Ronny Gabriels Photography

I just added two new albums to the site. 

The first are a bunch of testshots for my new lens, the Canon EF L 100-400mm IS.  I tried to take some different shots to test the far and near ends of the lens, but also the colours and a “speed” shot, since I will be using the lens for shooting car races this summer.

The second album is an album that I have been willing to add for some time now.  A lot of shots I shoot don’t belong to a specific album and therefore are normally not put on the site.  With the miscellaneous album I want to change this and give those “random” shots a place on the site.

Check out the albums here:

The testshots album

The miscellaneous album

Hope you enjoy them!!

For a while now I have been thinking about joining a local photoclub.  And yet, I still haven’t joined one.  It’s not that are no options, because in my area there are quite a few photoclubs.  So why haven’t I yet? Well, first off, I’m not a very social a person, but on the other hand, I love talking about photography and looking, sharing and discussing photographs.  So the answer to the question must lie a little deeper. So I started thinking about it and I think I found the answer.  Actually answers, because in my own opinion, there are two. 

The social photographer

The first reason is called “the social photographer”.  The fact that you go out in a group to shoot something.  For me this sounds like a contradiction in terms.  For me, photography is a very personal thing.  It’s about how I see the world and the subjects I want to shoot. And wether you like it or not, when in group, it’s very hard to be personal. A couple of weeks ago I say a photoclub walking around in Antwerp.  All of a sudden I realized that I would never want to be a part of that.  Walking around with about 10 other people to take photographs. The reason being that there are a few characteristics of a group that I can’t combine with my personal views on photography.  First is the fact that in a group there are always people you like and respect, as well as people you would never hang out with if you didn’t happen to belong to the same group.  I would love to go out shooting with the first type of person, not so much with the second type though.  Second thing about a group is that wether you want it or not, there is always going to be a feeling of competition.  Especially if the group consists mainly of men. And in my opinion, competition is not really healthy for photography since it destroys objectivity.  So being a social photographer wouldn’t work for me.

The right way

The second reason for me is the thing that also keeps me of most of the photography forums.  Because when you enter a group of photographers, there are always some characters who have to tell you “the right way” to shoot something.  And yes, I know you should try to keep your subject away from the exact center of the photo, I know the 1/3-2/3 rules for shooting landscapes, etc.  But you know, some of the most interesting shots are the ones who break with the rules.  Before you start thinking, “oh he just can’t handle critique”, this is not true. I love it when somebody comments on my photographs and proposes a new way of looking at a subject, or a new technique to shoot something.  I will always try it out.  But this is very different than comments like “your subject can’t be in the center of the photo”, or “your horizon is way to high or low”.  And whether you sign up for a forum or sign up for a photoclub, there are always these kind of people.  And to be honest, I don’t want to spend my spare time listening to people like that, let alone go on a photoshoot with them. 

The alternative

I think the best alternative is not to join a photoclub, but just go out with your friends and bring your cameras.  If you think of a place you want to go and take some pictures, invite someone along (if you feel like it of course).  This way, you can still share the moment with others, they can take pictures too if they want, but you don’t get that “this saturday we have to go shooting with the club” nonsense.  The best (amatuer) photography is done spontaniously, when you feel like it and thus enjoy it most.  When you start to plan when you have to go out shooting, you’re inevitably going to be disappointed or disencouraged sometimes. So my advice is, go out when you want, invite one or two people, and share and discuss with people that you know and whos opinions you trust and respect. 

Again, this is my opinion.  I know there are a lot of people in photography clubs and loving every second of it.  That’s great for you, really! And eventhough sometimes I wish I could be one of you, you won’t see me joining a club in the near future. So do your thing and most of all … enjoy! 

The 2009 racing season in Belgium starts in april and I have to admit that I’m very much looking forward to it this year.  The reason why is fairly simple.  Last year I started shooting a lot more car races and I must say, I liked it a lot.  It’s some sort of bug that I caught and can’t seem to get rid off. 

