Shooting Days

The event took place in Villa Mosa in Huy at the river Meuse. Villa Mosa is one of the many "villas mosanes" built by the (very) rich along the Meuse and used as holiday homes.

Wednesday: mémorial Interallié

Photo right: a fitness model must of course show his skills, followed by a second model a little later. In the background the church Sacré Cœur of Liège.

A model from the Netherlands came to Liège for a short photoshoot for just one day. In the morning I try to contact him, but no response to the messages and the phone calls. Probably not awake in time and missed the train. I start my shootings with another model.

And then suddenly, out of nowhere (probably the railroad station) the model shows up at the Mémorial: he only had a national phone subscription and could not be reached abroad. The model had come especially that day, because the Mémorial is an ideal place for portraits. Fortunately he did not come the day we went to Décaperie...

The photographers don’t stay too long at the Mémorial: there aren’t that many possibilities: you have the Sacré Cœur or the city as a background, and that’s about it. I take my pictures in another place, not in full light, but where I can play with light and shadow.

The system where each photographer goes to the location separately from the other photographers with one or more models seems a good solution. The one who has to cook returns earlier, those who want to stay longer can continue to photograph.

Thursday: fort de la Chartreuse

The fort is of course ideal for a military style photoshoot. Unfortunately the photographers take the same photos in all places and I have to force the models to wear appropriate clothing. Otherwise what is the point of going to such very specific locations?

Now that the main entrance to the fort has been closed for a year, a lot of vegetation has grown. The photos have a green tint and you have to correct each image individually (shift the yellow and green component to red and yellow with photo soup).

This year there is a nice atmosphere between the models, it is not like last year. We even celebrated a birthday and the models went to get the supplies to bake a cake.

Friday: no shooting

I notice this more and more often: photographers have trouble finding a location, even for a place they have been before, like the fort. They get lost at two of the three places we visited. They turn back after working with a few of the models and don’t explore the place. They sit down at the entrance of the building and don’t explore any further. I am the oldest of the group, and I do most of the traveling, both by car and on foot at the locations. We urgently need to rejuvenate the team...

Saturday: la décaperie

Unfortunately the weather is not so good and it even starts to rain halfway through the day. Many places that are normally good in sunlight are now no longer usable, the image is too grey and gloomy. The swimming pool is not interesting. But the red room seems to be very suitable now, the rust that is everywhere provides a warm glow. The photos are even better than with full sunlight: in sunlight the place is only usable when the sun falls on certain specific spots, so around 13:00 and 15:00.

Some pictures taken that day:
La décaperie when the weather is dire (you can see the rain on some pictures).

The only good pictures were taken in the red room. It is probably possible to work with continuous light or with flashes in other places, but then you have to drag all your stuff from the car to the location, about 600 meters (300m if you leave your stuff at the location for the next photographer).

The parameters of the photos range from 1/125 ƒ/2.8 200ISO (almost the same settings as outside under overcast sky) for photos taken at the top of the red room to 1/90 ƒ/2.8 1600ISO for the photo at the end of the red room (second photo on the right).

Zondag: staying home

So we stayed home and I did a photo shoot in the house, in the stairwell (with side light) and in a doorway (with light from my continuous light sources).

My lights have been modified in the meantime. They were originally intended to work with two small 15V transformers. I made an inverter to convert the 12V of my battery pack to 15V (on 12V the lights cannot deliver their maximum power). Using a battery is easier even indoors: you don't have to look for an extension cord.

The advantage of my continuous light lamps is that you can set the power and color temperature of each lamp individually. You can also make sure that you get the impression that we have a sunset. In this case you have to set the camera to a manual white balance, so that it does not try to compensate for the sunset colors.