DigiEyes by Jan Verbeke

Delicious...

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 09:00:20 -0800

Yesterday, we had lunch in Ter Leepe near Bruges. This restaurant is famous for its delicious meals and I have to admit... I was astonished. Here you see one of the starters. Let me try to describe what's on the dish: a Norway lobster on a bed of tomato, a gel of fried chicken and carrot cream on the left, tamarillo and spaghetti of Norway lobster bouillon on the right.

The bulb

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:37:16 -0800

If you don't want to stick to an ordinary light bulb, then use a bigger one :)

I've applied some vignetting here, to stress the fading of the light.

Staring

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:30:48 -0800

On the left hand side a window where bright sunlight was coming through. At the right hand sight, no windows at all, only the light from an open door. At first I thought I would need some additional light to brighten a bit the room. At the end, I tried without additional lighting and I'm very pleased with the result.

Although the graffiti on the wall looks better in color, I've turned this one to b&w and enhanced the contrast to make the portrait stronger.

As far as the surgery is concerned, everything went fine. I was the first one on the friday schedule. They removed, as planned, a small part of the meniscus. I'm already able to bend the knee to 110°, though still 'running around' with crutches. Since friday, it's a bit swollen, feeling a bit warm. Tomorrow I'm going back to work. From today onwards, it's physiotherapy time... :(

Animal clinic

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:10:58 -0800

In march, I've spent a whole day at the vet's taking pictures. In may, the clinic moved to a spot nearby. The first picture you see is the brand new animal clinic at dusk. The second picture is an interior shot of the clinic's radiology room.

Both shots are taken with the Tokina 12-24mm. I don't take that many shots with a wide angle. The Tokina gives very good results for its price. Some photoshopping was needed here to get rid of the perspective distortion.

The first one was taken at dusk: no direct sunlight that could cause burn-outs, just enough ambient light. Your first impression might be that I've waited too long, as the ambient light is not that strong. I've taken some earlier shots, but this one gave the best combination of the ambient light and the outdoor lighting.

The day after tomorrow, I need to go to hospital for some surgical intervention: a partial meniscectomy of the left knee. I hope to be back soon.

Reaching...

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:46:24 -0800

I think this pictures speaks for itself: a happy young couple enjoying the shoot. The post-processing consists of high contrast b&w and a panorama cropping to enhance the symbolism of the eyes-arms-fingers line.

Watching you...

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:22:01 -0800

Remember this couple? This is another shot from the deserted factory shooting. I did not use extra light coming from the left, because I wanted to have the strong contrast between the left and the right to increase depth in the picture. The other two things helping to create depth are the DOF and the fact that he is looking to the camera and she is not.

Am I being served?

Sun, 8 Jun 2008 04:41:00 -0800

After one year of photography course, I noticed that the way I look at pictures and shoot pictures has changed.

1. I prefer to take pictures of people. It provides me some adrenaline I don't sense when taking pictures of things that don't move (still life). There is very little chance you can do it, taking the picture, over (and over) again.

2. I have a strong preference for b&w pictures with high contrast, as it increases the 'sensation' I feel when looking to the picture. This does not mean I don't like the other stuff :)

In this picture, you see how people 'spend the time waiting' till they get served. The picture is taken at the local market.

Modeling

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 22:02:40 -0800

This is the girl you saw in my yesterdays picture. In the past, she has been modeling quite a bit. As mentioned yesterday, we had a lot of fun. There were also serious moments :) It was the first time I experienced with 2 flashes. I had one on my camera, the other was positioned at her right, a few meters behind. There was also coming natural light coming straight from the right hand side. Your opinion on the lighting is appreciated.

Peeping inside

Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:43:27 -0800

When you hear sounds coming out of an abandoned place, just have a look and you might find something interesting :)

Just kidding... I went to a deserted factory for a photo-shoot with a young couple. Never had so much fun during a photo-shoot. I ended up with some pictures I really like. Here is one of them, shot through a smashed windowpane.

No b&w please...

Sun, 1 Jun 2008 03:25:25 -0800

A friend of mine has quite some chameleons at home. In his living room, he has a huge terrarium. Chameleons can indeed change colors, not because of their surroundings, but mostly because of their mood. Chameleons have very long tongues(sometimes longer than their own body length) which can be extended in a very short time to capture their prey.

Still a long way to go

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:15:27 -0800

Although we see many cars passing by, there are still roads and moments where cars are absent. This was such a moment, while I was in 'Les Ardennes', the southern east part of Belgium. It feels so good, when one 'hears' the silence and 'sees' not one car.

