photographer
It's almost a year since the pandemic started and it's starting to look like 2021 will be yet another year without much traveling or events. As an aviation photographer it's quite problematic as we're dependent on airshows to be able to organize big air to air projects. In 2020 I realized I will have to… Continue reading SHOOTING THE GTC FOR MERCEDES-AMG
It's December 2020 and we're in lockdown 2.0. Although it's much more relaxed than the first time, it's still not possible to do basically anything. To top things off our world trip for 2021 is already cancelled. I'm still hoping to be able to do a couple of air to air projects in the summer… Continue reading GOING THROUGH THE ARCHIVES
Compare the two images below and there is no doubt that the second image is better in every way possible. The first one just doesn't have that extra punch that the second one does have. (I do realize I should have worked the shadow behind his head away. I can't stop noticing it.) It happens… Continue reading SHAPING AN IMAGE; SELECTIVE EDITING
With Corona turning 2020 into the year of cancellations, I found it to be a good time to look back at my photo work. I already edit some old photos from travels, but now I also took the time to go through 13 years worth of aviation photos and a decade worth of air to… Continue reading TURNING A DECADE WORTH OF PHOTOS INTO A BOOK – PART I
Although myself and everyone I know are still healthy, Corona still pretty much fucked up my year. Since all airshows are cancelled so are all the photo flying projects in July. So instead of flying in the UK for two weeks, I'll be sitting at home. And also my trip around the world in July-August… Continue reading RE-EDITING OLD PHOTOS DURING CORONA QUARANTINE
Last blogpost I made was about shooting with a Kodak Disposable camera. That post focussed on what I learned and some of the experiences I had shooting with the camera. This one will focus on editing the scanned film. The editing is done in Lightroom and as you can see in the videos below it… Continue reading HOW I EDIT SCANNED FILM IN LIGHTROOM
A couple of months ago I saw an advertisement for a Kodak Funsaver disposable camera. It was priced at 11 euros and because it seemed cheap I ordered one. Except for Polaroid I never photograph with anything else than digital cameras, so I was excited to see how I would like this. Of course these… Continue reading WHAT I LEARNED SHOOTING A DISPOSABLE CAMERA
2020 has arrived so it's time for a new preset pack with my new and most used Lightroom presets of 2019. This pack includes 10 new presets (8 color, 2 black and white) and is now for sale on my preset webshop: https://creativemarket.com/GielS Below you can see the before and after photos of several of… Continue reading 2020 PRESET PACK
In this series I'll post videos that show how I edit my photos. In this first short clip I show some very basic editing. Depending on the interest I'll post more of these that show more of the complex edits (selective editing, retouching, etc). First one is from a recent bike shoot. https://youtu.be/Et7yxOCf2sQ Thoughts,… Continue reading HOW I EDIT #1
Last Sunday I did my first real motorcycle shoot. I had some previous experience from taking pictures at a couple of events, but I never did a real shoot. It was a last minute call so I didn't have the time to really plan it and things didn't go exactly as I thought they would.… Continue reading 5 THINGS I LEARNED DURING MY FIRST MOTORCYCLE SHOOT
Index Disclaimer Museums vs. airports vs. airshows It's not about what you know, but who you know Gear Settings What to shoot Lighting Air to air photography Editing Making money Disclaimer Every now and then I get asked on social media about photography and especially my aviation photography. From the gear I use to what… Continue reading A GUIDE TO AVIATION PHOTOGRAPHY
A couple of years ago I had the luck to strap myself into a helicopter somewhere in New Jersey. Taking off in complete darkness, I was sitting with my feet on the skids. Soon we were flying over the Statue of Liberty and World Trade One towards Times Square. It was 31 of december, it… Continue reading A GUIDE TO AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
I often get asked on Instagram how my photos of these airplanes in flight are made. The answer is less complicated than some expect but non the less quite spectacular. Taking air to air photos is not that hard from a photographic point, but logistically and organization wise it's more difficult. First of all there's… Continue reading HOW AIR TO AIR PHOTOS ARE MADE
1. What is POD? Let me start by explaining what POD means. POD stands for Print On Demand. It means you are outsourcing the work. As a seller it means you upload a photo and the website you’re uploading to will handle all the work. They will print and ship the product and they take… Continue reading A GUIDE TO POD SITES
I regularly get asked about the tones and colour grading in my images or how I edit my photos. A big part of the answer lays in my usage of presets. Even today a lot of people still don't know what presets are; what they have to offer; how you can make them or where… Continue reading PRESETS EXPLAINED
Imagine campervanning through Scotland for two weeks and having to carry a Macbook Pro with you, only to be able to post some Instagram stories. Or imagine not being able to provide a photo to a pilot or display team for their social media because you can only send it after editing on your laptop… Continue reading 2 BEST APPS FOR EDITING ON YOUR PHONE
Giel Sweertvaegher 