Workshop Portretfotografie resultaat
(English Version Below)
Afgelopen zaterdag heb ik weer een workshop portretfotografie in de studio gegeven. Na het reguliere workshop gedeelte was er nog tijd voor een kleine bonus sectie! Wat hebben we gedaan, tijdens de workshops hadden we het ook al wat over series, dus had ik het idee gevat te laten zien hoe je een foto kan analyseren en vervolgen je eigen versie hiervan te maken. Als basis hebben we de foto van Kevin Spacey als Frank Underwood in de serie House of Cards gebruikt.
Mijn analyse van de officiële foto was een Soft light reflector met grid van boven bij bij hoofd persoon. een grote softbox als fill en een spot op de achtergrond.
De opstelling die wij gebruikt hebben om er meer een budget vriendelijke opstellen van te maken was een Elinchrom RX one met een Portalite 66 softbox recht van boven naar beneden gericht en een RX one met een 90 graden paraplu reflector op de achtergrond. Het resultaat staat hier onder.Let trouwens ook op wat de lage hoek heeft qua invloed!
Eerste volgende workshop is 19 december. Kijk HIER voor meer informatie
Nikon D610
Sigma 24-105 Art
1/125 f8 iso 100 at 48mm
Last saturday I gave another workshop studio portrait photography. After the regular parts of the workshop we had some spare time. So I added a smal bonus section! Since we talked about tv- vs VOD-series before the workshop I got the idea of recreating a shot off a TV-show with basic gear. As a big Houde of Cards fan we decided to recreate the Frank Underwood in the Lincoln chair photo.
First we made an analysis of the original photo. I think they used a Soft light reflector with a grid close to the face, a big soft box as a fill and a background light.
The set-up we used was a lot simpler, but it has kind of the same effect which surprised me we could get zo close with the light! We used only gear from the Elinchrom RX-one 3 light kit. We placed a Elinchrom RX One with the Portalite 66 softbox straight above a little bit in front the subject used out off frame. I used a boomstand, if you don't have a boom you could use a regular stand and an assistent holding it. On the background I used a Elinchrom RX One with the Umbrella reflector to lit the background.
I added a layer to the background for the bleu-ish tint. I could have de it in camera with using a CTO-gell on the main light and do a custom white balance.
I asked the model to angle his chin a little but up to get enough light in the eyes. Also notice how the low angle off the lens influences the mood of the shot.
Fantasy session with Jopie
Preparation
Today I did a small shoot with Jopie in the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen. This is a great nature reserve near my studio. Yesterday it was a great day for some a little bit spooky shoot with a lot of thick fog. Here are some of the test shots. This would be perfect for the fantasy style shoot I was planning to do. Also as a test for a workshop I want to set up next year.
The Fantasy shoot
Today the weather prediction was also some nice fog. But as you might know. The Dutch weather, when you need fog, you get ready to shoot and the weather cleared up! So we had to improvise a little bit and also got some great images!
Workshops
As said, these where tests for upcoming workshops. You can Enroll for the workshops now. Go to the workshops pages for the dates!
Balletschool Attitude 10th anniversary
Hi All,
For all the people who where at the celebration of Balletschool Attitude in Bergen. I have posted all the picture from the classes and the portraits on my Oypo account and you can view and other them there. Click HERE to go to the Oypo folder
Review: Pipeline Reporter kit
During my visit at the IBC (read my IBC blog HERE) spotted the Pipeline Reporterkit made by the Danish company Brother, Brother and Son. At forst sight I looked like a great product for portrait and product photography. The kit is officially designed for reporters who need a small light kit to lit themselves quick and easily. And for that job it works great! I really think it is a great product voor CamJo, vloggers and other people who have to create video's everywhere.
The Pipeline Reporter Kit
The kit includes 2 small pipe light. Due the phosphor panels you get nice and even light from the two bars. On the back is a small knob to control the power output. You can also change the White balance by chancing the phosphor light bars. There are also two small stand to put the lights on and the adapter and cabling.
The BUT
As you might have noticed in the intro there is a great but. But this but is mainly for photography. I was hoping to use this kit a nice light for a kind of Martin Schoeller looking portraits (for more about Martin click HERE) or for product photography. But and now really comes the but! They don't have enough power to really lit somebody when there is normal daylight or TL light. For shooting people and products I had to use longer shutter times, higher ISO of aperture. Which also let a lot of environmental light in. In dark environments I will probably work better. But I mainly have to work during office our and in offices, so for my personal taste it isn't THE product I would like it to be. It are not poor mans Kinolights.
