View allAll Photos Tagged bertstephani
BELGIUM - Zaventem
Michael (www.mjm.hk) asked me to do a little one-on-one workshop with him about working Strobist-style (lighting with small flashes). Michael wanted to learn some tricks about lighting and just being creative with the environment.
I asked my friend, muse and fantastic model Erika to be the subject of our experiments.
Just to make it clear, I didn't shoot these images, Michael did.
LIGHTING INFO:
Next up was trying to create a really soft light. We placed a flash (Vivitar 285HV, with PocketWizard) with a shoot through umbrella in front of the model. Michael's lens was just under the umbrella. We also added a white reflector just under the lens and Erika's face to make the light even softer.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLIGAN- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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
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.
Steenokkerzeel (Studio), BELGIUM
I really needed to do something different in the studio. After being inspired by a lecture of Paulo Reversi, I set all the flash/studio gear aside and go back to basics. I spent 70 EUR in the DIY store on a pair of halogen worklights and shower curtains (to make a large lightsource) and a couple of rough blankets as a background.
Check out 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. I've made a making-of movie of this shoot, check it out at www.squeezethelime.com
Check out my 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.
Natural Light
Check out the review and a behind-the-scenes video on my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
De Haan, BELGIUM
In my never ending quest for original angles and creative compositions, I started playing with an Olympus E-PL1 and an underwater housing.
Last weekend I took the kids for a short trip to the Belgian coast and took the camera and my wetsuit with me just in case I felt crazy enough to get into the freezing water for some first test shots. And yep ... I was crazy enough :-)
I only spent 10 minutes or so in the surf but I'm pretty happy with the results.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
De Haan, BELGIUM
Short trip to the Belgian coast with the kids. Always great to stay at my friend "Ponette" for a few days.
Noa on the beach
All shot with the Panasonic Lumix GF1 and the 20mm with available light
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
BELGIUM - Zaventem
Michael (www.mjm.hk) asked me to do a little one-on-one workshop with him about working Strobist-style (lighting with small flashes). Michael wanted to learn some tricks about lighting and just being creative with the environment.
I asked my friend, muse and fantastic model Erika to be the subject of our experiments.
Just to make it clear, I didn't shoot these images, Michael did.
LIGHTING INFO:
Next up was trying to create a really soft light. We placed a flash (Vivitar 285HV, with PocketWizard) with a shoot through umbrella in front of the model. Michael's lens was just under the umbrella. We also added a white reflector just under the lens and Erika's face to make the light even softer.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLIGAN- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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.
More info, pics and video's can be found on my blog
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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.
About 15 minutes before the end of the fantastic workshop Peter Geller (aka Mr. Sunbounce) asked me if I could shoot some quick portraits of Greg on the workshop location for use in the German press. Is it terrifying to shoot one of the best photographers in the world? Sure it is, but you just have to take such chances. I quickly came up with two setups. This is the second.
I found some great light in this hallway where soft light from camera left came in. I could have shot this in all natural light but then the exposure on the background and the subject would be the same and a bit flat. So I underexposed the ambient by a stop or so. I liked the quality of the ambient light, but just needed more intensity on Greg. So I simulated the ambient light by putting a Sunbounce Sun Swatter straight up to camera left and shot a 580EXII flash through it. We used a silver Sunbounce Pro to camera right to fill in the shadows.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
Peniche, PORTUGAL
surfing lesson
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 full power to underexpose the sky and light the water slightly. The flash is positioned almost straight above the camera about 40cm from the lens.
my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
De Haan, BELGIUM
Short trip to the Belgian coast with the kids. Always great to stay at my friend "Ponette" for a few days.
Noa
All shot with the Panasonic Lumix GF1 and the 20mm with available light
Check out 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.
LIGHTING INFO:
I used one bare SB-24 on full power as a main light to overpower the ambient light. I zoomed it in to 50 or 70mm to create the vignetting effect.
More info, pics and video's can be found on my blog
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Zaventem, BELGIUM
Some images of a short fall shoot with Yander. I love working with expressive kids.
Check out 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.
One of the keywords I had in mind for this shoot was "hippie". Erika got some cool hippiewear out of her magic suitcase and we played around in natural light.
Check out my blog:
BELGIUM - Zaventem
My son Kobe just turned five and we needed to come up with some nice pictures to make a party invitation for his friends.
LIGHTING INFO:
I wanted to have catchlights in the form of a '5'. I took a cardboard box, cut out a '5' in the bottom and put three layers of tracing paper in the box. Basically that's a '5'-shaped softbox. I positioned the box at about 45 degrees to camera right. I put a Vivitar 285HV flash behind the box at 1/16 power. Triggered with PW's.
Also check out my 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
BELGIUM - Zaventem
After the bad weather outdoor shoot with model Kaatje, we also made some pictures in my office.
Also check out my blog:
Diepenbeek, BELGIUM
Some photographers loose their freshness, spontanity and creativity after a few years in this very competitive business. To avoid that happening to me, I take some time to play every now and then.
This time my friend and fellow photographer Karla, showed me some tricks for working in a small studio and I took her outside for some strobist style shooting.
TECH INFO
Vivitar 285HV on 1/2 or 1/1 power about 30 degrees to camera left as the main light. Another Vivitar with a grid was placed opposite the main light to provide just a liitle separation light.
Also check out 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.
In this picture we used the sun as a backlight and placed a Canon 580 EX with shoot through umbrella to camera left.
