This weekend we finally got a bit of summer here in Belgium. Our backyard was filled with action from my own kids and some of their friends. And Kobe asked me if we could make a cool soccer picture of him. So we did a short improvised shoot to create some spectacular images. I grabbed my 5Dmk2, my 17-40, two 580EXII speedlights, some stands and my Pocketwizard TT1/TT5/AC3.

In a dimly lit environment, flash will freeze the action at lower shutter speeds but on this bright day, with the sky as the backdrop, you would see movement if you had to shoot within the normal sync speed range. With the new TTL PocketWizards you can sync at any shutter speed with the help of High Speed Sync (FP Sync for Nikon, I believe). I’ve never used High Speed Sync that much but it seemed perfect for the shot I had in mind on this very sunny day. For those who don’t know what High Speed Sync is: it’s basically a way to use flash above the maximum sync speed. These shots are taken just before noon at ISO100, f/4 and 1/4000.

The downside of High Speed Sync is that your speedlights loos quite a bit of power. Because I wanted to underexpose the huge amount of ambient light, I had to use two 580EXII’s on full power. Both flashes, slightly apart, are placed to camera right just outside the frame.

The secret to make this shot work was to get Kobe high enough so the sky could be the background. It’s easy if you have a trampoline in the backyard.
We tried a couple of shots with Kobe really kicking a ball. It soon became clear that it was possible … but it would take a lot of jumps to get it right. So I opted for shooting the jump and the ball separately and composite them together in Photoshop. I like to get things right in camera but if it’s faster and easier in Photoshop, I have no ethical objections to it.

The girls also wanted to have their own trampoline picture:

I’ll be doing a Pocketwizard TT1/TT5/AC3 workshop on November 13th. So if you want to know about the advantages of this system, book your spot.

I’m trying to work out a one weekend family photography workshop with four photographers AND THEIR FAMILIES. At the moment, this workshop is still in the planning phase but I’m pretty sure it will happen although the details might still change a bit. If you’re interested, let me know as I have quite a lot of planning to do for this one.

THE IDEA
The plan is to combine a family weekend trip with a hands-on family photography workshop. Not only does this allow you to learn a lot in a relaxed environment but you get to make tons of great pictures of your own family. The other photographers will also add their style, talent and creativity to your family album.
We’ll start by meeting up and getting to know each other on Friday night and talk about vision and how to translate it into your style of telling the story of a family. Over the next two days, the photographers will get together for a number of practical and theoretical sessions about: working with families, natural light techniques, off-camera flash techniques, documentary style photography, conceptual family portraiture, … Between those sessions you are free to practice what you’ve learned.
It’s not like your family will have to be on posing duty the whole weekend. It’s up to you to do things together with other members of the group or on your own.

PRACTICAL

- When: November 27-29
- Max 4 participants and their families
- Where: I was thinking about going to Centerparcs De Haan because it’s along the beautiful Belgian coast and I know the area pretty good. This kind of bungalow park is also suited for kids of all ages.
- Price: The workshop fee will be probably around 400 – 450 EUR (excl. VAT). You’ll have to take care of food and accommodation. A cottage is around 250-500 EUR (depending on the type of cottage).  I’ll contact the park to see if we can get a group reduction.

Click here if you are interested so we can get everything in motion ASAP.

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, model fee and a tasty bread lunch

DATES AND BOOKINGS
- Tuesday February 7 : book your spot (fully booked)
more dates will be announced soon

Small flashes allow you to work fast on location without much compromise when it comes to light quality. The new PocketWizards will let you work even faster with even less compromises and a number of unique extra options. In this workshop you’ll learn about TTL vs manual, flash above sync speed, hyper sync, … You’ll experience a number of situations in which the system can really make a difference.

THE DAY
A guided tour of the equipment and it’s possibilities is the perfect way to start this day, we’ll also take a look at the PocketWizard Utility Software. Then we’ll present you with a number of challenging situations in which the Pocketwizard TT1, TT5 and AC3 will make your life easier, your pictures better and your clients happier. We’ll test out TTL exposure for a quick portrait, we’ll stop action, we get shallow depth-of-field flash lit portraits, we’ll setup lights for an unpredictable first dance or event and we’ll find solutions for challenges that you face in your photography.

