the engine room again.
it has beautiful soft light, coming from three sides (left and right up in the wall are windows over the entire length of the room and then the big round shaped window, here facing the model). I rarely use ISO’s higher than 400, but sometimes it gives a little more comfort and ease of use for playing with aperture, and making sure that there’s no camera shake in the images.
1/80s f3.2 ISO500 Canon 5D II with Sigma 50mm f1.4 DG A
thank you for visiting,
ludwig
A single image post today, Enjoy. The Engine Room used to be the most prestigious part of the textile factory. It was the place where visitors, customers could see the wealth of the company. Complete with glass in lead windows, tiled arches and so on. …
It was the place where pressurised vapour was created with a steam engine, providing both heat and mechanical power. due to the fact that this room is unaccessible from the ground floor, it has remained unused since the removal of the engine.
Canon 5D II with Canon EF 24mm f1.4 II L. This image reminds me that some time ago in a digital publication (EOSzine) I have urged the wish to combine model photography with my earlier subjects of urban and landscape photography. I’m getting nearer. 😉 Taken on tripod, multiple exposure blend (1/125 s. of a second at f4.5 for the model and the interior, 1/1000 s.at f4.5 for the windows).
Thank you for watching, and thank you Eline, for being my model.
ludwig
A good week ago I had a cancelled photo shoot appointment. So I had a free moment for photography and no model. A quick call on facebook soon resulted in an interested replacement model. In her introduction message on FB she said. ” … and I’m not shy” as a reply to my call that ended with the words “Don’t be shy”. That was the day before the shoot.
Eline never posed before, and although not shy, a bit nervous anyway. We have worked over several locations, of which the old storage room was the first. A very dark environment, with a lot of dust and dirt, but Eline didn’t matter and went for it all the way.
Thank you Eline, for being my interim model for a day, you did very well.
All images: Canon 5D mark II, with Sigma 50 mm f1.4 DG Art.
To be continued …
ps. in a reaction, Eline wrote me:
I can’t express enough my appreciation for your work. I have absolutely no regrets in being your ‘interim model’. Your approach is unbelievably professional and you know how to cover up my physical flaws by guiding me into the right poses. …
Ludwig
Rolleiflex Tessar 75mm f3,5 – Kodak T-Max 400 film. Scanned on Epson Perfection 3170 Photo, retouched and developed in Photoshop and Lightroom CC.
Have you ever seen Sam Haskins book ‘Five Girls’ ?
Thank you to the model, the location owner, the weather and my friend P. Z. for the camera.
Thank YOU for visiting my blog.
Ludwig
A small series from the same shoot I did with Marion.
The ZEN pool. Magnificent environment and great weather on this early morning.
This is the kind of things you cannot plan before. I hadn’t been at this place in about 10 years. There was no house at that time, and certainly not a pool, so this came kind of as a bonus with the planned old chalk oven on the same location.
Marion felt completely Zen after half an hour of sunbathing and being next to Buddha. 🙂
thank you for watching, …
ludwig
As I told in a previous post, a very cold day, cold wind, no sun … great light for a shoot.
A black coat, a set of nice lingerie and some sexy boots plus a very beautiful alley of trees as a background. That’s what we needed for this fine series of images. Hairdo: my wife Nathalie 🙂
Farmers went and came trough the alley, they must have wondered what we were doing there. I kept the car heating on, so Jenn could get warm in between different takes.
Taken with Canon 5D II and Canon 135 mm f2.0 (except second, with Canon 24 mm f1.4 L II), its been a while since I used this lens for a shoot, but it still is a nice piece of glass with great contrast and perfect sharpness wide open.
Jenn told me she didn’t look good in pictures, what do you think?
And a last image with Rolleiflex 3,5 Tessar 75 mm on Kodak T-max 400 film.
thanks for watching, come back again soon.
ludwig
Marion never posed before, but she contacted me as she loved the images she had seen with Pauline. She listened carefully to my instructions, working for a natural and beautiful look, and we ended up with this result. I am really proud of this shoot, this is only a small part of the entire selection, with a white blouse and a black hat as the main props.
It was the first time I worked in this location. A beautiful house, with an annex ancient building. The weather was great, although very bright sunlight doesn’t make it easier to work within the dynamic range of the sensor.Nut the sun kept Marion warm and cosy as she got partially undressed on this spring morning.
Have you noticed how I rarely have my models interact with me? I think this is part of my style, and one secret to creating intimate, natural looking images.
I shot a couple of rolls of film too on this shoot, these images will follow later on.
thank you for watching, I hope you liked the images.
Ludwig
A single image from a very recent shoot. Great weather, a new model and a new location. Yummie 🙂
soon more of this,
ludwig
I would call it a perfect day.
