I shot this entire day with my 60 year old Rolleiflex camera. Kind of stressy and awkward feeling to get home with nothing but some rolls of film. … I only found out in the evening that I didn’t even have a memory card in my digital camera. … I must have had some kind of enlightenment when I decided in the morning to go ‘all analog’ that day.
I photographed this young lady in the grey and dull city of Charleroi, on a grey and dull day, but she proved to be all except grey and dull, we had a wonderful morning session, and made some great images together! Thank you Victoria!
– Victoria –
Rolleiflex 3,5 with Ilford FP4 Plus film
thank you for watching,
ludwig
• Feel the sun •
Model: Charisse
Make up: Kelly
photographed on location at ‘Godshuis Sint-Laureins’
Rolleiflex 3,5 with Kodak TMax400 film.
thank you for watching.
ludwig
a first one from a series of analog images I did with Ava
too hot outside, we fled for the cool interior of the chateau. The atmosphere was great, the castle was quiet, Ava was feeling comfortable. Some of the main ingredients for a great shoot. The models, although more accustomed to getting undressed than any other person, still prefer a quiet, unbothered atmosphere. There’s nothing more disturbing than people hopping in at unforeseen moments. A kind of understanding builds between model and photographer (and eventually assistants, make up artists etc …) and this makes intimate pictures possible. Thank you Ava for your confidence, and for being my model during this shoot.
• La dame du château •
model and make up: Ava Lacour
Hair and assistance: Nathalie
Shot on location in Tournai, Belgium
Rolleiflex 3,5 TLR on Kodak T-Max400 film.
all images © ludwig desmet
thank you for watching.
a small preview of the shoot I did with Erika Albonetti in Brussels.
model and make up: Erika Albonetti
assistance: Nathalie Renard
photography: Ludwig Desmet
• way too hot today •
Erika is a wonderful model to work with, you’ll see more of her appear here in the weeks to come. Photographed with Rolleiflex 3,5 on Kodak T-Max100 film.
location: Kunstberg/Mont des Arts – Brussels.
the first of July I had two models coming over. A new experience to me, having to concentrate on several things at a time, and not much time to come up with ideas during wardrobe changes or pauses, there’s always another model waiting. We worked in a former furniture store. There have been final sales for a couple of months, so most places are rather empty. There are however a lot of different rooms and spaces, and a lot of different lighting situations, that’s what I like about a location like this. I had my lovely assistant doing hair and wardrobe assistance with the models, and she also keeps an eye on little details during the shoot.
I shot both Pauline and Laura apart as well as together. more to come. Pauline is a long time favourite, and she brought a lot of her friends to me in these last couple of years. Laura is one of them, you’ll meet her in my next post.
• Pauline •
shot with Rolleiflex 3.5 TLR on Kodak T-Max 400 film.
this film is a little grainier than the Kodak T-Max 100, but for interior work you have to get a faster film than the 100 I mostly use. All images available light only.
Thank you Pauline, for being my model
Hair: Nathalie
Make up: Hanna E.B.
we love Paris,
this means, Nathalie and I often go to Paris, and the more we go, the less we prepare our visit. We started using the ‘Vélo’lib’ bycicle’s (the city’s own public bycicle’s), an ideal means of transportation if you are not too scared to move along the traffic. (which can be ‘busy’ at moments)
this allows us to travel criss-cross, without limitations of public transports, and with the advantage of staying above surface (unless metro, which also has good service in Paris, but tucks you away underground).
