the week through my lens

my days in cups of coffee or tea ; reading inspirational magazines indoors or looking for inspiration outdoors ; a spicy peppercino at Starfish & Coffee 

Hi you lovelies. What a week it has been. Did you see that amazing collab from Rodarte x And Other Stories ? Just loved every single piece of it. That cropped white blouse was my favorite as was the aviator jacket.

I've managed to rush in to get a sneak peak last Thursday but unfortunately, the jacket was already sold out in my size. Oh well. I own many jackets and coats, it's not like I will freeze to death.

I discovered a great new magazine at IMS ; Toc Toc Toc is an inspirational magazine, traveling around the world, discovering new places and people starting as an entrepreneur, presenting their brand or project.

I've also got the first of my backdrops in the mail ; am so glad this beautiful bokeh one was the one to be delivered ! I'm using it for a photo boot in a couple of weeks time ; perfect for a wedding I am doing in April. The bride-to-be was over the moon happy when I showed her this testshot. 

And talking about shoots ; my daughter {India} had the opportunity to choose some lovely items from pop-up shop Sincerely Valentine to show on her own blog. I made the pictures for that blogpost {check it out here} ; if you're a sucker for chunky knit, a visit to the pop-up store is a must-do on your list. Also, if you find the price tag too pricey, Valentine sells some DIY knit packs, including needles and all to make it yourself for under 50 euros.

 

mohair ombré knit jacket by Sincerely Valentine

instagram marble is the new black

Are you guys also as much addicted to Instagram as I do ? Do you glance at your smartphone first thing in the morning to see how many hearts your account has gained ?
Even before checking your mails ?

Then you are Insta-addicted, just like me. The world can be such a shitty place sometimes and I just don't want to wake up hearing all terrible news first thing in the morning. I'm a morning person and don't have morning moodiness but I do like to wake up in slow-mood ; that's why I wake up early and take my time to shower, pamper myself and get dressed without rushing.
Love to watch all beautiful pictures posted by the people I follow while my bath is running. When I'm dressed and enjoying my first coffee, the Insta-peek continues at my kitchen table.

My Insta-week was light and airy ; I did a lot of photographing for my Architectural class and took a lot of whitewashed pictures of interiors. My schoolwork involves a lot of shooting and I often notice it reflects my Insta-mood too.

The picture of Serge Gainsbourg was an hommage to the 25th anniversary of his passing ; although I hate smoking, smoke is a beautiful 'prop' on any picture.
That's why I decided to shoot fabric for my Object + Matter in such a way, that it looked like a wisp, rising up to the air ..

I got a lot of positive response on this one ; hope my teacher likes it too !

photography #5

#engaged

pomme d'amour and look at that engagement ring ! 

Yesterday, I did my very first real engagement shoot. I did lovers and friends before but never  a couple that has set a date to get married.

Luckily I had a lot of practise with these other couples - in love but no ring - to get ideas and how to use my settings and lenses for this kind of photoshoot.

The weather was awesome, sunny and warm and for the location we decided to take it to our local fair in town. The good part about that is you can make your couple do stuff, get into real action shots and props are available all over the place ! 

So, when you decide to engage in a shoot, think it through. Don't choose your location randomly but check places out before the actual date.

You can do a rehearsal with a voluntary dummy so when the actual shoot date has arrived, you know the best spots and light angles. 

photography #4

#choices

Objects are easy to find ; in fact, you can photograph anything you want or like.

Once you start working with real models, I just guess you need to be sure your social skills are accurate. It's important you direct the person in front of you in such a way, he or she knows exactly what to do, what pose to strike without looking stilted or artificial.

Smiles aren't neccesary for good images ; they often look foppish and strained.

A good way to get a true radiant smile is to talk while your working, small talk but always ready to hit that button (I always use my burst setting) ; succes guaranteed to get that 1 striking picture.

photography #3

Remember the post I did on backlit photography ? 

The best way to get the face visible was to change your metering settings to spot instead of matrix.

Now, suppose you don't have your digital camera on you and let's say, just a smartphone, you can easily follow this trick to achieve the exact same effect.

Search for a piece of white paper, anything white will do and use it as a reflector !

Hold the white object under your face - be attentive the paper does not pop up in your picture {frame} - and take that shot !

The paper or reflector captures the rays of light and projects them towards you and your face. 

Always remember that the best backlit pictures are the ones taken during the golden hours !

Now, go out and try it yourself ! 

photography #2

Aperture f5 - exposure 1/100 - ISO 200

Time for another great tip to share with you guys !

Many Pinterest addicts amongst us have at least 1 or 2 images somewhere on their boards containing the tag #backlight or backlit.

I'm pretty sure you have. Go on, admit it ! 

And deep down you're all a bit jealous about the beautiful effect backlight gives to any picture.

Gather around, for today is the day I will share how it's done !

Take your camera and browse your custom settings menu. Go to metering and you will notice 3 (quick) setting : matrix - center-weighted and spot.

Click spot. Spot ensures your model or subject will be correctly exposed even when your background is much brighter or darker, in this case, the sunlight right behind your model.

Another important thing you need to know is that backlight photography will give you the best results when the pics are taken during the golden hours. This is the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset during which daylight is softer compared to when the sun in higher in the sky.

Try to position the sun right behind the model, out of the frame or -this is the hardest to get it right- in the actual shot. Try using aperture settings between f2.8 and f5.6 max ; wide aperture settings will give a shallow dept of field. You will achieve the typical lens flare that makes the picture even more 

special. Shutter speed must be between 1/100 and 1/640 ; try some experimental shots at first with your AUTO settings to see where you're headed before switching to MANUAL.

The picture above shows my model of the day, Lobke. She did a pretty good job posing for me and we got some nice results. This one did not make it for my final portfolio but it's one of my favourites of her.

FYI : she's wearing a top from H&M 

photography #1

#1

My life has changed so much in 2014 ; going back 'to school' again gives me so much energy - it's like all these good vibrations were hidden somewhere inside of me but dozed off somehow and needed to be kissed awake again by a knight in shining armor.

So the other day I was thinking, why not share some of the best things I already learned and discovered myself, who knows, it might come in handy to pimp your holiday snap shots.

Invest in a good body lenses

Many people think an expensive body makes better images. Partly true but not completely. 

If you own a reflex camera and it works just fine ; perfect !

If you're planning to buy one but your on a tight budget, why not consider a good second hand body ?

The body is mainly your work instrument ; look up your manual and make an effort reading it. Note down the main functions of your camera, get to know it and don't be afraid to touch buttons.

Most cameras come with a standard zoom lens, for ex. 18-55mm or 17-85mm.

These are okay and nice to work with but I personally experienced way more interesting pictures with my focal 35mm and 50mm length objectives. Invest in these kind of lenses. You won't regret it. 

What makes a wide angle lens unique ? A common misconception is that wide-angle lenses are mainly used when you can't step far enough away from your subject but still want to capture everything in a single camera frame. Unfortunately, if you were to only use it this way, you'd be really missing out out ! Wide angle lenses are often used the opposite way, when you want to get closer to your subject. So what I'm telling here is, it's you who needs to do all the movement, instead of your camera. 

On top, you need to think more carefully about your composition as these lenses create more space in your images. Try to search for some visual lines and a relevant forefront ; they will help you to accentuate and keep your composition together. 

To inspire you, type Lucien Hervé via Google and click images.
Because 1 image will explain more than a 1000 words.