Strolling trough Paris with the Rolleiflex – Part I

we love Paris,

this means, Nathalie and I often go to Paris, and the more we go, the less we prepare our visit. We started using the ‘Vélo’lib’ bycicle’s (the city’s own public bycicle’s), an ideal means of transportation if you are not too scared to move along the traffic. (which can be ‘busy’ at moments)

this allows us to travel criss-cross, without limitations of public transports, and with the advantage of staying above surface (unless metro, which also has good service in Paris, but tucks you away underground).

I decided not to take a digital camera with me, and only look for opportunities with the twin lens Rolleiflex I have. It makes you less visible as a photographer, because you have a completely different body attitude (bent over looking from top into your camera) so people don’t notice you as much as they would when photographing with a reflex camera.

a first series of images I thought worth looking at:

– (try to) follow the bride –

– Georgio Moroder is coming to town, but the letter spacing needs some fine tuning –

– Fondation Louis Vuitton –

– a book worth reading –

Rolleiflex 3.5 TLR with Ilford Delta 100 Pro film.

thank you for watching, see you soon for some more images

ludwig

Belgian urbanisation

Analog, street

I think we are kind of ‘creative people’ when arranging spaces 😉

Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar with Kodak TMax 100 film

ludwig

Town hall

Analog, street

Town hall – village of Doel

Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar with Kodak TMax 100 film

Ludwig

I need to do more sport

Analog, Personal Pictures, street

Rolleiflex 3.5 planar with Kodak TMax 100 film.

Antwerp.

thanks for looking,

ludwig

Selfie – old style –

Analog, people, Personal Pictures, portrait

with the Rolleiflex

don’t ask for exposure info, cause I have none. aperture probably 1/3.5, film Kodak T-Max 100, shutter time will have been fairly slow. (1/15th or 1/30th of a second)

Focusing is getting better, I no longer use the split prism for focusing, but the fresnel concentric lines. When something comes in focus, the fresnel lines start ‘dancing’ 🙂 .

thank you for watching.

ludwig

Working Collectibles – Agfa Isolette

Analog, Personal Pictures, photo gear

I have told you about a bunch of camera’s I could buy recently, this is the next chapter. I have shown you images from a Yashica TLR, A Rolleiflex TLR, the Voightlander Bessa I I owned many years now, here some images taken with an Agfa Isolette II.

The Camera is A nice folding viewfinder camera, which means it comes handy when folded, and will fit easily in any vest-pocket. (14 x 9,5 x 3,5cm) It takes standard 120 film rolls, easily available still in Belgium. It has a simple viewfinder with no indications in it of any kind, hardly a simple aid for compositing. It has an Agfa Apotar 1:4.5 f85 mm lens, and a Pronto shutter with speeds B – 1/25 up to 1/200s and a self-timer mechanism. It was made during the 50’s of the previous century. This camera can be found for a really low budget (50-75€ should get you a fine working camera), and as such, it is a perfect way to get into medium format film photography.

Ludwig Desmet_collectibles-01

What I find most difficult with this kind of camera, is focusing correctly. The focusing ring has a distance scale, so you will need to either measure subject distance, guess it, or get yourself a distance measuring tool of some kind. With the large negative format (57x57mm approx) you get a shallow depth of field, even with a not so small aperture as f4.5, so focus is easily a bit off, especially in close up work.

A beautiful niece in the first three images, and a couple of walking-by family pictures.

Taken on Kodak Tmax400 film.

Intimacy on stage

Analog, beauty, Nude, Personal Pictures

After the ‘movement on stage’, we concluded the session with some more intimate moments. I have photographed digitally as well as analog, on medium format Yashica 635 with Kodak TMax 100 film.

Thank you Pauline, for being my model.

make up: Hanna

Hair & assistance: Nathalie

thank you for watching,

ludwig

Pauline in the ballet room – Analog

Analog, beauty, Personal Pictures

hi there, it’s been a while since you’ve heard from me,
I would like to present you a new series with Pauline, you’ve probably seen her before in my work.
This time we worked in a new location in my hometown Ronse. The building of the Academy for word, music and arts. Currently the building is used by local clubs and associations that needed a place for meetings and gatherings.

I like to work with Pauline a lot, and this feeling seems to be absolutely mutual, seen the post that Pauline put on her wordpress blog recently: ludwig-desmet-the-ballet-room-and-the-old-theatre

We made some interesting images I think.

