The only way to grow is to learn and to learn we can learn from ourselves but we can learn more from others. This is so true for photography. The work of others can be an example, an inspiration, food for thought and a way to learn. As a photographer I look at the work of other photographers for inspiration.

A photographer that I truly admire for his work is Herb Ritts. The majority of his work is in black and white. I had a lot of postcards with his photography without knowing they were shot by Herb Ritts.

This man was so much more than a photographer, which seems to come with the trade. He was born in 1952 and started in the 70's with commercial photography but also did a lot of editorials and portraits. But he was also known for his fine art photography which has subject of many exhibitions. He became a well-known fashion photographer.

He has published in all the major fashion magazine for the likes of Vogue, Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone and he has created many major advertising campaign for companies like Calvin Klein, Chanel, Donna Karen, Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani and many more. He has directed music videos and well known for photographs of celebrities. His photography tells a very strong story.

Herb Ritts passed away in 2002 but his work lives on. To show some of his really powerful photography look at the following set, all copyright of Herb Ritts.

I have a self made drawing of the picture below of Naomi Campell. Still one of my favorite photographs. I saw this beautifull black and white fotograph one day of a black woman with black boots on. I decided to make a drawing of that picture. I framed the result and hung it on my first floor landing where it still on the wall after all this years. I think that I came to know that it was a photograph of Naomi Campell. I will also include my drawing on the blog.

Before this winter I did not own winter boots. If could walk on high heel shoes all year round because the last real winter was more than 10 years ago. There was no need for them. But when this winter came round there was no other option but to go out and buy me some boots. I tried on about ten pairs and even more went through my hands but none were what I was looking for. Ronald bought a pair of snow shoes in the first store he entered and I became grumpy, convinced I would not find the right boot for me.

After walking around the city for an hour Ronald asked me if I wanted to go into this one store. Under protest I agreed mumbling I would not find anything. I looked around without confiction it was not to be today and then I rounded the corner and there they were waiting for me. Just my size. I tried them on and they were to big and my heart sank. They looked so good. The sales lady came to the rescue and with a small in lay sole the problem was solved.

I walked around on my boots through all the snow, icy streets and wet pavements. All the 31 days of snow and not one time did they fail me.

There was a little sunshine piercing through the clouds today and looking from the inside out I realised that walking on my boots this winter is coming to and end. I can not wait for Spring but when I see my boots waiting there for me at the door a become a little melancholic.

Thank you boots

As I told before I am part of a photo club and we meet about once every two months. We have assignments, share the result of our work and critique eachother to improve our skills. One of the assignments we have for our upcoming meeting is night photography. Something I have never tried before and is a skill in itself. I have researched the topic and watched material of two night photographers. Their tips and tricks were very valuable. Off course I have to use a tripod, off course I have to set my camera to a longer shutterspeed, I opened my aperture to its maximum opening, set my lens to manual focus, I used my remote and set my camera to the 2 second self timer and I set my camera to Manual mode (the mode I usually photograph in) so I can use my camera lightmeter for every shot. As it was quite cold I took a fully charged battery and the most useful tip was to have patients not only while the shot is taken but also after when you do not see the result on you LCD screen. A photograph with an exposure of e.g. 20" took about that same amount of time to complete after the shot was taken.

Here some samples of my work.

When I look outside I see today is gray. The snow is almost gone but the sun is nowhere in sight. The air is damp and the trees are still leafless.

I sigh because I long for some warmth in the air, I long to go out there with my golf clubs on my back with my new shoes on crunching the fresh cut grass. Ah the smell of fresh cut grass.

I not only long for this because it would mean Spring has arrived but also because we would be on our way to Summer.

I have to be patient which is not one of my strongest points. To make the waiting a little bearable I look at these photographs made on our home course last year and count the days.

My friend Karin has given birth! A little later than expected but he is here a beautiful little boy called Boaz! He had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days but this weekend they could finally take him home. The other day I was there and was the first for cake to celebrate his arrival. They had ordered a special blue and white birth cake and I must say this cake was delicious.

Of course I took my camera along and captured some really nice photographs of this little man and his cake.

Welcome to the world Boaz!

I have created my first tutorial! I am so proud. It is a tutorial showing how to convert a color photograph into a black and white polaroid. I found this information recently on another site but it did not contain a video tutorial only a step by step instruction. Because I really wanted to use the Camstudio software I had installed (this is software that enables you to record desktop actions) this seemed a good topic.

I hereby post the result. It is without sound as I have not record any instructions but who knows in the future.

Have fun with this tutorial!

Today I had a portrait assignment! My husband and business partner are working on their new website as they now approach their fourth year in business. In the past four years they have done a lot of Sharepoint projects for various companies. With all the project success it was time to update and a new look for their site.

It was not hard to determine who would take these portraits. We went to the main hall of the building they have their office. Even with people coming and going in the elevators I managed to get some really nice shots that they will be using on their site. As soon as it is up I will post so you can see the end result with my portraits in it.

I am adding my favorite photographs of today.