Fine art nude

beauty, Nude, Personal Pictures

Sir,

Could you please do a shoot with me?

Sure Ma’m. The honour is mine.

– Elisa –

Canon 5D II with Sigma 50 mm f1.4 DG A. 1/30s f2.8 ISO400

Sexy

beauty, location, Personal Pictures

Long legs, high heels.

Sharon came to me for a shoot for her ‘Miss Universal’ – edit: ‘Reina Intercontinental’ – election in Costa Rica.

She’s not new to me. I worked with her before, here, here and here.

We did several clothing outfits, one even more ‘missy’ than another, not really my style as you probably know by now, but I found this image rather sexy at least.

You can express your support for Sharon here: FB page

thank you for watching,

Ludwig

Da Castle shoot – analog

Analog, beauty

Some images from a while ago. Analog takes a little longer to process than digital. 🙂

Very hard circumstances for making pictures without a built-in light meter, with the light changing every minute. Sunny with scattered clouds. Luckily the film I use has a lot of ‘range’, so I could correct in scanning, when needed.

I enjoyed working in this castle environment very much. If any one of my followers out there owns his or her private castle, and I could use it for shoots, please shout. I will grant you my eternal gratitude and a free beer.

I think these are the last images from the ‘interim model’, I hereby want to thank her again for stepping up for this life-changing experience.

thank you my dear audience for reading this post. 😉

ludwig

An afternoon at Hotel Hancelot – Pauline.

beauty, Personal Pictures

I think you know Pauline by now. I love working with her. She’s nice, beautiful, she can be herself or she can put on a role, she’s punctual and joyful. I noticed I never published a color image from this shoot. It’s a shame, because they came out good in color too. Enjoy:

Images taken with Canon 5D mark II and Sigma 50 mm 1.4 (first image) and Canon 100 mm 2.8 Macro. – All available light.

thank you for visiting,

Ludwig

Ivana at the Mansion – Forgotten series of analog images – NSFW

beauty, Personal Pictures

When I have some more time on a photoshoot, I shoot some images on film too.

One of the rolls of film I’ve shot with Ivana never got published here. It’s a shame, since I think the images are worthwhile. I had been working hard to see the ‘real’ Ivana, not the model, read these posts to know all about it:

Part I

Part II

Part III

in this third part, I also shot some film images. A roll of TMax 400 film on Rolleiflex 75 mm f3.5 6×6 format.

happy viewing.

See you again soon

Ludwig

ANGRY – Natural light portrait – setup

beauty, people, personal tips & tricks, portrait

luckily this was only roleplay, she was not really angry with me, I would have feared for my life, if not certainly my camera gear. 😉

1/20s f2.8 ISO 400 – Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro L

setup:

long hallway with big windows on the left side, first part of the hallway, no windows to the right.

Model just behind the last window.

Big styrofoam board to the right side of the model, filling in shadow parts. (120x240cm – about 50×100″)

That’s it, simple as anything, and a styrofoam board costs a couple of euro’s.

I had to darken the background a little at the right side, there was some light spill at the end wall of the hallway.

after the angry part, we did some more friendly images too.

here I’m off to the left, so the right wall becomes visible and I don’t get completely black in the background.

below: 1/50 f1.6 ISO400 – Sigma 50 mm f1.4 DG Art

Frontal again, showing very dimly lit ceiling windows, not giving any effect on the subject.

thank you for watching.

Ludwig

Exhibit Opening – Gafodi Fotosalon 2015

exhibition

You must have heard of it. I have been invited to be the guest photographer at the ‘Gafodi fotosalon 2015’, a yearly event, exhibiting the club’s best work, the results of their national image contest and youth contest, and home for a different guest photographer every year. I have the honour to fill the main stage, … 😎 Last saturday we had the opening ceremony, 200+ audience, with speeches from the president of the club and some other honourable guests, awards ceremony and so on. As the guest photographer I received a basket full of beers and other goodies. To be consumed AFTER shoots, not before 😉 I also had the pleasure to meet 3 of the models that are in at least one of the images on stage: Pauline, Jenn and Lisa. Thank you ladies, for coming to the opening, it was a pleasure to meet you again, and to be able to present my and your work ‘on a larger scale’. Pauline: Cirrus – actually I present 4 images of this shoot on this exhibit, you should come to see the others. Lisa: Lisa at the Mansion Jenn: Pearls and Sudden Gust of wind The exhibit is open this monday morning, next friday/saturday/sunday, and then again on monday morning. (market day in Gavere) I hope you will be able to make it. Next to my work there’s plenty more good pictures exhibited.

