I left New Zealand mid-2003, bound for Istanbul and a new lif. After two years, a Belgian guy lured me into his world, deep in the heart of Europe. For a long time I was an in-process immigrant. One day we married. These days it's about photography, a little red wine and wandering ... and so the journey goes.
Saturday and I was told not to use flash while photographing the people onstage. I was curious about what my camera could do in the dark, relying only on stage lighting ...
So, we have this.
10 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Great shot - especially given the difficult lighting conditions.
Btw: the woman left is the controversial head of Antwerp city social services, Monica de Coninck.
The lighting was dark, wasn't it ... then in strolled a city photographer and started flashing his massive flash all over the place ... I mentioned I wasn't going to get anything good with no flash and they said take a few with flash, and so I did.
I have to confess, there was quite some equipment envy as I watched the city photographer work ... sigh.
Well, for those who can read Dutch, Google says it all: http://www.google.be/search? q=monica+de+coninck+antwerpen
But for all of those who can't: she's heading the OCMW, a significant part of the city administration that handles welfare (and its associated issues), at least 5 major hospitals in the Antwerp area and countless housing units.
Controversial issues included:
"where's the money gone?" ( ;-) "why is she working three jobs?" (she is, really) "what is she doing at the "Association of Chief Executives of State Agencies’ in Dublin while there is a crisis going on in Antwerp?"
The list is long, probably longer than her list of achievements
Thanks for the explanation ... I've photographed her a few times now and was curious (although not so curious that I found out her name)
I like your eye for photography Peter, you know, I have an old bag I often throw mine in so that I don't have to cart about the big camera bag. I would love to see what you'd do with one of them.
I dare not look. I'm researching durable, smallish laptops and I can't afford that so looking at bigger and better cameras might just push me over the edge and into a full-time teaching job or waitressing even !!
Thanks for the photo compliments Di - virtually every shot on my blog was taken using a 2 M pixel cell phone camera, perfect for blog snapshots when that unexpected special scene comes along and the camera's at home in a drawer.
Unfortunately they won't produce anything worthwhile printing, and yes, I did used to own a SLR.
I promise, I won't try to push you anywhere near all that flashy, expensive gear on sale at MediaMarkt :-)
I walked in for a 11 euro SD memory card and watched someone checking out with a 3,000 EUR laptop.. one of those BlueRay High-definition powerhouses some people hook up to a 41 inch plasma TV screen for their spoiled kids to watch wall-to-wall HD Bambi in their penthouse bedroom :-)
monster! I don't want to know about that kind of laptop ... I want the cheapest one that will do all I need it to do ... which isn't so much - durability, smaller rather than bigger, good storage for downloading digital memory cards, wifi ... hmmm, I think that's it ;)
Di, I've been meaning to ask you about this shot, which is excellent, as usual (Do you ever take bad photos???).
Was this done hand held or did you use a tripod?? What shutter speed and aperture did you use out of curiosity, and did you use your Sigma glass, or something else?
I take bad photos, everyone does some time but thank you, you charming man.
I had been told not to use flash at this event so I kicked the camera down to ISO 800 and 1600 and experimented with the light on the stage ... so this was handheld, no tripod with me.
No Sigma glass either.
Sometimes, if you're close enough, the stage lighting gives you something to play with, if you don't mind some 'noise' in the end result. I liked how this one turned out.
10 comments:
Great shot - especially given the difficult lighting conditions.
Btw: the woman left is the controversial head of Antwerp city social services, Monica de Coninck.
The lighting was dark, wasn't it ... then in strolled a city photographer and started flashing his massive flash all over the place ... I mentioned I wasn't going to get anything good with no flash and they said take a few with flash, and so I did.
I have to confess, there was quite some equipment envy as I watched the city photographer work ... sigh.
Controversial .... why? :)
Well, for those who can read Dutch, Google says it all: http://www.google.be/search?
q=monica+de+coninck+antwerpen
But for all of those who can't: she's heading the OCMW, a significant part of the city administration that handles welfare (and its associated issues), at least 5 major hospitals in the Antwerp area and countless housing units.
Controversial issues included:
"where's the money gone?" ( ;-)
"why is she working three jobs?" (she is, really)
"what is she doing at the "Association of Chief Executives of State Agencies’ in Dublin while there is a crisis going on in Antwerp?"
The list is long, probably longer than her list of achievements
(notice that she's not a 'close friend' :-)
Regarding photo equipment: did you see the rather large hands-on display of SLR cameras over at Mediamarkt when you went looking for a graphics card?
I played around with the 20 models on sale and yes, I was quickly convinced: this equipment was absolutely great to work with.
But then reality dawned on me: I'm no photographer, I even forget my digital compact almost all the time, saved by a basic cell-phone camera.
Great equipment, a 10 M pixel SLR Canon, but it would end up in a drawer...
Thanks for the explanation ... I've photographed her a few times now and was curious (although not so curious that I found out her name)
I like your eye for photography Peter, you know, I have an old bag I often throw mine in so that I don't have to cart about the big camera bag. I would love to see what you'd do with one of them.
I dare not look. I'm researching durable, smallish laptops and I can't afford that so looking at bigger and better cameras might just push me over the edge and into a full-time teaching job or waitressing even !!
Thanks for the photo compliments Di - virtually every shot on my blog was taken using a 2 M pixel cell phone camera, perfect for blog snapshots when that unexpected special scene comes along and the camera's at home in a drawer.
Unfortunately they won't produce anything worthwhile printing, and yes, I did used to own a SLR.
I promise, I won't try to push you anywhere near all that flashy, expensive gear on sale at MediaMarkt :-)
I walked in for a 11 euro SD memory card and watched someone checking out with a 3,000 EUR laptop.. one of those BlueRay High-definition powerhouses some people hook up to a 41 inch plasma TV screen for their spoiled kids to watch wall-to-wall HD Bambi in their penthouse bedroom :-)
Lol,
monster! I don't want to know about that kind of laptop ... I want the cheapest one that will do all I need it to do ... which isn't so much - durability, smaller rather than bigger, good storage for downloading digital memory cards, wifi ... hmmm, I think that's it ;)
Di, I've been meaning to ask you about this shot, which is excellent, as usual (Do you ever take bad photos???).
Was this done hand held or did you use a tripod?? What shutter speed and aperture did you use out of curiosity, and did you use your Sigma glass, or something else?
Your work is, as ever, inspiring.
All the best,
Alex
I take bad photos, everyone does some time but thank you, you charming man.
I had been told not to use flash at this event so I kicked the camera down to ISO 800 and 1600 and experimented with the light on the stage ... so this was handheld, no tripod with me.
No Sigma glass either.
Sometimes, if you're close enough, the stage lighting gives you something to play with, if you don't mind some 'noise' in the end result. I liked how this one turned out.
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