DigiEyes by Jan Verbeke

Bodyparts(1)

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:05:46 -0800

Studio session to reveal the beauty of the human body.

Fashionatta

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 9 Mar 2010 14:45:23 -0800

A picture from a emo b/w studio session we had this week. She really is someone I adore. I never met a girl with so many expressions 'in house'. Do check out her website : http://www.fashionatta.be

Erwin

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:05:55 -0800

Very nice portrait of a very good friend of mine. Almost looks like a Marlboro campaign where the man had to quit smoking :)

Postprocessing was done in Lightroom2

Pauline

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:37:26 -0800

Last sunday, I was invited by Pauline Grossen, a well known Belgian girl/model, to take some pictures. It's amazing how this girl loves the camera !!

Estelle

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 1 Aug 2009 10:27:50 -0800

During a castle photo shoot with Estelle, I've shot his picture. She is only 11 years old but very talented !!

Jona

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:58:48 -0800

A 3 year old boy, posing like a real model, ... amazing...

Matthieu

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 3 Jun 2009 11:17:55 -0800

This time a male model :) and indeed, another black and white portrait...

It's one of the younger men I find very special, especially with the dreadlocks. To emphasize this being 'special', soft light and of course b&w :) but no skin softening.

Bo

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:21:33 -0800

Last week, I was asked to take some pictures for a model, participating in a miss coast election. While shooting, I came across a pose I really love because there is so much emotion involved. The b&w post-processing is perfectly enhancing this effect.

Young supermodels(3)

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 10 May 2009 01:06:05 -0800

And here is another beauty from the streetkids shoot :). She's one of the twins I had that afternoon and I must admit... they are 99.99% identical !!!

Young supermodels(2)

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 7 May 2009 12:14:42 -0800

Another picture from the streetkids fotoshoot

Young supermodels

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:23:32 -0800

Last week, I've spent half a day with seven young Belgian supermodels(Pauline, Free, Camille en Louise, Lara, Rani en Tessa). The theme for the afternoon was '(abandoned) streetkids'. To enhance the feeling, I've turned the pictures into a high contrast BlackAndWhite. Here you see 2 of them, Pauline and Free. Stay tuned for next posts from the same series. I've used natural light together with a sunbounce.

90+90=180

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 2 Apr 2009 12:18:12 -0800

Some people are very fortunate to be in a good health when they are 'old'. Very few couples are very very fortunate when they both can grow 'old' together. This couple is !! Both "he and she" can celebrate their 90th birthday this month. The old man can still play the accordion at his age, incredible isn't it?

Let's hope they have quite some years ahead !!

Update : Today, 2 weeks after my visit, there is this mourning letter... Adolphe died at the age of 89 ...

Jolien in red

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:13:55 -0800

Jolien is back :). She's such a lovely girl to work with. Nothing more to add, no?

The opposite

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 7 Mar 2009 10:37:58 -0800

Shooting against the light, sitting 'the wrong way' on a chair, dark clothes, boots and hair, turning away the head, high contrast post-processing, ... opposition??

Jolien (3)

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 3 Mar 2009 22:53:05 -0800

Another picture from the Jolien photoshoot. Jeans is doing SO well when post-processed in high contrast black&white.

Jolien (2)

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 1 Mar 2009 10:20:41 -0800

Another picture from the shoot with Jolien. This time a sepia like, heavy contrast, LR processing, trying to bring about the feeling when you walk down deserted alleys and buildings.

Extreme processing

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:43:09 -0800

Extreme post-processing... Now and then I tend to apply it to some pictures, depending on the mood. Some days ago, Céline agreed to model before my camera. I took one of the pictures and let myself go in extreme processing.

Jolien

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:45:48 -0800

Maybe you still remember Jolien? I took her out on monday for an outdoor photo session. It was very cold, ... too cold to shoot for more than half an hour continuously. Between 2 sessions, she sat down trying to warm up a bit. Seeing her in that position, it reminded me of the Masters of chant covers. I positioned my strobe at quite a distance to get a hard light and took this picture.