The Engine Room

beauty, Personal Pictures

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

Model photography – Corinne Vionnet style

Personal Pictures, personal tips & tricks, Tips and Tricks

A former classmate from photography classes is currently still following courses in a different institute, to further expand his photographic horizons.

He came with the question ‘if I could figure out how to make a Corinne Vionnet image’ …

Corinne Vionnet has created a series of works, assembling a massive amount of tourists images (1000) into one single image. The resulting image is some kind of a condensed, time-spanning assembly of the tourist spot at hand.

I’ve tried to assemble similar style images with a limited number of beauty shots. These are the results.

I got interested in this technique, and I thought that I could make a ‘universal female portrait’, so I assembled 45 different images into one portrait. Image here under. Looks funny, but I liked the originals more.

This made me think about ‘Das Parfum’, the novel by Patrick Süskind, where the Jean Baptiste Grenouille tries to capture the essence of young women in a perfume, (he has to kill the women for his perfume) but instead of creating a perfume of youth, he became a monster. Not that the below image looks like a monster, but it is not exactly a beauty either. 😀 A lot is due to the different angles in which the original faces are oriented in the image. I need to try with ‘straight facing’ portraits next time.

I think I should experiment a little more with it, to see where I can get to with portrait work. Anyway, my friend was pleased with the results, and I have discovered something new. 🙂

thank you for reading,

Ludwig

Pearls – Limited edition.

beauty, Nude, Personal Pictures, print

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

Pauline

beauty, Personal Pictures

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

Fien at The Mansion – about light.

beauty, Personal Pictures, personal tips & tricks

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.)

Ludwig Desmet-FienVH-3148

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

Fien, fall in the flemish ardennes

beauty

Hi there,

Another model post. For a change I went outdoors with my model. Fall had turned the so called ‘Muziekbos’ (Music Forest) into this wonderful palette of fall colors the last few weeks, and I found it a pity not to use this amazing environment for my next shoot.

I met Fien at Bioplanet Ghent (that’s what shopping organic stuff is good for 😉 ) and after checking my blog she agreed for a model shoot. We met at my place, and Nathalie couldn’t resist of making a quick hairdo. I think it suited well for this romantic backdrop.

Off for shooting, rather cold outside temperatures, but Fien didn’t complain at all. Still we didn’t make this a long session, about 40 minutes. The gray covered sky provided very soft natural light, good for outside portraits.

I mixed black and white and color images in this set. I get to like BW images more and more, but couldn’t have converted them all and loose those great fall colors.

I hope you like the images, taken with my trusty Canon 5D II and 24-50-100 mm lenses.

Oh, and during the shoot, we stumbled upon Bart Heirweg, a very good landscape photographer from Belgium. He was shooting fall colors too, but with a slightly different approach. 😉 You should check out his website, he makes the most amazing landscape images, and offers his knowledge in different workshops. Website

See you again soon for part II of this shoot meeting: Fien at The Mansion. Those images will follow later this week.

best,

Ludwig

Ivana – The model – at the Mansion – NSFW

beauty, erotic, Personal Pictures, Uncategorized

Ivana is an international working beauty and fine art nude model. She was in Belgium last september, and I took the occasion to work with her for a morning session at the mansion.

Working with professional models has advantages and disadvantages. One of the biggest pro’s is that they very quickly understand what they need to convey in the image. If you want a certain expression or attitude in the image, most of them are quick in producing the look you’re after. Another advantage is that you can be sure they will be present at the fixed appointment date/time. Working with ‘facebook models’ sometimes lends to ‘no-show’ at the time of the shoot. (In excuse of Grandma’s dying and more of this stuff). Ivana also took care of her own make-up, hair was done by my wife Nathalie. Nathalie attended an entire shoot for the first time, and found it enriching and exciting. I was really ok for having her around, and so was Ivana. She’s used to having a whole team present at shoots, so she couldn’t be bothered less with only me and Nathalie around.

We worked in different themes, I’ll show you ‘the lady of the castle’ first.

for those wondering what NSFW stands for: Not safe for work – due to nudity involved.

