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 - Geek Village Summerfest & Elftopia (2025)

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Starting a review with some words of praise seems right. Thank you Elftopia for installing huge umbrellas at the food area so people could eat without getting scorched by the sun ( and guess what; if it rains, those same umbrellas also protect cosplays and cameras ).  Thank you Elftopia for lowering the price of water during the ongoing heatwave.  Thank you Elftopia for making sure there was plenty to see, and to do, other than posing/shooting for photographers/cosplayers, or having a chat with friends, followers & acquintances.  Thank you Elftopia for an efficient, and well-controlled parking system.  Thank you Elftopia for not selling every shot of mead at 7€.  Thank you Elftopia for making the potato field behind the pink chapel finally accessable to diabled persons, and no longer a hazard for ankles. Thank you Elftopia for listening to the complaints of the visitors over the years and making adjustments where possible.  In a perfect world, I would h...
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Event - Castlefest (2025)

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There was an anomaly in the time-space continuum during Castlefest . We arrived -on Sunday- earlier than usual. Didn't do anything unusual. Only danced to the concert of SeeD. Drank less mead than normal. Yet still we did not manage to see the entire fair in a day. So the fabric of time must have torn or folded in some strange way, causing it to slip uncontrollably through our fingers. Even stranger: it only started raining at the moment we reached the car. That's simply uncanny!  What witchcraft have you used Castlefestians? Teach me ! My only witchcraft comes out of some soulsnatching boxes dangling by my sides.  And if you want to see the results you'll have to be patient. I'm editing the CF stills, and those of a spaghetti western shoot 2 days earlier ( No, this time I did NOT set a church on fire ), and editing videos for our  LGBTQIA+/cosplay project , and the following weekends are filled with Elftopia , Antwerp Pride and Geek Village . But don't w...
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Sony tech - Using A-mount lenses on E-mount cameras

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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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Collab - Spaghetti westerns

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Afbeelding
Spaghetti westerns , a subgenre of western films, are distinguished from older, classic westerns by their production location, cast, and stylistic choices   They were largely produced in Europe, particularly Italy, during the 1960s and 1970s, often featuring Italian directors and casts, with a mix of American and other actors.These films are known for their low budgets, gritty realism, morally ambiguous characters ( often antiheroes ), and a more cynical, violent tone compared to the idealized American westerns featuring clean-cut, heroic cowboys. The genre's creator is generally attributed to Sergio Leone , an Italian director who pioneered the style with  Per un pugno di dollari. Sergio Leone followed up A Fistful of Dollars (1964) with two sequels, For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966), both of which feature Eastwood and Van Cleef. Known as the Dollars trilogy, the three films are widely considered some of the best spaghett...
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Activism - Limburg Pride & Antwerp Pride (2025)

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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. 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 bothered by. It's about humans who are being denied basic human rights. About a lack of fundamental freedom. About people who need to defend themselves from haters. Who often have to...
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Event - Romeinenfestival Tongeren (2025)

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Precisely a decade ago, during a rainy weekend, there was a Viking market in Tongeren and I was exited for this initiative by the Gallo-Roman museum. Alas it took me 10 years and living in Tongeren for half a decade, to cover another such event by this museum.  Luckily the Roman festival ( Romeinenfestival ) was worth the wait. A Roman market with historical artisans, workshops, free museum entrance, food, 50 re-enactors, including legionairs from several legions, periods and provinces and the thing everybody remembers: gladiator fights in the streets.  And the weather was much better. Some useful links: ▷ All photos can always be found on/downloaded from my Flickr and here ! ▷ A " How to download stills from Flickr " tutorial was posted here . ▷ Some highlights might go to Instagram , Threads or Bluesky . ▷ A video might go to Clapper & to Tiktok ▷ Buy Red Cathedral a whisky on Ko-Fi ▷ Updates are on THE Facebook . ▷ Give a follow to this young creative fo...
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Collab - Cosplay & LGBTQIA+ awareness video's in de Japanse Tuin

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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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Event - Pirates & steampunks in Huy/Eersel (2025)

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Imagine finding pirate ships on dry land with hauls of rum barrels that need emptying. Imagine an entire Steampunk village on a beach filled with people who crave going into the water. You might think the 34° of the almost-heatwave have melted my brain, but that's exactely what last weekend was all about.. that and the Graspop Metal Meeting . In Huy was Cachez vos trésors ... Les pirates sont de retour , the only pirates-only fair in Belgium and I went for a quick drink on Friday evening..  Black Powder 's rum, great moonshine, excellent cider, delicious mead, dangerous hypocras, Celtic music and des galettes ( salty pancakes ) made a short visit a bit longer than planned.. but I did manage to make a few stills. The next morning started Fotofair in the Dutch village of Eersel .. It was a bit too early. Luckily the  The Time Travellers '  whisky-based moonshine with ginger & cinnamon awakens the brain after the first shot and get a person boosted for work. And y...
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Collab - Dryad fantasy boudoir

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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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Event - O-Parade Genk (2023)

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Do you think everything is silent & calm on May 1st?  It's a national holiday.. and it's a day of celebration in the city of Genk. Kermis ( carnival fair ), jaarmarkt ( fair ), fireworks and my favorite: a street parade named O-Parade. . . . Last year I visited it almost by accident: Some photos & video This year however I was there on purpose & on time. ( and fearing for rain ) And there were some awe-inspiring creations ranging from balloon candy and a army of sea-creatures, to a giant locust & life-size whale. Eventhough all participating streetartists come from different places in Europe they all have 1 thing in common: the urge to entertain their public. and they did ! All 150 photos will be HERE on Flickr A short video is on  Clapper & maybe later on Instagram For updates on my progress you can check Facebook . . . Yes, there is a short VIDEO with the dance of Gruppo Folkloristico Pavullese And for now I'll hav...
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