Bowie is no more, let’s remember some of his words.
so I’ll keep trying, till I succeed …
– Justine –
thank you for watching
Images © ludwig desmet – Canon 5D II with Canon 135mm f2 L
woman
ZEN
beauty, Personal Pictures, Uncategorized– 2016 will be a good year –
ZEN
thanks for watching
ludwig
1/30s f2.8 ISO 1250 Canon 100mm Macro
The lady at the Castle
Analog, beauty, location, UncategorizedThe 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 😉
Silk night gown – NSFW
beauty, erotic, Personal Picturesa small series of images, a little voyeur style.
Model: Elisa.
All images Canon 5D II – with Canon 100mm and Sigma 50 mm. Thank you for watching,
Ludwig
Sexy
beauty, location, Personal PicturesLong 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
Portrait – Mysterious
Personal Pictures, portraitI’m generally very careful about the integrity and privacy of my models. Usually when I shoot artistic work with a model I contact, I have my models sign an image release contract. This enables me to be able to publish the images on my personal web and marketing platforms (such as this blog), exhibits and book publishing. Mostly they still get the possibility to refuse image X or Y from a selection, if they think they are not beneficial to their personal image. Also they have the option to be published under a different ‘model name’ than their real name.
For people contacting me for a shoot, things are a bit different, they pay me for my work, and although I automatically get the image rights for the pictures I take, I do not have the ‘right of publication’ of them, without explicit consent of the person in the portrait. This is not contract bound, but on an ‘allow or refuse’ free decision of the client.
I made a series of portraits of this lady here. If I asked here, would it be ok if I post an image of this series on my blog, she said ‘no problem, as long as it stays anonymous’.
So here she comes: ‘The mysterious lady from the Brussels region’
Canon 5D mark II, Sigma 50 mm f1.4 DG A, 1/80 s – f1.4 – ISO 400
thank you for reading
ludwig
Clair-Obscur, or playing with light
beauty, people, Tips and TricksWhen 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
Digital publication – NIF Magazine
beauty, Nude, Personal Picturesa 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:
Sarah at Sabine’s house – the living room – nsfw
beauty, Nude, Personal PicturesPart 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
Fien, fall in the flemish ardennes
beautyHi 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
Emilie at Hotel Remington – NSFW
beauty, erotic, Personal Pictures, UncategorizedIt has been a while since I first started thinking about how to define ‘fine erotica’ and what can be described as being erotic, and I still am not really sure how to describe it. I think it must be a mix of State of mind, sexual attraction, visual appeal and a lot of fantasy about the promise of an intimate relationships. For me erotica is not directly linked to nude, and nude is not per definition erotic. I think there’s a lot of nudity available on the internet that has little or no erotic effect, rather the contrary. And there are some (harder to find) very erotic, non nude pictures out there as well.
As a photographer it is not easy to find and keep that very thin border between ‘just another picture of a beautiful woman’ – fine erotica – ‘just plain vulgar’. And that is just what I’m trying to achieve in some of my photo shoots.
I think I have the necessary technical knowledge now, but there’s a lot more needed.
One of those things needed is a willing model, understanding your ideas and showing enough confidence to let you execute them. Not easily done these days, where all things including nudity, erotica and sexual arousal are hidden far away behind closed bedroom doors.
It will be a long search, and I feel I only have just started out.
This shoot was done with help of Audrey from Hotel Remington in Ronse, thank you Audrey, for keeping a room for us that day. Clicking on the name-link will take you to the website of this nice, charming hotel.
Emilie was ready. She understood the things I wanted her to evoke, and she did it. Thank you so much Emilie, for your confidence, your trust and the beautiful results we made together.
Emilie is not really sure about revealing herself to the world as being a nude model, so we agreed to show only ‘non recognizable images on this blog’. I hope you understand, and I hope you can enjoy these pictures.
Sofie at the orphanage
beauty, Personal PicturesThe orphanage, it’s been a long time since I photographed there. I had no access to the Mansion that day, and the orphanage proved a welcome alternative.