Rani

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:18:50 -0800

Some months ago, I got an email from Rani asking me if I was interested in doing a photo-shoot. Rani is 14-years old and started modeling very recently. Last friday she had a day off and we planned an 'on location' photo-shoot. The theme for the day was 'the secretary'. More pictures will follow later on.

Listening

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 1 Feb 2009 11:32:33 -0800

Friday evening we went out with some friends and colleagues. I took my gear with me, as I always like to take pictures of people. Almost right in front of me, Fien was listening to a friend explaining something. This is always the perfect moment to take pictures :). Although the camera is not that small, they usually don't see it if they concentrate on a conversation.

The roof

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:06:09 -0800

It's really amazing. If I walk down the streets with my camera, I tend to look more around, trying to find things to shoot. This time, it was an 'ordinary' roof that took my attention. I'm quite fond of the end result, having applied the high black&white contrast, my favorite post-processing.

A lucky combination

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:51:40 -0800

Maybe at first sight a strange photo, but this picture is a combination of 2 completely different studio lighting setups. While looking for a nice combination of pictures, I came across the idea of 'merging' 2 shots. When mixing them together, I noticed that there are so many things alike, some people can/will think it was/is a photoshopped picture coming from 1 photo. Apart from the blue and b/w and the cutting, there is almost no post-processing.

The face in the blue picture, was lit by a softbox left and right, put slightly behind the Jolien. There was almost no light on the front of the face.

Update: I've added the 2 pictures I've used.

Bowl-a-way

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:13:42 -0800

While doing a photoshoot, I noticed my male model had some nice underpants :) I had to take the picture !! Kind of funny, isn't it?

Ans

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:39:22 -0800

Today was studio time again, playing with lights and shadows. Ans volunteered this time to be my model. If you need to have high contrasts on your model, it's very important not to have reflections or whatsoever in the studio, coz they really ruin the blacks...

The road to .... the castle

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:05:09 -0800

It's pretty cold nowadays in western Europe. Normally, we are not that used to freezing temperatures. Last week, we had some -8 °C days, which is already quite cold. Yesterday, I decided to talk a walk to make some winter pictures. This little road towards the entrance of a small castle, took my attention. Nature is so beautiful. We just have to take time to look at it.

Elke (2)

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 11:06:28 -0800

Here is another picture of the shoot I've done with Elke. This time a 'on the roof edge' shot with some increased contrast black and white postprocessing. Gladly, we didn't have to call 911 :)

Elke

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 13:26:57 -0800

Last week, I went out with Elke to extend her portfolio. It was quite cold, a bit too cold, so I decided to shoot some pictures without strobes, using the available sunlight, to reduce the time outside.

2009

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:49:41 -0800

"The older you get, the faster time goes", I still remember my parents telling me this. Writing my last years post, wishing you all the best for 2008, is still so fresh in memory... pffff... unbelievable how fast 2008 passed by.

Enjoy every single moment !!

A merry Xmas and all the best in 2009 !!

Jan, Veronique and Jindrich.

Bicycle race

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:56:23 -0800

Winter summer, warm cold, nighttime daytime, ... you see them quite a lot in Bruges: bicycles. Is it because Belgium is rather flat? Is it because Belgium has some famous professional bikers? In the Netherlands you see these bi-wheels even more !! This morning, I saw lot's of bikes at the train station. It's as though everybody took the train and left the bike behind.

Almost new year :)

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:30:37 -0800

Imagine a very large illuminated flowerpot (like this one), some water, lot's of ice cubes and then some bottles with different colored juices... The effect is amazing, especially when you have low ambient light. Let the preparations for the end of the year parties begin !! If you are thirsty, just open up a bottle (of champagne) and go and have a drink :)

Be prepared.

Cheers.

