My image ‘I shot myself’ has been selected for display in the upcoming exhibit from darkroomgallery (Vermont USA).
Theme of the exhibit will be ‘mirror mirror’, a call for images was launched earlier this year.
The images for the exhibit were selected by Amy Arbus, daughter of the famous Diane Arbus.
I’m all proud 🙂
More information and the rest of the selected images can be found here: Mirror-Mirror
I have a good relationship with the people behind the Belgian ‘passion shops’ called Tutti Passi.
They provide me with lingerie and accessories, I grant them the use of some of my images. Make sure to visit their website to see what they have available. Have fun 😉
Just one word about natural light photography and why I prefer working this way.
The idea of using natural (also called ‘available light’) light is double for me.
1. It allows me to work quickly and without the fuzz of getting my gear just right for every room I work in, every different position I put my model in, … Getting this light just right, and then another light, and then a reflector, and then I need some more extension cable …
Working quickly allows me to direct my model in all kinds of poses, make her take different positions within a room, if I don’t like the light I can switch to another room, so she tends to forget it’s all about posing, and I get more natural, relaxed poses AND I get to make a lot more variations in a given amount of time. All the images with Lisa from this, the previous and the the post before that one are taken in about three hours of time. I would never be able to get such a rich variety of images if I were to setup lights every time.
It allows me to walk all around, and just analyze the available light in the room, and shoot from whatever angle I want to. I never have a light stand or a cable that is in the way. I don’t need to bother about light intensities or distances from my multiple light sources, … I have just the available light, and depending on where my model stands I will certainly need to adapt my exposure settings, but I only need to do that on my camera, and I’m good to go again.
2. I just don’t like it to drag all those flash lights and stands and cables etc. … I suppose I must have some kind of laziness inside me :p
Lisa in the beautiful lingerie gown I could lend from Tutti Passi, by Felice Art Couture
I’ll call the first image ‘Für Elise’, after all, I was named after a certain Ludwig Von Beethoven …
thank you for watching
don’t forget to click for a bigger version of the last image, it’s worth it!
see you soon for next chapter 🙂
Ludwig
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
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
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
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.
I’ve spoken about this shoot in an earlier post (in which I talked about the pro’s and con’s on film photography vs. digital).
But I yet have to show the digital images of this shoot with Kimberly. We fixed a date only a couple of days after she became 18. I generally don’t work with people under 18 because I don’t want any discussions with mad parents, or I do not want the hassle of somebody else having to sign the release contract I work with, and I don’t want to picture any nudity of a model under 18 (at least).
Anyway, here are the pictures, I don’t believe Kimberly posed in a shoot before, and she did really well, I think she has a very cute face.
I hope you like them. All natural light, at one of my favorite locations, The Mansion.
Hair was done by Nathalie, my wife. She’s joining in regularly for a hairdo lately.
thank you for watching. Come again soon.
Ludwig – Ronse – Belgium
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.
Thank you for watching, …
Ludwig – Ronse – Belgium
I have shot some rolls of film now, during my beauty shoots, working with an antique 6×6 cm Rolleiflex with planar 3.5 lens on it. It takes 120 Roll film. Film is available in every better camera/development shop in Belgium, so that is no issue.
It has been revised for shutterspeeds, since the longer shutter speeds had some lag, and the shutter had tendency to stay open longer than the selected speed.
I also had a new focusing screen fitted to this camera, since the normal focusing screen provided only little accuracy in focusing. The new screen has  split prism, which is a great aid in focussing accurately.
Of course I still need to work a lot on swift handling and manipulating the camera, but for now, I’m pleased with what I’ve got.
I gave a lecture last week in my hometown, and people asked about the advantages of working on film, in this era of high end digital camera’s. I will try to do an honest pro and contra list, based on my very limited knowledge right now.
Con’s for film photography with this particular camera (Twin lens reflex Rolleiflex (from somewhere in the 50’s of the preceding century):
It is a very slow paced form of photography, you need to load film, advance to your first frame, measure light with an external light meter, set your exposure accordingly on the camera, manually wind to next frame, …
It is hard to focus, even with the split prism focussing screen, I get a lot of ‘half sharp’ images.
