2021 calendar

October 20, 2020 in being a photographer

As I do every year around this time, I’ve been going through the thousands of images I’ve shot in the past 12 months in order to choose 13 for the calendar that I’ll have printed as a gift for clients, family and friends. Here’s my selection, with a few notes on each image.

Cover

Moonlight on the church of Cadaqués, in Catalonia – 6 October 2019 Fujifilm X100T, 23mm fixed lens, 1/60 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200 — Moonlight on the church of Cadaqués, in Catalonia – 6 October 2019
Fujifilm X100T, 23mm fixed lens, 1/60 sec at f/2.8, ISO 3200

January

February

Serkan, environmental portrait – 15 January 2020 Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/350 at f/1.8, ISO 100 — Serkan, environmental portrait – 15 January 2020
Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/350 at f/1.8, ISO 100

March

Office Christmas party, Brussels – 20 December 2019 Nikon D850, AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED, 1/250 at f/4.0, ISO 400 — Office Christmas party, Brussels – 20 December 2019
Nikon D850, AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED, 1/250 at f/4.0, ISO 400

April

Sara, environmental portrait – 7 August 2020 Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/180 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 — Sara, environmental portrait – 7 August 2020
Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/180 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200

May

Orphilus at Dada Studios, Brussels – 5 September 2020 Nikon D850, AF DC-Nikkor 135mm f/2D, 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 1600 — Orphilus at Dada Studios, Brussels – 5 September 2020
Nikon D850, AF DC-Nikkor 135mm f/2D, 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 1600

June

July

Abi heavily pregnant – 23 November 2019 Nikon D850, AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED, 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200 — Abi heavily pregnant – 23 November 2019
Nikon D850, AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED, 1/250 sec at f/2.8, ISO 200

August

Hortense, studio portrait – 10 October 2020 Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/250 at f/8.0, ISO 64 — Hortense, studio portrait – 10 October 2020
Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/250 at f/8.0, ISO 64

September

Yousri, Brussels – 3 November 2019 Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/90 sec at f/2.0, ISO 400 — Yousri, Brussels – 3 November 2019
Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, 1/90 sec at f/2.0, ISO 400

October

November

Studio portrait of a man – 6 August 2020 Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D, 1/250 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100 — Studio portrait of a man – 6 August 2020
Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D, 1/250 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100

December

Boy at a family party, Brussels – 28 June 2020 Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D, 1/250 sec at f/4.8, ISO 800 — Boy at a family party, Brussels – 28 June 2020
Nikon D850, AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D, 1/250 sec at f/4.8, ISO 800

Wedding album

June 09, 2020 in wedding photography

Here in Belgium, weddings are now authorised again, but the number of guests is strictly limited to comply with social distancing measures.

This morning I shot my first wedding since the end of February. Just 16 people were present. The bride’s parents, who live abroad, followed the proceedings via WhatsApp.

I prefer to work without flash whenever possible – flash not only distracts the people in the room from the emotions of the moment, but also renders them in a less authentic way. Luckily there was just enough light to allow this. I particularly liked the gentle backlighting on their faces for the first kiss.

The wedding took place in an old abbey, and the grounds offered a range of possible backdrops for formal and informal photographs. With everybody starting to relax after the heightened emotions of the ceremony itself, I managed to capture a number of good, unposed shots.

A Rolls-Royce, Rotolight and a ring

February 29, 2020 in being a photographer

I’ve had a busy week. It started with a wedding and a pregnancy shoot and finished with a marriage proposal. Between times, I successfully managed a technically challenging half-day session in the offices of a new client. All good.

Rights and copyrights

I put a lot of effort into earning, building and respecting my clients’ trust in me. I am often invited to witness and record scenes and moments of considerable sensitivity, whether personal or commercial. My normal contract gives me the right to use all images myself: “The Client grants to the Photographer the right to copy, reproduce, display, publish and sell the Images for any purpose and in any form, whether in print or digitally, anywhere in the world and without limitation of time.” Many clients have no objection, and understand that showing my past work is the best way for me to win new jobs in the future. But not everyone wants photos of their wedding or their office party to be shared online. I never argue about this. If the client prefers, I willingly amend the contract to explicitly renounce all usage rights, retaining only legal copyright of my work.

It’s for this reason that I won’t be including any images from the pregnancy shoot in this post. (Believe me, they are stunning.) The mother-to-be asked for complete privacy and of course I will respect her wishes. I’ll be going back at the beginning of April to photograph her again with the baby.

Please move the Roller

The wedding was a civil ceremony. When it was over, my clients wanted to make group photos on the steps in front of the building. But the Rolls-Royce that had brought the bride from the following group was parked right at the bottom of the steps. I asked the driver: “Est-ce que vous pouvez gentiment déplacer la bagnole, monsieur?” The equivalent in English would be something like: “Do you mind moving the old banger?” “Bagnole?” he snorted. “It’s a Rolls-Royce.” “I know. It’s gorgeous. I was just joking.” And he did, very kindly, move it away. But not very far, and some of the wedding guests took it over as a cool photo prop.

Technical challenges

Under the fluorescent lighting in the British Chamber’s offices

The corporate shoot was in the offices of the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium. It was a gloomy day so I was pleased to have LED/flash lights from Rotolight with me. But I was working in three different spaces. In two I was able to turn off the fluorescent office lights and use what daylight there was. But in the third a board meeting was in progress and the office lights had to stay on – there was very little daylight there anyway. The beauty of the Rotolights is that I could easily ‘tune’ them, from 3880 Kelvin to match the fluorescent lighting all the way up to 6300 Kelvin to match the daylight. With my camera’s white balance on ‘K’, I just needed to remember to make the equivalent changes there, too, each time I moved from one environment to the other. Getting the colour balance more or less right in camera saved me several hours in post and gave better results.

All’s well that ends well

And finally, the marriage proposal. For once, it really was a secret. Not only had Alex not told her girlfriend she was going to propose, but there was genuine uncertainty whether the answer would be yes. We had plotted for weeks. She would propose on the viewing platform on top of the Cinquantenaire arches. I would be there 15 minutes in advance and would pose as a tourist photographing the panoramic views of Brussels. Happily, I can report that the answer was yes! It was a lovely moment and I managed to capture the surprise, the delight and the tears. I cried myself, but perhaps that was just the wind.

A good week.