska photographed with 85 mm, aperture f/2,5 and shutter speed 1/125. Photo: John Einar Sandvand

The walls along the river in Krakow can make a good background for portraits. Aperture here is f/2,2 and shutter speed 1/160 second. Photo: John Einar Sandvand