Love...

Wed, 28 May 2008 11:46:15 -0800

Two youngsters... in love... a tender moment. They can almost eat each other, what is about to happen here :)

If the walls could speak...

Sun, 25 May 2008 12:51:28 -0800

Bruges is loved a lot by tourists. One can see here people from all over the world, visiting the 'Venice of the North'. The centre of Bruges is not that big. Almost every house in the centre has its own story. Many people are interested in these stories and are reading the info in front of the house(s).

Seen me?

Tue, 20 May 2008 21:38:41 -0800

Sunlight coming from behind the model, an alley, a model, a reflection panel and a camera. These are the ingredients of this picture. Luckily I had a friend with me to hold the reflection panel. I personally link the silhouette line on the jacket border, the long shadow in front of the model and the depth in this picture because of the shadows. Maybe a smaller DOF would be better to mask out the background, especially the car.

Zen

Mon, 19 May 2008 11:07:17 -0800

Is she going into trance or not? This one was shot outside at very cold temperatures and I think she was trying to forget the cold :) Besides the low temperatures, she got the sun behind her, though not giving warmth, just light.

Collecting time(2)

Sun, 18 May 2008 02:08:16 -0800

Nature is SO colorful,... just look around :)

Almost at the top

Fri, 16 May 2008 14:33:57 -0800

Amazing how much energy these little kids have! Remember my nephew's little friend? While sorting out the pictures we have to hand over on monday for photography class, I came across this one. This is the little brother of my nephew's friend.

After a year of photography class, I can say that I'm looking in a different way to the world around me.

Waiting

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:14:16 -0800

During one of my visits to the local vet, this dog was waiting to 'see the doctor'. He was operated on the week before. Everything seemed ok afterwards.

Closed

Tue, 13 May 2008 08:59:11 -0800

After one of the football matches my son had to play, I was wandering in the neighborhood of the football fields. This small barn/shed drew my attention because of the nice shadows, cast by the sun.

Beyond...

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:46:14 -0800

With this picture, I want to try out something completely different. The starting point, was a portrait, shot against a blue sky. Because of the backlight, one could not see much of the blue sky. In Lightroom, I've put white vignetting to the max and I've exaggerated with both exposure and brightness as well, which gave me the above result giving a dream effect.

Never again...

Sun, 11 May 2008 07:20:54 -0800

This is the last picture I'm gonna post as a tribute to François Sterchele. Yesterday evening, there was the last competition match of the 2007-2008 season Club Brugge had to play. There was no music, except for the "You'll never walk alone" just before the match. It was amazingly quiet in the stadium almost throughout the whole match, except for a few moments, e.g. when everyone shouted "Sterchele ole ole ole" (so loud you could here it miles away), moments when you could here a very sudden loud applause, ...

You'll never walk alone, Cois.

Destiny

Fri, 9 May 2008 11:45:12 -0800

In march, Club Brugge had a supporters day in an amusement park in Belgium. François Sterchele, who died yesterday in a car crash, was one of the players everyone wanted to have a picture with. I wanted to share this picture with you all.

Why destiny as title? Because of the following:

He always played with number 23 --> 2 + 3 = 5

He died at the age of 26 --> 2 + 6 = 8

He died on may, 5th 2008 --> 8/5/2008

8/5/2008 ==> 8 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 8 = 23

You'll never walk alone, Cois...

In memoriam

Thu, 8 May 2008 12:43:19 -0800

Never again will he play on a football field. Last night François Sterchele died in a car crash. Club Brugge and its supporters, just loved the 26 years old guy. He is smiling here to the supporters during his last home match.

Yesterday, there was joy and laughter (30 Years ago, the Bruges football team played the finals against Liverpool).

Today, it's the complete opposite: mourning.

You'll never walk alone, Cois...

Icarus

Wed, 7 May 2008 13:48:19 -0800

In the late evening, before sunset, while we were in 'Les Ardennes', we saw ten air-balloons filling the sky. The orange like color of the sky with this one balloon almost flying towards the sun, like Icarus once did, was not an easy task to take a picture of, because of the light differences.

The post-processing consists of reducing a little bit the highlights.

Framed

Tue, 6 May 2008 11:36:59 -0800

During a short vacation in 'Les Ardennes', we were wandering through Durbuy, which is according to its citizens, the smallest city of the world. A woman was taken a picture of a restaurant. I noticed the mirroring effect in her sunglasses and stopped in front of her to take this picture. Afterwards, I was astonished of the great mirroring effect.

