May 2013
1 post
12 tags
The Monochrom
Back home for nearly two weeks, it’s time to look back at a wonderful trip. Because I had to return the Monochrom to Transcontinenta BV, who very kindly supported me with the camera for this long experiment, I would like to look back at working with this wonderful camera.
It felt like a crazy decision at first, going to the land of colour with an all black & white camera. And the...
April 2013
3 posts
Mark of Excelence...
One of my pictures has gotten a mark of excelence in the I-Shot-It Child photography contest…
Monks in the dark...
One of the most fascinating things in the world for me is religion. I find it mysterious, visual very attractive and I don’t understand a thing of it. I don’t judge, I think everybody is entitled to find their own way of coping with the world, I just don’t understand it. To me it doesn’t make sense. So when that happens, I grab my camera. It’s a way for me to get...
Close up Fishermen
Going out on a boat early morning at Inle lake, Burma, I had amazing views across a peaceful and serene lake. As most action was more then 5 meters away from my boat, I was forced to use my Summicron 75mm lens. A lens I haven’t been using a lot during this trip. What fun it was to be using it again. Getting the pictures I wanted sometimes still stayed a challenge, but with this lens and here...
March 2013
5 posts
14 tags
I need help!
Sometimes, you need to admit you’re in need of desperate help. This is one of those times. When on the road for a long period of time, shooting as many pictures as I have, you can lose track and certainly objectivity of the pictures you have shot. I can make a reasonable estimate on which pictures are good and which are even better, but picking out just one black and white photo out of all...
14 tags
create opportunity...
So Bangkok just didn’t really work for me, even though I wanted it to. It just wasn’t the time. A train ticket to Ayutthaya would help me ease the pain… I thought. Unfortunately in the start, it didn’t. This place is full of old temples and is lovely to ride through on a rented bicycle, but it didn’t really give me the inspiration that I was looking for. At the moment...
Say yes...
After a few days of feeling miserable because of a writers block, I decided to talk with one of the owners of a little street-bar. He looked nice, had a charismatic face and after a couple of gin tonics I had the guts to ask him if I could photograph him and his friends in his own neighborhood. He thought it would be cool and invited me to stay at the apartment building the next night, sleeping on...
6 tags
Block...
Suddenly I realize what a writers block means to a writer or a musician. And I know now, that a photographer can have the same problem. Sure you can take pictures of everything and anything, but that doesn’t mean that it will inspire you, let alone your viewers.
Coming from India to Thailand I didn’t know what hit me. From complete chaos and disorder I stepped into a world of...
6 tags
100 Cameras project
The reason why I take photographs is to make more sense of a world I understand less every day. When you are a little human being, a child, I can only assume you understand even less of what all these grown ups are doing. These adults tell you what to do and what not to do. They try to teach you what’s right and wrong and they try to explain to you how the world around you works.
This is what...
February 2013
6 posts
Changing perspective II
In Varanasi, there are holy men walking around everywhere. As the Kumb Mela festival has arived in Alahabad, a town nearby, the amount of holy men has ten folded. As I decided to make a series on these interesting people, walking around in cloth or but naked, of course I started with my Summicron 35mm attached to the Monochrom. As I know this set quite well now, it was going great.
...
11 tags
Change of perspective.
Traveling through India for a couple of months, I’ve been roaming the streets, got lost in the slums and had some nice conversations with people I portrayed. Whether it was a big city, a small village or out in the country; there’s one and a half billion people and they all had a little story to tell. Like I said in one of my blogs, this is how I try to understand the world.
To keep...
14 tags
Guest blog on Steve Huff's page!
Steve Huff, one of my favorite photography bloggers has put up my guest blog today!
11 tags
Out of the city
Most of the time when traveling, I find myself going from city to town and back to a city again. Sometimes I almost forget there’s more than that. When I hired a little motor bike and just cruised out of the town Pushkar, I noticed everything changed. Landscape, there’s no surprise, but also the contact with the people I met along the way.
There was no hassle, asking for...
13 tags
Selection...
As the albums on my Flickr page and my facebook are starting to become a bit abundant, I decided to start selecting a bit stricter. Also I decided to delete some of the pictures in my facebook albums. Not that they are bad, but some others are just a better and in the end you only want to keep the best.
