Wow! what can I say? Nick and I were fortunate enough to meet up with the legendary Martin Hogeboom in Amsterdam for a 2 hour creative shoot. Graziella our model met us at the American Hotel and we went for a walk, talk & shoot. Nick had done the recce and scouted out some fantastic locations so in just a couple of minutes we were putting our systems to the limit. We walked about 1km in total and finished the session in time for a bit of lunch together. Here are some of my shots from the shoot.

1. My first picture of this set was the last one I took. It is an infra red portrait taken using my converted 5D mk1. I shot it using my 21mm f2.8 Zeiss lens. If you click on the picture you can see it at 100% Lighting was from a barefaced Speedlight.
I learned some new tricks with Pocket Wizards way beyond the scope of my usual working using the 580 EX2 as a manual zone controller for all the remote flash groups, plus I’m expecting to be shooting at up to 1/4000th on my Canon 5D mk2 with my Broncolor Mobil kit too using PWs and a bit of clever dickery. Testing and results to follow in a future post ;)

2. I chose a punchy exposure for this simple shot of lines spotted by Martin. 100mm lens at f/2.8 with 1/1250th second at ISO 100.

3. Perfect lines and a perfect model to work with to get the shoot under way. It was interesting to note that Martins 580 mk1 didn't have the 40m range needed on the PW flex for the flare light but when I swapped it with my mk2 version it was fine. (Exposure as above).

4. Shot using my 21mm lens at f/14. I set the white balance to 10000K (the highest setting) to get this setting sun look in the middle of the day. The Speedlight was blued up accordingly.

5. I love this look and I chose to give it to a black and white treatment. 100mm lens.

6. Equally fun in colour. The sun works well as a back light.

7. This was my last frame at this location taken with the 100mm. With the first Speedlight set up finished it was off to location 2.

8. Nick spotted this reflection in a column of my favourite black granite, and I made good use of it for this naturally lit shot.

9. Another of the four or so frames taken with this reflection. The pose is reflective too. Notice the calmer tonal treatment.

10. Another natural light shot using naturally occuring key and kick two point lighting.

11. It was time to shift the white balance again only this time I seetled on 3400K. A single Speedlight was used as a key.

12. Here is Martin taking my shot on his iPhone classic in front of my Waggamamma star.

13. Need I say: 100mm at f/2.8, 1/60th second at ISO 100.

14. Hows that for bokeh! 100mm at f/2.8 of course. Lit with natural light.

15. Amsterdam is full of bikes, so it seems fitting to include a few in my shots. Natural light, 3400K white balance.

16. Settings as above.

17. I think Nick and Martin thought I was mad when I suggested shooting here. Perhaps they are right.

18. Natural lighting was provided by the up stage sun. A less is more approach to including a bike worked well here.

19. We got a lot of attention shooting these frames. Simple elegant pose from the legs up.

20. The dappled light was provided by the sun through leaves.

21. A forced framing makes this shot a bit more interesting. Amsterdam is full of painted brick walls by the way.

22. A bit of fun concludes this set of shots taken predominently with my 100mm lens. I lit this frame with on camera flash.
The creative mind needs flashes of inspiration and the creative soul needs shared moments of experimentation and I achieved both in Martin and Nick’s company. Martin’s pictures including some behind the scenes shots are here. Martin is a true master of photography, a great man to spend time with and an all round cool guy.
Please feel free to comment.
Great idea! Count me in!!
Hi Martin,
Lets do it again but for longer next time. Perhaps we could meet up at different cities for a day or so every now and then. Do some joint workshops too perhaps. Why not?
Berlin, Basel, Barcelona, Bucharest and that’s just a few B’s.
I’m still smiling – great fun!
Damien
Hi Damien,
Fantastic photos, I like the way the IR shots came out as well! Great to see how you get all these different results with lighting and post processing!
Thanks again for an inspiring day, I learned a lot by the way you look at the light and how you use the environment in your portraiture. It was great fun hanging out with you guys! Can’t wait till next time!
All the best,
Martin
“legendary…”?!? Wow! :-)
Great shots looking forward to the next posts
looking forward to hearing how you get the wizards to sync your bron mobil kit at up to 1/4000th, and hope same will work on my bron scoro with a genny attached.
K….
great work Damien as ever, you can tell its you but with a twist.
See soon K….
As ever – stunning!
Great post, Damien! Unfortunately I couldn’t be there, but next time I certainly will. Keep up the good work!
Regards,
Rob
Thanks Rob, Chris and Karl and Will :)