Last week An & Klaas went to the Belgian coast together with me for their engagement-session.  I really liked the idea, because they did try hard to find some good ideas for their session.  And when people think along with me we can work out some real fine shots!

When arrived at “De Haan”, it was an absolutely perfect day!  At about 20 degrees, no wind and no clouds…  what else do you need to make a couple in love shine?  Well…  there was one thing… their kites!  It’s the passion of both and Klaas ‘s job, so it was pretty obvious that when at the seaside, the kites couldn’t miss-out!

I really enjoyed a lovely day at the seaside together with two lovely youngsters and the result is there!

And if all this isn’t enough…  I get to see them again tomorrow for their wedding-day!  So let’s do all these lovely things again tomorrow!

Last week the “real” work-season took a great start with the Romance Report of Elke & Hans.

As a rehearsal for their big day in July, the nerves were a bit tense in the very beginning… only in the beginning!  Very soon the two of them were giving the best of their own, resulting in a series of fun and really lovely shots!  It wasn’t really summer yet, but their smiles turned the chill day into a nice ‘n warm atmosphere!

I’m already looking forward to rock it again at their big day in a few months!  Really love working with people like Elke & Hans…  that’s when you get at a point that smiles make your day!!

Two months ago we raffled a WIN-action for Valentine’s Day.  The lucky couple Liesbeth & Geert were my “victims” for a film-only Romance Report…  and I must admit: they performed like pros!    It was a cold (yes cold!) and windy Sunday in March but nothing kept them from getting a great smile on their faces, what more could a photographer ever want?!

What started as a try-out for an all-film e-session, turned out to be one a great afternoon full of fun and lovely pictures!

I once more got convinced of the quality of medium format photography on film.  In this shoot Fuji Pro 400H and Kodak Tri-X were used in the Hasselblad 500CM with 6×4,5 back and in the Nikon F100.  It goes without saying that medium format had an enormous advantage on 35mm concerning density, graininess, color, etc…  for me 120 film is the way to go!

Please feel free to have a look at 2 great youngsters in love!

When it comes to wedding albums, the quality of the album has to be good.  No… it has to be perfect!

Nowadays there are loads of companies who offer wedding albums for a small investment, but most of the times quality suffers badly from this saving.  As it is probably the most important album of your whole life, it has to be good!  Therefor the search after good albums at good prices keeps on going.

In one of my previous posts you could see the new top-end album for 2012.  It has all the bells & whistles one can dream of and really is top!  For couples who are looking for a great album, but at a more economic price, I introduced another album in the line.

At a very handy 20 x 30cm size, it comes just at the perfect size to take with you or have it on your coffee-table.  It comes in all different numbers of pages, varying from 10 till 100.   Coming at a very economical price, this albums makes it possible to have top quality for every wedding!

Covered with high-quality italian grainy leather, it is built to last!  A very nice extra is the embossing of the names on the cover… I really love the style of this!

Setting itself apart from the lower-class albums by having a nice bound book-block, all pages are cut at exactly the same size…  your book is perfectly one nice and smooth block.

The sturdy rond back, makes it possible to have a nice flat book without deformation of the back.

Having a satin-finish for the real photo-paper, color and black & white pictures are presented with a great saturation and contrast… no dull images!

As today is a beautiful day… lots of sun, happy feelings, big smiles… time to pick a lucky couple for the Valentine’s WIN action!

Faith (a.k.a. my girlfriend) has picked a lucky one out of the contestants in the big black bag…

All the contestants waiting to get in the bag…

Faith getting in the bag …

And the winners are: Lies & Geert… Congrats!

You will soon receive a mail with all details for our shoot!

Thanks to all participants for joining!  I hope not to have disappointed you too much, but do stay in touch…  there will be more of these actions this year!  One time will be your lucky time!!!

After the win-actions of 2011, it was time to launch the first one for 2012!  As Valentine’s Day is coming close…  this will be the ideal “gift” for a lovely couple among you!

What is there to win?