Fences

Mon, 5 May 2008 07:28:12 -0800

Fences, ... you see them everywhere... different kinds... different materials...

Model shooting

Sun, 4 May 2008 08:08:24 -0800

A few days off. Heading for the 'mountains' (only a few 100 meters high, but compared to the flat region I'm living in, they look like mountains) with some friends. There was quite some nice backgrounds to take pictures. Eventually we have some nice sunny weather here, in Belgium... but the sun is not THE most wanted thing when taking pictures...When it's cloudy and the sun now and then plays the peek-a-boo game, it's really difficult to balance the light.

Ever seen such gorgeous blue eyes?

Grrrrr....

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:20:35 -0800

He was not angry at all, just yawning :)

Vortex

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:58:11 -0800

Another assignment we got in photography class: shooting textile. It's all about combining the different kind of scarves and choosing the correct lighting setup.

Waiting for U2

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:45:47 -0800

U2 = you two...

It's just a table for two, waiting for hungry people to spend a romantic evening.

Blowing in the wind

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:35:09 -0800

Wind turbines, you see them more and more. This one is 80m high, and has blades of 30m long. It took some time, to have the correct angle. There was quite some sun, but still I wanted to show the moving blades.

Ghost city(3)

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:55:51 -0800

If you have seen this first and second then you know what it's all about. This picture illustrates very well the contrast you find in this city. The b&w contrast enhancement, emphasizes this old-new feeling.

Tubes, nothing but tubes

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:58:13 -0800

This one was taken while I was wandering through Bruges, last saturday. Nothing more to add, I guess.

Eclipse, the new sensation

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:25:39 -0800

Every year, from half april till half may, there is the local fair in Bruges. I haven't been there this year, but I found a picture from last years fair. If you want to see it in action, you can have a look here. The colors are really beautiful at night.

All set and done

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:07:15 -0800

Ever seen a girl smiling so happily after work? Here is one.

double 2

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:55:53 -0800

One house, a double door, twice the '2' number, 2 mail boxes, ... A very good candidate for the "theme-2" photography class assignment we got.

Ghost city(2)

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:07:18 -0800

If you have seen this one, then you know what it's all about. This is the left over of a restaurant. At the right hand side of the picture: "Doel moet blijven!", meaning "Doel should stay".

Ghost city

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 17:46:45 -0800

Doel is a small town in the northern part of Belgium. In 1969 they started to build a nuclear power plant. More and more people are leaving Doel as the harbor of Antwerp keeps on growing. Doel is becoming deserted and one can really sense and see this: graffiti everywhere, demolished and abandoned houses, smashed windows, ...

At the right hand side of the picture you can read "vrijbuiter", meaning 'filibuster' or 'buccaneer'.

Juxtaposed

Sun, 6 Apr 2008 17:09:40 -0800

Last saturday, I was wandering with my family in my hometown, Bruges. Close to the Rozenhoedkaai, at the corner of a street, there is a very old house that got a new 'purpose'. They turned it into a shop, where you can buy nothing else but Belgian products. Even the name of the shop is well chosen: 2be (be = short for Belgium). In the shop, you see a very nice way of 'showing' the products they sell.

Collecting time

Fri, 4 Apr 2008 20:22:49 -0800

Nature is so beautiful, so colorful. Quite soon, we will see nature again at its best.

The old blue...

Tue, 1 Apr 2008 19:12:10 -0800

Some time ago, I posted this same jetty, but with a complete different post-processing. This one makes me think of the Landing in Normandy of 1944.

Just taking a picture

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:40:16 -0800

People, taking photos, are always a nice subject to take a picture of. Everybody who wants to take a picture, wants to do his utmost to take THE perfect picture, whether he has a 10$ or 8000$ equipment or not. Turning this picture into b&w makes it much stronger, not only because of the dark/bright contrast but also because of the texture(s). Beside the contrast enhancement, I've added some vignetting.

I'm looking for...

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:34:19 -0800

Remember this one? If you don't know where the toilets are, just follow this sign :)

The post-processing is simple here: turn into b&w, apply contrast enhancement and vignetting. That's it.

Half of it

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:36:35 -0800

This portrait is something you like or not, only displaying exactly half of the man's face. To enhance the 'strangeness', I turned the picture into black and white. Watch the shoulder vanishing into the white background.

Quattro(5)

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:22:30 -0800

Finally the last one in the 'group' assignment. First of all, I would like to thank all those who gave comments. In photography class we will discuss the pictures as well. You learn so much from comments.

