A couple of days I got a mysterious call from Canon Belgium, asking me if I was available today and if so, could they come by with a case with secret content? I hoped it would be the long awaited 5D Mark 3 and by yesterday all rumors on Twitter and Facebook indicated that I could be right. And yes, this morning Canon officially announced the new camera. So I anxiously awaited the arrival of the Canon guys at The Barn. Erik from Shoot Magazine also joined us and after a brief introduction, we got to play with the camera for about an hour and a half. I asked you all what I should test on Twitter and Facebook and tried to address as much as possible of your input. So here’s what I think:
THE SHORT VERSION
It’s an amazing camera! I’m getting one
I’ve uploaded full res unprocessed versions of theses files (EXIF included) to this Flickr set. Feel free to download the full res files for personal use. If you’d like to use these images any other way, please ask my permission first.
DISCLAIMER
- It’s after 10pm and I had a really busy day. I don’t like to write when I’m tired but I know you are all waiting for this post. So please don’t mind typos and stuff. I will blog more in the coming days.
- The test was done on a pre-production sample with pre-production firmware. So thing can only get even better when the 5D mark3 hits the market.
- I have to base my review on JPEG-files as there’s no support for the RAW-files in Lightroom (or any other RAW-converter) yet.
- I’m not a scientist and don’t do lab tests. This is my point of view, the point of view of a professional photographer that needs an all-round camera.
- We were too exited and had too little time to do a very organized test. It was all a bit chaotic but great fun.
- My friend and pro model Sylviane kindly offered to be our model for the test. She’s so professional, she looked even great with 4 guys geeking out around her.
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HOW DOES IT FEEL?
It might sound stupid, but I think it’s important that a tool that you use all day, feels right in my hands. And the 5D mark 3 certainly does, even slightly better than it’s predecessor. It’s just a bit easier to hold and offers a bit more grip for sweaty hands. All the buttons and dials are in the right place and it didn’t take me long to figure out the menu system.
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AUTOFOCUS PERFORMANCE
Let’s face it, the autofocus on the 5D mk2 wasn’t very good (and I’m being gentle here). So a lot of people hoped it would be better in the new version. Well, good news, the new autofocus ROCKS!!!!! It has 61 AF sensors, of which 41 are cross-type sensors. I did my best to place Sylviane it very challenging AF situations but couldn’t get the 5D mk3′s AF to fail or even hunt. The focus was instant spot-on even in very low light with little contrast.
The AF-system is almost identical to that of the 1DX and that’s very impressive. I did a little bit of testing in continuous focus on a moving subject and it seems like the camera will handle that really well too.
The new autofocus system is already reason enough for me to upgrade.
I’ve uploaded full res unprocessed versions of theses files (EXIF included) to this Flickr set. Feel free to download the full res files for personal use. If you’d like to use these images any other way, please ask my permission first.
HIGH ISO
The 5D2 was already pretty good at high ISO, certainly if you consider the resolution. For reportage-style I usually found iso 3200 the top of the usable range. With the 5D Mark 3 I tried ISO 6400 and it looks perfectly usable, even 12.800 is perfectly fine. Even 25.600 looks acceptable for weddings and events. So I figure you win at least 2 to 3 stops of usable ISO range. I’m very happy Canon didn’t jeopardize high ISO performance by putting a ridiculous amount of megapixels on the sensor.
I’ve uploaded full res unprocessed versions of theses files (EXIF included) to this Flickr set. Feel free to download the full res files for personal use. If you’d like to use these images any other way, please ask my permission first.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS THAT I LIKE
- I’m not shooting video with my DSLRs, so you should probably look elsewhere for more info about video. As far as I can see, there is no revolution in the video part but definitely an evolution with more options and better controls.
- The on/off button is now positioned on the top of the camera, which is a more logical place
- There’s a lock-button on the mode dial to prevent accidental switching from for example Aperture Priority to Bulb.
- Dual card slot: You can now have a CF-card and/or an SD-card in the camera. To me this it makes me feel safer to have all files stored on two cards but you can only make the camera switch to the second card if the first one is full.
