News
Shui is a fellow Springsteen fan and a fellow photographer. We bump in to each other at concerts a couple of times a year and sometimes shoot side-by-side. A couple of months ago, she said she really liked my model photography and she asked if I would want to do a photo shoot with her.
After My friend Elem was done with makeup, we went ahead and shot these beautiful portraits:
One of the challenges as photographer when you’re traveling is power. Something my best friend Luc and I’ve been developing over the years, is this little puppy: a universal power strip for traveling. I will never leave home without it. It will be most definitely be in my bag tomorrow as I leave for London.
Most hardware stores will sell cordless DIY power strips. Get yourself a small version with 3 or 4 outlets. Remember: it has to take up as little as possible space in your luggage. I obviously got myself a power strip with European outlets as all my devices have a European plug. You should get one that fits your needs.
Next, get a power cord with a C14 connector. You can get those at most computer stores. Attach it to the power strip and you have yourself a universal power strip. All you need now is standard computer power cords with a C13 connector at one end and local power plug at the other end. Again, you can get those at most computer stores. Buy it in the country of your travels if you can not find one in your country. And any decent hotel will have a spare one you can borough if you forget yours.
There’s a little caveat: check the voltage settings of your devices. Even though most devices have auto-ranging power supplies that can handle anything between 110V and 230V be sure to check it. Especially when you travel across the Atlantic. I wouldn’t want you to blow up your expensive camera or your laptop’s power supply because it is no fit for one or the other voltage.
Sanicole Air Show is a staple in my air show season. The Sanicole airfield too close to home to want to miss it. It is a very nicely organized air show, working closely together with the Belgian Air Force base at Kleine-Brogel. That cooperation ensures a big presence of the BAF airplanes at the show.
They usually start off on Friday with a sunset show. And that’s the perfect opportunity to get good shots of the planes shooting of flares. I was very eager to get a good shot of our F-16 demo pilot, Tom De Moortel, call sign Gizmo firing of flares. Gizmo is his last year as a demo pilot on F-16 for the Belgian Air Force.
I was quite successful at getting a picture of Gizmo firing of flares on Friday night. On Sunday, I focused on getting a couple of good close ups of Gizmo’s F-16. And fortunately by the time it was Gizmo’s turn for his display on Sunday, the skies had cleared a bit and there were some specks of blue sky to brighten up Gizmo’s display.
Gizmo is a pilot of 31 tiger sqn flying out of Kleine-Brogel AFB. He had is squadron members drop in for a couple of fly-by’s in close formation too.
The BAF has a little four-ship formation called The Red Devils. They hold a special place in my heart. They’re all homegrown pilots of course. The history of this team dates back to the 1960’s and as a kid I loved watching them when they still flew Fouga Magister CM-170R jet trainers. Today, they fly SIAI Marchetti SF260 planes and I still enjoy watching them.
Next to all those cool displays from our own Belgian Air Force, there were a lot of international display and teams at Sunday’s show. Among them, the Saudi Hawks which I’ve never seen before. Flying the BAE Hawk in beautiful green and white, they put on a solid show.
The last display of Sunday’s show was Patrouille de France. They’re reputation precedes them: they gave an impeccable presentation of their skills and the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet they are flying on.
Remember last month’s posts about shooting lingerie with Shannety and Kyara? Well, since I had both ladies in the studio together, I asked them to do a quick session together in latex. We found matching dresses in my collection: Kyara is wearing a dress by House of Harlot, Shannety is wearing one of her favorite dresses from Kinkykex. Makeup by Elem again.
When Lizzy came to my studio last September, she brought along an amazing makeup artist and stylist, Nadia Janssens. Nadia styled Lizzy in this very fashionable outfit she got from MOOD-S. It didn’t take us very long to shoot these stunning photos of Lizzy.
Meet Fernand, aka Ferre. He’s an English bulldog, about 9 months old now. He is best buddies with his owner Shannety. And Shannety is so fond of him, she wanted a photo shoot with him. So we set out for a little walk and shoot at the Turnhout Begijnhof.
The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum front, bordering the Music City Walk of Fame Park, resembles the keys on a piano keyboard combined with the tailfin of a 1959 Cadillac Sedan. And the tower is a replica of the WSM radio tower.
Inside the building’s rotunda, all Country Music Hall of Fame inductees are commemorated with their own commemorative plaque below the Carter Family’s–yes, that would be the relatives of June Carter Cash–classic country song tittle Will The Circle Ge Unbroken.
The museum showcases anything country related: from Elvis Presley’s “Solid Gold” Cadillac to instruments and wardrobe by famous country artists like Hank Williams, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, the Dixie Chicks, Minnie Pearl and Emmylou Harris, as well as the recording studio once used by Owen Bradley.
And when I saw Taylor Swift’s tou bus parked in the museum, I waited for hours for Ms. Swift to come out. When I realized she wasn’t there, I finally gave up. But not before snapping a selfie in front of her tour bus.
The Grand Ole Opry truly a legend in the Music City. It started as a 1 hour long radio show on WSM on November 25, 1925. Back in 1925, it ran as a weekly show, Today, it runs several times a week, either from the Rynam Auditorium in downtown Nashville or from the Grand Ole Opry House on the banks of the Cumberland River.
Artists become member of the Orpy by invitation. Over the years, artists like Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and The Gatlin Brothers have been invited to the Opry. And more recently, amazing young country artists like Carrie Underwood and Little Big Town had the honor of joining. Membership in the Opry remains one of country music’s crowning achievements.
You can listen to the shows at the Opry live online via 650 AM WSM.
The Ryman Auditorium is a 2300 seat theater in the heart of Nashville. It is considered the birthplace of Bluegrass music. Over the years it hosted many famous country artists and even Bruce Springsteen has played there on his Devils & Dust solo acoustic tour.
The Grand Ole Opry moved from the Ryman Auditorium to the Grand Ole Opry House in 1974. The grand Ole Opry House has 4400 seats and a circle at center stage is actually a part of the original Ryman Auditorium stage.
Seeing a show at the Opry was a dream come true and their backstage tour after the show was the icing on the cake.
Taking that trip to Tennessee in the spring all started when I said wanted to visit the Jack Daniel’s distillery someday. That someday turned into very soon. And early this year, that very soon turned into this year.
We took a day trip from Nashville to Lynchburg to visit the Jack Daniel’s distillery. We choose their Taste of Lynchburg tour. It’s a 3 hour tour that starts with lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s Restaurant. No, strike that, it starts with delicious lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s. I will not forget their recipe for candied apples.
The tour continues through the town square of Lynchburg, TN and past the cemetery where Jack Daniel and other members of the Daniel family are buried. Then on to the Jack Daniel’s distillery itself.
You are welcomed at a little museum that tells the story of Jack Daniel, Lynchburg and the distillery before you embareque on walking tour through the distillery. The process of make Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is pretty much the same as any other distilled drink. But it is particularly nice to see the purification process through charcoal and how they treat the barrels to get the typical taste of Jack Daniel’s.
The tour ends at one of the more than 90 barrel houses for a tasting of their finest whiskeys. And after that, you can rest content in a rocking chair under the porch of their welcome house.
I met Carol-Ann about 10 years ago at a networking event for photographers and models. We did a shoot back then, but had since then not worked together. But we though it would be cool to work together again after all those years and a shoot with ballet heels in the spotlight seemed like a good plan.