For video the light give enough light to lit up some body enough, but for photo's I want to have control and better quality.
Here are some test shots. There is a shot with and with out the kit on full power.
Conclusion
In my opinion this kit is great for traveling reporters who need a simple lighting setup for every where they might go. For photography I am not so pleased with it as I thought I would be.
Armand van Middendorp
Yesterday I shot a package of new promoshots for drummer Armand van Middendorp in My studio. It is always nice to get full trust and be able to try some different set-ups. I also to love small sets in the studio. We started with some simple black and white portraits and the build some small sets. And also got back using the white seamless for some last shots. Here are the results and a behind the scenes shot.
Balletschool Attitude: Sound of Ballet
In august I was asked to shoot the photo's for the new performance from Balletschool Attitude. Last week I had the honor to also design (my first) the poster/flyer for the performance! So here it is!
Hasselblad 500c/m Nature shots
During a trip to holiday park 't Wolfsen in Mierlo I had some spare time to take the Hasselblad 500c/m out for some nature shots. I used some Ilford HP5 400 film. Saturday I could pick up the processed film from the lab and today I could scan them. Here are a few photo's I likes the most
Book review: Portraits by Martin Schoeller
Hi All,
Here is another short book review. This time about Portraits of Wouter Schoeller.
As a portrait photographer I must say this is really an inspiring book. I love his style. The great thing is that the book not only has his basis two strip light style but also a whole variety of different types of portraits and editorial/commercial work. The book is really a nice overview of the work Martin Schoeller has created in the past decades.
I can really recommend this book to every portrait and editorial photographer to use as a source of inspiration!
Video's
Below I have added a few nice videos with Martin telling about his way of work and the book
Review: Sigma 24-35mm f2 Art Nikon
For the last week I had the new Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens for Nikon. I used it during a commercial shoot and on some portrait work. And I must say, I am a little puzzled about this lens. How and why I will tell you further up in this review.
First things first. As you might know. I am not a pixel peeping lab testing reviewblogger. I like to test camera's and lenses in the field and give my opinion based on my experience working with the gear.
The quality of the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens
Let's start with the easiest part of the review, the quality of the lens. This is simply excellent. Like all other Sigma Art lenses the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens is build really well. It feels nice in you hands, focusses smoothly, feels like a high quality lens and performance as a high quality lens. I must say the lens is large. It is even bigger then my Sigma 50mm f1.4 Art lens. I can't find anything quality wise to say anything bad about the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens!
Where to place the Sigma 24-35 f4 Art lens
So now the hard part. Where should I place the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens in my current range of lenses, what will it add. While working, a lot of time I was just using my Sigma 24-105 f4. And I forget I had the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens in my bag. So later I switched to the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art because I had it and could try it.
While working with it, the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens performed greatly. The zoom range was convenient. When I thought it was a little to wide at 24mm I could zoom in or a little to tight at 35mm I could zoom out. In dark places the f2 was handy, and due the focal length a lot was even in focus at f2. But I could also get a small depth-of-field when getting close to the subject. And you could focus it nice and closely.
A storyteller lens
Working with the lens and thinking about where to place it I slowly was figuring it out. This lens is not build for studio and portrait work but for people in the field and story tellers. If I was a wedding photographer or journalist photographer I would buy this lens. I love the 35mm range. But sometimes it is just a little bit to narrow to tell the story or when you are shooting in small rooms. A 24mm lens is a great lens to get everything in, but a lot of time it is just to wide. When there is to much information and noise in the image. Also the f2 aperture makes it great for working indoors. I could see myself shooting weddings with a 85 1.4 or 70-200 2.8 on one camera and the Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens on the other and shooting all day without having to swap lenses.
The conclusion
The Sigma 24-35 f2 Art lens is a very high quality lens! And I can recommend it highly to every wedding-, travel- or landscape photographer. Or everybody who doesn't own a basic high quality zoom lens. But for me I don't think it will add enough to my current range of lenses. The Sigma 24-105 f4 Art lens covers the whole range from me, from wide to tele.
I hardly ever use the 24mm, so I am thinking about adding the 35mm art. I love the 35mm range my Fuji X100 and on the Leica M (Monochrome) (check the review for the Leica M type 240 HERE and the the M Monochrome HERE). But sadly the 24-35 f2 properly won't get back in my bag again. Although it is a great lens, it is not my lens.