- Better Metering: I’m a manual shooter but I’m sure that there are a lot of people who can appreciate better light metering
- Six Frames/second: Not something I need very often but sometimes it certainly comes in handy.
- Less Noisy Shutter: The shutter is not as loud as the 5D mark2 and there are some options to make it even more silent.
- I’m sure there’s other things, but these are the most important (TO ME)
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DOWNSIDES
I haven’t found any negative points about the camera so far. Except maybe for the price. Here in Belgium, it will start hitting the shelves at around 3.500 EUR. That is definitely more expensive than it’s older brother. Off-course, I would have liked it to be cheaper but I’d rather have a higher price tag than a camera full of technical compromises to keep the price lower. The guys from Canon also told me that the 5D Mark 2 will stay in production for a while so there’s still a cheaper alternative.
I’ve uploaded full res unprocessed versions of theses files (EXIF included) to this Flickr set. Feel free to download the full res files for personal use. If you’d like to use these images any other way, please ask my permission first.
CONCLUSION
Canon has clearly listened to it’s user base and build upon the still great 5D mark 2. They have improved the good things and fixed the autofocus big time. My 5D mark 2 is nearing the end of it’s life after more than three years of hard use (or should I say ABUSE) and I will replace it soon with a 5D mark 3. I am very impressed with this camera.
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THERE’S MORE
The secret case from Canon contained lots of other amazing goodies like the 1DX, the G1X, the new 24-70, the 24mm IS, the 28mmIS, the WFT-E7 (new WiFi transmitter), the GP-E2 (new GPS receiver) and … the brand new Speedlite 600EX-RT and the Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3. I mainly focussed my testing time on the 5D mark 3 but I had a little play with some of the other toys too. I’ll blog about those in the next days.
Yesterday, I posted part 1 of my GX1 review, here’s part 2:
As soon as I looked at the first pics I shot with the GX1 on my computer, I got the feeling that the GX1 could possible be more than an even better always-with-you-camera. Therefor I needed to test it in a real life situation: a photoshoot that would require me to create several different looks in a short amount of time.
I had a shoot scheduled with Sofie and she agreed to do it all with the GX1. Sofie runs a great fashion blog called Bien Sucré and needed some images for her business cards and other uses. Lots of different setups in only a couple of hours, seemed like a good stress test for the GX1. We started outdoors but couldn’t really find good locations that went with her outfit. The few decent places we found were so exposed to the cold wind, that we couldn’t shoot more than a couple of minutes. Here’s one of the few keepers:
1/200 – f/5.6 – iso 3200 – 12-42 lens @42mm
The new Panasonic 12-42 vario lens came with the test camera but being used to fast glass with a constant aperture of f/2.8, this f/3.5 to f/5.6 lens couldn’t really convince me. It has an electronic zoom which is probably great for video but not as fast and accurate to use as a good old manual zoom ring. The fact that I wasn’t too crazy about it also has to do with the fact that this must be one of the ugliest lenses I’ve ever seen. But it has to be said that the optical quality is amazing, certainly for that price. So I’m not saying it’s a bad lens, but some nice primes are more interesting (and unfortunately way more expensive) for photographers who want more control over depth-of-field and low light shooting.
After this cold adventure we decided to head back to the studio to come up with something useful. We started with a very basic setup with one speed light and a shoot through umbrella.
1/100 – f/5.6 – iso 160 – 12-42 lens @42mm
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1/100 – f/5.6 – iso 160 – 12-42 lens @42mm
We moved on to a clamshell setup with the speedlite and umbrella straight above the camera and a silver Sunbounce mini under the camera as fill. I like how the clamshell light worked on Sofie’s face in the first picture but I wanted less depth-of-field. Therefor I switched to my Canon 50mm 1.4 with a cheap e-bay adapter. On the GX1, my Canon 50mm, becomes a manual focus 100mm f/1.4. It’s pretty hard to manually focus at that wide open aperture but with lots of shots and a bit of luck, we got the eyelashes in focus like I wanted.
For a bit of a retro look, I wanted to work with a white background. I could have setup a white seamless or my Lastolite HiLite but as we had little time, I just used my big Chimera Octa that was already setup in the studio. There’s an Elinchrom 600RX in the octa and it’s triggered by it’s optical slave. The main light is a speedlite. Some shots with an umbrella, some shots with just the bare flash.
