Meeting started with our AGM, where we reviewed the activities of the season and a new committee was approved, including the appointment of a new president.
We devoted the second part of the meeting to the presentation of photos from the “Street Photography” project and also other personal projects presented by club members.
The street photos were taken in a number of different countries including Japan, China, the Philippines, India, The Netherlands, Portugal, and the USA and featured the use of a number of different shooting styles and techniques including slow shutter speeds, in camera movement, multiple exposures, and reflections. The colorful Japanese night life photos were particularly impressive.
In personal projects, we were treated to Kenyan safari photos, colorful sunrise photos, and more beautiful colorful night photos from Japan.
Richard Sylvester
We viewed and discuss the photos that members submitted for the “Photo to Edit” project, our yearly photo interpretation and post-processing exercise. Eleven members presented their edits of the two photos that had been previously provided for this exercise, a Chinese bride and a Copenhagen street.
The resulting photos showed a wide range of interpretations based on cropping, composition, selective modification of the colours, conversion to black and white, and the use of monochrome or high key.
The main event of the evening was our external speaker, Omar Havana, a Spanish freelance photojournalist based in Brussels. Omar has worked as a professional photojournalist since 2005. Starting in 2009, photography and photojournalism have been his full-time job. Represented by Getty Images, his photos have been published in thousands of publications around the world. From the beginning of his career, Omar has focused on working with humanitarian organizations across the world. He has covered stories in many different countries in Europe and southeast Asia, along with Tunisia, Egypt and Nepal.
The subject of Omar’s presentation was the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and photos from his book Endurance. Living in Nepal at the time of the earthquake, Omar presented a very moving and emotional account of his life as a photo-journalist in Nepal after the quake, having to deal with the devastation and misery in the country, his difficulties in coping with the situation, but given strength by the smiles of the survivors, especially those of the children.
For more information on Omar, his very impressive work, and tributes to his book Endurance, see his website .
Richard Sylvester
We started with the main event of the evening, which was one of our semi-annual Challenges, this time on the subject of “Patterns in Nature”. Our judge, Charlotte Bellamy, who moved to The Netherlands from England some 12 years ago, is a creative artist who uses Fine Art and Abstract Photography to showcase her love for the beauty of nature. provided comments on a selection of images and summarized her judging criteria.
Peter Loffler, with his colorful display of woodland leaves, received the award for the best projected image, while Joaquim Capitao received the award for the best print with his photo of a colorful Spanish cliff which resembled the close-up of a gemstone. The best overall image award went to Endre Sebok for his photo of dew drops on a spider web. The People’s Choice award was given to Miguel Angel for his photo of a Feather Duster Worm taken on a coral reef in the Philippines. Honorable Mentions went to Annette Boon, Endre Sebok and Joaquim Capitao.
After the Challenge, Gueric Rommel then presented a short tutorial on street photography in preparation for June’s “Street Photography” Photo Project.
Although Gueric’s photographic work is mainly in street photography, it is a wide topic with no clear cut definition. There are different styles and settings in street photography including urban, animals, light and shadow. His main focus was, however, on people interacting with each other in groups on the street. By pushing B&W film, he presented gritty, high contrast, close-up photos of crowds of people showing the hardness of street life.
He discussed some of the techniques and tips for good street photography which include people: the use of B&W film versus digital cameras, the advantage of using a small light weight discreet camera, shooting using manual focus with the zone technique, not moving the camera around, not looking through the viewfinder, getting in close, and being on your own. In a crowd, no one notices you. You can walk around or stay put waiting for the action to come to you. For the street photography of children, it should be together with the family, their approval and interaction.
Richard Sylvester
Adrian gave a short intro on shooting fireworks. You can see a copy of his presentation "Shooting Fireworks" in the Tutorials web page.
Our guest speaker was Katherine Maguire, from the Benelux Chapter of the UK Royal Photographic Society (RPS). She has an Associate Distinction from the RPS and is currently the editor of the Benelux Chapter’s eJournal.