ISO 3200 (2)

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 6 Dec 2008 11:35:46 -0800

In the previous post one could see the outstanding noise performance of the Canon 5D mark II. This post is another example. Recording the existing ambient light is the best method of bringing about the atmosphere to people looking at a picture. Being able to go beyond 'normal' ISO values, helps a lot in succeeding in this task.

ISO3200

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 4 Dec 2008 13:06:56 -0800

Almost one week ago, I got a phonecall from a nearby store telling me the good news: my new camera, the Canon 5d Mark II, had arrived. It's my first full frame camera and according to what had been said about it, there is no reason to believe I will regret having bought it.

Some things 'astonished' me:

- my 24-105mm is now really a 24-105mm

- the DOF is much smaller

- the sharpness is terrific

- the shutter is very quiet

- the noise performance is fanastic

- there is now a really auto-iso going from 400 to 3200 when used in the 'auto' mode.

Unfortunately only half the number of images fit on the same CF card :)

The above picture has been taken at iso 3200. As you can see, very little noise.

The bottom picture shows the 100% crop of the bottom left part.

Black and white it is

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:06:45 -0800

Yesterday evening it was studio portrait time again :). I had invited Jolien for a photo-shoot. Normally, my b&w pictures show quite a high contrast, but this time I did not increase the contrast. Maybe you think it's too flat, too soft, ... who knows.

As for the setup: a big octa-softbox to her right-front, a small softbox to her left-back and a black reflector on her left.

The face of lace

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:06:17 -0800

"From 11 November 2008 until 1 March 2009 works of art, design ornaments and fashion concepts related to lace will be displayed throughout the length and breadth of Bruges - both indoors and outdoors". This is how the www.kantlijnen.be website is refering to what you can expect nowadays in Bruges w.r.t. contemporary art. Although I'm not that satisfied with the pictures, I wanted to share this with you. To be able to take pictures of this special lighting on the wall of the 15th century monument - the Ghent Gate - , one needs to put his gear in the middle of the street, during the night... not the most comfortable place if you ask me, knowing that cars come and go.

Sharon(3)

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 08:20:35 -0800

As promised, another picture of Sharon. It think you will all agree with me: she has those beautiful eyes !!

Dog's heaven

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 6 Nov 2008 09:48:38 -0800

Last sunday, november 2nd, we saw our little Snowy had problems walking. She sat down quite a lot and did not want to walk anymore. I called the animal clinic to verify if I could have her examined. By the time I arrived, I saw the condition was really bad. She was in a lot of pain. I had never seen her like that. They had to anesthetize her to be able to take some X-Ray pictures. The problem was an acute hernia, a severy one resulting in paralysis of both legs. I had to return home alone, knowing she maybe never would come home again. They've given her quite some medicine to see if the problem/pain could be reduced. The day after, I got a phone call with the bad news: there was no progress, still the paralyzed legs and the pain. Together with my wife and son, we then took the decision to put her to sleep as it was not justified to let her suffer that much. She passed away november 3rd, in the arms of my wife. The day after, she was cremated and now she is back home.

No more barking when we arrive at home. No more licking. No more 'hugging'. No more...

Rest in peace, Snowy. We miss you.

Sharon (2)

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 06:28:13 -0800

A few days ago, I've posted a picture of Sharon. This is another picture. To my opinion, it's a very strong one: a beautiful pose, a nice background and the b&w postprocessing.

Sharon

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:01:22 -0800

A few days ago, I had a photo shoot with a 16 year old Belgian model, Sharon. We had chosen a nearby castle as the place to be. She was dressed in a gothic style. I will be posting some more pictures very soon.

Afterwards

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:44:51 -0800

Last sunday, there was this great football game in the stadium of Club Brugge. Almost all seats were taken and there was quite some 'ambiance'. After having taken pictures of the game and some after-match events, I saw the big lights were switched off which was/is an ideal moment for taking some night pictures of the stadium. The colors were awesome!! I hope you sense (a bit) the same when looking to this picture.

