Diversen
Hooray! I’ve created a facebook page for my photography activities. So, what are you waiting for? Head over there and bookmark me 
My blog will also be cross-posted with facebook. You can also check out a collection of my work.
And, to stay on top of the social networking I’ve also created a twitter account so I can vent the things that are to trivial to be writing a blogpost about..
Quiet?
And again it has been quiet on this site for almost 2 months now, the last post was dated at the beginning of july…
I’m not gonna bother making excuses for this and lets just stick with: “I’ve been busy with getting my proverbial shit together and I’m now ready to kick it!”
But, good news, new material is coming this way so stay tuned!
Shutter drag
This weeks lesson (photography class) was about dragging the shutter to create some neat effects with lights. So we took off to a nearby bridge over the highway to try this out. Incedentally we also ended up in a freshly plowed field during sunset.
Here are my results:
Updating the web
As some of you may have noticed, there has been a small update regarding the website.
I’ve changed the blog uri to http://blog.bramvandenbussche.be in stead of http://www.bramvandenbussche.be/blog and added the new domain http://portfolio.bramvandenbussche.be which will focus only on the photographs I take. The uri http://www.bramvandenbussche.be will serve as a splash page where you can choose what to visit. This is not completely finished yet as I still need to add some graphical elements but at least it’s functional.
You may expect an update to the blog as well to match the portfolio style which is much cleaner.
My Favorites
Just a small post to point out the latest addition to the website.
I have a pretty long blogroll and besides the list in the sidebar I also follow a few flickr group feeds. The images that pass through there are so amazing at times that I just have to share them with all of you..
So that’s what I did, I share the stuff in Google Reader and republish it at a fresh new page: “My favorites“
Kelbytraining.com
I’d like to take a minute to mention the great work that Scott Kelby has done in offering education to starting photographers over at kelbytraining.com
He has brought all these great photographers and graphic artists together on his site, to teach about the different aspects of lighting, different styles of shooting and the (basic and advanced) use of graphical software (like Adobe’s Photoshop, Lightroom, Flash, …).
Of course he can’t just offer this for free but for the price he charges you’re not exactly gonna get poor. For 19,99 USD you can get a one month subscription to all the videos on the site and if you want, you can get a whole year for 199,99 USD in stead of the 239.88 USD you would pay for 12 individual months.
The videos they offer are actually really really good, they’re broken up in small 10 minute chunks featuring good image and sound quality and no excessive clutter. They’re straight to the point and dedicated to learning you new stuff.
You can see the first 3 videos of each lesson without any purchase obligations as free samples. So if you’re curious, head over there and give it a go.
The video player itself is really easy to use and the built in library lets you find classes on the fly and bookmark them for later use. They even got a demonstration video about how to use the video player – which is totally free 
If you take a per month subscription it will automatically deduct the 19.99 USD from your VISA account each month, but you’re free to cancel the subscription at any time (for example if you managed to view all the videos and you’re waiting for new stuff to come out – which happens quite regurarly).
I personally recommend Joe McNally‘s classes about lighting with small flashes as they are an excellent guide to how to light portraits and the Lightroom workflow basics with Matt Kloskowski.
Transform
Zach Arias pours out his heart at a guest post on Scott Kelby’s blog. This short film really hits the crucial, sensitive issues that each serious photographer eventually bumps into and you can either let it break you, or make you stronger.
I’ve been following Zach’s blog since recently and this guy really inspires me with the way he combines his life with his passion. So if you haven’t already subscribed to his blog, I suggest you do it now and do yourself a favor.
All my respect to Zach for bringing us this video and showing us his deepest thoughts.
Canon EOS 40D Firmware
Canon heeft een nieuwe versie vrijgegeven van de firmware voor de 40D. Voor zij die niet weten wat firmware is even een korte uitleg:
Firmware is het stukje software dat op je digitale toestel staat dat ervoor zorgt dat het draait. Je kan het in elk digitaal apparaat terugvinden. Dit kan zo geavanceerd zijn als de software die op je digitale camera staat maar ook zo eenvoudig als het programma dat ervoor zorgt dat je digitaal horloge werkt.
