Tag Archive for: models

The ultimate workshop November 21-22nd Emmeloord

/in /by

I’ve been teaching workshops for a few years now, most workshops run for a full day and although very intense there is always so much more to learn, so most students visit the workshops several times. The reason for this is very simple, I never try to duplicate workshops, there are so many things you can do with lighting, location, styling, the models etc. that it would be a shame to teach the same workshop material over and over…..

 

For the one day workshops I have several themes, for example “working on location”, “working with artificial and available light”, “Duo shoots”, “Masks”, “Smoke”, “Retouching” etc. etc. all these topics are so broad that they are already difficult to jam into one day…. so last year the idea actually grew to do a multiple day workshop, however when I do something I always want to make sure that what I deliver is solid, there is no sense in doing a workshop in 2 days or 3 days that can be taught in one day by just talking faster…..

Manon October 3 2014 2019BW

So slowly the idea for the “multiple day workshop” grew and got more shape.
After the first trials the students actually came up with the name and called it “The Ultimate workshop” and I have to say I agree and use that name for these workshops.

 

In 2-3 days you will get so much information it will make your head spin, we are working as a small team (group size is always limited to max 10-12 people depending on the location) to create literally a multitude of different scenarios. The ultimate workshops are the best workshops I can teach, and I dare to say, probably the best on the market if you’re into model photography.

 

What can you expect?
Of course we work with our very best models during these workshops, so next to learning a lot you will also get a real portfolio boost. All workshops start with an Q&A session. In this session you can actually tell me what you want to learn and I will incorporate all these questions into the workshop ahead.

 

Read more

The change that a strobe can make

/in , /by

During the location workshops one of the things I always show is the difference between natural light and strobe.
Normally people think that the natural light shots will be much less interesting than the strobe ones, however the end result mostly surprises people.
in this blog post two examples of natural light shots followed by the strobe ones.

 

Enka workshops Augustus 20 2014 274

Enka workshops Augustus 20 2014 280

Read more

Duo shoots

/in , /by

I always say :
“shooting one person is easy”
“shooting two people is terribly difficult”
“shooting three people is easier”
“shooting four people can be a disaster”
“shooting more get’s easier”

 

Now why is that?
When I shoot 2 people you very quickly get into the “boyfriend/girlfriend” kind of posing, now it’s not bad… but sometimes I think it’s just a bit “boring” and I want something more. When shooting three you can actually build something with balance, but with four I always feel like it’s easy to create two groups of two… Most of the times it will go ok but I always find that I love to work with three or five and more people if I do groups.

 

Now when shooting a duo shoot it always wise to plan ahead.
Let’s say you want a cool duo shoot in your portfolio but you don’t want that “boyfriend/girlfriend” kind of shoot, a good tip can be to shoot dancers, they are often way more flexible than the average run of the mill person, although I’m pretty flexible I have seen these two do things…. well it hurts me when I think about it. The fun part about shooting with dancers is that they are often very creative with poses, and they will actually pretty well interact with each other.

 

The following shots were taken during a workshop motion last week and feature models : Marvin and Sharda.
I also included some images you’ve already seen, just to give you and idea of the other crazy duo stuff we did, but I shared that during another blogpost about these two.

 

The idea of the shot was to give the images some “tension” but also a lot of power. I think they pretty much aced it.

Marvin en Sharda Maart 12 2014 (46 of 69)-Edit

Read more

Dancers

/in , /by

If I had to choose one type of shoots I really like the most….. for me that would be working with dancers.
Now don’t get me wrong I love shooting celebrities for their character and models for their poses, good looks etc. but when working with dancers it just brings something completely new to the table, action, motion but most of all power and passion.

 

All the dancers I’ve worked with so far are passionate about what they do, when you ask them to jump they don’t say “but will I look good” but they just jump and give you the best performance they can, if you want a jump to look about the same twice… no problem (for most), but most of all…. most dancers (or performing artists) will also bring you creativity, they will not just jump but they will help you as a photographer to tell a story.

 

Photography is acting on a 1/5000 of a second, freezing an unique moment in time that will never come back the same way and with dancers this is all maximized in one shoot. So when I was looking for “models” for a 2 day 1:1 workshop with the theme motion, my first idea was of course “dancers”. Thanks to the power of social media I got into contact with this duo, Marvin and Sharda, two amazingly talented people and very enthusiastic. Today some of the images from that workshop.

 

Marvin en Sharda Maart 12 2014 (39 of 69)-Edit

Read more