Shy?

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:45:36 -0800

Some months ago... A beautiful girl, a lovely smile, ... a bit shy..., a nice DOF, a shining sun, a nice background, an enhanced b&w contrast, a large vignette, ...

Woef

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:13:50 -0800

"Woef" is how dogs bark in dutch :). When I was taking pictures of a football match on saturday, this little fellow was watching me. The moment I turned to him, he kind of posed for the camera. The 'against the light' effect and the way the dog is looking into the camera, is really striking. On the right hand side - in black - you can see the doggies boss.

Old and new

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:22:03 -0800

As I've already mentioned a few times (here and here), Bruges is a very nice city both during the day and the night. In this picture you see a 'bridge' from ancient architecture to modern architecture with the Pavilion of Toyo Ito in the background and the medieval buildings in the foreground). It is still hard to believe I've convinced myself to post-process a picture with these 'colors', as I'm normally not in favorite of these, but still... I think it's the best choice. It's not sepia, it's not black and white, it's something in between. Have I made the right choice here? What's your opinion?

Speed

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 8 Oct 2008 12:59:59 -0800

Fun at the local fair !!! Playing with the hand-controlled 'variable' zoom.

Choose a long exposure and change the zoom whilst shooting, providing the warp effect. It gives letters even a 3D effect. As easy as that.

Rubik's Cube

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 4 Oct 2008 06:32:25 -0800

Near the port of Zeebrugge, you always see containers, so many, so colorful, so evenly spaced. They always remind me of Rubik's Cube :). Recently I pulled over to take a picture of these 'tin cans'. There was quite some sunshine at that moment, reflecting beautifully the different contrastful colors.

Saturation and Brightness have not been changed. The increased contrast gives these vivid colors.

Kitty kitty

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:34:52 -0800

Cats... I love them. The more special they look, the more I love them. This grey one is really a beauty... nothing more to add. Just take some time to look at this beautiful animal.

Spare ribs

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:43:57 -0800

Parc Paradisio, as mentioned here, has a very nice simulation of nature. Nature shows life and death and so does Parc Paradisio. To enhance the drama of death, I applied a heavy contrast here.

Lindsay and Frederik

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:44:01 -0800

Last sunday, Liesbeth and me went to the seaside to take some picture of some friends: Lindsay and Frederik. I think we spent more time laying and shooting on the ground than standing up :). It was an afternoon full of fun. The sun was shining and ... love was in the air. This shot comes straight from the camera, except for a small crop on the right hand side.

So happy

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:12:22 -0800

Remember the couple I've mentioned before? This is another one from the wedding shoot. I love the way he smiles to 'the future' and she is already dreaming :) It's one of my favorite black&white's.

A haircut

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:13:42 -0800

As I have mentioned on this picture, children don't have borders and if they have some, they easily cross them. I adore the look on this little fellow's face while he is having a haircut :)

Maybe the DOF is too shallow? Sometimes I think it is, sometimes not...

Front row

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:50:27 -0800

This shot was taken while I was shooting a test match of Club Brugge. Four front row people 'watching' the game in a different way :). Quite funny, isn't it?

Some strong black&white post-processing, which is for me always nice for 'street' photography.

Nostalgia

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 22:02:24 -0800

Yesterday we were visiting some friends of my mother-in-law. Both of them are approx. 70 years old, but they still have a very young heart and mind. She is a master in making lace, he still runs 12km without any problems (and even run the marathon some 5years ago) and is a tremendous good cook (more than 10 years Spermalie). One notices immediately the unfinished lace wired to the bobbins on its cushion (correct word here?) when you enter the living room. Thanks Roland and Viviane for the great day.