It might not be as fancy or beautiful as The Mansion, it has character and atmosphere by millions, …
I met Sofie at a good friends wedding party early september, and asked her if she would like to be a model in one of my shoots. Mostly this question comes with some hesitation and fear. I might be the dirty old man, looking for some secret fantasies to come true. :p
After a week or so I got an email message that confirmed her interest, and that in fact it had been her husband that pushed her into this. He had been looking trough my images (on this blog-site) and found them to be beautiful and respectful. We met some weeks later. Sofie is not a model in the strict sense of the word, she never posed before, and was somewhat intimidated by the event. But she did very well, she managed to look straight into the camera with an expression of confidence and self awareness, and she had no problems following my posing instructions. I would call her a natural beauty.
Thank you Sofie, for your patience and thrust!
I hope you’ll enjoy the pictures.
Come again soon,
Ludwig
Ivana at the Mansion – part III – the woman behind the model – NSFW
beauty, Personal PicturesAfter working with Ivana for about an hour or two, it appeared to me that she hadn’t showed herself in the shoot the way she presented herself when ringing at my door that same morning.
So I wanted her to look NOT like a model for once. So in stead of asking her to convey a certain emotional state, or a certain strength or vulnerability or whatever look I had received from her, now I wanted her to show the real Ivana. Now THAT was a very hard think to do. And I think that is the biggest disadvantage of working with pro models, they kind of lost themselves in those hundreds and hundreds of hours of being someone else.
But I think we succeeded, and Ivana at last had me have an insight in her natural being. So here she comes, the real Ivana. I am proud, thank you Ivana!
thank you, come again soon, please leave me your thoughts and questions.
warm greetings,
Ludwig
Ivana at the Mansion – part II – NSFW
beauty, erotic, Personal Pictures, UncategorizedAnother advantage of working with professional models is that they often have little or no reservations towards nudity, as long as it is tasteful and not in disrespect to their person.
Ivana is very used to posing nude, and I am getting used to working with models in a natural, unstressed way. I consider it a gift that my wife will let me work with these women, in a way that most people consider at least ‘unconventional’. (Certainly here in Belgium) On the other hand, I must say that in this growing process, I never really felt sexual attraction during these shoots. I think it would be no good idea to not keep control over your male instincts at these moments. That will certainly ruin your photography, and it will most probably ruin your reputation as a photographer. A lot of men asked me if they could assist with light setups in my shoots, but unfortunately I work with natural light only, so I don’t need assistance. 😉
I am very much inspired by the work of Radoslaw Pujan, and maybe you can find some of his influences in my images from time to time. He’s both an exquisite photographer (working mainly on film) but also a good storyteller in his image series.
Enjoy!
come back soon for another post!
Ivana – The model – at the Mansion – NSFW
beauty, erotic, Personal Pictures, UncategorizedIvana 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,
Sanne at House Adelaïde – BW
beauty, Personal PicturesA lot of models ask me if I will work according to a concept or a clear idea, I almost always point them straight to this website. I do not really work out much preparation in my beauty shoots. I make sure I have a location, sometimes I take care of some clothing, and that’s about it. Sanne asked me ‘three hours, is that not too short for a shoot?’, well, since I work with no artificial light, it is not, you’ll be tired after those three hours, because I make you do so much different things in this period of time. I love to work in House Adelaïde because it has beds, nice wooden floors, curtains, light from both sides of the building atmosphere and style. If you are looking for a luxury holiday home in Ronse, that’s the place to be.
A small selection of the morning session with Sanne, black and white.
come back again soon for the color version 🙂
grtz, Ludwig
Lisa at The Mansion – Part III – Lingerie
beauty, Personal Pictures, UncategorizedI 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
Lisa at The Mansion – Part II – Upstairs
beauty, Personal Pictures, UncategorizedThe 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 PicturesWell, 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 PicturesA 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
