View allAll Photos Tagged bertstephani
Berlengas, PORTUGAL
Divers
Olympus E-PL1 + 14-42 kitlens in an onderwater housing and an Inon S2000 flash during a dive in Portugal
my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
BELGIUM - Kraainem
A while ago I did a model shoot with the fantastic Kim Van Noten. We didn't have a real plan except for having fun while creating pictures. Ake was my kind assistant for this shoot and she also shot some video.
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LIGHTING INFO:
I made a video to show how we did this:
youtube.com/watch?v=sqMI72jsXRQ
More info about this session will be on my brand new blog soon: www.bertstephani.com/blog
BELGIUM - Zaventem
Somebody asked me how the picture below looked straigt out of the camera, so I put them together to show the before and after. These days I rarely use photoshop and keep my postprocessing for most images (including this one) limited to 10-20 seconds in Lightroom only.
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Steenokkerzeel (studio), BELGIUM
Testing some lighting setups with friend/model Ine
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and my lighting DVD: www.motivationallight.com
BELGIUM - Vilvoorde
After we finished the 'Running in 2020' pictures, we were joined by pro model Sylvianne. We improvised and had a lot of fun with Dirk and Sylvianne. This picture was shot under a highway bridge.
LIGHTING INFO:
A bare Vivitar 285HV to camera right is the main light. Another Vivitar with a black straw grid was placed behind the models as a hair light.
A video of this shoot can be found at:
youtube.com/watch?v=bUOfBY05_K8
More info, will be published soon on my blog:
Brussels, BELGIUM
I've set up this shoot with my muse and favorite model Erika to explore a few new ideas. I do experiment when photographing clients but I can't go as far as I wish. That's why I need this kind of freewheeling improvisation shoots from time to time.
As usual it was great to have Ake around as an assistant. Frederik, a communications student, shot some making-of footage for us.
We started out with some shots in an open area of the forest to play around with that harsh sunlight but after a while I wanted more control over the light. Erika was placed in the shade and we used a small flash from camera right (pretty close to Erika) on full power to balance the main light with the blue sky.
Check out my blog:
"the Barn", Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM
After six months of work, MOTIVATIONAL LIGHT, my instructional video about lighting is finally available.
For more info, trailers, bonus footage and purchasing, visit:
This image was shot for a sequence about custom shaped catchlights.
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Peniche, PORTUGAL
Maya looking out over the Atlantic
Panasonic GF1 + 20mm
my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
Zaventem (Belgium) lighting test with Erika
I wanted to check out some setups in my ministudio, so I asked my friend/muse/model Erika to pose for me.
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI
LIGHTING INFO:
After playing around with the gentle light of the softbox, I wanted to try some shots with hard light. I used the studiolight with just a standard reflector as the main light. To make the model stand out from the background I used a small snooted SB24 speedlight behind her. Triggered by PocketWizzards.
Oslo, Norway
I'm having a blast teaching a two day workshop in this wonderful city with an equally wonderful group of photographers. Linnea was our model for today. Despite the fact that posing when 25 photographers are watching you is really difficult, she was amazing and unleashed one killer look upon the other.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Aalst, BELGIUM
This is an image from the first shoot I did for www.squeezethelime.com, our new educational project.
My favorite model Erika was so kind to pose for me.
LIGHTING INFO
2 Vivitar 285H with a shoot through umbrella to camera left. Another Vivitar with gridspot and half CTB (blue) gel behind Erika (camera right) for some separation. I've made a making-of movie of this shoot, check it out at www.squeezethelime.com
Check out my blog:
Aalter, BELGIUM
The Belgian association of Professional Photographers organised a lecture/celebration about the life and work of Filip and Ria Santens. It was great to see how they still have this crazy appetite for creating images and we had lots of fun.
Tom and Pieter at the bar ... a bit lower
Check out my blog:
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM (studio)
Now that I have a nice big studio, I might as well learn how to take pictures in it. I find it much more difficult than shooting on location. That's why I'm doing a series of test shoots to try stuff out. The fantastic Kailyka helped me out on this one.
LIGHTING INFO:
I know I move my lights around a lot in function of the mood, the story and the model's features. That's why I figured to keep it rather simple in the studio. This one is made with one Elinchrom Ranger head in a large beautydish right in front and over the model. On the floor (in front of the model) is a silver California Sunbounce Mini reflector to bounce some light from the dish back. A Lumopro LP 120 speedlight (triggered by optical slave) is lying on the floor to light the brick wall.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
BELGIUM - Zaventem
I've always been the kind of person who likes to do the opposite of what a sain person would do. So what do I do on a very windy, rainy, cold day with low and uninteresting light, yup, I go outside. Model Kaatje was a trooper in that bad weather.