She is a Dutch photographer, originally from Cumbernauld Scotland, she moved to Amsterdam in 1997 and gained her new nationality last year. Her main photography interests have included HDR, cityscapes and ICM before switching to a project-based approach.
Her vision being permanently blurred by a rare disease which resulted in a loss of sight and a shallow depth of field, she gave us a glimpse into the world of the restricted vision of individuals with damaged retinas. She discussed why some 6 years ago she started a photo project about her illness, showed paired images from her ARPS distinction panel (shallow depth of field/normal depth of field) and described how she went about creating them.
She then moved on to present her current self-portrait photo project (I am not invisible, but my illness is), explained why she started it, showed some examples, and discussed how she created her composite photos. They were absolutely amazing. A very thought provoking, interactive discussion followed.
Through her work, she discovered a strength that she didn’t know that she had. Her photography was therapeutic, allowing her to overcome her limitations and improve her quality of life. Her work serves as an inspiration to others for overcoming the limitations of their illnesses.
Thank you Katherine for having had the courage to present your very special story to us.
You can see here a more detailed introduction, as well as a copy of the presentation she gave in the Tutorial Notes web page (Direct links: Introduction, and Presentation). For more information about Katherine and her latest work, see her current website, older work can be found here, and here.
Miguel Angel spoke about Aspect Ratios, the relation between an image’s width and height. Miguel Angel then provided some thoughts about the creative rationale for using different aspect ratios in various scenarios. To conclude, he led a very interesting interactive discussion concerning the choice of different aspect ratios and the composition of a selection of his photos. An extract of his presentation can be found here.
The main event of the evening was the viewing of photos that were provided members for the long exposure project. A wide variety of visually stunning images were presented in different settings: architecture and cityscapes, seascapes, landscapes, nature, and interiors. The nightscapes, which featured a variety of lights and colours, different compositional points of view, areas of sharpness and blur, were impressive, but it was the light trails from trams and light painting art that were especially eye catching.
Richard Sylvester
Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate so the meeting was entirely held online via Zoom with Alun welcoming the 40 some attendees to our first meeting of 2024.
Adrian presented a tutorial on shooting smoke, or why “Smoking is Good for You”. A copy of his presentations is available here, and in the Tutorials page.
The main event of the evening was our external speaker, Jess Sutton. She was born in the UK and graduated in Contemporary Arts at Nottingham Trent University in 2004. During 2005-2006, she trained to be a teacher and taught Art for 5 years alongside developing her own work within the artistic community in Cambridge. She left the UK in 2011 and has lived and worked in Brussels ever since.
Based on her fascination with space, time and existence, her work takes form through video, painting, performance, photography, collage and installation. Glass and reflective surfaces remain a constant source of interest. Her recent works explore our deep need to connect with nature and it’s energy whilst living on a planet that we are simultaneously destroying.
She has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions, both in the UK and in Brussels.
Erick introduced the Long Exposure Photo Project for which photos will be presented at the club meeting on 14 February 2024. He explained its interest and how it can be applied to landscapes, urban motion, night photography and lightning and storms, as well as discussing the optimal camera settings for long exposure and the equipment required.
The main event of the evening was one of our semi-annual Challenges, this time on the subject of “Humour”. 22 members submitted a total of 38 digital images and 2 prints. The voting was by the members who were present in the room, with prizes being given for the top 3 images. After the Christmas party that was held during the break, and before announcing the winners, Alun and Miguel Angel led a review and lively discussion of the images that were submitted. Humour is not always evident in the images as everyone’s perception of humour is different, with humour meaning different things to different people.
Honorable mentions went to Martin for his photo of a “closed door” and to Alan for his “drinkable toilet water”. Third place went to Karina, second place to Adrian, and first place to Moncho. You can see all participating images here.
© Miguel Angel Vilar
Karina lead a discussion downstairs on the topic: My Best Kit /My Worst kit. Some 10 members presented the camera or accessories that they found to be the most useful and/or those that they didn’t like or have never even used.