Here you see a picture, looking almost the same as the first one. 'Take it or leave it'... not an easy task when it comes to pictures.

Quattro(4)

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:33:27 -0800

This is the last but one picture I'm posting from the 'group' assignment. Again I've decided to go for a b&w shot. The others you can compare with are : the first the second and the third.

Quattro(3)

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:11:20 -0800

This is the third picture of the 'group' assignment, having a completely different kind of background and post-processing. The intention was to give the picture an old warn-out look. Split-toning, vibrance and saturation are the sliders to play with in Lightroom. As it is completely different from the first and the second one, it will be hard to judge which one you prefer or not?

Quattro(2)

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:27:24 -0800

As I've mentioned yesterday, here is a second picture of the 'group' assignment. You can already start comparing :)

Quattro

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:45:07 -0800

Another assignment - ok I agree, there are a lot of assignments in photography class - was to make a group photograph of 4 people. I asked my son to ask some friends of his, to join in a session. This is the first of a small series I'm posting now. The rest will follow shortly. Maybe you can help me out in choosing the best (afterwards). Thanks in advance.

Bowling, bowling, bowling

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:03:57 -0800

Another assignment we got in photography class, is to take pictures of objects. This one here is about shiny objects. I was not sure whether I would post this one - as I think it is not the most beautiful picture you can take of a bowling ball, but then I decided to do it and to post along the setup we made in class. The result is after all not that bad, I think, after a few hours trying to find a nice POV and lighting setup.

At the rear left, there is the spot headlight and at the opposite site (front right) the square softbox, giving 1 stop less light than the main light. At the rear right another spot, positioned very high to reduce the reflection on the ball and a reflection panel on the front left (not visible on the setup-picture). The bowling ball is a heavily used one - quite some scratches on it - I got from a friend.

During the other 'glass' assignment we got some time ago, we were told not to have reflections, while here reflections should be visible to emphasize the 'shining' effect of the object.

There was no post-processing applied to the picture.

Dreaming

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:24:17 -0800

What I noticed about my nephew is that, one moment he is joyfully laughing during his play, and another moment he is day dreaming. This is also such moment. Some seconds after, he jumped onto the bridge, continuing his play.

Some textures do pop up more when you put the picture in b&w.

The Eskimo kiss

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:47:20 -0800

25 Years of marriage and still playful as ever (I hope this is a correct saying). They have never met Eskimo's, but they think they know how Eskimo's say hello. I think they do it almost correct, except for the missing hug? I don't know... do you? Maybe we will all do this in the future, who knows :)

Remote photographer

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:11:17 -0800

It's sometimes quite interesting to see other people taking pictures. This man wanted to take a picture of himself, together with his girl friend/wife. As there was nobody to take the picture, or he did not want to ask someone, he tried to do it himself by putting the camera somewhere and activate the timer, so he had time enough to settle next to his girl friend/wife. The first time he tried it, some horses passed by, disturbing the picture. The second try, was the good one.

Lucky me, there was quite some light reflecting, otherwise his face would be too dark as it was shot against the sunlight.

Scalpel please!

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:57:25 -0800

Last week, I've spent a whole day in an animal clinic, where veterinary surgeons help pets and other animals getting better. My day started with a meeting and attending some surgeries. In the afternoon I followed a vet helping horses and cows. During one of the surgeries, I took a picture of one of the surgeons. She does not only have beautiful eyes, but they were/are also reflecting the bright light the surgeons are using. By changing the tones, I even try to emphasize this.

Going to the top

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:46:05 -0800

Archery sports is well-known in Belgium. They have mainly 2 sorts: vertical and horizontal shooting (Someone knows the english words for these?). To practice the former one, you need a mast with some cage attached, capable of 'capturing' the arrows. This picture is taken inside one of these masts and post-processed with the 300-preset.

Communication

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 20:55:12 -0800

There are many ways of telling the rest of the world you love/like one another. This picture illustrates a not so common way of doing it, at least not in Bruges. In the centre of the city, close to the market place, there is a big square. You can find there quite some park benches, allowing people to have a rest. One of those benches has clearly 2 names mentioned: Jimmy and Stephanie, a boy and a girl. The 'tjeuh' you find at the end of the boy's name, denotes a diminutive for the name.

Framed

Sat, 8 Mar 2008 12:33:58 -0800

Do you remember the 4 year old girl who is enjoying life? She is showing here her talent again. Without asking her, she changed the expression on her face, looking through the finger-formed triangle

Where is my twin brother?