For me it’s one of the hardest things to do: “killing your darlings”....
12 tags
Change of heart...
Sitting in a car heading for Rajasthan, I had the feeling that I had made a wrong decision. It’s a great way to travel through Rajasthan -the part of India I’m traveling now - but it’s just not me. I need to be amongst the people.
Not exactly sure what it was that made me feel this way I endured a little bit longer. I don’t mind changing my mind all of a sudden, but I do...
January 2013
8 posts
10 tags
Framing...
Framing is quite an important part of photography and I guess it’s something that comes with practice. (like everything else ;-) All over the net or in any bookstore that sells “how to” books, you can find information on how you can or should frame your pictures. Rule of third, Diagonal rule, when to shoot horizontal or vertical, leading of lines etc etc.
To be honest,...
10 tags
Contact...
I ask myself every day: “Why do I take photos? Why do I feel the urge to record what I see?” And the answer is more or less the same every day. I don’t feel that urge to actually document what I see, at least not for myself. The only reason I use my camera is to make contact with a world I understand less every day. I use my camera to interact with people, to force them and myself into making...
12 tags
Monochrom love...
I’ve been traveling India now for about one and a half month. I’ve seen a lot and there’s many more to come. On the program are Amritsar, city of the golden temple, Rajasthan with it’s blue city Johdpur and its pink city Jaipur, countless colored saris and the endless yellow sands of the dessert. The white sandy beaches of the Andaman Islands are still a place I want to see...
9 tags
Rich and poor...
I’ve been asked why I only take photographs of the slums and poor people and not of the richer part of India and the people who indulge in luxury. I’ve not only been asked here, but on facebook and Flickr as well. I even got asked so many times, that I thought it would be a wise idea to write a blog about it.
First I need to explain in this matter, that I don’t make this...
10 tags
Decisive moment...
I don’t pretend to be even in the vicinity of a photographer as great as Henri Cartier Bresson, but every now and again I like to tell myself I’m on my way to get a little bit closer… small steps. Today I had a very slow day, photographically. But if there is just one shot you have been waiting for, suddenly is there… these moments make it all worth while! Hope you like it...
11 tags
Mumbai Slums...
So I got lost… again… on purpose.
Heading for the Mumbai slums, I found myself in a city within a city. Narrow ally’s, stairs leading to little box houses, one put on top of the other. I went from bright, sunny and very busy streets into dark, nearly black and very tranquil ally’s and back again. I found it hard and challenging to go back and forward with my settings,...
8 tags
Mumbai Doubt...
So here we are again… deciding to go color or monochrome. I just arrived in Mumbai and walked around for about an hour. Already I love it - probably because of the wonderful weather up here - and already I got lost in one of the slums. My first instinct was to grab the M9, thinking the Leica Monochrom wouldn’t do justice to the upbeat atmosphere that is going around in the slums. The colors are...
8 tags
Demonstrations in Delhi
A fortnight ago a girl got molested and raped in a bus in Delhi. This violent act caused an outcry throughout India, demanding the six perpetrators that were arrested to be sentenced to death.
On December 29, the girl died of her injuries in Singapre, turning the six men into murderers and causing new demonstrations in major cities in India. I was at the big demonstration at Gantar Mantar, Delhi....
December 2012
10 posts
11 tags
Little streets
Because it’s really getting winter in Varanasi now, the Ganga river is producing a lot of fog. This mist stays pretty much all day and makes it quite difficult to photograph in the gahts (the steps down to the Ganga) because disability is not that good. So I do what I like to do most anyways, I try to get lost in the small alleys and streets that form the city of Varanasi. Here a complete...
8 tags
Silver Efex Pro 2
Yes, the pictures that come strait out of the Leica Monochrome are good. Perfect even. But… just like with film I find them somewhat flat, grey. So I still use silver efex pro 2 to give them contrast, some punch, burn a little, dodge a little or even add vignetting because that’s something my Summicron 35mm doesn’t give on its own.
In Lightroom I don’t really have to do a...
8 tags
Color vs Monochrom
So I finally decided to do the test… I started walking around with the M9 again. See if India really needed the color. I had to see for myself. The pictures I show here are taken with the M9 and afterwards converted with Silver Effex Pro. There are a few (see comments) that I actually took the time to switch and use both monochrom and the M9.