The most useful included an old Sony digital camera that stored photos on diskettes, a flash, a flash reflector, several different small monopods, a zoom lens, a lens cap clip, a rubber lens cap protector, and a camera hand strap. The worst included screw on lens filters, a macro focusing rail, a camera back pack, and a remote flash trigger. Finally, one member couldn’t decide if he liked his camera or not.
The main event of the evening was our external speaker, Sean Hayes, who lives in Brussels and works as a photographer and advertising art director. He has over 35 years’ experience working in advertising for multinational ad agencies and their clients in 5 European countries. He has won numerous industry awards for creativity and marketing effectiveness for many clients across multiple categories of products and services. Sean has established his position as a working creative, including photography, where he has been greatly inspired by the historic painters. Sean presented photos from his portfolio, which included portraits, still life, mobile photography, music and event photography.
In addition, Sean discussed with us the hot topic of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in photography. The open discussion elicited many interesting, relevant and thoughtful responses from the members present, ranging from the basic technical understanding of the processes to the higher aesthetic and cultural appreciation of visual art.
Richard Sylvester
Erick gave a tutorial on panning. Panning is a technique where you move the camera as you press the shutter button. As you follow the subject’s movement with the camera, the surroundings blur, but the subject remains sharp.
The main event of the evening was our external speaker, Gerry Coe, who talked about iPhone art. Gerry joined us online from the UK.
Gerry has been a professional photographer in Northern Ireland for some 60 years, leaving school just before his 16th birthday. Originally working for a number of other photographers, especially in the commercial/industrial field, he eventually started his own photography and picture framing business.
He has covered almost all aspects of photography, including portraits, weddings, commercial, industrial, aerial, architecture, press and PR. Over the years he has been awarded Fellowships from the major photographic organizations. He has used many different cameras from Large format 10x8 to 35mm, Digital and now the iPhone, and received the first ever Fellowship for a panel of images taken on his iPhone. Although he no longer works professionally, he now uses his iPhone to explore new ideas and to show people what can be done with a mobile device. You can enjoy his work in Instagram and Facebook.
In the first meeting after the summer break, Alun summarized the upcoming activities that are being organized, which include the “Humor” Challenge in December, the “Patterns in Nature” Challenge in April, photo projects in February (Long Exposure) and June (Street Photography), a photo walk in Mechelen on 1 October, an upcoming trip to the Oostende photo biennale, and ideas for some new club exhibitions.
Camera Supports. Members were asked to bring their camera supports to the meeting. Several members brought tripods, monopod, gimbal for smartphone to discuss the pros and cons, pricing, portability. Other handy tricks such as using your body, gorilla pods, strings and bean bags were discussed.
Members Photos. The main event of the evening was the viewing of photos. Seven members volunteered to show their photos: John (South Georgia Island), Diego (Estonia), Kaim (France), Kathy (two projects: poetry, portrait), Alan (Grand Canyon), Adrian (Brussels Canal) and Miguel Angel (Spain).
Five sets of photos from the July Brussels canal photo walk were then presented: Erick, Isane, Marci, Miguel Angel and Alun. The photos were a mixture of color and black and white, showing the canal and surrounding facades and architecture. The color photos graffiti photos were particularly eye catching.
Richard Sylvester
In addition to holding the Annual General Meeting where we reviewed the current season’s activities, preview next season, and elect the new committee, we devoted part of the meeting to the presentation of member’s photos and photos from the “Portraits in the Park” photo project.
Ten members presented 5 photos each from the Portraits in the Park photo project that was shot in the Abbaye de la Cambre . Both colour and black and white photos were shown using both non-professional and professional models and a variety of styles.
The final item on the agenda was the showing of images from members, covering a wide variety of topics having been shot in a number of different countries.