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 20:51:04 -0800

Some time ago, I've posted a picture of this ones little brother. They were shot at the same time. The other was sleeping (hence it's title), this one had his eyes almost continuously open.

Kiekeboe

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 18:13:57 -0800

While taking picture of the guy, his girlfriend was supposed to hide behind the wall, but... not all girls are that... Ok, you know what I want to say here :). Maybe you wonder what the title means? It's just the dutch translation of "peek-a-boo". I sounds almost the same. Just replace the 'p' with a 'k' and you're very close.

As an extra lightsource - the sun was heavily shining from the right hand side -, I've used a reflection shield. The white coating was not reflecting enough, so I moved over to the silver coating, giving the wanted result. There was quite some wind and there was nobody else to help me out in pointing the reflected light in the right direction. When first seeing the end result, I wanted the reflection more to the left, on the guy's face. Later on, I prefer it the way it is, coz it gives something extra to the picture.

Busted

Sun, 2 Mar 2008 20:37:50 -0800

I think you got the message already, looking at the title? Lot's of police, helicopters, FBI, CIA, ... Finally he got caught :)

With a 300-like post-processing and some cropping, I've tried to enhance the drama.

David & Goliath

Sat, 1 Mar 2008 19:31:48 -0800

Another assignment we got in photography class, was to shoot a picture around the theme "contrast": small vs. large, bright vs. dark, beautiful vs. ugly, ... During one of the football matches my son is playing, a child was playing football with his older brother and was willing to pose for the camera.

Bruges till I die (2)

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:49:02 -0800

After the decision of the municipality council of Bruges, giving the green light for a new stadion in Loppem, the supporters of club brugge were celebrating. Even the mascotte of the football team joined the crowd!

To get some light from the surrounding buildings, I had to raise the ISO value to 1600.

Playing kids

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:42:40 -0800

What's more fun than 2 playing kids?

Good morning

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:46:05 -0800

Winter can be quite cold, but the advantage is that one does not have to get up too early to take pictures of a sunrise. Thomas and I went to a small village, where we could watch the rising of the sun. Again this is a combination of 3 images, to get a better balance between dark and light.

Bruges till I die

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:34:29 -0800

Today was an important day in the history of Club Brugge, one of the most famous Belgian football playing teams. The municipality council had to decide upon the new football stadion. Quite some people showed up to support their favorite football team. The toughest supporters are known as 'the blue army'. It's pretty obvious they were there, isn't it.

A small country road at dawn

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:15:46 -0800

To combine the beauty of the sky and the details of the landscape, I've been playing with the Photomatix parameters to create the above HDR picture. The result is at the top, the pictures I've used below. Any advise from you HDR experts out there?

Sleeping

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:22:01 -0800

A nature's miracle. There is very little I can add with words, apart from the fact the baby was 4 weeks old :)

Watching you

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:20:24 -0800

Beautiful eyes, half open, staring at you. Nothing more to add, I would say :)... except for the finger on the left side. Cropping made the picture too asymmetric, to my opinion. You have another proposal, idea? Let me know.

Far far away

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:18:19 -0800

4 People challenging the sea. There was quite some wind at that time. Although the breakwater was very slippery, they did not hesitate to have a look at the far end of the beach.

I decided to take that shot with a wide angle, to emphasize the length of breakwater and leave alone the effect of the waves, although they were at times quite impressive.

Street painting

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:42:49 -0800

I had quite some fun, taking this picture :).
First, it took me some time to convince the man of my taking a picture: we agreed to framing the street-painting-action only.
Then I had to figure out, how to do it: laying down on the street, using an F4 aperture - to reduce the DOF as much as possible - and tilting the picture, were the first things that came into my mind.

Maybe something to remember here: Don't forget the frog's perspective :)

Need a toilet?

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:08:06 -0800

The easiest way to have a toilet nearby? Just hire one and put it on the street ! But then you need the key of course.
This picture has been post-processed by using the famous '300' Light room preset and adjusting the black clipping, fill light and contrast.

Enjoying life...

Sat, 9 Feb 2008 20:01:35 -0800

...that's what this 4 year young girl is definitely doing. She had totally no problem posing for the camera. When I asked her to do some things, she came up herself with this kind of shot: standing with her back to me and than turning around. She is really talented.

Waiting...