I liked racing a lot without a camera too, so it didn’t come out of nowhere.  But combining my love of racing with my love of photography was a big hit.  It’s very hard to describe why I like it so much, but let’s just say it’s always a challenge. For instance, getting a great panning shot of a GT car at 1/80th of a second is not going to work every time, not even if you are a pro, but once you get one the thrill is huge.  Even moreso than other branches of photography, shooting panning shots at a racing track requires a lot of practice.  So when you nail one, it’s a bit of a triumph over yourself. 

Now the 2009 racing season.  I have made up a calendar of events that are on in Belgium and in some cases Holland or Germany.  I think between april and october there are about 20 weekends with an event worth mentioning, so getting to all of them is going to be nearly impossible.  That’s why my goal is not getting to as many as possible, but getting as much variety in the races as possible.  That means shooting as many different types of races as I can.  My goal this year is to get at least one FIA GT, one Belgian GT, one BTCS, one Le Mans Series, one WTCC and one DSC race on “film”.  I would also very much like to add one DTM race and possibly a smaller type rally.  You might notice that there is no Formula 1 race in the list, that’s because those races are rediculously expensive and very restrictive when it comes to photography.  If they test in Spa like they did in 2007, I’ll try to be there, but I’m not going to the race (unless someone can get me in with a press badge, anyone?). 

The equipment for shooting these races has changed a bit for me over the winter months.  I acquired some things that hopefully will help me make even better race shots.  The main changes in the “race” equipment are a sturdy monopod and a great telezoom lens.  Until now I have shot races without help of a tri- or monopod, but with the new lens, a Canon EF 100-400mm L, it’s going to be necessary.  Not only does it cover a lot more distance than my lenses now, it also weighs quite a bit more. 

I’m going to try out the equipment in the next few weeks and you can rest assured, I will post some of the testshots on the website. That will give me a fair bit of time to adjust to the lens and the monopod, and in the meantime, make the wait for the start of the racing season a little more bearable. Finally, if you would like to join me on one the racing events, for photography reasons or just out of curiosity, just let me know. It’s always nice to have some company.

Everybody who has every read a forum or a blog about photography will have probably come across this question.  There are a lot of photographers who say post-production is just a part of photographing, others say that as little post-production as possible should be used.  Of course, it’s easy nowadays.  Before digital photography, post-production meant you had to have integrate knowledge about developing film, enlargers, etc.  Now, in the digital age, post-production is all about software like photoshop.  And let’s just say it’s quite a bit more accessible for everybody.

Now comes the part were I, wether you like it or not, am going to tell you my view on the subject.  And keep in mind, it’s just MY view.  Attach as much value to it as you want.

First of, I don’t think this is a question.  Not considering post-production would be wrong, whether you are a amateur or a pro.  However, and this is a big “however”, if you are an amateur, keep it to an absolute minimum.  If you a pro, do whatever the hell you want, because you problably know a lot better than I do, what post-production is and how it fits into your workflow.  But for the amateur it’s a different thing.  In my own experience, post-production can help you to save an otherwise lost shot.  The result might still be great and you can still be proud of the photo.  But I can’t tell you how much happier and proud I am when that “perfect” shot comes straight out of the camera.

I have seen raw shots that were almost black, turned into pretty good photos using photoshop and other tools, but is that what it’s all about?  Sure, it can happen that you get this one-in-a-lifetime shot, that for some reason doesn’t quite cut it.  By all means, run that through photoshop to save the shot.  But don’t count on photoshop to make good photographs.  First try to make the shot yourself.  Keep at it until it finally works.  You’ll see that the resulting photograph might be exactly the same as the photoshop one, but you’ll be a thousand times more proud that you can actually shoot that.  For instance, there are tools that can produce a beautiful sunset out of a mediocre sunset photograph. Great! I propose you take the time to make a decent sunset shot.  Even if the colours are not as vibrent as the one you produced with the tool, I would still like the shot I made myself a hundred times more, and I’m almost sure that most amateurs feel the same way. 