All shot with the Yashica 635 on Kodak TMax400 film, pushed 1 stop (shot as if it would be an 800 ISO film, and developed as such)

thank you for watching.
I’m currently preparing three more shoots, so come back soon,

ludwig

Selfie! Pauline in the ballet room

Analog, beauty, Personal Pictures

first time I include myself that much in the picture frame, I hope it doesn’t ruin the entire image, you may argue that I’m not a beauty, and certainly not fine art. 😉

As you can see, the image was taken with a TLR, this time a Yashica 635. Unfortunately it doesn’t fix well on my tripod and that caused some camera blur in some of the images.

One of my Rolleiflex’es is currently being under CLA (cleaning, lubrication, adjustment) treatment in the Netherlands, I hope I will get it back soon. A problem with the TLR (twin lens reflex camera’s) is the adjustment between the viewing lens and the taking lens focus, and both my Rolleiflex’es are suffering some ‘mis-adjustment’. I will judge on the first one being adjusted if I will send the other one too.

Winter is a calm period for model photography in Belgium, but some nice things are coming up, make sure to visit this place from time to time, or subscribe to get notified from new posts.

thank you for viewing,

ludwig

Aude in the bathroom/bedroom – analog

Analog, beauty, Personal Pictures

First post on the newly hosted blogsite:

www.ludwigdesmet.com

(the old site will be updated for a little while though)

A small series of analog images with the Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar, Kodak TMax400 film.

thank you for watching,

make sure to come again soon,

ludwig

Aude in the bathroom

Analog, beauty, Personal Pictures

Let’s get things started in 2016 with this single image post.

A first one of a series ‘Aude in the bathroom’.

Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar With Kodak TMax400 film.

Hope to see you soon again.

best,

ludwig

Aude at Bart & Anja’s house – Analog

Analog, beauty

I have worked an entire day with Aude, so we did a lot of different things.

After the ‘Castle shoot’, both analog and digital, we went to see Bart’s house. A beautifully situated cottage house in the Flemish Ardennes. Thank you Bart and Anja, for having me in.

A new location is always a bit harder to work with, but gives you plenty new possibilities for images. Please enjoy these analog images, taken with an old Yashica 635 camera, on a dull grey day.

and a ‘behind the scene’s image, remember, keep the lady warm.

thank you for watching, have a nice year’s end all of you,

ludwig desmet

A coupe with Corry – Happy Xmas

Analog, beauty, location

My first 100% analog photoshoot. Shot with my Rolleiflex 3.5 TLR camera, on Kodak T-Max 400 film.

My model had taken the initiative to look for great clothing and accessories that fitted them well. Next to first time only analog, also first time with a model in a crowded place. Ik kind of enjoyed the public interaction.

I hope you like the images, thank you for watching, thank you Corry for being my enthusiast model on this drizzling day. Thank you Nathalie for the hairdo, thank you Hanna for the make up.

please come again soon, for more images with this and other analog camera’s

Working collectibles

Analog, people, photo gear

Can you imagine yourself within about 65 years, still photographing with the digital camera you have right now? Probably not. Nowadays’s technology is not meant to last for longer than 5, maybe 10 years. Even if there is no limited life time built into your gear (which might be the case, some say), the fast paced digital evolution will make sure that within 10 years from now, your current camera will be outdated and old-fashioned.

The advantage of working with really old camera’s is that they will probably never be outdated or old-fashioned, at least not anymore than they are right now. It’s like an oldtimer car, it can’t get out of fashion, it already is, it has become vintage and will forever continue to keep it’s ‘admirers qualities’. I have been able to acquire some old film camera’s, which I am testing right now. I have to admit that the image quality in most of them is not up to current standards. Contemporary optics are way better, giving better results on a small sensor than the old stuff I am talking about. Even on the larger format negatives (6×9 cm) you do not get the image quality a modern DSLR is capable of. But the images have a different feeling to it. Compare it to vinyl vs. digital music. I’m by far not a connoisseur of vinyl, but some are convinced that vinyl has a true’er sound.

What I am certain however, when the day comes that my 5D mark II camera is not up to par with the new developments in camera technology anymore, these old filmcamera’s will deliver just as good as they do today. They are all mechanical, and if you take well care of them and have them serviced regularly, and even more important, use them regularly, they will probably last a couple of decades more.