It takes a while to get used to the left-right mirrored image, and the camera movements that are reversed in your viewfinder.
It has limited sharpness, partly due to limited lens quality, and limited film grain resolution. I have the impression that my scans at 7000 x 7000 pixels are not nearly as sharp as my images taken digitally on a Canon 5D mark II
There is no possibility to verify your results instantly. We are so spoiled with our digital camera’s, which have an immediate visual representation of your last exposure, that it is very difficult getting used to not having any immediate feedback at all.
It takes an awful lot of work to scan your negatives (I’m not talking about developing the negatives, because I have them developed by a lab). I scan the entire roll at lower resolution (similar to the old contact sheet) and then decide on the better images to make a high res scan only from the best. Even then, I’m occupied longer with a roll of 12 negatives, than with the 200 digital images I took.
It is quite difficult to get a good gray tones distribution in your scan. (that is probably me missing experience) I have an epson 3170 Photo scanner, which is ok, without being to expensive or cumbersome on my desk top.
In my case (taking B&W film rolls only) it is not possible to use different colors in the process of converting to black and white. With a digital color image, you can decide for every color tone, how light/dark it should be represented in the B&W conversion. Since I use black and white film, I have no color tones to play with. Film also gives you less play in exposure settings. Over a stop of wrong exposure, and you’re done with it.
Pro’s for film photography
It is a very slow paced form of photography (sound similar to the first con, don’t it?) which means you will be much more attentive before pushing the button. Remember, you only have 12 exposures on one roll, better get it right first time. I believe I have been more aware of composition and exposure settings than ever before.
My camera has a square format, which means you no longer have to deal with the horizontal vs. vertical question. What a relief, really. This has been such a comfort I couldn’t have expected it myself. I wish I had the possibility to cover up my viewfinder on my 5D II to only show a square format. I suppose you have noticed that in my last shoots already. I’m getting addicted to square.
Film grain is much nicer to look at than digital grain. Digital grain structure is getting pattern like when too obvious, film grain is absolutely random.
Medium format film camera’s are available at affordable prices (vs. digital medium camera’s, which cost a leg). A used Hasselbladt will be about 1000-2000 euro’s, a new digital middle format camera will be 10x as much.
These camera’s need no batteries. They have mechanical shutters. All you need is your camera and some rolls of film.
Its nostalgia, like a small kid you just keep staring at  your negatives when they are ready. Touching the film strip only by the edges, gently wiping of the dust before scanning, …
The negatives give a physical backup, no hard drives needed. I keep some glass negatives that are over 100 years old, they have suffered neglecting, but would have been spotless if well preserved.
Anyway, I also love the look of the images. It is as if these lenses give a different form of bokeh than the new digital lenses. It is hard work, and not so rewarding compared to digital photography, but it keeps some magic that the digital images no longer have. Maybe it is an idea, but for now I will keep experimenting with it, till I get a clearer understanding of the differences, and maybe I’ll quit, or I’ll get the money once to buy a digital equivalent when I get rich.
Some scanned images from the shoot with Kimberly at The Mansion from some weeks ago. Kimberly had been a model in one of my lectures at her school, and she has been waiting for her 18th birthday to get a ‘real photoshoot’ with me. I hope you enjoy the images. Click for bigger.
Come back soon, for Kimberly at the mansion (the digital version). You’ll be able to decide for yourself then, which you like the best.
see  you soon,
Ludwig
If i remember well, I think Adam and Eve met at the garden of eden.
I think they must have had a similar feeling as the one I had when I first saw this garden.
It is absolutely fabulous, and I love taking my models here. I can’t thank you enough, Sabine, for lending me the result of your hard labour and work.
Next chapter in the shoot with Pauline.
A great model, lots of character and willing to integrate my ideas in this shoot.
Thanks again Pauline, I enjoyed working with you.
Come again soon for my next post, another before and after image, with Lightroom development tricks explained.
happy photography,
ludwig
Pauline is studying to be a drama artist. She also has some experience with photography. She contacted me trough a model website where I have some portfolio images. She’s originally from Liège, but residing in Brussels.
