Platja d’aro outside workshops Part II

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During the workshops I do on location I always stress the strength of natural light.
Sometimes people get so obsessed by using their “expensive” strobes that they sometimes forget how incredibly beautiful natural light can be. The workshop was in Spain, Platja d’aro to be exact, and if you know Spain you know that the light can be pretty harsh, for some people a reason to not use it…. in my opinion a huge mistake.

 

In the studio we often use harder light to enhance shadows and “image pop” however as soon as the sun gets a bit “harsher” we are somehow afraid to use it, maybe because it’s drilled into our mind that the best light is in the early morning and late afternoon, well that is true for most landscape shots but I love my street photography and especially model photography to be shot with the really harsh sunlight. So the next time you’re outside in the bright sun…… shut down the strobes and just shoot a few images with the beautiful sun.

 

Camera : Mamiya DF+ with Leaf Credo 60.

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Poldermodel 2014

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When I work with the models during my workshops it always felt a bit weird that most of the models were all located far away from Emmeloord (our hometown) this is weird because when I walk through our town I see a lot of nice girls/boys that could model for us. Sometimes I do give a card but I have to honest most people don’t respond (maybe shame or they just throw away the card) so don’t worry if that also happens to you, maybe 1 out of 10 will respond.

 

Anyway, a few years ago I thought that it would be cool to organize a competition that shows us there are great models closer to home and the idea for “Poldermodel” was born. To explain the title a bit, we live in an area that is actually won back from the sea, so yeah in fact we live under sea level and NO I’m not sponge bob Squarepants 😀 and in Dutch we call this “polder”.

 

In 2012 we started the competition and it was a huge succes but due to limited time in 2013 we did not have the energy and time to organize it again, but we promised we would do it in 2014… and we did. On May 16th it was time for “poldermodel 2014” in a beautiful new location “Chez Marknesse”. During the day we organized different “stages” for the models including a photoshoot with me, a seminar on the life as a model and a catwalk training. In all “stages” there were several things the models learned but also things the judges looked for and would use for the final part, selecting the winner.

 

Today some of the images we shot during the day.
But first the winners of the title “Poldermodel 2014”

 

 

Anna and Ben

 

In 2012 Ben was in the top 3 but did not win and as always we gave the finalists some tips to grow and man did Ben listen.  Ben we choose because he performed great in all stages but most of all the catwalk where he not only got the biggest response from the crowd but also blew the jury away with his dynamic walk and absolute “I’m Ben and that’s it” attitude, the crowd and the jury loved it.

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Anna is a real “poldermodel” she is not only a great model for fashion and has some really nice expressions in her shots but most of all Anna is the kind of model that will promote your event to the top with her smile which melted not only me but also the whole jury, and as you can see here she is not afraid to jump out of the box during a photoshoot, even if she only has a few frames. WOW.Poldermodel 2014 sessie (242 of 278)
And here are some images from the catwalk show.

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About our videos and a nice discount

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A lot of people ask us about the instructional videos.
So I thought, let’s answer some of these questions here.


Why are they so cheap?
Well it’s simple, we want them to be available for everyone, we could very easily price them at $200.00 but I would rather reach a large group of people than just a few.


Is there a difference between your YouTube videos and what I pay for?
DUH of course, you really have to see these totally separate, if you already like our YouTube material you’re gonna love the videos, on YouTube we only show some backstage material and our podcasts but it’s all very basic and well… free. If we charge for something you can bet your money on it that it’s worth it, so in short HECK YEAH.


Are the older ones still valid?
Yes they are, I hate to repeat myself on videos so with each video we try to find new things to explain, this is also why there are different series, by the way we priced the older videos also differently so that you can see for yourself 🙂


What can I expect on the videos?
Oempf…..
A LOT
all the videos are literally jam-packed with information about model photography, like you I don’t like a video where you are watching a model pose for 15 minutes without any information, so we kept the scenes just long enough for me to do the voice over with the information…. this will mean you will hear me A LOT during the video so beware 🙂
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The one you often don’t shoot…but should

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Today a special image.
This is the kind of shot you often see but don’t shoot.
In this case it was literally a last minute shot, during the workshops in Platja d’aro the last part of the workshop it was all the students that shot the models, I was in fact preparing the last part of the workshop and doing some quick retouching of the images to show the before and after. When I went out to check if the students were almost done I saw them coming down the stairs leading up to the location, normally you would turn around and walk in….. but in this case I saw this beautiful wall and without thinking I ran inside to get my camera and wait for the models to come down.

 

Quickly I dragged them in front of the wall and took maybe 3-4 shots.
This is the image I choose from the series and I have to be honest… I LOVE it.
Again this is the kind of images I always call “the ones you often don’t shoot, but should”
And we all have those situations where you see something and think “WOW, but…… well I’m tired, I already got so many shots… so just let it go”

 

I don’t say you have to ALWAYS give in to the urge to shoot, which would actually make traveling with me almost impossible for Annewiek (:D), but I do say that if you are working with models and you do have the chance to shoot that one extra shot… GO FOR IT…. I’m incredibly glad I did because this could very well be one of my best/favorite portraits in a long time.

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