Budapest: Two Days, One Rooftop, and a Whole Lot of Heat

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The first shoot of the trip took us to Buda Castle on a very warm Budapest morning. We arrived early hoping to beat the crowds, but that plan didn't quite pan out — the place filled up almost as soon as we did. Still, as we wandered around the grounds we managed to find a few pockets of beautiful early-morning light tucked between the hordes of tourists, which made the early start worth it.

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Once we'd wrapped up at the castle, we made our way slowly back into the city centre for some street photography. It was a relaxed way to round out day one — no agenda, just walking, watching, and shooting whatever caught the eye. And with that, the first day was a wrap.

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Day two was the main event. I'd booked the rooftop at Picture Pool Studios on the outskirts of the city, and it turned out to be one of the best studio spaces I've ever worked in. Picture Pool sits about fifteen minutes from the city centre in an industrial area, on the top floor of an old factory building. The setup includes a large indoor studio and a huge rooftop space — around 3,000 square metres — which was exactly what we were there for. Martin, the owner, was brilliant on the day; nothing was too much trouble. The only real challenge was the heat: over 30 degrees for most of the morning, with almost no shade up on the roof.

For this shoot I brought my Leica SL2-S along with a 50mm and a 75mm. With all that rooftop space to play with, and wanting some nicely compressed frames, the 75mm ended up doing most of the work — and I couldn't be happier with how it performed. Cassandra, our subject and a professional dancer, was the focus of the day, and she made full use of every inch of the rooftop. Watching her move through the space, using the light and the scale of the location the way only a dancer can, made the whole shoot come alive.

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Looking back, Budapest delivered exactly what I'd hoped for: a bit of the city's character on day one, and a proper creative playground on day two. Heat aside, it's a trip I'd happily do again — and a studio I'll absolutely be going back to.

 

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