At first, to stress the 'nostalgia', I wanted to turn this picture into black-and-white, but there is too little contrast in the pictures. The other trick, was the landscape cropping :)

Gorgeous

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 09:56:40 -0800

Children? I love them. They have something fascinating. There is almost no 'border', no 'stop'. They enjoy their play so much.

Swimming?

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:37:31 -0800

"Oh yes... if there is water. Unfortunately, I landed on the back of a 'colleague'. Hmm... Just give me another hour. I need some time, you know :)"

Water turtles are nice to look at. They take their time. We, humans, could learn from these reptiles, you know. This picture was taken at Parc Paradisio as well.

Woman

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:50:41 -0800

Last weekend, we were invited for dinner by friends. In the living room, they have some beautiful small statues the man made himself years ago. An interesting object to take pictures of, of course :)

No flash needed, as the light in the room did cast nice shadows on the small statue.

Breath of life

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:44:32 -0800

On this picture, Evita with her mummy. Evita means 'breath of life' and I think you will agree with me, seeing this picture, the name really fits her. It's a real pleasure to spend some time with this child. Blowing bubbles is great fun for the kids, but a tough job for a photographer :-P

Cleaning

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:48:31 -0800

She's a real cleaning lady, isn't she? The correct dress, the correct hair, the correct looks, the correct tools... :)

Why...

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 05:36:15 -0800

Yesterday, I had "a(nother)day in paradise", being Parc Paradisio near Ath. Lot's of animals, flowers and plants over there. Although it is nice that you can see al these animals from a close distance, there is always the darkside... the captivity. Just look at this guy/girl and you will see what I mean...

Rolling rolling rolling...

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:19:41 -0800

Next to our house, close to Dranouter, I referenced some days ago, the farmers were very active, that weekend. Quite some rain was coming our way, so it was time to collect the hay. Amazing, how fast they get this job done nowadays.

Me and my 'marcelleke'

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:06:57 -0800

There are quite some people who ask themselves where the word 'marcelleke' originates. Here I could find quite some info on the origin. Apparently, a boxer - Marcel Cerdan - used to roll up his sleeves after 10 minutes, ... As far as I know, it is sometimes called a 'singlet' as well.

In this picture, you see Thibault wearing one of his favorite 'marcelleke's :)

Big brother is watching you...

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 00:14:53 -0800

Sometimes it can take quite some time, till one can shoot a nice picture of a cat, especially if they see you coming with a camera with a 70-200mm attached to it...

Lucky me :) This little cat did feel quite comfortable - after a few attempts - and even had time to watch some flies/bees while I was trying to get a clear shot.

Natural vignettes

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 08:42:04 -0800

Yesterday, I returned from a long musical weekend at Dranouter. Although the weather was not always that good, it was great fun and entertainment. We stayed in a house 10km from the Dranouter field in a cottage with a beautiful garden with quite some different flowers. After a quick check with PicLens, I saw it was quite some time I've posted a picture of flowers.

I've chosen to upload this picture because of its beautiful colors and the background providing a 'natural' vignette. No extra post-processing has been applied.

Kings and queens

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:08:05 -0800

A few days ago, we visited some friends and they happen to have this gorgeous chess-board, positioned on a small table, enjoying some incoming sunlight.

I took a few shots of the board because I thought that the combination of the glass, a shallow DOF, some tilt and the incoming light would give a nice result.

2 pictures here with some different parameters. Which one do you prefer? It would be very helpfull if you could provide some explanation on your choice.

Scary

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:17:45 -0800

Nowadays, you see lot's of those 'modern' mannequins in the streets. If you want to sell clothes, you have to show them, don't you?

Last night, I was walking through the streets of Bruges and this one got my attention. Some mannequins have a different look/effect during the day and the night. The shadows of/on the mannequin look very different during the day. At night, they have a scary, zombie look.

Against the light

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:48:19 -0800

Pieter and Ans got married a few weeks ago. It was a great day. We didn't have rain, we even had quite some sunshine that day.