I loved working with her, she does not have the typical model figure, and although she was a bit shy at first she posed very easily and naturally, and that is mainly what I’m looking for in models.
We worked trough the afternoon, first at The Mansion, then at the Garden of Eden. I’m very happy to have some exquisite locations really nearby, as this gives me the possibility to combine as the day evolves, and eventually as the weather changes. I’m still thinking about finding some additional locations for extra variety and possibilities. Not an easy thing to do, but I’m working on it.
Pauline brought a friend for make-up, and my wife did her hair. She made me think of a classic film diva in some of the images.
I’ll post the images in two series, The Mansion first. The house has been decorated with new curtains lately, and I’m happily making use of them.
Gear list: Canon 5D II, Canon 100mm f2.8 macro IS L, Canon 24mm f1.4 L, Sigma 50mm f1.4 DG.
Hope you like the images, come back soon for Pauline at the Garden of Eden.
Next chapter from this same shoot.
I have shown some images I took on film, some digital, developed in color, now some digital images, developed black and white.
You will probably notice that I use square format more often in my images lately. i think they have a more balanced frame, more stable and that fits my photography well.
That is probably also one of the reasons why I love working with the analog 6×6 camera. It frees you from the question of shooting horizontal or vertical. Peace of mind, really.
All in all I think this was a very fruitful shooting session, don’t hesitate to communicate your thoughts and ideas.
Model: Tatjana DN
Hair: Nathalie R.
MU: Heidi H.
Lingerie and mask: Tutti-Passi
Thank you to Sabine, for granting me access to her house for this shoot.
All images except fourth (Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro L IS) and last (Canon 24mm f1.4 L) are taken with the new Sigma 50mm 1.4 DG.
I hope you enjoyed,
Ludwig
I received confirmation that seven of my thirteen entries in the Tzipac Eros award 2014 have been accepted for stage two judgement.
I have entered images from different shoots in 2 categories: Erotic/provocative and Fine Art.
Garden of Eden, not yet published here, is one of the selected images.
Final results of this contest to be expected end of august, I will certainly keep you informed about it.
More info on the contest organisation here:
http://www.tzipac.com
a series of color images I took at the house with the wonderful garden, in Ronse.
Sabine saw my work in the ‘Kunst omhulst in Villa 99’ exhibit, and she tracked me down on Facebook. Per return, I saw pictures of her garden and I immediately fell in love with the beauty and romantic feeling the garden expresses. I had a first shoot with Anna O. in the garden itself, and now her house interior was decor for this shoot with Tatjana. Sabine is a painting artist herself, and very open minded for these collaborations. Thank you Sabine, for having me at your home that day. Tatjana is a non professional model, but very experienced in model shoots anyway. She was really open to work with, and a lovely personality. We were so indulged in the shoot that we had to hurry to catch the train at the scheduled time.
Rain all afternoon, so we didn’t have the possibility to shoot in the garden that day, but the interior of the house proved very adequate for a ‘natural beauty’ shoot.
Make up: Heidi H.
Hair: Nathalie R.
Lingerie was willingly provided by Tutti-Passi, woman friendly pleasure shop.
Hope you like this small selection of images.
I will soon show a second series of black and white images from that same shoot.
Images taken with Canon 5D II and Sigma 50 mm f1.4 DG Art and Canon EF 100 mm f2.8 Macro IS L. In the first and second image I used a strobist flash off camera to get some additional light. It is bounced on a reflector, right side from the camera.
Hope to see you again soon, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, ask questions or whatever.
Ludwig
A couple more film images from the shoot Tatjana at Sabine’s house, Kodak T-max 400 on Rolleiflex 3.5
Model: Tatjana DN
Make up: Heidi Huys
Hair: Nathalie Renard
This is the first model shoot where I used the 60 years old Rolleiflex camera and it did just fine.
I found the square aspect ratio from the middle format Rolleiflex a relief to work with. No more hard decisions on shooting vertical vs. horizontal.