WHAT TO BRING
The new PocketWizards are currently only available for Canon or Nikon, so bring your Canon or Nikon DSLR, at least a standard zoom and your Canon or Nikon Speedlights. If you already have your own PocketWizards, feel free to bring them. If not, we got a Canon and Nikon set, you can use.
Thanks to the support of Servix & Partners and California Sunbounce, the studio is equipped with lots of great toys from Pocketwizard, Manfrotto, Lastolite, Chimera, Elinchrom, Sunbounce, … Most of these go beyond the scope of this workshop but feel free to try it out.

PRACTICAL
Location: The Barn, Dijkstraat 42, 1820 Steenokkerzeel
Time: 9h30 to 17h (I’m notorious for going over time)
Number of participants: max 4
Level: You’ll need a good basic knowledge about photography and elementary knowledge about using flash.
Language: English (unless all the students speak Dutch)
Price: 245 EUR excl. VAT (296,45 EUR incl. VAT)
Workshop fee includes teaching, model fee and a tasty bread lunch

DATES AND BOOKINGS
No dates set at the moment. Contact us if you would like to book this workshop.

The Speedlight Portrait Techniques saga goes on. In this workshop you’ll explore more advanced Speedlight setups that will make your subject look even better by using multiple Speedlights.  In a small group of maximum four participants, you can be sure of a very personal learning experience and a fun atmosphere.

THE DAY
We’ll start this day by quickly revisiting the most important basics by making a complete speedlight studio setup. This will also allow us to getting to grips with the challenges of using multiple lights and how they affect each other. Then we’ll move on to the more advanced techniques like producing beauty light in a couple of different ways, producing the glamorous soft Hollywood lighting with only hard light and some other rather unconventional setups. You’ll be challenged to bring all that knowledge into practice during a number of assignments.

WHAT TO BRING
Bring your camera and at least a standard zoom lens. Also bring your flashes, triggers and accessories. If you don’t have 17 flashes yet, don’t worry, you can supplement your own gear with some of ours.
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
Level: You don’t have to be a seasoned professional lighting guru to benefit from this workshop but a good decent knowledge of off-camera flash techniques is required.
Language: English (unless all the students speak Dutch)
Price: 245 EUR excl. VAT (296,45 EUR incl. VAT)
Workshop fee includes teaching, model fee and a tasty bread lunch

DATES AND BOOKINGS
- Tuesday March 20 : book your spot (3 spots available)
more dates will be announced later

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)

In this fully packed hands-on one day workshop, Bert will teach you the crucial lighting techniques to create stunning portraits anytime, anywhere. In a small group of maximum four participants, you can be sure of a very personal learning experience and a fun atmosphere

THE DAY
We’ll start the day with a lesson in choosing the right gear for the job and then we’ll proceed to an in-depth study of the most important lighting setups. Great light is all about subtlety, so during a number of exercises we’ll pay a lot attention to the fine art of flash placement, feathering, choosing the right modifiers and blending flash with the available light.
After a tasty lunch (included), Bert will present you with some lighting challenges and assist you on bringing them to a visually pleasing end. We will get you a great subject to shoot some pictures for your portfolio. We’ll end the day by discussing our images over a couple of beers.

WHAT TO BRING
You basically only need a DSLR and a lens. If you want to bring your own speedlights, triggers, … feel free to do so.
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: 245 EUR excl. VAT (296,45 EUR incl. VAT)
Workshop fee includes teaching, model fee and a tasty bread lunch

DATES AND BOOKINGS
- Thursday January 26 : book your spot (1 spot available)

more dates will be announced later

It was a great honor to be asked to speak at the second European congress of the Federation of European Professional Photographers (FEP). Accepting an offer like this might seem to be a no brainer but I had to think long and hard before accepting. I won’t go into detail (maybe I’ll do that later) but let me sketch out the climate briefly.