I decided not to take a digital camera with me, and only look for opportunities with the twin lens Rolleiflex I have. It makes you less visible as a photographer, because you have a completely different body attitude (bent over looking from top into your camera) so people don’t notice you as much as they would when photographing with a reflex camera.
a first series of images I thought worth looking at:
– (try to) follow the bride –
– Georgio Moroder is coming to town, but the letter spacing needs some fine tuning –
– Fondation Louis Vuitton –
– a book worth reading –
Rolleiflex 3.5 TLR with Ilford Delta 100 Pro film.
thank you for watching, see you soon for some more images
ludwig
I think we are kind of ‘creative people’ when arranging spaces 😉
Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar with Kodak TMax 100 film
ludwig
Town hall – village of Doel
Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar with Kodak TMax 100 film
Ludwig
with the Rolleiflex
don’t ask for exposure info, cause I have none. aperture probably 1/3.5, film Kodak T-Max 100, shutter time will have been fairly slow. (1/15th or 1/30th of a second)
Focusing is getting better, I no longer use the split prism for focusing, but the fresnel concentric lines. When something comes in focus, the fresnel lines start ‘dancing’ 🙂 .
thank you for watching.
ludwig
Let’s get things started in 2016 with this single image post.
A first one of a series ‘Aude in the bathroom’.
Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar With Kodak TMax400 film.
Hope to see you soon again.
best,
ludwig
My first 100% analog photoshoot. Shot with my Rolleiflex 3.5 TLR camera, on Kodak T-Max 400 film.
My model had taken the initiative to look for great clothing and accessories that fitted them well. Next to first time only analog, also first time with a model in a crowded place. Ik kind of enjoyed the public interaction.
I hope you like the images, thank you for watching, thank you Corry for being my enthusiast model on this drizzling day. Thank you Nathalie for the hairdo, thank you Hanna for the make up.
please come again soon, for more images with this and other analog camera’s
Another set of images taken on film.
The advantage of film is that it is slow paced. A lot of things need to be double checked. I still have a lot to learn, but with Aude I managed to get a decent amount of good shots. The weather was cloudy, so there where no hard contrasts and that helps. Shutter speeds need to be kept under 1/25s to get neat and sharp images, unless you are able to work on a tripod. For this shoot I partly worked with tripod, partly hand held.
These images ‘at the Castle’ are taken with my newly acquired Rolleiflex TLR with Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm f3.5 lens. I have the impression that the focus is a little more accurate than with the other Rolleiflex, and I manage to get a decently sharp image with the help of digital techniques. The images are taken on Kodak T-max 100 film. Click for bigger version.
The castle is the ‘Chateau d’Anvaing’, nicely surrounded by its water surface. There are some giant trees and remainder ornaments in the immediate surroundings.
Thank you for watching, soon I will post another set with Aude, taken with another Twin Lens Reflex that has at least 50 years: the Yashica 635.
Ludwig
The story is told that there is a ghost swarming above the castle lake at night. It is there to protect the treasure of gold and jewellery, hidden in the waters of the lake.
I’ve never seen the ghost, nor have I any proof about the treasures existence, but it sure does great as a photo shoot backdrop.
I have a lot more images from this series, analog as well as digital, so visit this blog again soon to see the remainder results.
This image: Rolleiflex 3.5 TLR with Kodak T-Max100 film.
Model: Aude
Make up: Heidi
Hair: Nathalie
photographer: Ludwig 😉
Hi there,
I have been developing some negatives from last summer lately.
First a series of images I took in a dark attic, on a dusk day. Ideal conditions for film-work with an antique camera. (Not!)
Hard to focus, hard to get shutter speeds high enough for hand held shooting. I worked with a 400ISO film and had to push it two stops (underexpose when exposing, then get a ‘pushed development’ in developing the film) to get a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second. I’m not really very fond of the exposures, because I think they lack grey tones. The images are very contrasty and full of grain.
All images Rolleiflex 3.5 75mm on Kodak TMax400 film.
Come again soon.
ludwig
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
A single image from this same shoot (interim model/the engine Room) – in the afternoon we went to this nice little castle up the hills in Ronse. We could freely use the exterior and surroundings of the castle. A great new location. judge for yourself:
Image taken with Rolleiflex 75 mm Tessar f3.5, on Kodak Tmax400
soon more on this blog
thank you for watching
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