Also check out my blog:
BELGIUM
wedding Tinneke & Koen
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
For the portraits we went to a nice windmill that was once the home of the hero on the legendary Belgian tv-show "kapitein Zeppos".
LIGHTING INFO:
A nice blue sky with dramatic clouds and a landmark with a strong silhouette are perfect for an underexposed background. A bare SB24 (with pocketwizard) on full power held by my assistant provides the necessary fill for a correct exposure of the couple. The flash was zoomed in a little to create a more focussed beam of light.
Aalst, BELGIUM
This is an image from the first shoot I did for www.squeezethelime.com, our new educational project.
My favorite model Erika was so kind to pose for me.
LIGHTING INFO
2 Vivitar 285H with a shoot through umbrella to camera left. I've made a making-of movie of this shoot, check it out at www.squeezethelime.com
Check out my blog:
BELGIUM - Zaventem
I've always been the kind of person who likes to do the opposite of what a sain person would do. So what do I do on a very windy, rainy, cold day with low and uninteresting light, yup, I go outside. Model Kaatje was a trooper in that bad weather.
Also check out my blog:
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM
I'm seriously considering buying a Hasselblad 500 c/m camera. Since my old film SLR died, I've thinking about getting another film camera. I've shot and developed a bit of film when I was 18 but I've only become a photographer once digital came around. More and more I feel like I missed a bit of history in photography and I've been tempted a couple of times to buy one of the iconic camera's.
A friend who's taking his photography in another direction sells his Hassie, so I shot two testrolls to see if it's something for me.
This one is shot on Kodak Porta 400VC (I'm not a big fan of saturated colors so I tweaked them a bit t in Lightroom)
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
a small private pool, BELGIUM
I've been asked to shoot a jewelry collection ... under water. Since I've never done anything like that, we did a test day today. And I think we did pretty well thanks to an amazing team.
(This is a quick lightroom edit, not the final version)
This is all lit with flash: An Elinchrom Quadra (a little below full power) with standard reflector on the side of the pool, provides the sunburst from the surface. An Inon underwater strobe with a CTO gel lights the model and gives the orange flare on the right side. The strobes were triggered with a rather complicated DIY setup that included 10 meters of fiber optic audio cable, a watertight box, an optical slave and pocketwizards. I'll do a video later about how we made this work.
my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
Limburg, BELGIUM
Test shoot with the new Pentax 645D medium format digital camera for Shoot magazine. We took the camera out for a real-life test in very challenging (cold) conditions.
One bare Lumopro LP160 with a CTO gel to camera left.
Check out the review and a behind-the-scenes video on my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM
I'm seriously considering buying a Hasselblad 500 c/m camera. Since my old film SLR died, I've thinking about getting another film camera. I've shot and developed a bit of film when I was 18 but I've only become a photographer once digital came around. More and more I feel like I missed a bit of history in photography and I've been tempted a couple of times to buy one of the iconic camera's.
A friend who's taking his photography in another direction sells his Hassie, so I shot two testrolls to see if it's something for me.
This one is shot on Kodak Porta 400VC (I'm not a big fan of saturated colors so I tweaked them a bit in Lightroom)
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
strobist info: 430ex @ 1/16 directly behind the dog (removed with ps) on gorillapod.
inspired by bert stephani: bertstephani.com/blog/
Schoten / Schelle, BELGIUM
One of the most beautiful weddings I ever photographed was the one of Daphne & Katrien.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
London, UNITED KINGDOM
This picture of Prabha who was so kind to model for us, was taken on the first day of my September 2009 2-day London workshop.
After the theoretical part I like to take the participant through the whole picture making process. I could do this by showing an example that I know how to do, but I'd rather go for the real deal, including the mistakes I make to get to a picture. So I let the participants give me an assignment and then do my best to make the requested photo. Here they asked me to do a portrait of a Politician for a newspaper interview in which the politician denies she has anything to do with a chocolate smuggling scandal. We wanted an open yet strong look in the portrait.
LIGHTING INFO:
A speedlite on the floor behind Prabha lights 2 reddish velvet things we found in the classroom. Prabha is lit with a speedlite in a small softbox overhead and slightly to camera right.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Frankfurt - GERMANY
I was asked to head the first Frankfurt Strobist meetup and help out with lighting. I'd like to thank everyone for hiring me and giving me such a pleasant stay.
more pictures, setups, ... in the Frankfurt Strobist Group
Also check out my blog:
Erpe-Mere, BELGIUM
After six months of work, MOTIVATIONAL LIGHT, my instructional video about lighting is finally available.