Check out my 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. I've made a making-of movie of this shoot, check it out at www.squeezethelime.com
Check out my blog:
Ghent, 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 during a fast paced real life wedding shoot. We shot with the 5DmkII and my old Hasselblad 500cm with a combination of Kodak Tri-X 400 and a borrowed 39 megapixel CFV-39 digital back
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and 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 285HV's on each side behind Erika. I've made a making-of movie of this shoot, check it out at www.squeezethelime.com
Check out my blog:
Mallorca, SPAIN
Just a few pictures from our family holiday. Travelling with 3 small kids can be pretty exhausting so I packed just a minimum of photo gear: my Ixus and a DSLR with one lens (which stayed in the hotel safe for most of the time anyway).
Kobe dives in the water
Check out my 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 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:
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 - Peleng 8mm fisheye lens
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I put a little review about this lens on my blog www.bertstephani.com/blog
LIGHTING INFO:
This was a quick shot, just to put on my blog, so I kept it really simpel. A medium softbox (on a studio strobe) was put above and to camera right. I only used the modelling light (not the flash) to get a very shallow depth of field. The Peleng was placed on a white sheet of paper and I added a reflector to camera right for a little fill.
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:
Bonheiden / Mechelen, BELGIUM
I don't shoot much weddings anymore but how could I say no to an old friend who asked if I wanted to shoot her brother's wedding.
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 illustrate how to use the "shelter technique" aka the "afdakskes technique".
Also check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
and our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
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.
LIGHTING INFO:
We underexposed the background by a stop or three for a dramatic effect. Erika is lit with a Canon 580EXII flash (I think at 1/4) to camera left with a shoot through umbrella.
YouTube video - part II (including this pic)
also check:
Check out my blog:
I've always been impressed with 'the eye' that some photographers have for abstract patterns and beauty in ordinary things. Most people would simply look over it. I don't consider myself one of those photographers. So the few times I see a shot like this, I'm happy like a child.
Any idea what this is?
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.
For those who couldn't be there or didn't understand my very special interpretation of the French language, I decided to try to replicate my workshop on my blog. 3 new posts are coming up.
Being a member of the Strobist cult, using speedlights off camera has been second nature to me and lots of other photographers for quite some time now. But the majority of photographers still don't know that you can do this. That's why I did a quick lighting setup, starting with just one speedlight and showing the process of adding two more lights.
LIGHTING INFO
We started out with just one 580EX II on a stand with a white shoot through umbrella to camera left. Flash was on 1/16 and triggered with the ST-E2 on camera.
Check out my blog:
Peniche, PORTUGAL
Kobe's second surfing lesson
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 full power to underexpose the sky and light the water slightly. The flash is positioned almost straight above the camera about 40cm from the lens.
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.
The video can be found here: Confessions of a Photographer - episode 2
And there's also Confessions of a Photographer - episode 1
More info, pics and video's can be found on my blog
PHOTO BY BERT STEPHANI - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
BELGIUM - Zaventem
I was interviewed by a Belgian newspaper and they asked me if I could send a picture of myself (recognisable holding a camera within the hour. I said "sure, I should be able to find something". Sure enough I couldn't find any picture of myself with a camera. At least not one that I wanted to be in one of the largest newspapers. So I quickly set up a simple portrait and asked my wife to take a few pics. I'm actually quite happy with how I look in this pic.
LIGHTING INFO
I hung up a piece of black cloth as a background. The main light is my el-cheapo studio light (which I hardly ever use) with medium softbox. I just added a black straw gridded Vivitar 285HV behind me for some separation/hair light.
My settings proved to be right from the first time: 1/125 (the studio light doesn't sync at higher speeds) - F/4 - 100iso - 300ws studiolight at minimum power and Vivitar on 1/16th.
I tried to turn the camera in my hand just so that I would catch the reflection of the softbox in the lens.
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:
The main light is natural light. I added a snooted SB-24 behind the model to create a warm summer feel to the image and separate the model fom the background.
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
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
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:
De Haan, BELGIUM
I strongly (convince myself to) believe that professional photographers should take some time to play every now and then. We played around all the time when we where amateurs and that's what made us good enough to go pro anyway. So to become a better pro, I try to allow some time to play in my tight schedule.
A few months ago I got into a conversation between some like minded photographers and we decided to do some kind of fun shoot together. I actually didn't have the time but I went anyway. And I'm glad I did, because I came back with more energy and motivation.
Testing out Pieter's 1.4 extender. (Got myself the 2x extender btw)
Check out my blog:
Berlengas, PORTUGAL
Divers
Olympus E-PL1 + 14-42 kitlens in an onderwater housing during a dive in Portugal
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.
Natural Light
Check out the review and a behind-the-scenes video on my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
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.
Check out my blog: www.bertstephani.com/blog
or our photography project: www.squeezethelime.com
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:
Ath, BELGIUM
Just a few pics a visit to animal park Paradisio with the family and some of our best friends.
David and Elliot were both thirsty
Check out 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.
In this picture we used the sun as a backlight and placed a Canon 580 EX with shoot through umbrella to camera left.
Check out my blog:
Aalst, BELGIUM
We did this series of pictures in an old factory to illustrate how you can 'flow' from one lighting setup to the next. Check out the cool making-of video we made at:
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 2-3 stops. The Sunbounce with a Vivitar 285HV flash attached (camera left), lights the subject. I think the flash was at 1/4 or 1/2 power.
Here's the YouTube video of this shoot.
Check out my blog: