Frank Doorhof

Don’t take it too easy

January 26, 2016/in blog, Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

We all know that photography is taking pictures…. However is it just that or is there more….
Well when a blogpost starts like this there is of course more, right…
During our travels we often also visit landmarks and to be honest I always find these challenging, not to shoot them but to create something that hasn’t been done before, because let’s be honest everything has been done once or twice at least. As soon you realize that one burden is actually lifted… pff we don’t have to be unique…. but at least lets try to do it slightly different.

The easiest shot is always from the what I call “Kodak point”, you can find these at some sights and the only thing you have to do is point your camera in the “general” direction and shoot, and in all honestly you’ll end up with a good shot of the landmark…. but if you try to move around, zoom in, shoot from a very low or very high angle, shoot it with an extreme wide-angle or even fish eye you will actually get something totally different. You could even use your “selfie-stick” to get some stunning shots that you would normally not get (so we finally found a good use for that stick).
In the end it’s all about one thing…
As a photographer it’s not enough to just see the landmark, treat like you would treat a model…. and ok it doesn’t listen and you can’t pose it, but you can still wait for the light, change your own position, zoom in to show details or leading lines, add something in the frame to make it funny, or weird… when you think about it the options are limitless.

Even from the “kodak point”.

A quick tip about light and the car

September 28, 2015/in Visions and technique/by Frank Doorhof

You must have at one point heard the expression :
“always carry your camera because it’s so fricking difficult to make a picture when you don’t have it”
And this is 100% true.
Even when we travel I always have my camera close by and I make no joke when I tell you that some of the most interesting shots were actually taken through the windshield of our car, it’s a totally different view than you’re actually used to, and sometimes the cars windshield actually helps in the lighting by adding some “funky” stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, a lot of these images end up in the pile “I love them but nobody is allowed to see them” but sometimes I really like a shot that much that it ends up in my portfolio.

While driving back to the Mandalay in Vegas we had to stop for a traffic light and the sun just hit the hotel (which has a very distinct golden hue) and the women wanting to cross the street. Now for some this might just be a picture/snap shot but I just loved the overal look and golden glow plus the added backlighting. If you don’t like the shot, no problem but remember that there can always be something that’s fricking awesome and you better have your camera handy……because otherwise you miss the shot.

Now how do you set the camera?
When driving I often have it set on auto ISO with a minimum shutter speed of 1/500 this way I know that if the car is moving you can always get something interesting…now do remember I don’t tell you to shoot while driving (blink blink) but it could happen, of course this is stupid and dumb…. but then again if you’re careful enough you could take some cool shots…. but just to make sure that you understand, this is DANGEROUS not only for yourself but most of all for the people around you so when doing this make 100% sure you do it safe, NO picture is worth hurting yourself or others.

Sweden Pt IV : some night shots

July 11, 2015/in blog/by Frank Doorhof

One of the things I like to do (if we are not to tired of course) is take some images during sunsets or just when the light starts to fade. I love the high contrasts of the lower sun and of course the colors of the sky with a sunset. But I also have to admit I’m pretty lazy with this, for street and locations I’m willing to travel but somehow the night shots I always try to take where we are….. maybe because we are always early risers 😀

Anyway, here are some of the shots we took in Sweden.

Sweden Pt III : Marstrand

July 10, 2015/in blog/by Frank Doorhof

One of the locations our friend gave us was Marstrand.
Park the car and take the ferry to the island, there is also an old fortress was all he told us.

When visiting Sweden I can HIGHLY recommend this area, it’s a very nice town to just walk around and relax, when you do climb all the way to the fort you will not be sorry, I have to be honest that I wanted to skip the fort, I’m not really a kind of person that likes the “touristy” stuff but Annewiek wanted to go so we went up and I have to say I’m incredibly happy I did, the view over the city was priceless and I can really advise you to do the same thing. Also the restaurants are really nice 😀