For more info, trailers, bonus footage and purchasing, visit:
This image was shot for a sequence in which we explored the power of window light.
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Anderlecht, BELGIUM
The guys from Canon asked me if I could do some workshops at the Canon Eos Discovery Days. It was a bit weird for me to do this in front of such a huge and diverse audience in a really short time but it was big fun and I met tons of great people.
This is a quick shot of Erika during one an off-camera flash demo.
LIGHTING INFO
Broncolor head with huge beautydish to camera left (only pilot light used).
Check out my blog:
Lovenjoel, BELGIUM
I was asked to give a demonstration about the way I work with off-camera flash on an event for the Belgian Federation of Professional Photographers. I gave a presentation for 20 minutes together with my buddy and wedding photographer Pieter Van Impe. Later that day we did a 45 minute live shoot.
I wanted to show how I improvise with the model and the location, so I didn't prepare anything. It wasn 't easy to look for backgrounds, set up lights, make pics and at the same time explain what I was doing to 60 photographers. So it's not my best work but I hope I gave an idea of the endless possibilities of small flashes.
Check out my blog:
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM
I'm pretty used to shooting kids that don't sit still for more than a second but with the all manual Hasselblad that's a bit more challenging than with my DSLR's. My youngest daughter is notorious for always being on the move, but I still managed to capture a couple of sharp ones on film.
Shot with a Hasselblad 500CM and the 80mm lens somewhere around f4 on Ilford HP5 plus. Scanned with the Epson V700.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Zingst, GERMANY
Last weekend I drove 11h to the North of Germany to meet my friends from California Sunbounce and attend a workshop by one of my all time favorite photographers, Greg Gorman.
This must be my favorite photo of the day of model Svetlana. I put a Sunbounce Pro over Svetlana to block the ambient light. I just left a small gap behind her so the natural light could make for some nice hair light. A 580EXII flash bounced into a silver Sunbounce Mini to camera right takes care of the main light. I used the Mini to soften the main light a bit but put the flash pretty close to the reflector to use only a part of the reflector. This makes for a harder edgier light.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Somewhere in Limburg, BELGIUM
Last Saturday my cousin got married and I had the honor to photograph this fantastic day. They choose to have a winter wedding and boy did they get what they wanted. Because of the unexpected snow we almost didn't get there.
Between church and reception I asked them to jump in the car and give me 15 minutes to make some pics in the snow before the sun would set. I saw this vineyard, pulled over and took some pictures.
We exposed for the spectacular sunset and lit the couple with a Hensel Porty Lithium 12 battery powered generator. To soften the light we attached the fantastic Hensel beautydish to the Porty Head. This was close to full power.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM
My little niece is getting big ... and married. She has become a beautiful woman but I still see her as that funny little kid (otherwise I'd start feeling old). We did a quick engagement shoot in my back yard.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM
This is a shot I made of the fantastic model Renske in the studio during a shoot for my upcoming DVD about lighting.
Renske is standing in front of a dark gray backdrop. The main light is a Hensel Expert Pro 500 with a gridded beautydish to camera left. Another Hensel Expert Pro 500 was fitted with a 60x120 softbox to camera right to provide fill light.
Captured with my 34 year old Hasselblad on Kodak Tri-X 400 film.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Erpe-Mere, BELGIUM
After six months of work, MOTIVATIONAL LIGHT, my instructional video about lighting is finally available.
For more info, trailers, bonus footage and purchasing, visit:
This image was shot for a sequence to show the dramatic look of an underexposed sky in combination with a small flash to light the model.
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
BELGIUM - Vilvoorde
After we finished the 'Running in 2020' pictures, we were joined by pro model Sylvianne. We improvised and had a lot of fun. This picture was shot in a small tunnel under the highway.
LIGHTING INFO:
Vivitar 285HV with shoot through umbrella to camera right as the main light. Another Vivitar was aimed at the background to reveal the shape of the metal wall.
A video of this shoot can be found at:
youtube.com/watch?v=bUOfBY05_K8
More info, will be published soon on my blog:
Zaventem (Belgium) lighting test with Erika
I wanted to check out some setups in my ministudio, so I asked my friend/muse/model Erika to pose for me.
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI
LIGHTING INFO:
This picture is lit with just a medium softbox on a studio strobe to camera left. The background is a dark grey wall in my office. Triggered with Pocketwizards. No complicated lighting setup at all but I'm still pretty new to studio photography and I'm trying to get the details right.