Perfect weather, perfect location, perfect model.
A first single image of this shoot with Pauline. Pauline had been my first model in the series ‘at the Mansion’ shoots, about 2 and a half year ago. Shortly after that shoot she suffered severe injuries from a traffic accident. But she’s back, and she loved being in front of the camera again.
Congratulations to you Pauline, for your courage, your perseverance and your hard work, for getting back your life, I think you came out stronger.
Cirrus, named after the clouds, that so nicely accompanied this shoot.
Canon 5D II with Canon 17-40 mm f4.0, 1/125s at f 11, ISO 100.
come again soon for more images of this wonderful day.
Location: SONS
thank you for reading,
ludwig
thoughtful, spontaneous, fun, serious, wondering, open minded, …
… Jenn told me she didn’t fit too well on images. That was until she saw the results of our shoot.
“the end result really is ‘WAW’, so you were right that being a good model is linked to the qualities of the photographer … whenever you have a location again I’d be most pleased to be your model again.”
I think I’m flattered. 😎
Same setup as the color version of this shoot. Only this time developed in a black and white version.
I Hope you like the images.
Come back again soon, to see the results of my next shoot. I promise now already they’ll be fantastic. (that’s because I’ve seen them already :p )
All the best, thank you for stopping by.
Never hesitate to leave a reaction.
ludwig
Simply because it is my birthday today 😀
Another new limited edition print available. ( 7 copies + 1 Artist Proof) ‘PEARLS’.
60 x 60 up to 100 x 100 cm on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta – finishing/framing on demand.
pls contact me at
ludwig – at – renderhouse -dot- eu
for more info.
see you soon,
ludwig
New limited edition print ( 7 copies + 1 Artist Proof) available.
100 x 100 cm on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta – finishing/framing on demand.
Sudden gust of wind
Pls. contact me for more information. Be quick, they’ll be gone before you know it. 😉
ludwig.
I told you before I would talk a bit more about the Rolleiflex I use for shooting on film.
The camera is a Twin Lens Reflex, built in the late 50’s, so the camera is about 60 years old.
The construction with the two lenses, of which the upper lens is for viewing only (viewing lens) and the lower lens is for taking the image (taking lens) has advantages and disadvantages. In comparison to the older camera’s that used flat film sheets, where one had to remove the matte focusing screen before putting in the film holder for taking the image, this camera allows to shoot multiple images without moving anything. There is a 45° tilted mirror behind the viewing lens, projecting a mirrored image on the horizontal focusing screen.
Of course viewfinder camera’s existed as well, but they had no visual reference of the focusing plane, or the sharpness of the subject when changing focus. A photographer using a viewfinder camera had to use the distance scale on the lens, and the not so trusty guesswork for camera to subject distance.
Both lenses of the this TLR move forward and backward while focussing, and so provide an identical image on the ground glass as the image to be expected on the film. Still, the smallest amount of inaccuracy of the lens focusing mechanism leads to bad focusing, and I believe this camera suffers at least some looseness in the forward-backward movement.
Dealing with this complex mechanism of focusing, meant also that these camera’s are mostly fixed focal length. Some camera’s came in different focal length versions, but camera’s with interchangeable lenses where very rare. (Except for the Mamiya C)
This camera comes with a 75 mm f3.5 lens, it also existed in a f2.8 version, usually much more expensive on the secondhand market. 75 mm on 6×6 film format has an equal viewing angle to a 38 mm lens on Full frame DSLR, or a 24 mm lens on a 1.6 crop camera, so a rather ‘wide-standard’ viewing angle.
The lens is certainly not paramount, and suffers heavily from flare, as can be seen in the images below (does somebody have a lens hood for this camera for me?). An aperture of 3.5 gives a good amount of image unsharpness on medium format. 2.8 would be nicer of course. The images lack a bit of contrast and sharpness.
Composing with the mirrored image on the focusing plane is a bit of a habit.
Shutter speed range is limited, from 2 seconds to 1/500th of a second, thus mostly limiting the wide open apertures in bright light. The mirror does not move, since it is not obstructing the film plane, so there are not vibrations from this side. Activating the shutter however demands some finger movement (unlike today’s DSLR’s where pushing the shutter entirely only takes some tenth of a millimeter) causing some hand stress and maybe movement unsharpness. Shutter speeds as long as 1/15th. of a second seem not possible to me without image shake. Maybe with some more experience.
The camera has a built in exposure meter, but it no longer works, so exposer should be metered with another camera, or with a hand held meter, I use the latter.
Film for this camera is widely available here in Belgium, both black and white and color film. Not sure about slides. Development is still available too, although it can take a while (1-2 weeks) before getting the negatives back. Scanning the negatives, as well as retouching them (from dust) is a tedious process.
