In memoriam Dirk Kustermans

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An image made for & dedicated to a great lover of high heels and a great friend for almost 3 decades who unexpectedly passed away on May 8th 2020. At 11AM he was still making silly remarks for my birthday (that very same day) and at 2PM he was gone, leaving us all sad & baffled. 
Farewell my friend.


High heels - Dedicated to my best friend Dickie who was crazy about shoes & unexpectedly left us on May 8th 2020

Populaire posts van deze blog

Event - Pride Parade 2026

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Afbeelding
Love the person you fall in love with.. and be happy if that person loves you back.  Be the person you feel you are.. and live your life in peace and in harmony with the world. Is the situation good if you have to copy the main body of text from last years' events? If a situation is good, it's a good sign. If a sitation is dire or even sketchy.. then.. Never forget that a Pride is actually a protest march to make you remember that there are compatriots of yours struggling to have the same rights & possibilities as you just because they refuse to hide their true feelings & their true self in the bottom drawer of a dark closet like so many did before them in order to comply with a general opinion that was imposed on people by several dogmatic, patriarchal religions and authoritarian politicians. ( and their following ) A Pride is about being persecuted for doing no wrong to anyone else. About making choices that matter to yourself and no-one else should feel b...
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Sony tech - Using A-mount lenses on E-mount cameras

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Afbeelding
This article is about using (vintage) Minolta/Sigma/Sony/Tamron/.. A-mount lenses on contemporary Sony E-mount cameras. Since the Sony LA-EA5 adapter has been released I have been answering dozens of the same questions about compatibility issues from both retailers and end-users. Some questions & personal experiences with the different adapters were special, so I have tested some combinations and made a small list of my findings. Yes, at first -back in 2021- I wanted to make this into a Youtube video.. alas I don't like looking at myself so I stopped editing it. And then in 2023 I glued some of those old clips together into: https://youtu.be/-VLe6eBQpME 1. Sample images are in this Flickr folder ( always making more sample images) 2. Gear Used : 2.1. Adapters : LA-EA3, LA-EA4, LA-EA5 2.2. E-mount cameras cat1: A1, A7SIII, A7IV, A7RV, FX30, ZV-E1 2.3. E-mount cameras cat2: A9II, A7III, A7RIV, A7C, A6600, A6400, ZV-E10 ( also goes for A7RIII, A9, A6100 ) 2.4. E-...
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Sony tech - Rename your photo & video files in-camera

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Afbeelding
Normally all your photos will be named " DSC123 " and your videos " C123 ". But that's the best way to loose oversight, to overwrite and to forget what was shot when/with which camera. There are solutions for this in the new and newest Sony Alpha / FX / ZV / RX - cameras PHOTO FILES You should give your photo files personalized names instead of that generic ”Dsc” prefix. This is possible on the current Alpha, Rx, Zv, and FX‐cameras from Sony. I give mine the prefix of the used camera because I work with several cameras. But you might just as well use something more personal like something that points to your name or your company / brand name. Or even change the name temporarily if you have a big project. Why? A few of the many reasons: 1. I own and work with several cameras ( during events normally 2 main + 1 BTS ) So it's important while editing/sorting to immediately see which camera made what. 2. We often work in teams during large events. This way w...
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Sony tech - The A7RV menu system

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Afbeelding
For those who have received their Sony A7RV camera and are new to the Sony ecosystem or who want to find some of the new features hidden in the menu of this 61MP-behemoth with it's extra AI Autofocussing processor ( yes, that makes 3 processors inside 1 camera ) I'm doing a walkthough. There will be some real-life samples with cats, cows, fighterjets & horses, some things you probably already know and best of all: 40 minutes of my hoarse bronchitis-stricken voice. Enjoy . The Youtube video : Some of the items touched in this video: Auto ISO minimum shutter speed, different AF options, setting up the Fn/favorites menu & buttons, 1 button tracking, 1 button APS-C/Super35 mode, Clear image zoom, saving your camera settings, using your cellphone as a remote, .. Sample images made with A7RV ( mostly made before there was any RAW-support )
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Sony tech - Using APS-C mode on Full Frame cameras

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Afbeelding
 " Why? " You will probably ask while shaking your head. " Why would you do such a thing? " 1. WHAT? Let us start with the " What? " In Sony full frame mirrorless cameras you can always switch between using the camera full frame or in APS-C-mode. This changes your field of view into a " zoomed feel ". What really happens is that in this APS-C mode the processor uses only a part of the sensor. This part is the same size as an APS-C sensor as found in the A6000-series. For photo you always sacrifice megapixels in this "cropped" mode. For video this APS-C mode is called Super 35 mode and has several advantages. But this article is mostly about photography. In video you might want to read this article and consider that for example the full frame A7IV automatically snaps into Super35-mode when you switch it to 4k 50p/60p. In that latter case.. why not put your trust in a lighter, wider ( and often cheaper ) APS-C lens? Subtitles ar...
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Collab - Dryad fantasy boudoir

