brass     

a musical encounter at the beach

last sunday my dad & i went to Kijkduin for lunch. when we got out of the car we heard the sound of brass music coming from the shopping mall along the boulevard. we went over to have a look and a listen and of course i grabbed my camera....

a color symphony in blue, white and gold with the long shiny slides of the brass trombones lining up beautifully

the white helmets have gold shields and chains, and are topped with a bunch of blue and gold plumes

mellophones, trumpets and sousaphones all make their unique contribution to the sound of the band

the huge bells of the sousaphone overshadow the band players 

the band has a great youth section with lots of dedicated young musicians

even between performances they appear very focused and serious

sometimes almost contemplative....:-()

talking in photographs part 3     
portraits     
capturing aspects of personality     
i love shooting portraits of people i know and love.
i tend to hang around them with my camera as long as it takes, waiting until they become less aware of my presence, turn their focus back on themselves and what they are doing, and their authentic self starts radiating out of their faces and posture and gestures again.
right at that moment i press the shutter....

my neighbor Mijke, who lives in Mozambique and who i see once a year. every time she has grown and changed so much.... i love to record those changes and try to catch glimpses of her developing personality. here she's playing with one of our dogs, completely uninterested in me or my camera.

these two shots are of my dad, right after he gave me a portrait lens for my birthday. i couldn't wait to start taking his picture! he was totally aware of being photographed, but he's such a natural, he's unable to posture or take a pose.

my niece Nadine is always aware of cameras and can't help posing... so with her i usually have to wait long and take lots of shots before i catch her unawares.  but the fact that she knows people look at her and appreciate her beauty is also a part of her personality and it shows in these portraits. here i have tried to enhance that aspect in post-processing.
this shot has been given a bit of a low-key effect

here she was not exactly posing but still acutely aware of the camera, which shows in her facial expression. this shot only needed some subtle changes to keep the effect soft and natural

this shot has been given a high-key/soft focus effect to exaggerate the languid expression

the girls          

last weekend M. was visiting from Mozambique and she dropped by with her two girlfriends to hang out with our dogs

I took my camera and captured some of their girl talk (didn't even have time to look at my camera settings....)

I love how these images show the easy way they interact and the strong bond they have, even with M living many miles away

another hero

Yesterday C and I met up with our friend Gon Buurman, a great people photographer (especially women) and a real hero.
We went to the Cobra Museum of modern art to see 'Klee and Cobra, a child's play'

While catching up in the museum's restaurant I took this shot of her. 
It shows a lot of her strength, humor, courage and gentleness. 
She is a great person to have as a friend.

heroes

When I was out with the dogs today I saw the fire brigade diving under the ice in the river. After getting home I grabbed my Olympus and went back and asked them if I could take some shots. They didn't mind so I spent about 15 minutes capturing them during one of their trial runs, getting someone out from under the ice and transporting them back to safety. They worked with great focus but also had a lot of fun. They looked like heroes. It feels good to know they will come running when you need them.