A shoot for Custom8, specialised in technology related to sleep research …
Custom8
Antwerp – city scape by night
A view of Antwerp from “linkeroever”, with the Schelde and the rising moon …. a city scape of Antwerp by night.
Antwerp by night.
Tintin in the “MOOF”
For an assignment I had to photograph this original figurine of Tintin in the “MOOF” (Museum of original figurines) in Brussels, Horta Galerij. The figurine shown is unique, big and beautiful.
Tintin in MOOF
Istanbul through a Fujifilm X10
Visions of Istanbul through a Fujifilm X10 compact camera.
Istanbul from the Asian side towards Topkapi palace
Just before the afternoon prayer, at a mosque.
Event photography for Play Station – PS VITA
Would you use the image with or without flash? Photographed at an event during the launch of Play Station VITA, for ABCommunications.
PS VITA event.
PS VITA event.
Ranger Quadra – first impressions
For a very long time I’ve been wondering whether I would buy a Ranger Quadra, Elinchrom’s portable flash set.
I’m known for my ability to pull of almost any type of lighting at any type of location. OK, there are limitations to what I can do and often those limitations are often due to the maximum amount of power of my flashes. Since I’ve always got 5 SB900 Nikon flashes in my bag, I’m not that often confronted with aforementioned power limitations. By adding another flash I can often solve the problem instantly. Furthermore, with Nikon’s ability for high-speed sync, which allows one to photograph beyond the flash sync speed and use large apertures, I wasn’t really convinced that an additional flash set that hasn’t got these abilities, such as the Ranger Quadra, would add much extra value to my gear (and ultimately my photography). Lastly, when I knew I would need a lot of power, I would simply take my studio lights (Elinchrom as well) on location.
And that is just what sometimes created problems, as not all locations would have a “mains” to plug in my studio flash set. In adition, lugging around with 3 flash heads and stands is not always possible/desirable. Have you ever tried boarding a plane with a studio flash set? I wouldn’t want to dream of trying to do this.
So, enter the Ranger Quadra. I had a first good look at it at Photokina in Cologne last year (September 2010) and decided against it. Too big to be small, too small to be big was my impression. But somehow the Ranger kept coming back in my mind, especially when I was out there, photographing in bright daylight ….
Eventually I decided to bite the bullet and give in to what I should have done a long time ago and bought a set consisting of two flash heads, two batteries, two stands and two flash adaptors (so I can use my studio soft boxes, snoots and grids on the Ranger as well). I was also adviced by the people at Servix, where I bought the Ranger, to buy two extension chords of 5 meter, in order to be able to put both flashes as far as 10m apart from each other.
I started experimenting with the Ranger at home, in studio, which is a safe environment. I photographed a few friends who where so kind to sit for me for a portrait session.
portrait with Ranger Quadra Elinchrom by Jürgen Doom
portrait with Ranger Quadra Elinchrom by Jürgen Doom
portrait with Ranger Quadra Elinchrom by Jürgen Doom
I then started using the Ranger Quadra for commercial assignments. When I started out taking these images, I quickly realised how easy it was to use the Quadra on location and how powerful they are. Really loved to work with it. Images were made for a construction company (Suerickx group, consisting of Icopan, Cosenco and Building Services).
Corporate shoot with Ranger Quadra Elinchrom by Jürgen Doom
Corporate shoot with Ranger Quadra Elinchrom by Jürgen Doom
Corporate shoot with Ranger Quadra Elinchrom by Jürgen Doom
Thanks to the Ranger I was able to fully control the lighting and keep the contrast in perfect balance.
Lastly, I’d like to share an image taken for a accountancy firm Moore Stephens Verschelden. I had to photograph the CEO in a setting of containers. The brief was to photograph the person in the environment, with the environment prominent in the photograph. The CEO was lit by 1 flash head.
Corporate shoot with Ranger Quadra Elinchrom by Jürgen Doom
Could I have done these shots with my Nikons SB900? Probably yes. Was it easier to photograph them with my Ranger Quadra? Maybe, maybe not. Was it comfortable to photograph this with the power of a Ranger Quadra? Absolutely yes!
So, in brief, the bottom line is that from now on I don’t leave the house without a small case, consisting of two flash heads and a bag of stands, which allows me to work very comfortably on location. And comfort comes at a price, which I’m happy to pay for when it comes to lighting …
Portrait photos for profile image on social media
I have recently written a blog post about the quality of profile photographs for LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. You can find it here.
Recently I was contacted via the contact page of my website by …. my spouse! She asked me if she could make an appointment for a portrait session in order to get photographs for social media. Since my wife has access to my calender, she proposed a day and time I was available. So there was no possible escape for me … ! Photographing people who are close to you is even more difficult than photographing people who are not in your circle of relatives and friends …
Nonetheless, herewith a selection of images, shot on Nikon D3, 85mm 1.4 at f/4, 1/250. I used 3 flashes (Nikon SB900) using Nikon’s CLS system.
- Portrait and profile photograph for social network sites
- Portrait and profile photo for social media
- Portrait and profile photo for social media
From workshop model to cover girl – it’s just a small flash away …
From model to cover, it sounds just like the title of a new workshop. Well, it was during a Strobist workshop – a workshop on flash photography with small, portably reportage flashes – that this image was created.
After the participants had asked me a lot about how to get a white background white, or how to get it black, I asked our model Shauni if she could pose for me for a few minutes.
I had placed 2 small flashes – Nikon SB900 – on either side of Shauni, using umbrellas and triggered boths flashes with Nikons CLS-system. The only thing I added to the creative mix was a silver reflector to throw the light back at Shauni, in order to create soft, beautiful light (which she deserves).
The result is as can be seen on the cover of Shoot magazine. In this particular issue, which is on-sale in Belgium from now on, I have written an article – together with Piet Van den Eynde, colleague and partner in crime for the flash workshops – about the Nikon CLS – system.
Anyhow, this is the result as it appears on the cover of the magazine.
- Cover for Shoot magazine, shot during a workshop on flash photography
And that’s how a model for a workshop can end up as a model of the cover of a photography magazine. Thanks Shauni!
Model photography at Calumet workshop for Strobists.
I was asked to host a series of strobist workshop at the recent Calumet “Test the very best” day near Ghent some time in June.
The 3 workshops I hosted were “strobist for beginners”, strobist for users” and “strobist for pro’s”. For each and every workshop I had a model which I could use to photograph in order to show some lighting techniques.
During the last workshop (Strobist for pro’s) I had model Louise. I asked Louise to pose “indoor”, in an industrial setting (some sort of glass house), where I demonstrated a technique whereby one uses 3 off-camera flashes in conjunction with color gels.
In this case I used Nikon’s SB900′s in Nikon’s CLS-system. Louise was lit by a Calumet striplight (key light). In the back one notices the second speedlight – which, in the final image, looks like a lightbulb. Indeed, it was gelled to give it some warmth. A third flash was used to lit the background behind Louise.
This is the final result (both in color and black and white)
strobist workshop for Calumet
workshop for Strobists at Calumet
I also took a photograph of Louise without the flash in the back visible in the frame.
- Calumet workshop for strobists
And lastly I had some time to play around with the white balans settings, which creates a completely different color scheme ….
- Calumet strobist workshop
Photography for Ansul – fire protection
I was contacted by Ansul Belgium to provide them with images that could be used for their annual report. The wanted a whole range of images, from action shots to studio photographs of their products.
As a professional photographer specialising in corporate photography, you should be able to tackle a wide range of shots and situations whilst dealing with the most difficult lighting conditions.
Herewith a short overview of the “catch of the day”.
Ansul - fire protection.
Ansul - fire protection.
Ansul - fire protection.
Ansul - fire protection.
Ansul - fire protection.
Ansul - fire protection.
Ansul - fire protection.