Het zal niet direct gebeuren dat de software van je horloge zal moeten worden geupdate, daar is het veel te eenvoudig voor, maar voor gecompliceerdere apparaten zoals een digitale camera kan dit wel eens voorvallen. Deze updates zijn altijd sterk aan te raden, ook al lossen ze niet direct een probleem op waar je zelf mee geconfronteerd wordt. Deze release van Canon lost enkel een paar kleine puntjes op maar desalniettemin kan het wel eens handig zijn. Vooral het laatste puntje lijkt me vrij handig om te hebben.
Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes a low battery indication to be displayed when using the EF 85mm F1.2L II USM lens. Depending on the battery check timing of the camera, the battery level displayed on the camera’s LCD data panel may shows Battery will be exhausted soon or Battery must be recharged, even though the battery capacity is sufficient. Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes an Err 06 Self Cleaning Sensor malfunction to appear on the camera’s LCD monitor and LCD data panel, even when the Self Cleaning Sensor Unit is operating normally. This message may appear depending on the timing of when the camera is switch to the ON position. Fixes a malfunction that prevents correct colors from being printed when direct printing. RAW images captured using the camera’s custom Picture Styles (Emerald, etc.), which have been downloaded from Canon’s Web site and registered under User Def. 2 or User Def. 3. Modifies the level of subject brightness that causes the AF-assist beam to fire when using an external Speedlite. Enables an external flash connected to the camera’s synchro terminal to fire even when the camera’s built-in flash is popped up.
Je kan de download en de installatie instructies hier vinden:
Canon EOS 40D Firmware Download
Stil…
Het lijkt wel een rage te zijn in fotografisch België de laatste tijd en ook ik ontsnap er niet aan. De gevleugelde woorden: “Het is wat stil hier op de blog de laatste maar….[voeg hier een geldige reden toe]” mogen jammergenoeg ook hier verschijnen.
Zoals sommigen misschien wel weten zijn we onlangs verhuisd naar een nieuwe appartement en dat brengt nogal wat werk met zich mee. Daardoor heb ik minder tijd over om op fotografisch vlak verder te gaan.
Gisteren hadden we de eerste les fotografie van het nieuwe jaar, en het was direct een zware brok theorie over belichtingscontrast, onderwerpscontrast en helderheidscontrast en hun onderlinge samenhang. Allemaal heel boeiende stof maar blijkbaar ook niet zo eenvoudig. Het duurde even voor de “klik” gemaakt was en alles duidelijk werd.
Om de avond af te sluiten volgde er nog een gezellig cafeetje met gezellige mensen om te klinken op het nieuwe jaar.
Als afsluiter wens ik iedereen nog een gezegend 2009 waarin al je dromen mogen uitkomen, een goede gezondheid, veel doorzettingsvermogen en een hernieuwde passie voor fotografie.
Palette
School assignment on patterns.
This is my wife’s newest addition for her make-up trunk. I love all the flashy colors on it.
Technical
2 bare speedlights camera left and right at 1/16 and 1/32 power.
Triggered with poverty wizards.
Flow
One from the archives.
When I did the smoke shot a while back I got like 400 shots but only managed to salvage a few of those as being fairly usefull. This is one of those few. Hope you like it..
Same setup as before:
Snooted Canon speedlight to camera right at 1/8 power
Smoke created with essence stick
Making the web work for you
Earlier this year Chase Jarvis, David Hobby (Strobist) and David Nightingale (Chromasia) held a seminar in Dubai about how you can make the web work for you and your business as a photographer. Since the current explosion of blogs out there in the blogosphere it’s highly unusual if you don’t have a website. These 3 artists talk about how you can make it work for you too.
Now I must warn you that it’s a rather lengthy video that has NOTHING of the usual appeal you would expect of a Chase Jarvis video. In fact it’s just a recording of the seminar itself where you can hear them talk for about an hour about the how and why of their sites.
This is quite interesting if you’re just starting out on the web or if you are wondering why your site gets so little attention. So I won’t keep you waiting much longer, here’s the link to the post on Chase’s blog: http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2008/11/chase-jarvis-current-making-web-work.html
Vandenbussche Photography
I finally decided how I’m gonna name my services to the outside world. After putting in a lot of thought and juggling with ideas I decided to keep it short and simple: Vandenbussche Photography
In celebration of this tough-decision-making I cooked up what is to be the symbol of my work, behold, the ‘Vandenbussche Photography’ – Logo:
