Blog

WARNING: I got scammed by a Dutch model agency. Had a casting in my studio and never got paid, neither did the models or the rest of the staff. It’s not the first time someone does not pay an invoice they owe me and I normally keep it to myself. But here it seems it’s been going on with other poeple for …. years ! Same person moving around.

Feel free to contact me for details and PLEASE share this (look for the SHARE button below) to ensure as few people as possible loose their money and hope in the future.

I’d be happy to hear your experiences in full confidentiality too if you feel you’ve been scammed by a model agency.

Note: this is one exception allright. The immense majority of agencies are serious and professional !

Peter Jozefzoon (see picture below) will be coming to the studio this Monday (13 Feb) with a real American Football outfit – thanks to the Amsterdam crusaders !

We will shoot in the style of the amazing Joel Grimes (see picture below).

But I will bring my own spin to it of course, wich I call hyper-realism. I want every fiber of the cloth, every inch of skin and hair to be super sharp and in your face. It will be visually BRUTAL !

If you like the idea, feel this could be a good addition to your portfolio, and have experience doing makeup on dark skin (please provide samples of your work through a link) then you are welcome at 1pm monday.

I’m starting to work on a new series of portraits for my personal portfolio that will be about tattoos.

Everyone can apply, young/old/skinny/fat/tall/short/cute/ugly … any ethnicity welcome. But you must have at least 50% of your chest and/or back with a tattoo. (so a 2.10 meter giant with only a tiny  ladybug as tattoo should skip, a 75-year-old lady covered with lots of ink is welcome).

Male or female, you should be comfortable to shoot from the waist up without cloth. This is about skin after all. But ladies can cover their breasts with their arm… not a problem.

The portraits will be in a very-very strong style, with a huge amount of contrast and where every single detail of the skin will be visible.

This will be hyper-realistic photography and I will work a lot on the colours and style with photoshop. But let’s be clear, I will not do any body manipulation in photoshop. This is not about fashion and fake looks … it’s the real deal … the real skin. I will leave wrinkles, big bellies, chest hair (hopefully only on men), and the rest intact. It maybe a bit confrontational to some of pro-models, so be ready to think ‘art’ instead of ‘fashion’.

I would like you to bring an object that is special to you. It does not matter what it is, but should be related to your tattoo or describe what inspired you to be inked. A short text about you would be welcome too.

I will spend a lot of time for each portrait to obtain that very special look, and will not be able to provide you with more than one picture (digital format, high-resolution ready for print). But each picture will be stunning and will be worth your time !

I may consider proposing some of those pictures to some art galleries if there is any interest, and hopefully be able to share some money with you then. But as I have no idea (yet) on the outcome of this project, this should not be your main motivation. Therefore there will not be any financial compensation for the shoot itself. (but you get a shoot worth the price of a nice 3D flat screen TV for free !)

The shoots will be in my studio in Amsterdam, and I’d like to be finished with this project at the end of March.

Please share this on your social networks (facebook/twitter etc..) using the ‘share’ button below, and contact me using this LINK if you want to participate, or know someone who would fit. I’ll ask you to send me a *recent* picture of you where your tattoos are clearly visible.

I’m shooting at fashion week again, and it is quite busy as you can imagine. I will share more details on how it went and of course more pictures soon, but I wanted to share my current favourite. This was shot minutes after the end of the Spijker & Spijker show, the two designers had their loved ones congratulating them whilst the models were cheering them up.
A very special moment I was really happy to capture and share.

Click on the picture for a larger version, and share it using the ‘share’ button below.

I’m still working on my bubble gum Polaroid series as it seems to be quite popular despite its simplicity.
Lara managed to be sexy whilst keeping a strong attitude, which is so important for my fashion shoots.

And of course we went on for some improvised work – no styling or makeup artist … just a test shoot !

I’m planning a shoot for a cd cover for the upcoming work of Alex M.O.R.P.H. (Armada Music)

I need a big massive mean US truck in the NL for a day. Tractor + trailer would be great, but tractor alone is ok too. We won’t be driving it, and the shoot will be under the supervision of the owner at all times.

(think Mack, Kenworth, Peterbilt)

Availability on the 3d of February would be best (Due to cold weather the shoot has been postpone, the new date is now known yet but should be within 3 weeks, I’ll update this page as soon as I know more. If the truck can’t come to Amsterdam, we’ll get there.

Access to a warehouse or a garage would be even better.

The current plan is to have the cover show the inside of the cabin, and the inside and the back more general pictures of the truck.

I will need two female models,  laying in the back of the main cabin in the sleeping area of the  truck.

If you want to apply please add a comment to this post with a link to your portfolio ! Even if I know you, add a link if you want to be considered as I need to share your book with others ! Comments with no links will be deleted.

You have to imagine the overall final picture as coming out of a classic road movie like Death Proof  or Thelma and Louise, except the main character will be our DJ (but he will act as a driver). Just to clarify, we will need to see that there are two girls in the back in lingerie or maybe naked. But we cannot show the nudity, we only want to suggest ! The position of the girls will depend on the size of the truck but we probably want to show that the two of you are asleep in the back. So you need to be comfortable in immediate proximity of another model. Again, we need to keep it clean. Sexy is ok, sexual is not.

The DJ will look like a real truck driver that has been driving for a long time, greasy burger boxes lying around, empty soda cups and so on.

If anyone feels like assisting as a stylist then let me know. It will be more about props than cloths though: 45′ vinyl – hairy dice – moving head dog … that’s the idea …

This will be a long but fun day, and the music industry is always a great reference for all !

Any questions or ideas ? Feel free to comment using the form below – share this to your social networks using the ‘share’ button.

I wanted to share with you this picture that was commissioned by Kevin for an upcoming model competition for the tv.

It was shot with 3 lights, 2 on the sides and a beauty dish facing him – just right of where I was. I wanted something with a lot of contrast to go with the colorful cloths of Bas Kosters.

The edited picture is a work in progress. I still have to fix a couple of things, maybe add a floor and bring some of the red back in the trousers … it’s still all open.

You’ll notice that I don’t repaint the studio, there are a lot of show marks on the floor and so on. It’s just that the time it takes to do a decent paint job and the time the studio is unusable as it dries is just not practical. It’s faster and cheaper to photoshop the marks away !

There will be more pictures, with different edits, coming up very soon.

Don’t hesitate to share this on your social networks using the ‘share’ button.

Yes, that’s right, the first beta of Adobe Lightroom 4 is out.

So far everything seems familiar, aside from a map view (useless for me) and a ‘book’ utility.

I guess it will need more digging to see exactly what is new, even though reading the release notes may help…

More feedback to follow once I had a chance to work more with it.

Here is the new edit of a picture I shot with Willemijn recently.
Hair: Jordan Matilda

Makeup: Katie Larcombe

Model Agency: Only Model Management

Willemijn

It looks like I’m doing it again, it’s the start of the year and I feel like starting fresh.

Most of the articles from the last year were short reports, examples of what I did and where I was going. But I feel my work has changed so much that a lot of it is not relevant anymore.

I knew all along that having strong Photoshop skills were key to my business, and the focus I put on that last year helped me developing a look and feel which is stronger than ever. From the simple but fun bubble gum series to more complex editing, I’m pushing the bar higher all the time.

I continue to expand my business beyond fashion with my new creatives agency, a collective of artists (Makeup/Hair – Stylists – Retouchers – Graphic designers – videographers …) with the same passion for edgy photography. The main target will be commercial work, advertisement, but of course fashion will still stay close to my heart.

Model scouting is also something I started last year. I don’t want to have a model agency, there are enough out there. But I often receive the request from clients for a model, and I have a large network to tap into. But it also can be real scouting, with people without experience at all that I can spot out there in the wild.

Of course there is a lot more happening, and I certainly would love to hear about any project that you are running that may require creating strong pictures. Even if it’s a long shot, small or big project … we never know. I strongly believe that the sum of two people is more than twice their individual existence. (yes, 1+1 = 3)

Share (Facebook/G+/twitter), comment on my blog entries, subscribe to my updates email or call me … You decide, but I’m very much looking forward to another terrific year ! Same to you.