Platon shooting Snowden
I have been following the work of Platon for a while now. I really love his simplicity but powerful style of portraits. Last week I found this video of Platon photographing Edward Snowden. And I think it is really inspiring. The way they did everything in what looks like a hotel room. The lighting with just an single shoot through umbrella or the window light.
Below are som screenshots of the set-up and some photo's
Hasselblad Live in Zwijdrecht
Saturday I was at the Hasselblad Live event at American Lifestyle in Zwijdrecht (Be). It was a nice event to visit and to be reunited with the Hasselblad CFV-50c again. I already have posted a review a couple of weeks a go. You can read the review blog of the Hasselblad CVF-50c HERE.
Here are some of the pictures I took this weekend. A lot of them where made handheld at ISO 1600. Which was a challenge, shooting hand held with the 500C/M at 2.8 or 4. Don't forget that the depth-of-field of medium format camera's is a lot smaller then with full frame of crop sensor camera's! And the 50 megapixel resolution is very unforgiving, every mistake you make you will get back! So to be honest it isn't my best work. I rather shoot in the studio or a more controlled environment, but the Hasselblad CFV-50c did a great job!
oh, did I by the wat told you all already about the major price drop? The Hasselblad CFV-50c is now available for €7.900 (excl. VAT)!
Autumn Leaves
Hi All,
As you might have noticed, it is autumn! The time of year to go out in to the forrest and shoot some beautiful peaces of nature. As you might know I recently discovered the pleasure of nature photography. And NO I will not be a fulltime nature photographer, but I just love it as a way of relaxation and getting out of the studio and shoot without any pressure!
Here are some shots I made last week. All are shot with the Sigma 24-105 f4 Art and the Nikon D610. And for anybody who think they need 2.0 or wider apertures for a small depth of field, take a look at these! It was hard getting the things in focus, so i even went to f5.6 and 8!
Ariadne at Home on the vtwonen&design exhibition
Next week it is time again for the vtwonen&design exhibition. For Ariadne at Home I have made this teaser video!
Before they pass away the Book
introduction
For the people who missed out on this project let's give em a small introduction Before they pass away is a project by (ex-)commercial photographer Jimmy Nelson. When the big budget jobs got smaller and smaller, he got the idea for this personal project. He went to all corners off the globe shooting portraits of some of the last real old tribes which still live like they do for centuries.
Last week I finally got my own copy of the book. It toke me a while before deciding if I would buy it or not. Because it is a little bit expensive at a price of €128,-.
The Book
The book is a really nice thick book. The print quality is beautiful. Every chapter starts with a introduction to the tribe, where they live and what makes them special. After that there is a series off really stunning portraits.
Take also in mind the most of the pictures are taken with an old 8x10 camera. Which has the biggest advantage that it always works also without any power. All tough also keep in mind he also used a Nikon D3.
Behind the scenes
Here are a shot documentary about the shoot with one of the tribes
And here is a nice video of Jimmy talking about the project:
The verdict
Before they pass away is a must have for every photographer and house hold. Yes, it is a bit expensive. But it is one of the most beautiful photobooks I have on my shelf. You can read about all the tribes or just enjoy the photographs.
I have also been to the exhibition in the Leidse Museum voor Volkenkunde, and I can also recommend to visit the exhibition if it is in a town near you!
West-Friesland Plat promoshoot
For the people who don't know, beside a photographer and interactive content creator I also play in a small comedy group called West-Friesland plat. With West-Friesland plat we gig in Noord-holland with humor and songs in the local dialect.
Wednesday I shot the new promotional photo's in the studio. And also had to get on the photo myself, I must say, it was a strange experience being on the other side of the camera. But also one I can recommend to every other photographer to do!
For the tech-guys All photo's where taken with the Nikon D610 and Sigma 24-105 Art lens. For lighting I used one Elinchrom ELC with the Rotalux 150 Indirect deep octa and a big piece of styrofoam as a fill board
Workshop
If you also want to learn how to make great portraits, 19 December I will be giving another workshop Basis studio portrait photography. Click here for more information
IBC 2015
Today I visited the IBC in the RAI Amsterdam. For the people who don;t know what the IBC is, it is International Broadcasting Conference. So you can gat everything from cables to camera's to software to satellite trucks and everything you nee for video or starting your own TV network!
