ICAF

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You know sometimes things happen and you just feel how blessed you can be.
For example when I met Jeremy Cowart during one of the Photoshop Worlds I got involved in the Help Portrait movement and decided to organize this for the Netherlands, being a spokesperson and organizer for the nationwide Help Portrait day was a huge success, and me and my team will do it again this year, it has been an awesome experience. Giving people that really normally can’t afford it a portrait of hope is one of the best feelings you can get as a photographer I think.

 

People that know me, know that I will never steer away from a good cause, and that also landed me the title as ambassador for the Dutch website www.fotoshootklachten.nl, a website in corporation with the justice department where models can find information and help when they have been badly treated by a photographer (believe it or not, before this website there was no real place to turn to with specialistic help/knowledge). And to be honest I feel honored to be able to be the spokesperson for that cause.

 

Last week I was contacted by  Ashfaq Ishaq who is responsible for the ICAF (International Child Art Foundation), after some googling and visiting their site www.ICAF.org I was more than interested to meet with Ashfaq. And tonight we did during a exhibition of children’s art displayed in a store in Georgetown/Washington DC.

 In the store you could find several art pieces made by different schools and children in different grades, one thing they had in common is that it was all made by jeans material (old jeans).

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First images from DC

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When we go to the states for workshops or seminars we always try to be there a few days earlier, first of all to recover from the flight, but because we actually never really go on holiday also to do some quick sightseeing, and if you know us…. when I say quick I really mean quick, we often do in one day what others spread out over several days, it’s like getting there, shoot and go 🙂

In this blog post just a few snaps from DC as I see it while walking around.
Some cool to know facts.
On day 1 we walked 15.5 kms starting at Lincoln all the way back to our hotel and seeing some interesting things in between, during the year there are 2 weeks in which the cherry blossom is blooming and we were very blessed to be there during that time, and it’s awesome (as you can see in the images).

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Guestblog Night Photography

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Today it’s time for a guestblog about something that I think is very interesting (and something I love to do whenever I can) night photography.

 

Night Vision
Night photography is all about taking pictures in the dark. At first glance it sounds like a lot of sleepless nights. Driving around in the middle of the night, only to be taking pictures when other people are asleep. Luckily, it is not all that dramatic. Because it starts to get really dark about an hour or so after sunset (depending on location and time of year). So during the winter you can already start early in the evening. That is, for our eyes it starts to get dark. Camera’s have the unique ability to collect light for longer times. Therefore it is possible to make pictures that look as if they were made during daytime. Even in the middle of the night. If you like to play with light, color and the effects of moving objects, night photography is the way to go. One of the exciting things about night photography, is that your photos will often contain one or more surprises. Because a camera is more sensible to light than our eyes, you will discover details you weren’t able to see in advance.

 

At night camera’s are able to see more and differently than our eyes. (Amsterdam)

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Natural light the best there is

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Well ok, we can discuss on this topic till the cows come home (hope I got that expression correct), but although I love to use strobes I still believe that shooting with natural light can be one of the most fun things to do. If you never shoot with the available light make sure you try at least a few times during a shoot. I find that many people are so focussed onto the look they want to create with for example strobes that during the photoshoot itself they sometimes forget to also take advantage of what they already have available. And trust me sometimes you will find that those natural light shots can be the best of the whole shoot (I know I did some in between shots during sets that I actually liked more than the strobed ones).

The shots in this blogpost were all done with natural light, although I have to add that we had that beautiful soft box in the sky as our “modifier”, if you read between the lines, it was a real Dutch bad weather day, but for photographers a great day. But don’t get me wrong I also love to shoot in very harsh sunlight and get a much more contrasty look as in this image.

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