What I personally like about this picture, is the top-bottom contrast gradient with the silhouette of the bride and groom.

Pieter and Ans (2)

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:31:15 -0800

An experiment in low light studio conditions. Two soft boxes controlled the lighting to almost equally light both persons. With only 1 soft box, there was too much unbalance between them. A 'low light' picture it is, but can it be categorized under 'low key' ? What's your opinion?

Pieter and Ans

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:59:43 -0800

It's not the first time I've spent some time with this couple taking pictures, but it was the first time in a studio. And as it was the case during the other shoot, it was fun again :)

Siska

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:54:58 -0800

Some time ago, I had a 'group' assignment for photography class. I promised a few girls from that assignment to spend some time with them in a photo-studio. We waited for school to finish, before 'jumping' into the studio. They brought quite some attributes/clothes and enjoyed discussing what to wear :).

The orange of the seat goes nicely together with the brownish tints in the dress, hair and skin.

Hair studio

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:52:12 -0800

The hair studio is for all brides - I think - the first place they visit on their wedding day.

This is a composition from a wedding shoot I've done some months ago. The wedding photo album is 39x33 cm. The above picture covers two pages.

Wet wet wet...

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 9 Jul 2008 13:35:27 -0800

Not only football players can have wet feet during a football game, the referee and the 2 assistant referees (aka linesman) do have a 'wet' time during a rainy match. The more 'pools' you have on a football field, the faster your socks get wet.

Tonight was another rainy day in Belgium. Summer started off very bad here. Let's hope it will rapidly change.

The only post-processing I've applied is the 300 preset.

Delicious...

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 2 Jul 2008 09:00:20 -0800

Yesterday, we had lunch in Ter Leepe near Bruges. This restaurant is famous for its delicious meals and I have to admit... I was astonished. Here you see one of the starters. Let me try to describe what's on the dish: a Norway lobster on a bed of tomato, a gel of fried chicken and carrot cream on the left, tamarillo and spaghetti of Norway lobster bouillon on the right.

The bulb

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:37:16 -0800

If you don't want to stick to an ordinary light bulb, then use a bigger one :)

I've applied some vignetting here, to stress the fading of the light.

Staring

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:30:48 -0800

On the left hand side a window where bright sunlight was coming through. At the right hand sight, no windows at all, only the light from an open door. At first I thought I would need some additional light to brighten a bit the room. At the end, I tried without additional lighting and I'm very pleased with the result.

Although the graffiti on the wall looks better in color, I've turned this one to b&w and enhanced the contrast to make the portrait stronger.

As far as the surgery is concerned, everything went fine. I was the first one on the friday schedule. They removed, as planned, a small part of the meniscus. I'm already able to bend the knee to 110°, though still 'running around' with crutches. Since friday, it's a bit swollen, feeling a bit warm. Tomorrow I'm going back to work. From today onwards, it's physiotherapy time... :(

Animal clinic

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:10:58 -0800

In march, I've spent a whole day at the vet's taking pictures. In may, the clinic moved to a spot nearby. The first picture you see is the brand new animal clinic at dusk. The second picture is an interior shot of the clinic's radiology room.

Both shots are taken with the Tokina 12-24mm. I don't take that many shots with a wide angle. The Tokina gives very good results for its price. Some photoshopping was needed here to get rid of the perspective distortion.

The first one was taken at dusk: no direct sunlight that could cause burn-outs, just enough ambient light. Your first impression might be that I've waited too long, as the ambient light is not that strong. I've taken some earlier shots, but this one gave the best combination of the ambient light and the outdoor lighting.

The day after tomorrow, I need to go to hospital for some surgical intervention: a partial meniscectomy of the left knee. I hope to be back soon.

Reaching...

Jan Verbeke — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:46:24 -0800

I think this pictures speaks for itself: a happy young couple enjoying the shoot. The post-processing consists of high contrast b&w and a panorama cropping to enhance the symbolism of the eyes-arms-fingers line.