Of course, this is only my view on the subject, but ask yourself this question.  If you spend twice as much time post-producing your photographs than actually shooting them, shouldn’t you be into graphic design, instead of photography?  I know there are notable exceptions, especially amateurs who have a certain artistic vision will use post-production to make their photographs comply with that vision.  But the rest of you, try making the shot you want with a camera instead of with photoshop!

Today sees the launch of a new part on the SmugMug site.  The Antwerp by Night project, that I started in december 2008, is getting serious.  Although most of the photos were on the site already in the Previews album, the new gallery shows the selected photos of the project.  They include a title and a short comment, to make you see my side of the photo. 

So please, check out the website and the “Antwerp by Night” section and comment your little hearts out.  I can learn from every comment and it will hopefully make the photos still to come a lot better in every way.

See you all on the site!!

I think New Year’s reolutions are something to avoid making.  Why?  Because these are the first “promises” you break in a new year.  It’s nice to set goals for the new year, but I can help but notice that whatever goal was set as a “resolution”, is probably never to become reality.  I don’t know why this is, although it might have something to do with the fact that whatever people call a “New Year’s reolution” is something they would like, but are not that committed to. The things they are committed to are called goals, are not named at all.  That’s why this year, I’m going to set some photographic goals.  Things I’m going to work on throughout the year 2009.

Ongoing Project

Last year I started the project “Antwerpen by night”.  Initially, this was a project for the month of december.  And although the project was going fine, I still feel that I could do more with it.  That’s why I’m not closing this project, but leave it open for the rest of the year.  In 2009, I’m going to photograph Antwerp by night as much as I can, showing facets of Antwerp at night throughout the year.  So expect lots more night photographs.  I will also dedicate a seperate portion of the site to this project.

Other Projects

Throughout the year, there will probably be some other projects that I’ll be starting.  I don’t have anything specific in mind yet, but I will keep you informed through this medium.  At least on of the project will have something to do with landscape photography, maybe even wildlife.  More later in the year.

Racing

One of the big things for me on the photography front, will be car races.  There are about 20 events I can choose from this summer in Belgium, Holland and Germany.  So photographing at least 5 or 6 of them is not impossible.  I’ll try to shoot at least one Belgian GT race, one BTCS race, one WTCC race, one FIA GT race and one Le Mans Series race.  That makes 5 already, so prepare yourself for a lot of motorsport photographs this summer.

Events

As ever, 2009 will also be filled with one-day events that I will try to shoot.  I’m thinking of parties, trips abroad, weekend trips, etc. These are not really a goal, but it’s worth mentioning since they will constitute quite a percentage of all the photographic work I’ll be doing.

Fun

Last, but certainly not least, 2009 is about the fun in photography.  I set goals to learn and to develop my skills.  But in the end all the goals I set, are things I really want to do, want to shoot.  So the only thing that could make me abandone my goals foor this year, is the fact that it’s no longer fun for me.  Luckily, I doubt that’s going to happen.

We'’re alredy two weeks in the new year, so it’s about time I opened the new Blog year 2009. 

I open the year by starting a new blog to accompany my new website at http://ronnygabriels.smugmug.com.  It have been a nice digital couple of months for me with the new website that I hope will take my photography to a more serious level. In this new blog you will be able to follow all the updates that I post on the website, together with other remarks, thoughts and questions about photography.

Since I am only a starting hobbyist, I will not be posting any tutorials or reviews of hard- and software.  I leave that stuff to the professionals who problably know a million times more than myself on those subjects. What I will be posting are my photographic “adventures”, tips I might pick up along the way and most of all questions I, as a beginner, ask myself about photography.  With that last category I know I risk making a bit of a fool of myself, but I think it’s very important to ask questions about stuff you’re not sure about.  Even when some pro might have a clear-cut way of doing certain things, it’s important to ask “why?”.  Once you figure out for yourself why a certain way of working really works, you will have learned a lot more than when you would have just followed like a lemming. 

So I hope you will enjoy the blog, participate a little to answer some of my questions and maybe even share some experiences. 

For now, see you later.  If you want to see some of my photos, check out the website http://ronnygabriels.smugmug.com.

Ronny