The biggest advantages for me is that I spend more time composing, and checking out if everything is well in place before taking the image. It learns me to concentrate more on details, on exposure, on posing etc. … One roll of film equals 12 exposures, after that the fun is over. 😀 The fact that you see the image mirrored gives you a fresh view on your scene, revealing flaws in your image/composing remaining unnoticed as you set it up. (But I still have a lot to learn)
A second big advantage is that the images are square format. This gives me a more relaxed feeling when composing, and I believe that the images are more harmonious too. I kind of like this square format more and more. (This made me thinking about modifying a matte screen for my 5D mark II to indicate ‘square’ cropping).
changes I have had:
I had the original focusing screen replaced with a focusing screen with split prism and microprism focusing aids, and that adds to the accuracy of focussing with the camera. I also had the shutter speeds checked out by the same specialist repair shop that also changed the focusing screen.
To be continued. Enjoy this small portrait series I made with Pauline lately – Rolleiflex 3.5E – Tmax 400 film.
thank you for reading, see you soon,
Ludwig
When I met Pauline at a hotel room in Ghent, the sun was shining brightly. This led to a difficult light situation, with very high contrasts in the room. (Contrast ratio 10/1 sunlit: 1/500s f2.0 ISO100 – shadow: 1/50s f2.0 ISO100) You either have to stay out of direct sunlight, or be very careful working into it. The key here is to make sure that your exposures are good for the sunlit areas, and certainly not overexposed. This can be done by spot metering the lit area’s and fixing your exposure to that metering. This gives you dramatic contrasts, and a perfect light situation for the ‘hide and reveal’ kind of images. The situation became even more tricky later on, as thick clouds began to block the light more often than not. All images with Canon 5D II and Sigma 50 mm f1.4 Art.
I loved working with Pauline, she’s full of character, she has confidence in me as a photographer, and she’s willing to play with the camera. Of course her drama lessons add a lot to that.
see you soon for some analog images from this same shoot. I shot two rolls of T-Max 400 film that same afternoon.
Ludwig
Another set of images made it to the digital ‘Nude Is Fashion’ platform:
Lisa at the Mansion. From a shoot last summer, one of the last shoots I did at the Mansion. Now as an exclusive image series on NIFmagazine.
Pauline studies to be a drama artist, and she added some drama to our last shoot. 🙂
A close up portrait.
1/160 at f2.8 ISO 160 Canon 5D II with Canon EF100mm f2.8 Macro IS
a couple of weeks ago my work got published as an exclusive feature on NIF Magazine.
NIF (Nude Is Fashion) Magazine is an online platform for promotion of the nude as a fashion statement. They do so by promoting art-nude and fashion nude photographers on their website.
I thought that ‘Tatjana at Sabine’s house’ was a series that fitted well this description.
look for yourself:
Part two of this shoot with Sarah. In the living room of this nice house.
A grey and wet day, difficult light in this house with dark accents and furniture, and relatively small windows.
I look for windows for the available light to fall maximally on my model, but then you are in a backlight situation, which makes it always difficult to not overexpose the background/underexpose the foreground.
A further problem with this is that you have a cool color temp from the outside (6500 or so) and a warm 3000 degrees Kelvin temp on the inside. Luckily we are able now to locally brush in color temperature in Lightroom now.
Two of the images are taken with somewhat further away from the window, with only some available tungsten light.
Sarah has some kind of ‘tristesse’ in how she looks at the camera, I’m not sure she realizes this herself. Maybe she will if she reads this blog. 😉
She also has amazingly long and beautiful legs and a nice figure. She is rather used to posing, but she managed to still pose in some natural way.
Canon 100 mm f 2.8 L Macro IS and Sigma 50 mm f 1.4. I’m happy I have a stabilized lens for these occasions. The 100 mm Macro allows to stretch shutter speed up to 1/25 th of a second, with no visible camera shake.
thank you for watching,
ludwig
———- 2015 ————
Well I think I should start by giving you all my best wishes for 2015. Good health, a warm shelter and caring people around you, some personal challenges, and the time you need to help develop yourself to a richer being. (not financially speaking, … I think)
I have decided for myself to sell my 3D rendering business, in favor of my photography work. Let’s see what happens next. 😉
This blog had 49.931 views from 9.994 visitors during 2014. You are not alone out there, thank you for following my work! The fact that you are reading these words means you are still there. I would like to repeat that if you have a particular question or request, just ask.