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 16:42:19 -0800

When girls go shopping, not all men feel like joining them going in and out the stores. I don't think this guy is happy neither. He prefered a job as dogsitter, while his girlfriend was trying to get rid of some money.
To the left of the picture, you see a name cut in the bench "flore", as if the girlfriends name is "flore" and she is missing at his side.
The dog is still looking for her, while the boyfriend has given up, thinking what she could have bought.

Apart from the b&w, contrast enhancement, there is only some vignetting applied.

Fish Market Bruges

Thu, 7 Feb 2008 10:27:28 -0800

Bruges Fish market (1821) is a very cosy place to be. Every morning (except sunday and monday), people are selling fresh fish in an ancient atmosphere. Even at night, when this shot was made, you can smell the fish when you take a deep breath. When you turn around, you have a small bridge from where this picture was taken.

Seen from the other side

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 14:13:37 -0800

Remember this one? I always feel like taking pictures with the sea as a background when I'm on the beach.
I got my Tokina 12-24mm f4 DX a few weeks back, so it was THE moment to turn around and take some pictures from the other side of the beach.
To stress the long jetty, I wanted the diagonal line, without exaggerating of course. Therefore, I tilted the horizon a bit and took advantage of the clouds being visible between the beach and the jetty to stress the jetty's length.
The last thing that puzzled me, was the bright sky and it's reflection in the water on the beach. F22, 1/80sec and 200ISO seemed a good compromise. Finally Lightroom helped me in enhancing the contrast and applying some vignetting.
Oops... the last thing was not the last thing... :) There was the straightening in PS of the lines at the edges too.

Update: Denis was asking why I applied some vignetting (see comments). I'm posting the same picture without vignetting, so you can see the difference. I thought by focussing on the center (because of the vignetting), the jetty would look even longer. Is my feeling right? Wrong?

A young girl

Mon, 4 Feb 2008 19:43:04 -0800

Today, we had lunch with a couple of friends. One of the girls present, is 15 years old and is not reluctant to posing for the camera. After some b%w processing, some cropping and some vignetting, this is the result.

The jetty and the beach

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 15:20:25 -0800

Quite some wind, almost nobody on the beach (one near the waterline at the left and a few at the right), gulls flying by, clear horizon (except for a ferry at the the top left), ... this is how I can describe the moment I took this picture of the jetty of Blankenberge (Belgium). I've just applied some vignetting and cropping at the top. I'm still not convinced whether I should have cropped it more at the bottom to give it a more widescreen look... Are you?

Aye, Aye, Captain !!

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 22:57:32 -0800

Even without the cap, the face of this man reminds me of a captain. I love the way he looks/smiles to the camera.

The far end

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:54:15 -0800

When you walk along the seaside, you encounter now and then some jetties. The one you see here on the picture, is a huge one and reveals quite some interesting things during ebb tide.
To emphasize the fading at the far end, I've centered the gallery. At the left and right sides you might notice the 'high key' elements in the sky. Because of the large brightness range, I had to choose between details of the inside and details of the outside of the gallery. As I was focusing on the centered gallery, I took the inside as a reference. Besides the b&w, only some vignetting is used as postprocessing.

On the beach

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:16:10 -0800

Warm or cold, ... if you have the opportunity, just go out to the beach. If the wind is quite heavy, you get interesting things to see near the sea.

My little nephew and his little friend

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:44:54 -0800

This shot was taken when my nephew asked his little friend to come and play. They both enjoyed playing, though it was a cold day.
If you compare these two pictures, I think you can imagine why I turned to b&w, or not?

Is there something to eat?

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:49:21 -0800

In the center of Bruges, there are a few 'market' places, where every week people sell things in their small (or large) market stalls. As there are quite some things you can buy to eat, there is also a lot of waste, which attracts birds. This one had just landed and was ready to start its quest.
Why the b&w? Just because I think the picture 'tells' more when colors are removed and the contrast is enhanced.

Silhouette

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:59:19 -0800

Yesterday, both Thomas and me told you about the silhouette assignment we had. The black background was much more difficult than the white background, simply because the contours are now even more visible. No more two soft boxes bouncing their light onto the white background, ... just a small spot light, between the model and the black background, shining towards the photographer. You have to make sure the camera's sensor should not receive any direct light from the spot light.
Not an easy assignment... You like it or you don't.
There is no light near the models lips, because there is just no hair on the lips :)

Let me out of here

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:13:06 -0800

A picture from yesterday evenings photography class, having 'silhouette' as assignment. Quite some fun I must say, playing with silhouettes. It's a complete different way of thinking, both for the photographer and for the model. You have to focus on completely different details.