I think it’s fair to say, I really have...
7 tags
Schooling money...
So I start this post now with a little extra, added three days after the original post… I don’t make it a separate post because it’s one story and besides, I dont have any pictures to add ;-)But I did F*ck up again!
Again I had to learn! I did get all my money back like discribed… The man giving it back, the man that I thought was playing me, ended up the only real...
9 tags
Stuck in Kashmir
Six days now, I’ve been wondering around in Srinagar, Kashmir. I’m stuck here on a houseboat. Due to heavy snowfall the road that I have to take towards more southern and warmer India is closed. We do have electricity on the boat, sometimes, but the voltage isn’t always enough to charge my airbook or the batteries of my camera. Still I have managed to take a lot more pictures and to be honest, I’m...
10 tags
Old city of Srinagar, Kashmir
So here I am, walking through the streets of the old ciy of Srinagar, Kashmir. I’m freezing my ass off, but that’s something I’ll just have to get used to.
The old city is a remarkable place to walk through. Beautiful faces, old streets and buildings that remind me of books of the middle ages. I got lost within 15 minutes wondering the little streets and ended up talking...
9 tags
Kashmir
After taking the bus to Kashmir, where at this time it’s cold, dark and cloudy, the Monochrom is growing on me. This means I start to love it more and more, but I also recognize its weakness and learn how to work with them. One of these weaknesses is, just like the M9, the screen. Even with the brightness turned to high, the pictures you take tend to be a little bit dark on the screen. At...
10 tags
Old city of Delhi
Yesterday I took an metro to the old city of Delhi. This is an adventure on its own. Queues are formed carefully before the train arrives. Then, when it stops, everybody wants to go in at the same time. Nobody cares that people have to go out as well, it’s like to tidal waves clashing right in front of you. The only way to overcome is to just let the mass take you.
In old Delhi I...
9 tags
The first day...
I’m in love… In love with the Leica Monochrom, in love with India, in love with chai tea. Don’t get any ideas please… I’m not planning to blog every day and certainly not twice a day. But, as today was the first day, I do wanted to share it.
During the day I walked around a bit and took care of some stuff for the rest of the trip (like an Indian sim card in my phone)...
7 tags
The trip has started...
A short blog about the start of, what’s going to be, a very interesting 4 months with my Leica Monochrom in India. I left the Netherlands very early in the morning with snow. A great feeling, knowing I was heading for 20+ degrees. I flew via Munich and Doha in Qatar.
At Doha airport I had to wait for five hours. So I watched a movie but of course I also played a little bit with the Monochrome,...
November 2012
2 posts
6 tags
Monochrome
So the decision is made… I’m jumping in the deep again during one of my trips. Last time I ended up falling in love with the M9 in Cuba. This time I’m going to India, land of colours, bringing a Leica Monochrome. Very exciting. Here is the first photo I took with it. By lack of models I used myself in a mirror. First picture is as it came out of the camera. Second is with little...
10 tags
Portraits.
Today I had to shoot in a studio. Lights, reflexion boards, thetered shooting, the whole nine yards. The first shoot was with Glennis Grace, a dutch singer. She brought some people with her; hair, make up, styling. Unfortunately this is no environment for my M9. It was great photographing her, as she knew exactly how to pose. When we had the pictures that were necessary for the magazine, I did ask...
October 2012
3 posts
10 tags
Some more...
As a special request I will post just a few extra pictures here of Chef’Specials concert last Saturday. It’s a small selection of the 21 extra I have posted on my facebook page and flickr. Hope you like them.
11 tags
Chef'Special
Sometimes, I get the honour to be invited into the world of others. Live with them, for just one day. See what they do, how they do it, what makes their world spin. Last night was one of those moments. The band Chef’Special invited me to document their very last gig of the tour. All of it. Sound check, last briefing, the gig and even the after party. They had been touring for the past two years...
10 tags
One of my heroes.
A friend of mine is owner of a beachbar in Scheveningen. Or to be precise, he used to be owner, because he sold the place after making it a succes in the past six years. Now his plan is to travel for 5 months through parts of South America and after that is still the great unknown. To me, a decision like his is a bold and impressive move. I’m so proud to know people who do exactly what their...