Enjoy this wonderful portrait of my friend Peter and his daughter, taken with a Voightländer Bessa I, (1949-1957?) on Kodak T-Max 100 film. Negative size 6×9 cm. Scanned on Epson Perfection 3170 Photo.

the camera it was taken with: On a regular 120 film roll, you can make 8 exposures. This makes you want to think about pressing the shutter twice before you actually do. It has of course no auto focus, no auto light meter, no auto film transport, a very tiny viewing window that makes compositing your image a bit ‘un-precise’ at least, but it is very well built, beautifully finished and still working after 65 years.

Come back again soon, for some more images with my Rolleiflex TLR, and the first images with the new (old) Yashica 635

Ludwig

The Lady at the Castle II

Analog, beauty, Personal Pictures

Another set of images taken on film.

The advantage of film is that it is slow paced. A lot of things need to be double checked. I still have a lot to learn, but with Aude I managed to get a decent amount of good shots. The weather was cloudy, so there where no hard contrasts and that helps. Shutter speeds need to be kept under 1/25s to get neat and sharp images, unless you are able to work on a tripod. For this shoot I partly worked with tripod, partly hand held.

These images ‘at the Castle’ are taken with my newly acquired Rolleiflex TLR with Carl Zeiss Planar 75mm f3.5 lens. I have the impression that the focus is a little more accurate than with the other Rolleiflex, and I manage to get a decently sharp image with the help of digital techniques. The images are taken on Kodak T-max 100 film. Click for bigger version.

The castle is the ‘Chateau d’Anvaing’, nicely surrounded by its water surface. There are some giant trees and remainder ornaments in the immediate surroundings.

Thank you for watching, soon I will post another set with Aude, taken with another Twin Lens Reflex that has at least 50 years: the Yashica 635.

Ludwig

The lady at the Castle

Analog, beauty, location, Uncategorized

The story is told that there is a ghost swarming above the castle lake at night. It is there to protect the treasure of gold and jewellery, hidden in the waters of the lake.
I’ve never seen the ghost, nor have I any proof about the treasures existence, but it sure does great as a photo shoot backdrop.

I have a lot more images from this series, analog as well as digital, so visit this blog again soon to see the remainder results.

This image: Rolleiflex 3.5 TLR with Kodak T-Max100 film.

Aude Rolleiflex012

Model: Aude

Make up: Heidi

Hair: Nathalie

photographer: Ludwig 😉

Justine in my garden – Analog

Analog, beauty, location, Personal Pictures

a series of images from late summer.

A perfect morning sun joined us this day. I took a couple of rolls of Kodak T-Max with me, along with my Rolleiflex 3.5

Still struggling with the focus system. I suppose that ‘autofocus’ was called ‘out of focus’ in those days. 😉

Ludwig_Desmet_JW-004

Ludwig_Desmet_JW-010

Analog on the attic

Analog, beauty, Personal Pictures

Hi there,

I have been developing some negatives from last summer lately.

First a series of images I took in a dark attic, on a dusk day. Ideal conditions for film-work with an antique camera. (Not!)

Hard to focus, hard to get shutter speeds high enough for hand held shooting. I worked with a 400ISO film and had to push it two stops (underexpose when exposing, then get a ‘pushed development’ in developing the film) to get a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second. I’m not really very fond of the exposures, because I think they lack grey tones. The images are very contrasty and full of grain.

All images Rolleiflex 3.5 75mm on Kodak TMax400 film.

Come again soon.

ludwig

Da Castle shoot – analog

Analog, beauty

Some images from a while ago. Analog takes a little longer to process than digital. 🙂

Very hard circumstances for making pictures without a built-in light meter, with the light changing every minute. Sunny with scattered clouds. Luckily the film I use has a lot of ‘range’, so I could correct in scanning, when needed.

I enjoyed working in this castle environment very much. If any one of my followers out there owns his or her private castle, and I could use it for shoots, please shout. I will grant you my eternal gratitude and a free beer.

I think these are the last images from the ‘interim model’, I hereby want to thank her again for stepping up for this life-changing experience.

thank you my dear audience for reading this post. 😉

ludwig

The Castle shoot – preview

Analog, beauty, Personal Pictures

A single image from this same shoot (interim model/the engine Room) – in the afternoon we went to this nice little castle up the hills in Ronse. We could freely use the exterior and surroundings of the castle. A great new location. judge for yourself:

Image taken with Rolleiflex 75 mm Tessar f3.5, on Kodak Tmax400

soon more on this blog

thank you for watching

ludwig