1/100 – f/5.6 – iso 160 – 12-42 lens @36mm
1/100 – f/5.6 – iso 160 – 12-42 lens @36mm
For a fashion blog I thought it might be quite nice to have the setup included in the shot. And it helps you get an idea of how this was shot 
I also played around with just the pilot light of the Chimera to see what kind of results I would get at iso6400.
1/125 – f/5.6 – iso 6400 – 12-42 lens @42mm
Looking for a different background, I saw one of my silver Sunbounces and figured it would make a nice background if I could get lots of reflections of it’s surface. I’m not a big ring flash fan and I must admit that I’ve only used my Orbis ring flash adapter one or two times since I got it a couple of years ago. But somehow it seemed like the right thing to do.
1/125 – f/5.6 – iso 200 – 12-42 lens @42mm
I just noticed I’ve written very little about the GX1 in this article and maybe that’s exactly the point. During this shoot and the post processing I hardly noticed that I was not shooting a pro DSLR. This got me thinking about my current gear setup, the kind of work I do, the kind of work I WANT to do more, budgets, investments, options, … but more about that as soon as I’ve figured it out.
And the GX1, I can be short about that: I bought one and made sure it got delivered before I had to send the test camera back
About a month ago, I posted about a studio experiment inspired by Matthew Jordan Smith. Some people requested some more info about the gear used on part 1, so let me go over it, before jumping to part 2.
Here’s the setup:
In the studio I use mainly Elinchrom monoblocs because I find them the best studio flashes for a realistic budget. I’m also very happy with the support and the rental possibilities from Servix & Partners, the Belgian Elinchrom importer. For this shoot, I used a single Elinchrom Style RX300 monobloc. The RX300/600 ‘s are the reliable, fast syncing workhorses in my studio. The strobe is fitted with the small white Elinchrom beauty dish (with the silver deflector and the white “sock” to diffuse the light as much as possible). A silver California Sunbounce Mini reflector is placed under the camera for some fill from below. And that’s it. All the rest is just a matter of testing, metering, fine tuning and more fine tuning.
For the second part of the shoot I wanted to shoot half to full body with just one single hard light. Instead of going for a standard reflector, I got out my Elinchrom Maxi Spot reflector aka The Sun. This reflector is designed to bundle the light and throw it as far as possible rather than creating an even spread of light. I often used it on location with my Quadra when I need more power than I can get out of a standard reflector at full power. The Maxi Spot squeezes close to two extra stops of light out of the same full power pop of light than a standard reflector. The price you pay for the extra power is a less even light but I actually like the less perfect light from the Maxi Spot better because it looks more natural. Prior to this shoot, I’d never used it in the studio, but I will certainly start using it more. I loved the light it created. We placed it pretty far and high (about 6 meters away from the model and 3,5 meters high).
Sylviane is the most professional commercial/lifestyle model, I’ve ever worked with. She plays every role you want … except herself. It’s not that she doesn’t want to, she’s just so used to be asked to give the lifestyle smile and the commercial poses. The biggest challenge I’ve set myself for this shoot is to shoot PORTRAITS of Sylviane, pictures that say something about who she really is. I think I managed to get that. And the main reason why I got it, is that we took our time to set up and test our lights. And once we were happy with it, we forgot about it and focussed on getting Sylviane out of Sylviane.
Lucie surprised me with the intensity she threw herself into the second part of the shoot. Her energy blew me away. This was one of those few instances where you just have to concentrate on preventing your jaw to drop onto the floor and push the shutter button.
It helps that Lucie has lots of experience at high end fashion shoots. But she also told me afterwards that the atmosphere has to be right to reach her full potential. That made me realize to pay even more attention to setting the mood: music, drinks, a warm studio and even more important … the right team.
Inge Van den Broeck is more than a make-up artist. She does hair too and has a great sense of styling. On top of that she’s just great fun to hang out with. She certainly had a big part in making these pictures more than just a lighting experiment. Steve Bayens had the most unglamorous job on the set: the assistant. But his eagerness to learn, kept me focussed not to make stupid mistakes and his hard work, let me focus on the big picture and not on all the small but important details.
