Landscape - Rural decay

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The Coronawalks & post-Corona hikes in my new neighborhood have shown me many pretty sights and one SO ugly it became beautiful again. I so want to use this as a backdrop for a post-apocalyptic portrait.. but what are the chances of getting these strong clouds back?

More pictures from Haspengouw are on Flickr as are more pictures from Urban & Rural Decay.

That moment when you find something so ugly you immediately love it.. That's not very rational?

Populaire posts van deze blog

Event - Pride Parade 2026

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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. 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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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 - Using APS-C mode on Full Frame cameras

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 " 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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Sony tech - The A7RV menu system

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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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Event - Stadsmuzikantenfestival 2026

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Mensen uit Tongeren klagen graag , lees ik vaak. Dan kan je ofwel kijken waarom de mensen klagen ( verkeer, asociale politiek, levensduurte, extreme weersomstandigheden, intermenselijk gedrag, de wereldsituatie, overbevolking, de voetbalresultaten, vervuiling, winkelleegstand, .. ), of je kan kijken naar wat hen verbindt en hen met de glimlach samenbrengt. MOMENT festival brengt de mensen samen en één van de toppers is het Stadsmuzikantenfestival. Ieder jaar opnieuw  verzamelen ze een verrassende selectie singer-songwriters bestaande uit jonge talenten op het randje van de grote doorbraak en gevestigde namen van wie iedereen wel een nummer kent. Verschillende hoekjes en binnentuinen van het oude begijnhof in Tongeren zijn het decor en alle bands spelen meerdere korte sets in pure showcase stijl. Mensen zwerven van de ene ontdekking naar de andere en zetten zich onder een boom of in het gras om relaxed te genieten van gratis optredens. Zeker tijdens deze lange hittegolf, was de ...
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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 - De Quaeye Werelt (2026)

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Lang geleden dat er nog een publiek genre-evenement werd gedaan.  Ben druk bezig geweest aan nieuwe webpagina's voor Deep Red Noise vzw en Red Cathedral en tegelijk volop plannen aan het uitwerken voor een niche winkelproject genaamd House of the Red Merlin . Wat voor soort winkel zou dat kunnen worden? Wel, als er zich nog investeerders aanbieden om de laatste 10% van het oprichtingsbedrag ( stock is helaas duurder geworden in alle branche s) aan te vullen, dan zou het er snel kunnen komen. Toch even het hoofd buiten gestoken - tussen de regenbuien door - voor een reënactors kampement dat me al jaren nauw aan het hart ligt: De Quaeye Werelt 1477 in het Antwerpse Rivierenhof. 1477 was een belangrijk jaar voor België en de Bourgondische Nederlanden. Na de dood van hertog Karel de Stoute, ook bekend als  Charles Le Téméraire,  in de slag bij Nancy, erfde zijn dochter Maria van Bourgondië het hertogdom. Dit leidde tot de Bourgondische Successieoorlog, een conflict ...
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Collab - The AI dilemma ( Animating the Imperial Guard)

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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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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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Collab - Verbeke Cosplay Day (2026)

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Allow me to sum up a few ingredients that make several ( outdoors ) costume events very enjoyable: No rain + casual strolls through a gorgeous location + drinks with nice people + casually making a photo of a splendid or funny or catchy constume + decent food + things to do/see + musical (re)discoveries + some more wine, whisky, or mead. The annual cosplay day at the Verbeke Foundation , one of the strangest ( yet fascinating ) musea in Belgium, had yet again many of those ingredients in its recipe. So thank you Geert for putting this together.  ▶️   All photos can always be found on/downloaded from my Flickr and here in this Album ! ▶️ A " How to download stills from Flickr " tutorial was posted here .  ▶️ Prices & possibilities for booking Red Cathedral ▶️ 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 ....
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