Watching you...

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:22:01 -0800

Remember this couple? This is another shot from the deserted factory shooting. I did not use extra light coming from the left, because I wanted to have the strong contrast between the left and the right to increase depth in the picture. The other two things helping to create depth are the DOF and the fact that he is looking to the camera and she is not.

Am I being served?

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 04:41:00 -0800

After one year of photography course, I noticed that the way I look at pictures and shoot pictures has changed.

1. I prefer to take pictures of people. It provides me some adrenaline I don't sense when taking pictures of things that don't move (still life). There is very little chance you can do it, taking the picture, over (and over) again.

2. I have a strong preference for b&w pictures with high contrast, as it increases the 'sensation' I feel when looking to the picture. This does not mean I don't like the other stuff :)

In this picture, you see how people 'spend the time waiting' till they get served. The picture is taken at the local market.

Modeling

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 22:02:40 -0800

This is the girl you saw in my yesterdays picture. In the past, she has been modeling quite a bit. As mentioned yesterday, we had a lot of fun. There were also serious moments :) It was the first time I experienced with 2 flashes. I had one on my camera, the other was positioned at her right, a few meters behind. There was also coming natural light coming straight from the right hand side. Your opinion on the lighting is appreciated.

Peeping inside

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:43:27 -0800

When you hear sounds coming out of an abandoned place, just have a look and you might find something interesting :)

Just kidding... I went to a deserted factory for a photo-shoot with a young couple. Never had so much fun during a photo-shoot. I ended up with some pictures I really like. Here is one of them, shot through a smashed windowpane.

No b&w please...

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 1 Jun 2008 03:25:25 -0800

A friend of mine has quite some chameleons at home. In his living room, he has a huge terrarium. Chameleons can indeed change colors, not because of their surroundings, but mostly because of their mood. Chameleons have very long tongues(sometimes longer than their own body length) which can be extended in a very short time to capture their prey.

Still a long way to go

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:15:27 -0800

Although we see many cars passing by, there are still roads and moments where cars are absent. This was such a moment, while I was in 'Les Ardennes', the southern east part of Belgium. It feels so good, when one 'hears' the silence and 'sees' not one car.

Love...

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:46:15 -0800

Two youngsters... in love... a tender moment. They can almost eat each other, what is about to happen here :)

If the walls could speak...

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:51:28 -0800

Bruges is loved a lot by tourists. One can see here people from all over the world, visiting the 'Venice of the North'. The centre of Bruges is not that big. Almost every house in the centre has its own story. Many people are interested in these stories and are reading the info in front of the house(s).

Seen me?

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:38:41 -0800

Sunlight coming from behind the model, an alley, a model, a reflection panel and a camera. These are the ingredients of this picture. Luckily I had a friend with me to hold the reflection panel. I personally link the silhouette line on the jacket border, the long shadow in front of the model and the depth in this picture because of the shadows. Maybe a smaller DOF would be better to mask out the background, especially the car.

Zen

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:07:17 -0800

Is she going into trance or not? This one was shot outside at very cold temperatures and I think she was trying to forget the cold :) Besides the low temperatures, she got the sun behind her, though not giving warmth, just light.

Collecting time(2)

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 18 May 2008 02:08:16 -0800

Nature is SO colorful,... just look around :)

Almost at the top

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:33:57 -0800

Amazing how much energy these little kids have! Remember my nephew's little friend? While sorting out the pictures we have to hand over on monday for photography class, I came across this one. This is the little brother of my nephew's friend.

After a year of photography class, I can say that I'm looking in a different way to the world around me.

Waiting

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:14:16 -0800

During one of my visits to the local vet, this dog was waiting to 'see the doctor'. He was operated on the week before. Everything seemed ok afterwards.

Closed

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:59:11 -0800

After one of the football matches my son had to play, I was wandering in the neighborhood of the football fields. This small barn/shed drew my attention because of the nice shadows, cast by the sun.