As far as the setup is concerned: a white background, 2 soft boxes towards the white background (one on the left and one on the right hand side) and the model is positioned between the softboxes and the photographer. The more the model approaches the white background, the more light he/she will have on her bode.

Bruges: Steenhouwersdijk

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:41:45 -0800

Probably the last shot taken during the tour I mentioned here and here. The 'steenhouwersdijk', near the 'fish market', is very famous for its different lighting colors at night. Just a very small contrast increase and cropping as postprocessing.

Bruges: Rozenhoedkaai

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:24:15 -0800

I don't think there are that many tourists not taking a picture of the 'Rozenhoedkaai'. This is one of the most photographed spots of Bruges.
This is another shot from the tour I was talking about here. As I don't have a wide angle lens (yet), this is shot with my Canon 24-105mm F4.0.
You can notice quite some yellow lights on the photo. The only postprocessing is a small increase of the green tree colors to make the tree stand out a bit more.

Bruges belfry

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:37:37 -0800

Last night, Thomas and I had a very nice tour through Bruges for the photography class assignment "Bruges by night". We took my motorcycle to avoid searching a place to park the car. It's much easier to pull over somewhere.
Just before the famous belfry, on the central market place, there is a miniature version of the belfry with some inscriptions for the blind people. This way, they can feel and read about the belfry.
It was already quite dark, hence the large shutter speed (1.5sec) and a not too large aperture (F5.6) to create the DOF. Afterwards, some small postprocessing was needed to 'darken' the sky.

Swinging nephew

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:49:27 -0800

One of the assignments of the photography course is to take pictures of playing kids. Most kids, even adults :), like the swing and so does my nephew.
Again I'm posting an image in B&W because my feeling is that movement is enhanced by removing the colors and increasing the contrast. I finally came down by choosing 1/60 sec as the shutter speed (in Tv mode), to have the kid sharp enough and the rest a bit blurry.

Two models

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:36:41 -0800

This week it was again studio time in my photography class. I had 2 models volunteering. Although I was pleased with the colors of this picture, I could enhance the feeling I have for this picture by using Lightroom's 300 preset.

Table for two

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 06:26:51 -0800

A complete other type of picture I'm posting here. In stead of focusing on long shots and/or views of the (complete) interiour, I want to stress here the warm colors one senses when you are at this restaurant. They server great tapas, but of course you can't see this here :)

The reflection you see in the glass, comes from a glass ceiling, giving here some depth in the picture, enhanced by the DOF, at lease that is the intention.

Comfortable

Sat, 5 Jan 2008 11:00:30 -0800

During the photography lessons, we were told that the maximum range black-white one can 'record' without losing (too many) details is about 6 stops. This one was shot with my old Canon 350D. The Canon 40D uses 14bit conversion, which allows to have more details over the complete range (Thanks to Thomas for the remark). In the 2nd picture (the unprocessed), you see the sun fully shining on the childs cheek and some dark zones elsewhere.

As you have noticed from my previous posts, I like to play around with Lightroom's settings. The final result is at the top. Vignetting is very useful here to mask out the the top left and top right.

Not afraid of the cold water...

Fri, 4 Jan 2008 09:13:15 -0800

but afraid of a too hard diving board. That's what this guy thought, when jumping into the water during the Xmas dive in Bruges. At first he tried without the cushion, then he returned to get one. He did not pushed off with his feet, but using his ... Ok, now you got it why he needed the cushion :)

Again a B&W picture, just because I think these kind of pictures say more when presented in B&W:
- The striped shirt reflects a nice contrast against the background
- The cushion lifts off
- The splashing water because he hit the water with his feet during the first part of his 'jump'

In-line glasses

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 15:01:22 -0800

A few weeks ago, in the photography course, we experimented with taking pictures of glass, avoiding reflections coming from the light source(s). The setup you see in the second picture was used to get the above result. The color is generated by putting a red plastic between the soft box you see at the bottom, and the semi transparent curved plastic. Unfortunately, the glasses were not that shiny :). If you want to avoid the darker background at the top, you have to add an extra light source behind the semi transparent curved plastic.

Glasses

Wed, 2 Jan 2008 09:59:59 -0800

Last week - or should I say last year :) - I went to eat something in a restaurant. The place is quite cosy. Walls are painted in brown and white, which enhances the warm feeling. They even have a very nice way of 'presenting' all the different glasses they have. The picture you see here reflects how they do it: a very old metal construction, with smoked glass - I hope I use the correct words here - and then the glasses upside down on the glass. Looking from below, you can clearly see the reflections. The picture was taken with a f4.0 stabilized lens, which allows to shoot without a tripod.

