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#PHOONFRIDAY is a thing on Twitter and Instagram. I see a lot of aviation photographers posting their Typhoon shots on Friday. And after this year’s Sanicole Airshow, I’ll join the fun.
The Italian Air Force dispatched their Typhoon demo to Kleine Brogel AB and Sanicole Airshow for 3 days of demonstrations. It was especially cool to see the plane up close when it taxied a long the runway at the spotters day on Saturday.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is a fighter of the 4th generation designed by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo. It is primarily used by the air forces of Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain. For a while it was a contender to replace the F-16’s of the Belgian Air Force.
Zana and I had a shoot planned for April 2020 when you-know-what reared its ugly head. All we could do, was postpone. And postpone again. And again. And again until finally we felt it was safe to shoot earlier this summer. We had hoped for a beautiful summer’s day so we could shoot outside. But instead, we got a chilly drizzle. We retreated to my studio where we shot this series on a lilac background. So, this was sorta a Purple Rain shoot.
We had a lot of fun though. And the results turned out just great. Thank you for a fun shoot Zana! Let’s do that again some time.
After a very long wait–due to you-know-what–my dear friend Romi returned to my photo studio.
Somewhere in the middle of the pandemic, Romi shared a pic of her wearing this beautiful red dress. I told her that would be the perfect dress to have a go at something we tried before: a vanilla dress and latex gloves. So of we went… With a red dress, red latex gloves on a red backdrop.
Tell me though… When you see this pics, what’s the 1st song that comes to mind? I bet you, you think of that 1 song from a few years back. Me, I’m a little bit older… I think of that 1980’s ballad by Chris de Burgh. Lady in Red. Let’s be honest. Who would not want to dance the night away, with this lady in red? ‘Cause after all, take away the latex gloves and Romi still looks awesome!
And to be honest… These pics look good in black and white too… I mean: Romi looks good in black and white too.
It’s in the roar of the crowd after each song. It’s in the smiles of the folks around. It’s in the cheers of someone hearing their favorite song. It’s in de sparkle in the eyes of that one girl while she’s slow dancing in the arms of the boy she loves. It’s in meeting friends before the show for dinner and drinks. It’s in the excitement raging through my body when the houselights go down. It’s in the surprise guest appearances and songs you didn’t expect to hear.
It is not just one thing that makes me love going to concerts. It is in a 1000 little things. And for me… It is also about in the ice cream on the way home.
The last song of the last concert I saw was Samantha Fish’s cover of Bukka White’s Shake ‘Em on Down. That was March 11, 2020. I have not been in a concert venue since that day.
Boy, how I’ve missed going to concerts. And I am so utterly happy that I’m going to a Barbara Dex concert tonight. A local hero playing a gig in my hometown. I wouldn’t want to miss that. I have to admit that I am bit nervous though. COVID-19 is still among us. Obviously, I will take every precaution possible to avoid infection. But being in a crowd is a risk and that does make me nervous.
I am very grateful for all the live streams I am able the enjoy. From the weekly show at the Opry on Sunday mornings, Marren Moris, Brian Fallon, Martin Praetorius’ weekly gig on Wednesday, Taylor Tote and Zara Larsson to the Dropkick Murphys featuring Springsteen, and everyone in between. I tipped artists where tipping was due. I have a pile of new albums on my desk. But nothing, absolutely noticing beats the feeling of a live show!
It seemed like an eternity since Shannety and I had done a pink themed shoot. So I dug up a very classy black latex outfit and my pink backdrop for this rendition of Pink by Shannety. With latex from Lüllepop, Pandora Deluxe, Westward Bound and Mico Couture, and high heels from Pleaser Shoes, this is the most mix’n’match outfit I’ve put together in years.
I think the outfit looks absolutely gorgeous on Shannety. What do you think?
My friends Karin, Luc and Michel invited me to join them on a Bohemian photo shoot. Luc and Michel had already scouted a location close to where I live. Karin was going to do the styling. We all published a model call on our Facebook and Instagram pages and selected 4 models from the many responses. Catalina, Syri, Heidi and Sharon joined us for what turned out to be a fun shoot and a post-pandemic reunion with friends.
Here are some results from that shoot:
The 2021 airshow season will be quite short and still full of uncertainties and complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, pretty much every airshow in Europe got cancelled. And this year is still uncertain. But I got to go to Florennes AB for their spottersday. The spottersday replaced the yearly Belgian Air Force Days that got cancelled due to COVID-19.
2021 will be the last year of Sr Cpt Stefan Darte callsign Vador as a demo pilot of the Belgian Air Force. He will be flying his F-16 Dark Falcon one last year to represent Belgium and the Belgian Air Force around the world.
It was a rather gloomy day when I was at Florennes AB. That usually is no recipe for good photos. But it is does create the possibility of vapor trails and vapor cones. Sorta likes this…
Before Vador started his solo display, he joined a Supermarine Spitfire mk.XVI for an historic commemoration flight. A remarkable display where the Dark Falcon is flying close to stall speed and the Spitfire at Vmax.
I am looking forward to meeting Vador again at the Sanicole airshow in September.
I’ve got a few dark and grungy shots from Shannety to share. She’s wearing an all black latex outfit. The bodice is from Lüllepop, the plenum is from Lady Lucie Latex and the accessories are from Westward Bound and Pandora Deluxe. All those years of collecting latex from the coolest designers everywhere is paying off. I can mix and match to create fun combinations.
We shot these photos on a pink background. Would you believe that?
The Belgian Air Force is replacing their almost 50 year old Lockheed C-130’s with new Airbus A400M transport planes. The 1st few planes have already been delivered. Belgium has ordered 7 A400M’s. As you read this, the 1st few have been delivered.
The Luxembourg Armed Force also ordered an A400M which will be operated by the 15th Wing Air Transport of the Belgian Air Force under a binational agreement. That means that the transporter will be based at Melsbroek AB in Belgium. Both the Belgian Air Force and the Luxembourg Armed Force can use the plane.
We got a closer look at the CT-01 of the Luxembourg Armed Force at the spottersday of the 2W TAC at Florennes AB.
The Belgian Air Force is saying goodbye to these beautiful old ladies: we are replacing our trusty Lockheed C-130 Hercules with brand spanking new Airbus A400M Atlas planes. After almost 50 years of service–the 1st C-130 came into service in early 1970’s–it is time for the C-130 to retire.
The demo at the 2021 spottersday at Florennes AB may have been my last chance to see one of these birds up close in flight. I have grown up with seeing them everywhere. Not just at airshows, but also in daily operations. One of the coolest memories about the C-130 I have, is their demo of dropping cargo at low level in full flight. It was really spectacular to see them open up the cargo door at back, decent to almost on the deck and drop bags of supplies. Back in in the days, they used that technique to distribute food and supplies on humanitarian missions.