Beyond...

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:46:14 -0800

With this picture, I want to try out something completely different. The starting point, was a portrait, shot against a blue sky. Because of the backlight, one could not see much of the blue sky. In Lightroom, I've put white vignetting to the max and I've exaggerated with both exposure and brightness as well, which gave me the above result giving a dream effect.

Never again...

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:20:54 -0800

This is the last picture I'm gonna post as a tribute to François Sterchele. Yesterday evening, there was the last competition match of the 2007-2008 season Club Brugge had to play. There was no music, except for the "You'll never walk alone" just before the match. It was amazingly quiet in the stadium almost throughout the whole match, except for a few moments, e.g. when everyone shouted "Sterchele ole ole ole" (so loud you could here it miles away), moments when you could here a very sudden loud applause, ...

You'll never walk alone, Cois.

Destiny

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 9 May 2008 11:45:12 -0800

In march, Club Brugge had a supporters day in an amusement park in Belgium. François Sterchele, who died yesterday in a car crash, was one of the players everyone wanted to have a picture with. I wanted to share this picture with you all.

Why destiny as title? Because of the following:

He always played with number 23 --> 2 + 3 = 5

He died at the age of 26 --> 2 + 6 = 8

He died on may, 5th 2008 --> 8/5/2008

8/5/2008 ==> 8 + 5 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 8 = 23

You'll never walk alone, Cois...

In memoriam

Jan Verbeke — Thu, 8 May 2008 12:43:19 -0800

Never again will he play on a football field. Last night François Sterchele died in a car crash. Club Brugge and its supporters, just loved the 26 years old guy. He is smiling here to the supporters during his last home match.

Yesterday, there was joy and laughter (30 Years ago, the Bruges football team played the finals against Liverpool).

Today, it's the complete opposite: mourning.

You'll never walk alone, Cois...

Icarus

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 7 May 2008 13:48:19 -0800

In the late evening, before sunset, while we were in 'Les Ardennes', we saw ten air-balloons filling the sky. The orange like color of the sky with this one balloon almost flying towards the sun, like Icarus once did, was not an easy task to take a picture of, because of the light differences.

The post-processing consists of reducing a little bit the highlights.

Framed

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 6 May 2008 11:36:59 -0800

During a short vacation in 'Les Ardennes', we were wandering through Durbuy, which is according to its citizens, the smallest city of the world. A woman was taken a picture of a restaurant. I noticed the mirroring effect in her sunglasses and stopped in front of her to take this picture. Afterwards, I was astonished of the great mirroring effect.

Fences

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 5 May 2008 07:28:12 -0800

Fences, ... you see them everywhere... different kinds... different materials...

Model shooting

Jan Verbeke — Sun, 4 May 2008 08:08:24 -0800

A few days off. Heading for the 'mountains' (only a few 100 meters high, but compared to the flat region I'm living in, they look like mountains) with some friends. There was quite some nice backgrounds to take pictures. Eventually we have some nice sunny weather here, in Belgium... but the sun is not THE most wanted thing when taking pictures...When it's cloudy and the sun now and then plays the peek-a-boo game, it's really difficult to balance the light.

Ever seen such gorgeous blue eyes?

Grrrrr....

Jan Verbeke — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:20:35 -0800

He was not angry at all, just yawning :)

Vortex

Jan Verbeke — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:58:11 -0800

Another assignment we got in photography class: shooting textile. It's all about combining the different kind of scarves and choosing the correct lighting setup.

Waiting for U2

Jan Verbeke — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:45:47 -0800

U2 = you two...

It's just a table for two, waiting for hungry people to spend a romantic evening.

Blowing in the wind

Jan Verbeke — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:35:09 -0800

Wind turbines, you see them more and more. This one is 80m high, and has blades of 30m long. It took some time, to have the correct angle. There was quite some sun, but still I wanted to show the moving blades.