Category:Photography
Early December means it’s time for the Light of Day fundraiser. It is a yearly tradition that I wouldn’t want to miss for anything in the world. It started 20 years ago as a birthday party for artist manager and music industry veteran Bob Benjamin who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Over time, the Light of Day Foundation raised over $3 million for Parkinson’s research.
The yearly Light of Day concerts started in Red Bank, NJ and expanded to Europe several years ago with stops in Italy, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, the UK and Belgium. The artists included regulars like Joe D’Urso, Jeffrey Gaines, Vini Lopez, James Maddock and Rob Dye. And this year, for the 1st time in the lineup: Miss Emily.
Here’s my photo impression of this year’s rendition of the Light of Day show in Belgium:
Cold drizzly days, the sun setting before you get home from work, … I just don’t like winter. It always has me longing for warmer weather. ‘Cause who would want to go outside and shoot in my jacuzzi like Kiani did last summer? Exactly, nobody!
I might not have summer right now, but at least I have Kiani in the studio again today.
I stumbled on to the website of Refuse To Be Usual while looking for new ballet heels to complete my latex wardrobe. I fel in love with their ballet heels straight away… So many different styles to choose from. So many cool designs.
I went for this pair of ballet wedges Magalie is so graciously showing off.
But even without the ballet heels this outfit combining latex by William Wilde and Lüllepop is simply stunning.
Busy schedules and incompatible working hours keep Jolien and I apart for way longer than we want. I drop in with her for lunch form time-to-time just to catch up on things. Finding time for a photo shoot is a whole other ballgame. I’m always happy when finally do get together in my photo studio.
Last time we go together it was a pink & latex kinda shoot. We had the super talented Elem doing make-up. Great team, great fun, and great results too! And did I mention the beautiful latex from Lady Lucie Latex yet?
I’ve started to experiment with black tape. Jolien wore the 1st little touches of black tape at the end of this shoot. I’m hoping to do more soon.
Who said you need a lot of light to bring out the beauty of a model? Sometimes all you need is a little light around the edges. Or is this just Shannety‘s aura shining through?
I love working with 2 different color backdrops. It is a simple and fun way to add a little extra to my set. Especially in a small studio like my is, tricks like these bring a little variation to my work. But what would my two toned backdrop be without the beauty of models like Delphine? Or the beautiful designs by latex designers like WIlliam Wilde or Pandora Deluxe?
Latex clothing is not as uncommon as it used to be. You see it more often in mainstream media. Movie stars and pop stars are wearing latex on- and off-stage more and more now. And I am surprised that it has not entered the street scene yet. I would love to see the combination latex and vanilla clothes–that is the term latex lovers use for regular clothes–appear in the streets of our cities.
If it doesn’t happen in our streets, I am going to make sure it happens in my photo studio though. I asked Jolien to bring something fancy to wear on a black skirt last time around. She brought the white blouse, the matching jewelry and handbag, make-up artist Elem brought the look for the make-up and I added the black latex skirt. When we did the shoot, I thought Jolien looked like a handsome & smart legal secretary in this outfit so I decided to ask her to be my personal assistant.
I had best friends Djuna and Shannety over for a little best friends photoshoot a couple of months back. When I asked them what to they had in mind as theme for the shoot, they cried out in excitement: “Let’s have a tea party!”.
Tea parties are still every little girl’s fantasy… Some things never change… Or do they?
Once in a little while, I come across the craziest of ideas. And usually they are worthwhile to try. Usually, when I share that idea with model Daria, she says “yes!” to modeling for it. And she does without flinching. She was not even backing down when I said I had the crazy idea to have her pose with a beautiful fresh octopus.
It was a lot of fun to do this. Both Daria and I thought it was a lot of fun. I think I might do just another shoot like this in 2020. If you’re a model and you think you’re up for it, drop me a line.
Once a year the skies over the small airfield of Sanicole fills with the thunderous noise of airplanes of all shapes and sizes. Supported by their friends of BAF airbase Kleine Brogel they stage a great airshow on Friday and Sunday. And in most cases a spottersday on Saturday.
Obviously, there is displays by the components of the Belgian Air Force like the Red Devils–one of my personal favorites–and our F-16 solo display.
But you also get to see airplanes that you don’t get to see often in the skies over Belgium, like this Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet and Sukhoi Su-27. And one of a kind formations too.
Armed forces all over Europe are commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Europe. Our own Belgian Air Force his painted liberation stripes on F-16’s of 349 SQN and 350 SQN and a C-130. It is real nice to see those Fighting Falcons of 349 SQN and 350 SQN–2 squadrons that originate in the RAF–in liberation stripes.
We should never forget that we owe 75 years of peace, freedom and prosperity to the gallant men and women that fought in WWII. They were the soldiers on the beaches of Normandy and in the dessert of Africa, the nurses in shimmy little field hospitals, the sailors at Pearl Harbor and across the Pacific. And they were the pilots and bombers that manned Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress like Sally B on bombing raids over Germany.
And certainly don’t forget the little fighter buddies that escorted and protected the bombers en route to their bombing raids. The English build Supermarine Spitfire reigned the skies over Europe, and the North American P-51 Mustang definitely helped win the war in the Pacific theater.
But to me, the absolute highlight of the show was the flypast of the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey. It was the 1st time that this mix between an airplane and a helicopter visited a Belgian airshow. And I happen to think that it is an amazing airplane.
Sanicole airshow spans over 2 days. Since about 8 years they have a 2 hour show on Friday night next to their long running Sunday show. One of the coolest participants on Friday night, is Otto the Helicopter. His show is like New Year’s Eve and the 4th of July rolled into 1.