This was such an interesting experiment and lots of the things I’ve learned will find a way into my daily work. This proves to me again, that as a photographer you’ve always have to keep pushing yourself. What was the last time, you did a shoot, just to learn something new?
A little over a week ago, I finally got the very first Confessions XL Video online but didn’t have time to blog about it before leaving for a well needed holiday in Scotland. Most of you probably saw the announcement already on Facebook or Twitter, but for hose who didn’t, here it is:
I while ago I wrote about my plans to get new instructional videos out that would go far beyond my original Confession videos on Youtube. As usual with such plans, even the most pessimistic deadlines proved to be aimed too high as there was a lot of stuff to figure out. But I’m glad (and proud) that I did push through. In short, in the Confession XL videos, I will take you on a shoot from start to finish, including the post processing. Here’s the trailer for the new videos:
www.confessionsXL.com is a new site to host the new videos. At the moment it’s still a quickly put together iWeb site, but soon it will be the stylish home of all my instructional activities: blog, videos, workshops, …
The first Confession XL video is titled GF1 Guerilla Style. Here’s the trailer for it:
The video can be purchased on www.confessionsXL.com. The normal price is 9,95 EUR or 12,95 USD but until midnight tomorrow I’m offering it for the special introduction price of 7,95 EUR or 9,95 USD. So if you want to get yourself a last minute New Year’s present, hurry to www.confessionsXL.com.
Big thanks for all the great reactions from the early adopters btw. And I would really appreciate it, if you would spread the word.
Having a personal style is important as a photographer but it’s probably harder to achieve than gaining good technical working knowledge. It takes years of hard work to find and then perfect your own style and vision. I’ve come to the point that I sort of know what I stand for and I think my clients recognize that too.
So style is important but to me it’s also a dangerous thing to have. You can get too confident and too experienced. It’s at that point that your style stops evolving. I can only talk for myself but I’m pretty sure a lot of my friends face the same problem. We’ve build a large comfort zone and the larger it gets, the harder it is to get out of it. It’s the been-there-done-that-got-the-t-shirt disease. But it’s an imagined disease. You may have been there and done that but there’s always another higher level at which you can be there and do it.
A long introduction to tell you that I did a test shoot which contained pretty much all things that I already knew how to do and a number of things that I don’t like. The inspiration to do this anyway was the Creative Live class by renowned beauty/fashion/celebrity photographer Matthew Jordan Smith.
The first part of the course is build up largely about a relatively simple beautylight/clamshell setup (see above): with a beautydish above the camera and a silver reflector below. This setup gives you very even light that makes every woman shine. The background is a white seamless and is let with the same single light source We moved our whole setup (including model) back and forth until we got the right amount of light on the background.
I’ve never been a big beautydish fan, it’s not that it’s bad but it’s just not my taste … or haven’t I tried hard enough to master it? The answer is … YES. It’s just easier to go back to the umbrellas and softboxes I know so well. It took some time of experimenting with all the possible variations in the setup but eventually we settled for the small Elinchrom white beautydish with the white deflector and the diffuser fabric (aka “sock”). I needed to push myself hard to try to make it work and I needed to push myself even hard to admit to myself that the beautydish can actually produce a kind of light that I like.
Does that mean a beautydish always works? Hell no, it depends on the model, the make-up, the story and the feeling. And that brings me to the TEAM. Most of my assignments (and budgets) dictate me to work alone (or with one assistant), without make-up artist, hair stylist and usually I work with “regular people” (no models). I’m good at getting good results by improvising. But if I want EXCELLENT results, you sometimes need to assemble the best possible team around you. So I called out for help on Facebook and got myself a real dream team.
I’ve been working with models Lucie Goossens and Sylviane Alliet before and experienced their combination of a great personality with great modeling skills. Both are very experienced models but they are still driven by a passion to create better and different images. It’s that passion that got them to drive over 100 kilometers to an unpaid test shoot with knowing any decent pictures would come out of it.