Champagne

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:44:45 -0800

Great idea of Thomas to start toasting to the new year. He has been one of the many photographers posting on pixyblog, inspiring me with his pictures during the past (half) year.

Thanks everybody for giving me tons of ideas.

I hope 2008 is a year where things you dream of, may come true. Sometimes a little trick is needed, as depicted in this picture (sorry for the brand), not to spoil fluids.

Let me end by quoting: "Here's to you pixyBloggers. Cheers!!"

Was it 1958?

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 09:47:14 -0800

Yesterday I was wandering through Bruges for an assignment I got in the photography course I'm following. I need some pictures to build up a collection, a story with a certain theme. While shooting a picture for the assignment, I heard an unfamiliar sound which turned out to come from an oldtimer. There was very little time to 'grab' this old guy, hence the little space to the left and right. Fortunately, there was not that much 21 century stuff visible on the picture :). To enhance the sixties mood, I turned the image into B&W, enhanced the contrast and played with the vignetting.

Caged again

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:14:02 -0800

As promised here, another picture of the 'cage'.

Caged

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 20:00:10 -0800

Architects get the possibilities and opportunities to build what they dream of nowadays. This blue cage-like metal construction, gives one the impression of being in a open air-tunnel. Very nice construction, although not that easy to give the same impression to people looking at the picture I've taken. In a couple of days, I'll post another picture of this construction.

Perfect masonry

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:54:29 -0800

During a walk in the city today, the reddish color of the bricks of a building took my attention. At home I played around with the settings in Lightroom as I was curious how the B&W version would look like. I'm both attaching the colored and B&W version: the colored version for its 'rich' colors, and the B&W version because it is as though the photo is made artificially with a computer.

Best wishes

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:52:11 -0800

A merry christmas and all the best in 2008 !!

Ice swimming in Bruges(2)

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:21:45 -0800

Here is another picture from yesterdays, december 23th, annual "Xmas ice swimming" in Bruges Belgium.

Ice swimming in Bruges

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:18:46 -0800

Yesterday, december 23th, it was time again for the annual "Xmas ice swimming" in Bruges Belgium. It's really amazing. While the surrounding people won't more and more scarves and bonnets, these Bruges IceBears like the cold waters.

Let me think

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:39:22 -0800

Title says it all :)

Just the two of us

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 06:12:53 -0800

The same look in both their eyes.

Passion and desire

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:07:45 -0800

is what you get, when you mix Italian and Spanish blood.

A ladybug at the edge of the abyss

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:24:22 -0800

What seems to us a small wooden barrel, is to the ladybug an immense abyss.

End of life?

Sun, 9 Dec 2007 21:17:12 -0800

You can't wander through woods, without seeing trees being cut. If you can see the annual rings of a tree, it means we have another living tree less.

An even more challenging look

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 06:22:04 -0800

During the same photo studio session, she had an even more challenging look. Don't you think so?

The postprocessing is different, but that's just to get an idea of finding out which one is nicer

A challenging look

Sun, 2 Dec 2007 15:00:19 -0800

During another photo studio session, I asked her to - kind of - challenge the camera but not too heavy.

La vâche qui rit

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:11:29 -0800

Luckily not everyone throws away those little 'La vâche qui rit' wrappers :)

A brown girl in the studio

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:16:44 -0800

Yesterday my sisters portrait was on aminus3. Now it's my turn :)

A blond girl in the studio

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:38:27 -0800

A shot from a few weeks ago when I did a studio shoot with Thomas. Her sisters picture will follow shortly.

Speedy nephew

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:03:05 -0800

Yesterday, I figured out my nephew is so fast, it's hard to 'capture' him.

She's watching us

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:34:53 -0800

This evening, I saw once more a full moon but it looked as if she was very close to earth: the perfect timing to give it a try. I took my Canon 40D, with my 70-200 IS F4.0 and made a shot. After some cropping, this is the result.

Little princess

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:56:06 -0800

Some days ago, while visiting a colleague of mine, I had the chance to take a close up of her baby girl. She's a beauty, a real princess, looking here towards her future?

The old man and his cigarette

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:41:58 -0800

I was lucky being able to shoot this portrait of a friends father when going to a football game.

If you don't like the sepia tones, I also posted the B&W one.

Then the big question is, which one is the prefered one ?