To me this is the best shot in this series.
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM
I got my new scanner (the Epson V700) and I did some quick test scans of some Hasselblad negatives to see how it performs against my old crappy scanner. It really blew me away and then I'm sure that with some experience you can certainly get even more out of the scanner.
Did some postprocessing on it, mostly cleaning up the scan and some minor burning and dodging. I also played around with the color a little.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Steenokkerzeel, Belgium
A cool photographer brought his daughter as a model for a private workshop about mixing flash with ambient. Couldn't resist to take a couple of shots myself.
Overpowering the ambient with one bare SB800 to camera left.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
Vosselare, BELGIUM
Help, I shot a plant!!!!
Olympus E-PL1 + 14-42 kitlens in an onderwater housing with an Inon S2000 underwaterflash on an arm attached to the housing. I shot this on manual with the flash on 1/2 power to underexpose the sky and light the water lily. The flash is positioned almost straight above the flower
my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
Aalst, BELGIUM
This is an image from the first shoot I did for www.squeezethelime.com, our new educational project.
My favorite model Erika was so kind to pose for me.
LIGHTING INFO
2 Vivitar 285HV's on each side behind Erika. Natural light for fill. I've made a making-of movie of this shoot, check it out at www.squeezethelime.com
Check out my blog:
BELGIUM - Vilvoorde
I wanted to create an image for a photo contest about the environment. The idea was to make a picture of a jogger in 2020. After we had the shot we wanted, we had some time to improvise some other pics with the same setup.
LIGHTING INFO:
We placed two Vivitar 285HV's behind the model to create a strong separation light. A third flash was placed about 30° to camera left to fill in the front of the model. Triggered with Pocket Wizards.
More info, pics and making of video can be found on my blog
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Schoten / Schelle, BELGIUM
One of the most beautiful weddings I ever photographed was the one of Daphne & Katrien.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
BELGIUM - Zaventem
After the bad weather outdoor shoot with model Kaatje, we also made some pictures in my office.
Also check out my blog:
Leuven, BELGIUM
Due to very busy schedules on both sides I couldn't do this engagement session until 3 days prior to the actual wedding. The couple were dealing with some organisational stuff so the session was cut short to less than an hour of actual shooting while the daylight was fading very quickly.
We still managed to pull some shots off and more importantly: we had fun and got to know each other a bit better.
A Canon 580EX II with a CTB (blue) gel was placed in the nearby bathroom and shot through the mat glass door to create a big soft backlight.
Check out my blog:
Erpe-Mere, BELGIUM
After six months of work, MOTIVATIONAL LIGHT, my instructional video about lighting is finally available.
For more info, trailers, bonus footage and purchasing, visit:
This image was shot for a sequence to show the dramatic look of an underexposed sky in combination with a small flash to light the model.
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Oostende, BELGIUM
I recently did a guerilla shoot together with my friend and fellow photographer Jean. The goal was to test the California Sunbounce Micro Mini reflector with flash attachement. We decided to go on a completely unplanned mission: no location, no make-up, no models, not much gear and no concept. Just shoot what we came up with at the moment.
LIGHTING INFO
I underexposed the background by 2 stops. The Sunbounce with a Vivitar 285HV flash attached (camera left), lights the subject. I think the flash was at 1/2 power.
Here's the YouTube video of this shoot.
Check out my blog:
Erpe-Mere, BELGIUM
After six months of work, MOTIVATIONAL LIGHT, my instructional video about lighting is finally available.
For more info, trailers, bonus footage and purchasing, visit:
This image was shot for a sequence in which we explored the power of window light.
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Steenokkerzeel, BELGIUM - Pictures from another shoot/video I did for LIME, our new educational project for photographers.
I tried to squeeze the most out of the available light on a short shoot with professional model Sylviane.
For a making-of video and more info, please visit www.squeezethelime.com
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
Oostende, BELGIUM
During a test shoot together with another photographer, I grabbed this little in-between portrait of our model with the GF1.
All shot with the Panasonic Lumix GF1 and the 20mm with available light
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
Zaventem (Belgium) lighting test with Erika
I wanted to check out some setups in my ministudio, so I asked my friend/muse/model Erika to pose for me.
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI
LIGHTING INFO:
This picture is lit with just a medium softbox on a studio strobe to camera left (almost next to the model for hight contrast). Triggered with Pocketwizards.No complicated lighting setup at all but I'm still pretty new to studio photography and I'm trying to get the details right.