photographer
I haven't been posting any blogposts this year, not because I didn't want to, but because I haven't taken any photos. Much like last year all flying events were cancelled and traveling was postponed until the second half of the year. So you can imagine I was happy when I was invited to shoot a… Continue reading FIRST SHOOT OF THE YEAR: DUCATI PANIGALE V4SP
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
Two weeks ago I started working on a book project about my aviation photos. You can catch up by reading the blogpost I wrote earlier. I don't want this book to be just a random collection of photos I made over the years. It doesn't necessarily have to tell a story either, but there needs… Continue reading TURNING A DECADE WORTH OF PHOTOS INTO A BOOK – PART II
How do I photograph a lockdown? I asked myself that question when the lockdown started here in Belgium around the 15th of March. I knew from the beginning that I wouldn't be able to shoot any documentary work in hospitals or anything. So I thought I'd end up with a series about emptiness. You know,… Continue reading HOW DO YOU PHOTOGRAPH A LOCKDOWN?
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
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
I've been taking pictures with a Polaroid Impulse camera since about two years. A couple of months ago I borrowed an SX-70 camera from my brother and head out to New York for a short trip. It was a great opportunity to test this famous instant camera. The SX-70 is remarkably compact in comparison with… Continue reading SX-70 POLAROID 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
Ever since I got a Polaroid Impulse camera I had the idea to take air to air polaroids. I never got to it because of several reasons. I can't hang out the back of a Skyvan shooting polaroids because theres always a chance that the polaroid goes flying out. It's also not practical to have… Continue reading MAKING AIR TO AIR POLAROIDS
There are only a handful of jet types I still wish to see flying next to me and the Sukhoi 27 has been on that list for a very long time. But last September, as a member of the Aviation Photocrew, I finally got my opportunity to photograph this big jet! Since the opportunity arose during… Continue reading AIR TO AIR SHOOT WITH THE SU-27
I used to shoot more aviation on the ground than in the air, but the past years the ground-air ratio slowly moved towards the air. Nowadays, when it comes to shooting aviation, I mostly shoot air to air pictures. And no matter how much fun it is to do these flights, I was very happy… Continue reading STORYTELLING IN AVIATION PHOTOGRAPHY
There's nothing so exciting in aviation photography as getting close to the planes. And no matter how much fun it is to stand between jets, it is more fun to have one on your wing. I had the luck to do air to air photo shoots for the last 10 years and even though it's… Continue reading STAYING CREATIVE IN AIR TO AIR PHOTOGRAPHY
The first day of my summer holidays I spent the evening shooting an '92 Porsche. Ever since I saw 'Drive' by Nicolas Winding Refn years ago, I wanted to do a shoot with neon lights, but it never happened until now. It was actually after showing pictures I found on Instagram of a Porsche shoot… Continue reading ’92 PORSCHE NEON BTS
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
For the past 5 years I have tried to gain a following on Instagram and failed miserably. It's only since about two years that my following grew above a couple of thousand. Since that first post in 2014 I have learned a lot and mostly that a beautiful feed rakes in more followers than one… Continue reading HOW TO CREATE AN INSTAGRAM AESTHETIC
The Nepal trip was one with meany memorable moments, a couple of near death experiences, a lot of waiting and, most importantly, a lot of flying. And what better place to fly than the peaks of the world: the Himalayas. In what follows I will focus on three separate flights we did that involved the… Continue reading FLYING IN THE HIMALAYAS
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
On April 2, 2018 I was standing in Brussels Airport with my wife and good friend Eric. He wanted to go away for a few days and do some fun stuff. He asked me and my wife to join him on the trip. We had no clue yet where we were going, but he had… Continue reading BEST HONG KONG PHOTO SPOTS
On January first 2015 I found myself sitting at a table at my grandparents house. I put a fisheye lens on my iPhone 5 and snapped a picture of my family celebrating the new year. As you can see the fisheye didn't work that well and the photo isn't particularly a good photo. But I… Continue reading TAKING A PHOTO EVERY DAY FOR 1500 DAYS
Instagram stories has been around for a few years now and you can't open the app without having new stories to watch. Some people seem to have understood what Instagram stories are all about and made it their own, creating interesting series or using it in an entertaining way. I may not be one of… Continue reading 3 WAYS TO MAKE BETTER INSTAGRAM STORIES
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 