Sabine’s husband is collecting ‘snail houses’, we made good use of them. 😉
thank you for reading,
Ludwig
From the shoot Tatjana at Sabine’s house, Kodak T-max 400 on Rolleiflex 3.5
Model: Tatjana DN
Make up: Heidi Huys
Hair: Nathalie Renard
Many thanks to Sabine V. for letting me use her home as a setting.
I’ll do another post soon with a little more information on the camera.
thank you for watching,
Ludwig
Styling and photography by me.
Make up and model: Anna Orlova
Limited edition prints available.
Table Top Nude II
Soon more images from the shoot with Tatjana, and also a series of analog images from that shoot.
thanks for viewing!
I’m currently developing a series of images I did with Tatjana. She had coffee first.
Model: Tatjana D.
Make up: Heidi H.
Hair: Nathalie R.
Lingerie: Tutti-Passi.be
photographer: me, Ludwig Desmet
Image taken with the new Sigma 50mm Art, developed in LR5
soon more to come.
thank you for watching
Well, kind of anyway.
Model & Mua: Anna Orlova
Photography: Ludwig Desmet
Styling: me
Limited edition prints available
Garden of Eden
for a nice long hot weekend!
Ludwig
Making a panoramic image in Photoshop is pretty simple, in the menu you go to file->automate->Photomerge, there you select your images, press enter and photoshop does it all for you, no hassle. You’ll just need to crop afterwards and your done.
Making a HDR image in Photoshop is pretty simple too, in the menu you go to file-> automate->Merge to HDR Pro, follow some easy steps, choose if you want to work 16 bit or 32 bit, choose wether you want to edit in Adobe Camera Raw or just save a 32 bit file, and further edit in ACR or Lightroom (since version 4)
Now making a panoramic image that has been shot in exposure bracketing, is a little more complicated, although a logic iteration of the above two workflows.
Here’s what needs to be done (Lightroom/Photoshop workflow)
000. Work with your Autofocus off for your exposures, focus once, then leave your focus be, work manually, work on a tripod, with preferably a panoramic head, or, as in this case with a Tilt-Shift lens.
00. Make sure you get sufficient overlap in between images (1/3 of your image is a good average)
0. Make sure you get the same exposure bracketing series in all your images
1. Grab your first bracketing series in Lightroom, right click and Edit in -> Merge to HDR Pro in Photoshop.
2. Photoshop will run trough a series of actions, and will bring up the HDR pro interface.
3. Now you’ll choose 32 bit, remove ghosts if necessary (only available from 3 or more images, and good if you have moving elements in-between images.) and just click OK.
4. Your 32 bit tif file will appear awful in Photoshop, no panic, just click the save button. (not save as, as this might save your image in a different directory than the original one)
5. Back in Lightroom, you should be able to see your image as filename-edit.tif You can edit the image just the way you edit RAW files, except now you have 10 stops exposure range up and down. Work with exposure, highlights, shadows, blacks and whites to get your image correctly edited. It might be a good idea to do lenscorrections in at this stage. (lens deformations and chromatic aberration, no perspective corrections)
6. Do this for all your bracketing series, try to develop the different images the same way. Avoid too many local corrections, as you will not be able to synchronize them because they will need to be applied in a different spot in every different 32 bit image.
7. Now the final step is just to make a panoramic image from all our previously edited images: select all your edited 32 bit files and right click -> edit in -> Merge to Panorama in Photoshop
8. Photoshop will gather all images and nicely align them out, make layer masks according to the images content (actually it searches for places where there’s no geometrical difference in two consecutive layers, to make the transition at that spot. That may lead to awkward layer masks, but the result is generally good.
9. Crop the image to get rid of white edges (photoshop will do transformations to compensate for lens corrections, or to get the perspective in-between images working ok)
flatten and further edit if needed (sharpening, filters, …)
10. Sit back and enjoy your work.
Visual representation of the workflow (click for bigger):
A small version of the final image.
This is the entrance hall of the Antwerpen Centraal train station:
Thank you for reading, you might as well follow my blog now you’re here :p
Ludwig