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Afbeelding
Sometimes models come with a boudoir proposition that both sparks my interest and comes at a moment where I have the time to execute it: fantasy boudoir with a Dryad and an Elf in a magical forest .. but softer than the work for The Dark Cathedral and non-nude. " OK, let's do it ," I nodded while already scrolling through my cramped agenda. Evidently I needed a location.. and a back-up location.. just in case . A magical meadow with wildflowers, tree-filtered light and surrounded by young treelings that I had spotted during a hike just days before seemed perfect. A Monday-shoot would ensure that few to no hikers would interfere. Evidently Murphy's law struck, as during the last check at the location a crew was mowing everything away. No worries, for there's a plan B: a bit further into the wild where I had previously done a barbarian shoot . Water, young green trees, awesome eventhough with less magical light. Last time a friendly park ranger had even pointed ...
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Collab - The AI dilemma ( Animating the Imperial Guard)

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Afbeelding
Last Thursday the tiny dirt road I needed to take was blocked by a concrete barricade. I cursed ( several times ) and then I thought: " That's actually a cool barricade for a Warhammer 40k shoot. " So I got out of the car, took a picture and had an even worse idea. It took 2 old urbex pictures from back in 2016 and the new concrete slab cellphone photo plus some Photoshop compositing magic to let Firefly AI finalize this composition into the kind of Space Hulk tunnel I wanted. Then I combined 2 stills from @Kyden_cosplay 's props + Cadian commissar cosplay ( made during @GeekVillagebelgium + @GeeksandFreaksnl ) and noticed I had not photographed his legs, so I added the lower part from a macrophoto of a commissar-miniature I had shot during Trolls-et-Légendes ( Sorry, don't know who painted it ). The magic of Photoshop, Luminar Neo and Firefly got me the character and heroic pose I wanted. Then I had Photoshop combine, relight & harmonize both comp...
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Les Festivités annuelles du Fort de Lantin (2026)

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Afbeelding
How many time did I want to visit Les Festivités annuelles du Fort de Lantin and the Boekenmarkt Tongeren ? Probably every year since just after Covid.. but the wonderful celebration of Castlefest always got in between. But this year, things were different. Almost no events on my Summer calendar due to the focus on opening House of the Red Merlin , a specialty store for TTRPGs, wargames, boardgames, CCG's and some curated novels and both on the Boekenmarkt and in fort de Lantin I was certain to discover some fresh, new, local talent to showcase on the store-shelves.. which I did: Matt Gauthy & Tales by Ruby . Les Festivités annuelles du Fort de Lantin are a gathering of WWII reenactors, including their Willys, trucks and tanks, with concerts, a creators' market, a military market, parties in 1940ties dresses, visits into the bowels of the old military fort, animal demonstrations, and typical for any self-respecting Walloon costuming event: plenty of drink stalls a...
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Collab - Steampunk explorers of the Unknown

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During the shooting day at the Verbeke Foundation last month I got a quick glimpse of this soon-to-be-married steampunk couple. And BAM here they are again! I blame it on Geert who keeps on bringing cosplayers & photographers together. I still had an explorer/haunted mansion/Cthulhu investigator-idea with a Lovecraftian vibe like the tabletop RPG's Call of Cthulu & Candela Obscure to shoot with them from last time at this location.. so I made this ▼ All photos are on Flickr ( UPDATE: everything has been uploaded ) A short video will go to Clapper & Instagram . Updates on how fast I advance in processing are on the Facebook page . Video 1 on Clapper: In the trenches of 1899 (= a slightly different version from the IG video) Video 2 on Clapper: Discoveries Video 3 on Clapper: A random encounter in Hell Some samples while waiting for me to finish work: . More samples featuring cosplayers Angelique & Richard: . Dit bericht op Instagram bekijken ...
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Collab - Cosplay & LGBTQIA+ awareness video's in de Japanse Tuin

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Afbeelding
Waar de meesten enkele jaren geleden nog dachten dat de LGBTQIA+ gemeenschap eindelijk de rechten hadden gekregen waar alle mensen recht op hebben, Prides hun protest-aspect niet langer nodig zouden hebben en op termijn konden vervellen tot een feest waar straight en minder straight mekaar kunnen ontmoeten, is de situatie ondertussen erg veranderd. Dit weekend, op zaterdag 28 juni 2025, trokken bijna 200.000 LGBTQIA+-personen, hun Allies en iedereen die geeft om democratische burgerrechten door de straten van Boedapest ondanks een verbod van de hoogste politieke leider, ondanks de strenge straffen die hen te wachten stonden. Overal ter wereld draaien autocratische leiders de rechten van hun burgers terug en de LGBTQIA+-groep lijdt hier enorm onder. In plaats van er enkel verdrietig om te zijn en zich erbij neer te leggen, is de gemeenschap strijdvaardig om niet enkel haar rechten, maar de rechten van alle burgers te verdedigen. Het verleden leert ons dat fascistische en autocratisc...
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