A full Romance Report (worth 175,00 € ! ) for a couple, shot on film:

• 1-2 hours session, on a beautiful day in February-March 2012
• about 30 – 40 pictures fully edited on disk
• 3 prints of 20 x 30

What are the requirements to participate:

• you have to be 18+
• you have to be a couple…  any couple is OK!  Young, young between the ears, married, engaged, just in love….  anything!
• just be you lovely self!

What do you have to do to participate?

Just send me an e-mail with 2 things:

• a short (or if you want long!) description of how you two met for the first time
• a copy of the most wonderful picture of you as couple together

In a week (on Sunday 15/01/2012), an online number generator will pick one winning couple.  The winners will be announced on this blogsite and will be mailed the same day.

So, jump on in and send me an e-mail !! (click!)

See you soon!

A few weeks ago the wedding of Isabelle & Klaas was held in Antwerp.  It was the most exciting and beautiful day of two magnificent young people!

They really enjoyed every minute of the day…  and that’s what I really like.  It gives me the opportunity of capturing these straight-from-the-heart emotions…

Also the details they had been looking for so long were just perfect!  The awesome AC Cobra Klaas was driving, the bling-bling ring, the flowers Klaas bought for Isabelle, Isabelle’s fairy-tale dress…  all these pieces made the day a real joy to see and experience… and all that, completed by a wonderful group of family and friends who made the day rock like never before!

Isabelle & Klaas, thanks for making my day!

Last Friday it was Happy Friday…  I finally could pick up my new studio album at the post office!

Why a new studio album?  I want to keep up with offering my clients their photos in the most valuable way possible.  A disc is nice, but a well-designed and especially a perfect crafted album is worth a million times the value of a disc!

In my search for the perfect album, I landed with Madera Books.  A small wedding-album company in Houston, USA.  I liked the Madera books for their simplicity (no shiny decals, flashy covers… just a decent book!), the high quality cover materials in the finest leather…  and the flawless finishing of the album!  Oh yes…not to forget…  the more than kind support of Michael himself!

When the book arrived, I was expecting something nice…  but honestly… I was overwhelmed by what I saw.

It was delivered in a gorgeous black presentation box with magnetic enclosure…  only the box would already be a nice thing to have

When opening the box, no detail was overlooked!  Madera supplies the box with a special silk ribbon to lift the album out of the box… really perfect!

Then the album itself: it was a beautifully bound  real premium leather with a very nice texture.  They offer the possibility to emboss the name of the couple in the cover or on the back of the album… also very well done!  I chose for the combination of the names and a cover photo, which gives the album a very nice touch!

The pages were cut perfect, something I can’t say all companies are able to.  The Madera albums have pages with a black core, what makes them even more special.  The paper itself is a silky-soft photo-paper with a very nice color.  It’s also a paper which has a nice resistance to greasy fingerprints I think.

The binding makes sure the album can lay flat completely, what makes running through the story very enjoyable.  In the centre of 2 pages, there is a gutter of 1,5mm to prevent the well-known creasing and discolorisation of the digital albums.  However, this gutter is that small, that it isn’t disturbing at all.

I’m really glad I took the time to have a look at a bunch of album suppliers and picked out Madera.  They certainly stood up for what they promised!  Michael, thanks for the great product and support!

Two young and kind people, happily in love…  Can you imagine anything more beautiful?   Well…  neither can I !  Me, the lucky one, had the chance to meet a fantastic couple for their engagement session.

Last week I went out for a walk in Antwerp with Klaas & Isabelle to get some spontaneous shots.  The weather wasn’t top at the beginning of the session.  Not really a problem … we just went underground in the already world-famous St-Annatunnel.  Lighting is a bit tough in the tunnel, but the atmosphere and setting are really great… I just love the vintage look of the wall-tiles and the escalators!

When the sun finally came out, we went outside to get some color and sparkles of sun in the pictures…  It just made the 2 youngsters brighten up even more, just lovely to see!

I can’t wait till saturday….  we will meet again, but then it’s their big day…  when “yes” will be the magic word!

A few weeks ago I was asked to shoot the wedding of Sabine & Philip.

It was a great pleasure to me as I have never experienced a couple who enjoyed their day as much as Philip & Sabine…  Sabine was shining from joy all day long and I really was glad to have been there!

Philip & Sabine: Thanks for letting me be your wedding photographer!