The same is true for make-up artist Inge Van den Broeck who performed her magic on Lucie and Sylviane. And she brings so much more to the shoot than just a case full of expensive make-up products. She brings vision, style and creativity to the shoot. Stylish and fashionable as I am, my directions didn’t go much further than: “uhm, yeah … I want that kinda sorta commercial beauty look … but not really commercial, you know … just a bit different … uhm … edgy without being edgy …” But Inge somehow understood my idea and did truly amazing things.
The last crucial member of the team was assistant Steve Bayens (who also assisted and shot video on the 70 EUR Studio shoot). Steve is a young photographer who’s just starting out with studio work. What he lacks in experience, is easily made up with spirit, a good eye and his ability to ask questions that challenge me.
I should have added another member to the team to really pull this off: a professional retoucher. I’m sure I could have found someone to retouch these pictures to perfection. But I just needed to get some quality time in Photoshop. I’m pretty good with Lightroom and about 95% of my work is Lightroom only. It suits my love for the beauty of the small imperfections and it allows me to work really fast.
But I wanted to go for this crisp commercial look and it requires lots of small corrections in Photoshop. I figured it would be a good challenge to brush up on my rusty (and limited) Photoshop skills. On the commercial jobs I can rely on professional retouchers but I have some personal projects coming up which will require me to do my own Photoshop work, so this was a good exercise.
I pushed myself so far out of my comfort zone for this shoot, that I was actually pretty nervous at the start although I would be working with all people that I know and like. But in the end I’m pretty pleased with the results. It’s not that I will suddenly shoot nothing but this kind of pictures but I learned a lot that will certainly have an impact on my work.
This was just the first part of the shoot. I’ll keep the second part for a future blog post.
Way too long A while ago I announced that I was working on the return of the Confession videos. Due to lots of work and the fact that I keep changing my mind about the best format, it’s all taking a bit longer than expected. But I want these new videos to become a long lasting project, so I figure I better take my time. One of the videos we already shot is about seeing if a digital medium format camera could fit into my often fast and improvised shooting style. Until the video is ready, I thought I’d already write up a review (sort of).
Until now the Pentax 645D was the only MF camera that kind of fitted my requirements. That’s not to say that the other medium format cameras are bad, on the contrary, but I need near DSLR productivity for it to work for ME. When I talked about my requirements for a MF camera, the guys from Servix told me that I wouldn’t be disappointed with the PhaseOne IQ140. So I borrowed one with an 80mm 2.8 Schneider lens for a personal shoot that would test the camera in a run-and-gun improvised kind of shoot.
We used the PhaseOne in combination with my favorite Elinchrom Ranger Quadra and a Lastolite Easybox and the Quadra Adapter. There will be more technical and why-the-hell-I-choose-this info in the video. But let’s just say that I thought it would be a high end equipment package that fits my shooting style.
I didn’t have time to test the camera or even read the manual before this shoot, but it all felt very familiar. There are no complicated settings, just all the basic stuff I need. The camera is a heavy beast but it didn’t get tiring. It sits very well in my hands and I had no problem shooting handheld for a couple of hours. The IQ140 back is also easy to operate and has a nice iPhone-ish touch screen. And finally I found a MF back with a more than decent LCD-screen. I can really judge my pictures on this screen. Which is an absolute must if I should want to use a MF camera on a daily basis.
When it comes to handling, speed, ergonomics, battery performance, autofocus, … this is probably as good as it gets these days in MF land. It’s not quite as snappy as your normal high end DSLR but good enough for me not to get frustrated about it after an hour of shooting. In fact, for my portrait work I found the camera slowed me down just enough to make better pictures than with a DSLR. I sometimes feel shooting my Canons is a bit like eating at McDonalds: even if you have plenty of time, you still shove your meal in your face way too fast. I know that nobody is forcing me to shoot (too) fast with my Canon, but I can’t help doing it too often.
The huge sensor and the great glass, give you incredible files. I was blown away by the look and the detail of the pictures. It also seems like you can pull and push the RAW-files incredibly far and still retain great image quality. This is the main reason why I’d considering shooting MF and the IQ140 certainly delivers. I think I’m going to have a couple of really big prints made because the small web size certainly doesn’t do the images justice.
Before this shoot I was pretty convinced shooting digital MF was something I’d only do for my high end jobs. But now I’m not so sure about that any more. It’s still not a replacement for my 5D2 when it comes to reportage but I’m going to rent a Phase One more often for portrait and commercial assignments. The big issue is still: can I justify the much higher price for my work and my clients? At this point, I don’t know the answer, but I’m certainly going to give it some more thought.
I’m sorry if I gave away how one of the upcoming videos will end but I really like shooting with the PhaseOne.
In this workshop we’ll help you get started in studio photography. You will learn about equipment, the basic techniques, working with models, studio workflow and how to setup your own studio whatever space and budget you have available. At the end of this day you’ll be able to create beautiful studio portraits.
THE DAY
We’ll start the day with a guided tour of the studio and explain all about equipment and how to use it. We’ll spend a lot of time exploring the basic techniques and setups with one to three lights and different background effects. We’ll explore high and low key portraits with different kinds of main light. While you are learning all that, we’ll throw in a ton of practical tips about organization, studio etiquette and getting the most out of your models. We’ll also look for solutions for your needs, available space and budget.
WHAT TO BRING
You basically only need a DSLR and a standard zoom lens. If you have a telephoto lens, even better.
Thanks to the support of Servix & Partners and California Sunbounce, you’ll be able to play around with lots of great toys from Pocketwizard, Manfrotto, Lastolite, Chimera, Elinchrom, Sunbounce, …
PRACTICAL
Location: The Barn, Dijkstraat 42, 1820 Steenokkerzeel
Time: 9h30 to 17h (I’m notorious for going over time)
Number of participants: max 4
Language: English (unless all the students speak Dutch)
Price: 195 EUR excl. VAT (235,95 EUR incl. VAT)
Workshop fee includes teaching and a tasty bread lunch
DATES AND BOOKINGS
- Tuesday June 12 : book your spot (3 spots available)
more dates will be announced soon
Between our family holiday in Portugal and a trip to Scotland for a portrait shoot, I spent one day in Germany. They guys at California Sunbounce asked me if I wanted to be their coach / teacher during the FotoTV Challenge. This event was pretty amazing and it was great fun to be part of it. One of the cool things was that the Sunbounce guys had set up “The Cage“. It’s one of the biggest light modifiers I’ve ever used but man, that’s great light. Here are some pictures I shot during demos with the local cheerleaders:
“The Cage” is basically a tent-like constructions with side, top, and back panels. All these can be changed from black to translucent or opened up completely. It’s not a coincidence that this modifier was developed together with one of my heroes: Greg Gorman – that guy really knows what good light is. (That reminds me that I still have an almost edited video about me shooting a couple of portraits of Greg last year).
It works in the same way as the “covered shade technique” aka “afdakskestechniek” that I teach almost all my students. You basically direct the light in the direction you want it.
I’m afraid the price point and the size of The Cage is not fit for a quick portrait shoot on a remote location. But I can imagine using it for commercial portrait jobs or shooting catalogs. The amount of control you get over the available light is amazing. And it’s nearly impossible to create unflattering light on your model. If you open up the back panel, you get a nice high key blurred background. The models inside The Cage receive less light, so if you expose for their skin tones, the background will get brighter. You still get that much appreciated happy lifestyle outdoor look but you are pretty independent from the position of the sun, weather, …
I kinda liked the grey background look too:
Here’s a video (mostly in German, except for the times when I was interviewed) about that challenge:
Thanks to all the participants, models, organizers, sponsors and viewers to make such a great event possible.
4 DAY+ MASTERCLASS
This full immersion 4 day+ photography boot camp will rock your world and challenge you like you’ve never been challenged before. It’s about technique, lighting, posing, business, post processing but it’s also about identity, ideas and vision. You’ll get to experience all this in the great atmosphere of a small group (maximum 6 participants), creative subjects and great food & drinks.
We have prepared a great mix of lectures, practice sessions, product presentations and post-processing sessions. At the same time, we have build in the flexibility to adapt the schedule to the needs of the group. Thanks to California Sunbounce and Servix & Partners, we have a whole range of toys at our disposal for our experiments: lights, modifiers, reflectors, medium format camera, …
Lunches on Monday and Tuesday are included. The two days we are on location, we’ll make sure you can get lunch at very good rates. Drinks are on me when we are in The Barn. The welcome dinner and diner on Tuesday are also included in the workshop fee.
SCHEDULE
We’ll start this masterclass with a welcome dinner at the studio on Sunday night, so we can all meet and talk about what you can expect in the following days.
Monday is safe portrait day. I strongly believe that a safe portrait is the perfect starting point for a creative photoshoot. It keeps your clients happy, is het perfect insurance for anything that can go wrong and it builds confidence for both the subject and the photographer. We’ll teach you bulletproof lighting techniques, tricks to loosen up nervous subjects, posing tips and much more. This day will give you a toolbox of techniques to get the job done even in the most extreme situations.
Tuesday will be all about lighting. We’ll spent most of the time in the studio to create both natural looking images and extreme lighting setups. At night we’ll have a nice dinner together followed by a lecture about the business of photography with some surprise guests.
On Wednesday we’ll be working on location. The morning will be dedicated to run-and-gun techniques that will allow you to make spectacular pictures in no time with a minimum of gear. In the afternoon, we’ll take “spectacular” to a new level for a big and crazy shoot. We’ll all have to work together to pull this one off.
Thursday morning is special request time. If there’s anything we’ve missed during the previous days or that isn’t clear, we’ll handle it. In the afternoon, you will be presented with a great subject and a challenging assignment. Before we say goodbye, we’ll do a last image review / cocktail hour.
FOR WHO
his masterclass is not for the faint at heart. This is only for passionate photographers who are prepared to work hard to take their work to the next level. If you really push yourself you might even take it to the level beyond the next. We expect a good basic knowledge of photography, your gear and your post processing software.
WHAT TO BRING
A bag filled with a DSLR, some lenses and a laptop are all you really need but if you want to bring lighting equipment or your large format printer, we won’t stop you.
PRACTICAL
Location: The Barn, Dijkstraat 42, 1820 Steenokkerzeel BELGIUM
Number of participants: max 6
Language: English (unless all the students speak Dutch)
Price: 910 EUR excl. VAT (1101,10 EUR incl. VAT)
Workshop fee includes teaching, model fees, equipment rentals, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, drinks at The Barn
DATES AND BOOKINGS
No dates set at the moment. Contact us if you would like to book this workshop.
BIG LIGHTS ON LOCATION WORKSHOP
Get your hands on some of the best battery powered studio equipment on the market for a full day of hands-on learning. Discover the power of big lights on location in a small group of maximum four participants.
If you need power and light quality, there’s no substitute for big lights. Rugged, compact battery powered studio strobes combine these qualities with portability and a high-end image. In this workshop you will learn how to improve your photography by using the big guns.
THE DAY
We will start the day with a tour of the gear and a discussion on how you can benefit from implementing big lights in your shooting style and workflow. Thanks to the support of Servix & Partners and California Sunbounce, you’ll get the chance to try out Elinchrom portable units with all kinds of modifiers like softboxes, reflectors, grids, ring flash and Sunbounce reflectors.
After a tasty lunch, we’ll start working on a couple of assignments that will push your creative and technical knowledge to a higher level under the Bert’s guidance. To end the day, we’ll break out the beers and discuss the pictures you’ve made.
FOR WHO
This workshop is targeted towards serious photographers who know the basics about lighting and want to learn more about using big lights on location.
WHAT TO BRING
You basically only need a DSLR and a lens. If you have your own big light(s), feel free to bring them.
PRACTICAL
Location: The Barn, Dijkstraat 42, 1820 Steenokkerzeel
Time: 9h30 to 17h (I’m notorious for going over time)
Language: English (unless all the students speak Dutch)
Number of participants: max 4
Price: 245 EUR excl. VAT (296,45 EUR incl. VAT)
Workshop fee includes teaching, model fee and a tasty bread lunch
DATES AND BOOKINGS
- Thursday March 22 : book your spot (4 spots available)
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