Every 2 year I like to visit the exhibition. And to be honest there wasn't a lot of NEW stuff I was exited about for the things I do. There where a lot of Chinees manufacturers with really sad looking people in their stands looking at there smart phone. On the whole 13 hall exhibition received a total of three goof mornings/good days! So exhibition people, if you want to sell, speak to people and at least try to look friendly/open!
My Headlines:
For me there where a few things I want to talk about:
Atomos
Atomos had a great booth. But that was not the greatest thing. Because that was the MASSIVE price drop they announced. The Atoms Ninja Blade wil drop form around €1000,- to €495 excl. VAT. And that is something great. I always liked the idea of the Atoms gear but is was just a little bit to expensive for the amount of video work I do. But at this price point it is justifiable to buy one! So I just have to wait a little until the price in the retails stores a dropped and then I will order one!
For your information. Almost all prices dropped, so also of their the products.
Pipeline reporter kit
This was also a product which caught my eye. The Pipeline reporter kit. It is a small kit of two 30cm continuos light strips. The great thing i that it isn't LED but Phosphor based light. It gives a great soft light and comes with different temparatures of light. The kit is designed for reporters and vloggers to use as lighting. But I also really want to try it out for portrait and product photography. So I spoken to the sales guys and I am getting a test kit so later I will be back with a review blog!
Click here to go the the website
That where my highlights of the IBC show. Off course if you are totally in to video and visited the IBC you will have seen way more new stuff. But for me these where the things that where my favorites to mention about!
Shooting U2 Without DSLR
I have been to the U2 concert in the Ziggo Dome last Tuesday. Since I had no accreditation I couldn't breng a DSLR or big camera, So I took my small and trusty Fuji X100. And I must say that little monster performed really well! I had a nice spot near the B-stage with only a 2 or 3 (large)people in front of my, So it was holding up the camera and hope for the best. And I must say it was almost a better spot then the spot that was for the press photographers.
I always work in manual mode during concerts. This because of the chancing light and the dark clothing. If I set it manual I know exactly how to set the exposure.
Busy!
Hi,
I am so Sorry, I didn't had time for the monday blog! I was at the recording studio all day rehearsing songs for the new theater season. But today I had time to finish the final photo's from the Photo Fun Day! Here is the colour version of the Maleficent shot. Shot with the Nikon D800 and Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art with a 3 stop ND-FIlter.
For the people who missed it, I now have a store where you can but exclusive art prints from my work. All work will be printed by me and signed! Click here for more information
There are also new workshops planned. Click here for more information
Friday there will be another blog again!
Belle shoot
Hi all,
Currently I am working on a series of personal work called "Ferry Tales". I am going to shoot a couple of friends as there favorite fairy tale person. And not only Disney related!
As a start I did a Belle shoot a couple of months a go. Here is the Behind the scenes timelapse of the whole shoot.
As you can see, the lighting is really simple. Mainly just one big Elinchrom Rotalux 150 indirect deep octa. Sometimes I added the strip with a grid for an accent light.
You can but a limited edition art print in the shop now, click here for more information.
The Dark side of the reflector
Hi all,
Because I noticed I have a lot of international visitors to my blogs I am going back to full english on the blogs! This week I want to show a little tip on using a 5-in-1 reflector while working with natural Light.
Last week I was working with the Leica M Monochrom on a shoot. It was around 5 o'clock and the sun was still harsh. I was photographing a model in a three, but I had some hard lighting to work with. The dynamic range was a challenge. The models face was in the shade of the leaves but on the back of the model I had some very hard sunlight. Resulting in an underexposed model or overexposed accents on the back of the model. To even out the dynamic range I tried two approaches
Leica M Monochrom met Leica Summarit 75mm 2.4. Iso 320 / f4,0 / 1/500 (un-editted)
Silver reflector
The first thing I tried was to bounce back light in the front of the model with a silver reflector. With bouncing back light the dynamic range was getting smaller. This way I could keep a little more detail in he background. But because the reflector couldn’t catch enough light, I still couldn’t close down the gap in the dynamic rang enough for my taste.
Leica M Monochrom met Leica Summarit 75mm 2.4. Iso 320 / f3,4 / 1/350 (un-editted)
The Black side of the reflector
To really close down the gap in the dynamic range I decided to put the reflector on the other side. And with the blackside facing the model blocking the sun. This way no direct sunlight was hitting the model. Resulting in an even lighting of the model. The background was blowing out a little bit now, but not to much that is was distracting. It even helped focussing more in the model.
Leica M Monochrom, Summarit 75mm 2.4 op 1/125 / f4.8 / iso 320