September 2012
1 post
8 tags
Henk Bernlef
Just a quick photo taken with the Leica M9 and the Summicron 75mm during an assignment with a famous Dutch writer. I did most of the job with my Nikon, but comparing those pictures with this one… I just love the feel of the Leica!
If you like to see more of my work, take a look at my facebook page and don’t forget to like it!
Leica M9 with the Summicron 75mm at f2.4 - 1/60 sec -...
August 2012
1 post
10 tags
Potatoes...
A little while ago, a friend asked if I could document the work of one of his supliers. He could make these pictures into an exhibition in his snackbar. It’s not just a snackbar, its a place where he and his brother only serve organic fries and some other organic food. Next to their venue, they have a car they use on different festivals. “Friethoes” is a great business and in my...
July 2012
2 posts
9 tags
Ben Saunders
Today I had a shoot with Dutch singer Ben Saunders, winner of the first “the Voice of Holland”. It was a shoot that needed to be done pretty quick and in a few different settings/locations, so I chose to use my Nikon, to be on the safe side. I need to see if I got what I need and with the M9 display being as it is… I didn’t dare to take the chance of being slightly off.
...
13 tags
An English wedding.
One and a half week ago, I was asked to shoot a wedding. As I said in my last post, normally I don’t do weddings. But seen that these people wanted me to do it… really wanted me to do it my way and on top of that, they were getting married in London, I couldn’t refuse.
Armed with two Leica M9’s (thanks to Transcontinenta BV, importer of Leica in the Netherland), a Summilux...
June 2012
2 posts
9 tags
A wedding.
Next month, I’m going to shoot a wedding in London. Shooting weddings is something I rarely do, just because it isn’t my thing… or at least that is what I thought.
This weekend two very dear friends of mine got married on the island of Texel. The ceremony took place in an authentic sheep shed, weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was brilliant. I was invited as a guest and...
14 tags
Anouk at Pinkpop
About a week ago I had the opportunity to photograph Dutch Rock singer Anouk at Pinkpop festival. Because I had an agreement with her management, I was also able to photograph on stage the first three songs. From there I could see other photographers standing front stage. By the time I got front stage, I had all the time (and space) to do my thing.
The management asked me to come,...
May 2012
6 posts
7 tags
Just a quick one...
It’s the night before return… and as I was busy with other fun stuff today, I didn’t have time to use the Noctilux anymore… now it’s to late… But I decided before the day really ends I need to take at least one more.. So a quick self portrait in the mirror is the result.
Hopefully I’ll be able to use it some time in the future again…
Leica M9...
10 tags
Noctilux at pinkpop...
Yesterday I had the privilege to try out the Noctilux f0.95 lens, attached to my M9 and go crazy at Pinkpop. Thanks to the importer of Leica - Transcontinenta BV - for making this possible. What a treat it was!
During the day, sun was abundant, so shooting at f0.95 wasn’t really an option. I did get close a couple of times pulling the M9 to ISO 80 and shooting inside the converse festival...
11 tags
TEDx Haarlem
Today, my hometown, for the first time, hosted a TEDx event: TEDxHaarlem. I was lucky enough to be part of the creative team, organizing the event. Even better was the fact that I didn’t really have to do a thing during the event. This way I was able to listen to the inspiring stories and the lovely music of Celine Cairo. Also I was able to walk around a bit with the Leica and do what I love...
10 tags
Gliding...
Today some colleagues, friends and me went gliding… a belated Christmas present. It was cold and windy, but beautiful weather. Visibility was incredible and adrenaline was pumping… but the best was the silence up in the air… a natural Zen moment for your self.
I’m still shooting with the 35 mm and 75 mm summicron lenses wich is great because by now I can dream...
8 tags
Liberation day
The 5th of may is the day we celebrate liberation day in the Netherlands. We remember getting back our freedom in 1945. There are different festivals in many cities. A lot of friends and I decided a couple of years ago to start the day with champagne. Really celebrating instead of only having a party at the festival. It started with just a couple of friends, but every year the group is getting...
10 tags
Those little moments...
The good thing of having your studio at creative hub ‘Klein Haarlem’ is that there are many creative people around to inspire you, work with or just take a snapshot of while they are doing their thing. Here’s Joshua, singer of the Dutch formation Chef’Special, working on some new songs. Sitting at the bottom of the fire escape in the last rays of sunshine for today, he was...