All images available light only, Canon 100 mm Macro and Sigma 50 mm on my trustworthy Canon 5D II.

Click images for a bigger view.

thank you for watching, next set coming soon,

Lisa at The Mansion – Part II – Upstairs

beauty, Personal Pictures, Uncategorized

The mansion has 4 levels: a ground level that is fully restored, and fully equipped with furniture, curtains, beautiful light fixtures etc. A first level that looks like someone is currently moving in whilst doing a rebuild, with plaster on the walls, cables hanging from the ceilings, water pipes on the floor, just simple light bulbs protruding from above where the sink is supposed to be etc. … Another level that I call the attic, with dark rooms just below the roof. No plastering at all, you can directly see the roof structure and the shingles on the roof. There is also an underground level, which I haven’t used yet. Its cold, dark, dirty and damp. Nothing nice really, oh and it has doors with bars, maybe those might lead to something.

I love using the dirty textured walls as a background in contrast to my models. Sometimes my models get a little bit textured too, by standing against the walls, but mostly they don’t care. Lisa certainly didn’t care too much.

A jeans short and a loose tank top. Lisa needed nothing else.

All natural light, 24 mm (first one only), 50mm and 100 mm. Canon 5D II

thank you for looking, share me your thoughts and come back again for part III really soon.

Ludwig

Lisa at the Mansion – Part I – The Attic

beauty, Personal Pictures

Well, here they come. Lisa is a dancer, and she can’t keep from moving and being graceful and elegant. She’s also very well trained, and her body shows. The attic is dark, and cold and deserted, but it has window light that plays well with the curves and contours of a beautiful body. This is the first half hour of the shoot, and we still had to get ‘warmed up’, …

I feel it helps getting my models comfortable and at ease when my wife spends some time getting their hair done. They feel less vulnerable and helpless, knowing there is a third person involved and also I believe they feel less threat knowing that I have a relationship that works well etc. … Lisa at least felt at ease from the start of the shoot.

images taken with 24mm (first one only) 50mm and 100mm

come back again soon.

Ludwig

Lisa at the Mansion – preview

beauty, Personal Pictures

A single image to get you all warmed up for the next few posts. Lisa at the Mansion. We met trough Facebook, we have tried to fix a date for a shoot on several occasions in the last two years, and then finally, at the end of august, Lisa came to Ronse for a beauty shoot. She did absolutely wonderful, I can’t wait to show you the results. The image below has received a 97.4 score by the 500px.com audience, and there’s a lot more images that have the same amount of tenderness, beauty and sensuality. Come back again really soon, and enjoy the rest of this wonderful afternoon photo session. Lisa told me when she saw the pictures: ‘amazing, that with so little equipment, you can produce this kind of result’. A great compliment for my available light photography, and another proof that you don’t need a ton of gear to produce beautiful images.

Image taken with the Sigma 50mm f1.4 DG Art 1/80 – f2.0 – ISO200

Juliette at the Mansion

beauty, Personal Pictures

Another series at the Mansion. Juliette had seen my images on modelmayhem (I have a free account there, so my portfolio is limited to 15 images) and contacted me for a shoot early summer. It took a while before we could arrange a date. Juliette, like most of my models, had to travel quite some distance to get here. Worthwhile? Take a look at the pictures and decide for yourself. Juliette happy, me happy, … Thanks again to Nathalie for the hairdo, thank you to the owners of the Mansion, still granting me access to it whenever I want to shoot. Thank you Juliette for your patience and trust.

All images except the last one available light only, Canon 5D II and Canon 100mm f2.8 IS Macro L/Sigma 50mm f1.4 DG Art.

Last image with additional Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash.

Thank you for watching, hope to see you again soon.

Souki at house Adelaide.

beauty, Personal Pictures

A new model, a new location.

House Adelaide, a luxury holiday house in Ronse. Click here for more info. Including jacuzzi, outdoor kitchen, Sauna, a private bar and cinema, and a lot more luxury for the guests to enjoy.

And my model Soukira, who had been following my work for a while, and then when she had the opportunity, volunteered willingly for this shoot.

Enjoy the images and experience how a dull and windy afternoon turns out not so bad after all.

All images with natural light only (and some bulbs here and there). Thank you to Soukira, for the patience and trust, and a big thank you to the owners of the house for granting me access.