Richard gave an overview of photo noise, its relation to ISO, noise reduction software and the compromise between noise reduction and photo sharpness. Using a 12800 ISO RAW photo from Alun, Richard showed examples of noise reduction using Lightroom, Capture One Pro, and ON1 Photo RAW post processing software, and the Topaz, DxO and Dfine 2 (Nik) plugins. You can find her Noise Reduction presentation in the Tutorials page.
Karina Robin, one of our club members, gave a presentation on Safari Wildlife Photography based on her personal experiences in various African countries. She showed her fabulous collection of safari photos of different animals using various techniques, including night and golden hour photos, high key photos and examples of panning. You can find her Safari Photography presentation in our Tutorials page. Follow her on Instagram.
The meeting then turned to viewing and commenting on photos taken during a number of different visits and photo walks: Borgloon, Rossel-Le Soir, Brussels night photography and Tournai/Mouscron photo walks.
Alun gave an introduction to the upcoming “Portraits in the Park” photo project. This was followed by a short tutorial by Piotr on night photography.
The main event of the meeting was one of our two semi-annual Challenges, with the theme “Faceless Portraits”. We had excellent participation, the attendees voted for their top three pictures. To see all images that participated in the challenge, click here.
The start of the club meeting was preceded by an evening visit to our “Collective” exhibition at the GH Market.
During the meeting, we viewed and commented on the images that members have submitted for the “Photo to Edit” project.
The main event of the evening was our external speaker, Eddy Verloes. Eddy is a multi-award-winning Belgian literary symbolic photographer, a visual storyteller. His atmospheric shots of interiors, landscapes, and urban life hover beautifully between realism and surrealism. Taking a spontaneous approach to the craft, Eddy captures the unexpected moments of the day. His studies of literature and philosophy fueled an inquisitive search for the mystical and the poetic. He shoots with his soul, not with the camera.
Eddy spoke about some of his last projects, specially Losing Our Minds (about ultra-orthodox Jews), Aardelingen (Earthlings) : project with Jef Neve in December 2022, and In Omzien : project with the psychiatric institution Alexianen.
The meeting then turned to viewing and commenting on the wide range of edits submitted by 12 members on three images provided for the “Photo to Edit” project: architecture, island jungle and beach photos. During the viewing, Richard and Miguel Angel presented Alun with a certificate for being the best photo exhibition organizer this side of Betelguese.
A large part of the announcements was dedicated to questions concerning the forthcoming Collective Exhibition at GH Market which opens on 5 March. There will be a visit to the exhibition on 15 March just prior to the start of the March club meeting, which will feature the guest speaker Eddy Verloes.
The main event of the evening was the Triptych photo project. Print Triptychs were presented by two members while nine members presented digital Triptychs. Generating an interactive discussion, they covered a variety of topics including landscapes, architecture and city scenes, portraits and wildlife, both in black and white and in color. Jason Kravitz then introduced his interactive website, www.aminus3.com which can be used to generate Triptychs with his Photo Resonance Creator App.
The meeting started downstairs with the viewing and discussion of prints that members provided for the “Bring a Print” photo project. Some 20 colour and black and white prints, both old and new, and using various printing technologies, were on display. Generating an interactive discussion, they covered a variety of topics such as landscapes, architecture and city scenes, portraits, and wildlife.
The main event of the evening was the presentation by our guest speaker, Xavier Portela, a Belgo-Portuguese creative director, self-taught photographer and videographer currently residing in Brussels. After studying Multimedia, Xavier started his career as a web developer. Frustrated by his day job, in 2012 he dropped it all in order to follow his passion for images and to become a full-time photographer.
Presenting his journey through photography, he stressed the importance of learning, investing in yourself, and developing personal projects. A large part of his presentation focused on the visual onslaught of signs and neon lights from his series Glow. In this ongoing personal project, he traveled the world to capture various cities at night, with a special emphasis on Tokyo, inviting us to dive into the atmosphere of the locations he visited. He manipulated the colours in his images to express the vibrancy and atmosphere of the location, amplifying their saturation to reflect what his mind remembered: like painters who manipulate their medium in order to be able to depict spontaneity and movement in a static, two-dimensional image.