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Another and bigger Hilite tested out with the old one serving as a main light/big softbox. I am curious to see the effect of this Hilite sandwich on real skin…more to come soon…

About 4 years ago I started out photographing my little neighbour Yasmin with my compact Sony Cybershot, my first digital camera. I had just learned HTML and CSS and had made my first website for our shop. I had 1 rol of black fake-fur as a background, and an on camera flash which I bounced against the ceiling. Yasmin was a very enthousiastic model and the photo’s still look very cute to me.

Earlier, about 8 years ago we had to make an advert for our shop in the ‘funshopping guide Amsterdam 2001‘. We were featured in that guide a couple of times before and we wanted to do something completely different. I thought of photographing Anneke, a client of ours with a spectacular figure, completely nude. No clothes, so the spectator could freely imagine what kind of clothes we sold. Barbara, a photographer friend, made the photos with a medium format camera. First she made polaroids to check the lighting, then shot a few films and brought them to the lab the next day. Another day later we could check the contacts and pick the best which also took a day going to the lab to have them enlarged. Costs of the polaroids, films, processing and handmade enlargements were serious I remember. I also remember seeing Anneke’s beautiful body for the first time and longing for a way to register it, fixate it in time. The way Barbara did it was perfect, but elaborate, time consuming and expensive.

Now, looking at the prints I lately made with my new Epson, I’m doing what I wanted to do when I was struck by Anneke’s beauty. I can honestly see no difference with Barbara’s professional prints. And I don’t have to leave the house for them…

‘Het Parool’ published an article by Tony last thursday against the ongoing attempts to gentrify our beloved redlight district. If our local counciler Lodewijk Asscher has his way the sex workers have to make place for yet another mainstream area with shops and galleries. There is really a hostile takeover taking place where this crusading counciler is using dirty tricks and misusing public funds. In his slipstream the vultures of big business are preparing to invade. ‘Het Parool’ was so friendly to publish the article with a nice headline and photo. It’s yet another phase in the struggle; we do what we can…

Had a nice shoot with Elian and did some webdesigning: a business site for Monique Sluyter Models and a total restyling of the Webers Holland site. To finish it of I updated my wordpress and restyled this page. White seems to be my new fetish…I also ordered a new & bigger Hilite background from the UK. 2 Hilites must lead to spectacular lighting possibilities. At least it will be fun trying. It’s a bit unchartered territory because these light modifiers are new and they are bigger than the biggest softbox or lightbank. Can’t wait…

Burlesque shoot with the great Madame Bling Bling and Miss Whips

Great promotion pics for Antoinette last week. She is of the same age as Monique and they know each other from their time in Italy when they worked for “Tutti Frutti” on RAI television when they were very young. I think they’re both even more attractive now.

Monique Sluyter posed for Tony in a classic shoot. It made him very happy. Her sandwatch figure shines!

I had a nice shoot with Roos and I’m very happy with the results of my new camera. The pictures are definitely sharper and have better color. I think not only the autofocus is better but also the sensor produces sharper and smoother files.
I shot RAW and compared my old favourite Silkypix with the latest version of Canon’s DPP. The DPP conversions had nicer skintones and more higlight details. The dynamic range is definitely greater than my old camera. The combination 40D and DPP seems to work very well. I always looked down on the Canon software but now I really like the program. Good thing is you can also make a luminosity curve correction and batch convert very easily.
The camera is easier to handle than the old 350D and sounds and feels much cooler. The only thing I don’t like is the added weight.
And Roos posed very nice!

After 2 years with the 350D (right) Tony upgraded to the 40D (left). Now he is “semiprofessional”. It is actually easier to make good photo´s with the new body. One reason professionals make better pictures is they have better tools. The 350D is still a great camera, but the autofocus is a bit unreliable. Anyway, the 40D is next to the Nikon D300 the best camera under 1500 euro. And it´s about half the price of the Nikon with discount and cashback. Tony is once again a happy boy.