————————-
I asked Sabine if she felt ok about me photographing a model in her studio, and without hesitation she said ‘sure, no problem’. I think Sabine is not really aware yet what exceptional work she makes. She has an amazingly strong and expressive pencil, and she mainly works with the human body as a subject. She is preparing an exhibit for late spring, so her studio is packed with finished works, works in progress, and full of idea’s that are waiting to get realized.
I had Sarah as a model. A thin, almost breakable figure, that contrasted extremely well with the robust paintings all around her. She agreed to pose topless/naked based on a discussed mood board. She did really well, but she got cold really quickly (‘as she always does’ she told me).
I had an awful mix of light sources, which forced me to work only black and white here (cool light coming from a rainy day, Tungsten spots in the ceiling, a phosphorescent lamp over the work bench, and a neutral daylight source Sabine uses to finish off her paintings. This means there is no way to get a proper white balance for all these sources, and you can not correct the different light colors afterwards properly.
Anyway, here are the images. For the technical details: Canon 5D II with Sigma 50 mm f1.4 DG Art and Canon 24 mm f1.4 L II. ISO from 320 to 500, shutter speeds from 1/10th to 1/30th of a second (train yourself to get a stable hand 😉 ) and apertures f2.0 – f2.2.
Thank you Sarah, for your confidence and cooperation, thank you not caring about the cold, thank you for coming to Ronse this rainy day.
Thank you Sabine, for saving my day (two other locations became unavailable very last minute) and for letting me into your home. Thank you for sharing your ideas and work.
After our outdoor forest shoot, we had some time left for a quick session ‘at The Mansion’.
The Mansion is still my favorite location for indoor shooting, since it has so many possibilities. Whatever moment of the day, there’s always a room that has nice light, the building is free-standing, which means that there are windows all around, and some rooms have windows on three sides. So besides choosing my main light source, all I have to check is my own position, the position of my model, in respect to the multiple windows I have around me. I can shoot with a window in my back, and still shoot against the light with the window just in front of me.
On the attic, I have rooms with only a small light, on cloud covered days that becomes very similar to what a softbox would do. On sunny days, I have a light spot on the floor, which reacts as an indirect light, and I still get the ‘softbox’ windowlight. On sunny days I rather not shoot in straight sunlight, because of the huge contrast ratios between sun-lit area’s and shadow areas.
Some images to illustrate my explanations:
1. One of the attic rooms, a single window at the right of my model, cloudy day, no direct sunlight, a door opening just left of the image, you actually see the door at the left side. Gives me enough light to create that small rim light on the hair and body, and it adds just that little extra light on the floor, to make the rest of the body shape stand out.
2. The office: A row of windows left as well as right from the model. Moderate light amount. There is an additional window light just behind the model, above the door. I added the extra bit of artificial light, available in the room. (some small bulbs) The artificial light creates a warm color cast, that can be annoying because the natural light is color neutral or blueish, depending on the weather conditions.
Same location, but I changed position.
Now I’m shooting against the light, but also with the light coming from behind me. The windows are big enough to provide a soft overall light, slightly coming from above, the windows in the back produce a very beautiful contour light all over my model. Note that I position myself in a way that my model is in front of a darker background, otherwise the rim light would get lost. (this was the first picture actually, Fien still has the hairdo from the exterior shoot.)
3. The angels room. Named after a beautiful decoration above the wooden side panels, with angels and flower, …
I have my main window light just behind me, aimed west, this picture was one of the last, so not long before sunset. There’s two more windows on the right, one just behind the model, one a little further away. The window just behind the model was covered with curtains, so only the far right window remains. Again this window helps creating a nice hairlight and ‘sheds a little light’ to the back end of the sofa.
4. The main entrance. Here my model actually stands outside, under the porch covering the entrance to the front door. This is perfect soft light for nice portraits. It is evenly distributed from above and from below, and it prevents hard shadows under the eyebrows. I have no backlight, but the glass in the front door provides a little definition of the hair contours.
5. The stairway. The main light source here is artificial light, coming from above (slightly warm tinted) The rim light is coming from a window behind the model, higher up the wall, spanning from left to right. This gives the nice light on the hair, the side of the head, the cleavage and breast, as well as the wooden pillars. Again mixed light white balance, but to me it is ok.
6. Also taken in the angels room, this time the model is standing where I took picture 3, back to the window, The window is big and high, providing enough light for an overall well lit image. Now we opened the curtains of the opposing window, giving a beautiful fill in light from the left.
To all aspiring model photographers out there, I hope you learnt something from these short explanations.
To all the others, I hope you enjoyed the images.
A big thank you to Fien for her confidence and cooperation. She never posed before, I think she did really well. Above that she’s a charm to work with. A big thank you also to the owners of The Mansion, for giving me continued access to this magnificent building.
see you again soon,
ludwig