I attended the first congress in Valencia, Spain and had a bit of mixed feelings about it. The fact that my bag was stolen there, might have something to do with it but mainly it was because the rather formal setting of a congress might not be my natural habitat. I’ve also experienced some behind-the-scenes politics, which is something I just don’t want to spend any energy on. On the other hand, I became friends, got inspired and learned a lot by meeting people that I would have never met in my natural habitat. This and a number of other conversations over the last two years, led me to believe that the younger generation can learn a lot from the more experience generation and vice versa. I’m pretty new in the business and embraced digital and the web, which makes me part of the new generation. But at age 35 I can also relate to the older generation.

Some people really stuck their necks out when asking me to speak at the congress, people who share my belief that our industry needs strong organizations that bring experience and innovation together. I know it took courage to get me on the speakers list, so I decided to accept out of respect to those people, the industry I love and most importantly to my peers.

The setting of this congress was Lyon, France. We got some beautiful spring weather thrown in for free which created a bit of a holiday feeling. The French national organization, did a great job to make everything run smooth.

The congress started off with lots of awards and competitions and labels and … I know some people swear by the value of those, but I’m not that convinced. I saw some great work, but also stuff that wouldn’t win anything in my world. But then again photography is subjective and I’m happy for all those who won something.
I arrived in Lyon at 5am after three days of workshops and a night of driving. So it’s pretty clear that I was exhausted and sitting in a comfortable seat in a dark congress hall isn’t exactly the best way to stay awake. But the general quality of the presentations and speakers was very good and I didn’t have much trouble to get through the first day. A couple of speakers made a really big impression on me. So much that they deserve their own blog post, so stay tuned.

I was the last speaker on the second day. I was a bit nervous, mainly because I decided to do my presentation in French. My French isn’t that bad but it’s rusty and I’m certainly not used to speak in French about photography in front of 400-500 of my peers. It went rather well, partly because Bertrand Edel, a French reporter, did a great job helping me out on stage. He got me talking about my passions and forget the setting. Thanks Bertrand!

My presentations was mainly a positive message about how to embrace new technology and opportunities without forgetting the rich traditions of our craft. I also talked about social media, self publishing, sharing, cooperation, style, learning … and my short career in the porn industry (don’t ask).

If you want to know if it was any good, you’ll have to ask the people in the audience but I received lots of great comments from people who said they really appreciated the fresh view.

Big thanks to my buddy Ioannis for making the pictures of me on stage and the fun we had together in Lyon.

Some say the French are rude and to be honest, judging by the behavior of some waiters, shop employees, … there’s a certain amount of truth in it. But that doesn’t go for the French photographers. For the very first minute there was a very warm and friendly atmosphere at the congress. The unofficial part of such an event is at least equally important as the official program. You get to meet so many different interesting people if you open yourself up to it.

The second evening, the atmosphere was taken into overdrive at the gala dinner at Paul Bocuse’s restaurant. You’d expect a rather stiff, formal but tasty dinner at a restaurant with three Michelin stars. I was right about the food, it was delicious but I was wrong about the atmosphere. Within five minutes people were dancing on the tables.

YMCA in a restaurant ???

Stage diving on a gala dinner ????????????

After a night in which you’ve been dancing with a white wig on your head while your shirt is ripped of your torso, the boundaries between nationalities, shooting styles and generations are forever gone. And it was a miracle that pretty much everyone turned up at the congress on time for the final day. Again a day filled with inspiration and even more personal encounters.

The day and my pleasant stay in France ended with a walk into Lyon and a nice dinner with a group of friends. On the way back to my hotel, I let the photographer in me loose and started some new “fine-art photography projects”.

This is “white signs on dark backgrounds”

And here’s “Scandinavian ice queens in photo booths” and “Irish FEP presidents coming out of the closet” (sorry Neil)

I’ll do an inspiration post about the congress later and in the mean time, I’d like to thank everyone who made this a fantastic experience.