A chairy tale

Yesterday, I enjoyed another day out with the Belgiumdigital friends. The weather was absolutely gorgeous in Blankenberge, one of the ‘hot spots’ of the Belgian coast.

There will be more to come on this. But as I started weeding through my shots, post-processing a few of the better ones, I struck me how many chairs I had captured all through the afternoon. They popped up around me in all shapes and colors. And they all were empty. Have one too, and enjoy the gallery!

Out for lunch

Next time, I’ll jump…

Just the two of us

Peek-a-boo!

A good time for reflection

Gear notes: D700, 24-70/2.8, 180/2.8

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24/7

Some cities never go to sleep, and Hong Kong is definitely one of those. Behind the shiny lights and bright colors, a restless anthill just goes on and on. The beautiful cityscapes at night are but one more expression of the pulsing energy of this part of Asia.

These images were made during a business visit that had me in the city for just a few days. When being outside in the evening,
I took advantage of every opportunity to grab a shot, walking the streets or stepping onto a hotel balcony way up there. No tripod, just shooting handheld on the go.

  
My last visit to Hong Kong dates from 2005 already. I have no doubt that much has changed since. I wish I could go back there soon, not only to discover the city once again, but to find out what today’s sensors – like the one in my D700 – would allow me to capture differently.

Gear notes: D70, 35/2.0, 50/1.8, Sigma 12-24HSM

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A touch of spring

Not long after acquiring my first DSLR (a Nikon D70) I also bought a dedicated macro lens. Five years later I realize that I have captured ‘true’ macro images only occasionally, although the lens has served me very well for close-up work of food and products.

So here they are, straight out of the dusty archives: a few simple catkin impressions from the spring of 2005.

Gear notes: D70, Tamron 90DI

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Generations IV

With this episode of my ‘family saga’, we have arrived at a period that I have witnessed personally.

Being a son of a professional photographer means, among other things, that you discover the wonders of processing and printing well before you learn to read and write. That’s me below, about 20 months old, sitting next to the developer tray in my father’s darkroom (see previous post).


I have spent countless sitting around there, or some place nearby, fascinated by the images that appeared magically as the prints were developing… It took many more years before I was allowed to step in and perform the magic tricks all by myself! 

But I have fond memories of all the times (mostly in the evenings or nights) that I worked side by side with my father, helping out with big or urgent orders, learning not only the ‘how to’ but also the ‘why to’ step by step.


Fast forward nine years, bringing us to 1965. Still no Photoshop then, so post-processing was done purely by hand. Not only negatives were retouched (at least when these were 4.5x6cm or larger) but also the final prints underwent close scrutiny. That’s another way how I remember my father patiently at work, in a well-lit corner of the living room (we had a glass ceiling bringing in nicely shaded daylight). See the loupe, the pencils and the brush? Our basic tools have not changed that much since!


Large format black&white prints became a big trend in industrial photography in those days, like the areal picture above. If I remember well, this one in reality was shot from the top of a fire engine ladder. Retouching the big ones just meant rearranging the living room for a few days.

As time went on and my skills improved, I was allowed to serve as an on-location assistant, and finally to go out and shoot events and weddings on my own.


How tough can the life of a commercial photographer get? I shot this picture from my father in the mid seventies. If you are hired to cover the local carnival festivities (here the official reception at City Hall of the reigning Prince and Princess) what else can you do but join in and play the part? 

Gear notes: long forgotten; Nikkormat FT for the last one

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Help Portrait 2009 – The Movie

Back in December, I participated to the Belgian edition of the Help-Portrait movement started worldwide by US photographer Jeremy Cowart (see this post).

Just recently, a small video on our wonderful experience got completed.

 

Thanks to Karine and Filip for saving these memories!

Sunny bunny

Nothing fancy this time, just a small piece of Easter fun. Spotted in a downtown Antwerp storefront…

Happy Easter!

Gear notes: Panasonic TZ1

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Piece of cake

You never know how far the marketing guys and girls are willing to push and make sure to grab your attention.

Today JOE fm, a commercial radio station, celebrated its first anniversary by serving probably the largest cake in the world. A team of bakers used no less than 23,000 eggs, 250 kilos flour, 65 kilos butter, 300 kilos sugar and lots of cream, chocolate mousse and cherries to prepare a giant treat. The birthday cake with a diameter of 11 meters was literally ‘installed’ overnight in the monumental hall of Antwerp’s Central Station. From 6am this morning, commuters and passerby's were offered a free piece.

Not knowing about the stunt, I stumbled upon this crazy scene around noontime, happy to have a compact camera in my coat pocket (never leave home without one!).

I cannot tell you whether the cake tasted well. I am not much of a sweets lover to begin, and the queuing lines seemed longer than the remaining time before my appointment would allow. Just to be completely honest: watching a couple of these bakers at work somewhat reduced my appetite…


Gear notes: Panasonic TZ1

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