We have finished a new round of crea kids workshops at my daughters school and also this time it was a huge success. Again we had four friday afternoons to create two trick photos for each kid. We did it a bit different this time and we started with floating food instead of people. Which was actually a lot of fun and give a lot of new options to play with. Of course there is a huge difference if you are letting food hover or a person so also for me and Ramona it was a nice challenge to get everything as planned. The last two sessions we used to make shots with the picture frames we used during the earlier workshops. The group did really put in some effort to get good results and that was very nice to experience and showed in the end results. I am still using the same principle as we did when I started with these workshops. First think and try to create in your head (explore your creativity) and secondly start creating (put your thoughts into something tangible). And it still works like a charm. It is so much fun to see how most of them struggle in the beginning trying to grasp the idea and technique. But once the get it, it is so nice to see how their minds start to spin and how the ideas keep on coming. In other words, another successful series of workshops.  

My daughter was reading a book before going to bed and I imagined that she would see all these different worlds created by her fantasy. This gave me the idea to create a dreamy image (sorry don’t have any other words for it). Luckily she was sitting close to some colorful pillows so it was easy to create the effect with Photoshop

For the third time this school year we (Ramona and me) started with the Kids Crea workshops and also this time we did a workshop on trick photography. And for the third time we had wonderful results and a lot of enthusiastic reactions. Again six kids from the two highest groups were selected to participate in our workshop. As we did before we started with the floatation pictures and  it is fun to see how some subjects keep coming back in every workshop. For the boys it is all about soccer and for the girls it all start with dancing but 9 out of 10 times end in something else. For me it is not about the subject but it is all about the path to the end result. The way they explore their creativity. And what is a better way than to do this with trick photography. Orsi, Merit, Perline, Rob, Martin and Kay had the first afternoon to come with an idea and they had to figure out how to do it. So we started with drawing the setup and discuss the ideas. Not all ideas were possible, and not all the kids had enough inspiration to come with a good idea straight away, but at the end of the afternoon they all were ready for the next week. So next week we brought the folding stools and tripods and started shooting as usual. Not all shoots went as planned and not all results were as expected. but that wouldn’t matter because we would always have the next two weeks to come up with a better shot. And so we did. For the second part of the workshops I introduced a new technique (next to the floatation and ‘fun with a frame” tricks we did the last two […]

We started with  new workshop sessions for the Crea-workshops – Trick Photos. A new group of six kids exploring their creativity by being challenged to create a trick photo. We started with the same concepts as I did last time. A floating photo where the kids were challenged to come up with an idea to make a photo in which they were floating, flying or in any way not supported by the ground. And again they came with pretty cool ideas. For the next session we introduced a picture frame. So basically we use the same technique, but of course with a different outcome. Luckily I had support this time form Ramona, she helped me with the kids and also while we were shooting. So some of the photos you see in the gallery were made by her. The Agenda: The workshop consists of four afternoons, so this is the agenda we used first afternoon: Show presentation on what we are about to do, and start thinking of ideas and put them on paper second afternoon: Create the photo that they came up with the week before third afternoon: Start working on the next idea for the following week fourth afternoon: Create the second photo (afterwards: we started to edit the photos and the kids were asked to pick their favorite and we ordered the prints)   So we are not teaching them how to photograph nor how to edit the photos, but it’s all about being creative and using your brain to come up with ideas. And again I was surprised by the outcome, same as last time the kids were holding back in the beginning not knowing what to expect, but after the first results we noticed a huge leap forward in their way of thinking. So for […]

Below a few shots made during the last two shoots at Dharam’s place, some pics I couldn’t place in any other gallery but I thought they were worth showing here i guess. In this gallery you will find Mart, Nicki, Mick, Joël, Delano, Noah and Guilia. Many thanks to all of them

Mick (Rob and Carolien’s son) has a toy motorbike and he loves it. When they came over for a studio shoot he had brought it. So I took the opportunity to use this in the shoot and of course he had to do a shoot together with our daughter Nickita. The bike gave me a rough road movie feeling so I tried to get that emphasised in the edited versions, see below for the result.

This year I had the opportunity to help at my daughter’s school (De Familie school) with what they call the creative afternoon. “Crea-middag” in Dutch. During four afternoons the kids will work in small groups on creative projects and in the end they will exhibit their work. How cool is that! It wasn’t my intention to teach them how to photograph with a DSLR, nor how to make the perfect trick shot. That would be an impossible task and would be frustrating for all parties involved. So I had to come up with a different approach. After a while I had the idea to stimulate their creative way of thinking. A short consultation with the teacher who was responsible for the organization, and it was soon decided that I was hatching on a good idea and that we had to work with it as soon as possible. Then the question arises. What should we do then? This all took time during the period that I had again picked up the floatation photos and I soon it became clear to me that this was the perfect match. Kids, floating, creativity, photography and workshop! Photo workshop Because four days is a long time for six kids and one tutor, I came with the idea to let them work only on paper for the first day. (After they saw a short presentation on how to make a floatation photo). Just let their creativity do all the work for them. I considered this a huge risk but before we knew it, they were all thinking, drawing and ‘creating’. I was positively surprised by their creativity and the ideas they imagined. Of coarse some of them were a bit over the top (floating 50 meters above the ground, or climbing in a pole 20 meters […]

Have been playing around with Adobe Photoshop to get a new look and feel for my next project. And am still not convinced what road to follow. Feel free to let me know what you like best. Color or the old fashion Black and White? Just leave a comment. Click here to go to the gallery (I also included the originals so you see what was changed) [Canon G12, with flash]

A year has passed and I thought it would be fun to re-shoot a studio session I did with Nickita, my daughter, a year ago. Unfortunately we were not able to let her wear the same dress (little girls grow fast), but at least I was able to use the same props. The biggest difference I noticed was the fact that she was more aware of what we were doing. At moments this resulted in her playing a role as she was acting. Another side effect was that it was even harder to keep her attention. There were moments she wanted to walk away to start playing with her toys. So we had to dose the amount of time we were actually shooting. With a little help of mom we managed to get the required shot (for her birthday card). Below there are a few more shot made during the shoot. If you want to see more just click on one of the photos to go to the gallery.

Did a new studio shoot last weekend with Mick. And again, learned a few new things about shooting kids. Had to do a lot of retouching due to the fact that I used the small background paper. My initial thought was – small kid, small background, but a little 3 months old will not listen to any directions, so you need to have enough room to play in. Ergo, a bigger background would have given me more playground. And will prevent a lot of Photoshop work afterwards. Another lesson learned was that I need more time. As soon as the little rascal decides that it is enough, you have to listen. And a curious Nickita to my side wasn’t a good idea either. All that Mick did, was observing Nicki and he did not pay any attention to the camera. So we already talked about a new date for a more relaxed photo shoot. And this will take place at Mick’s house, so if he decides that it is enough and he gets tired, this won’t be a problem. Overall I am more then happy with the results. So I placed a few examples in the gallery. [Canon 5D, 24-70mm, Soft box, Standard flash head, silver reflector]