By the end of December, we did a quick shoot with Herlinde, the younger sister of my favorite model Erika. It was the first time that she stood in front of a camera but she did really great.

LIME008 - Herlinde’s First Shoot - by Bert Stephani from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

In case you can’t play the video, you can also see it on YouTube.

For a better version of the pics, check the Flickr slideshow below.

Here is Episode 9 of LIME’s Happy Hour. As always we hope you enjoy it and we are hoping to get lot’s of feedback from all of you using the comments or by sending us an e-mail.

In this Episode :

• What’s up with LIME ? What have we been doing the past week & what have got in store for you in the near future ? This is where you’ll find out !
• Dear LIME In this section we will be answering your questions. Got a question ? Please send it to us @ dearlime@squeezethelime.com
  We’ll be talking about depth of field, hair light and the 70-200 L IS f/2.8
• The feature segment Every week we will be talking about one specific subject. Last week we’ve been talking about ‘marketing on a budget’. This week we are going to enjoy some gear porn. Instead of talking about what already exists, we’ll give you our wish list for future camera’s, lenses, lighting gear and accessories.

You can listen to this podcast by using the player below or download it as an mp3 (right click/Save As).

Does a real pro always knows what he’s doing? The one trick pony’s probably do but I think it’s just impossible to be a creative photographer and always know what you do at the same time. Being creative implies that you are not afraid to try out different things and to venture into the unknown. I for one, am not afraid that I don’t know what I’m doing quite often. And I don’t think that’s a problem as long as you can manage to stay calm and have the knowledge to find a solution. Creative and technical challenges are what drive me and get my creative juices flowing.

I believe you can be professional and creative at the same time. Creativity shouldn’t be limited to personal work only. And if it comes with not always knowing perfectly what you are doing, so be it. Here are five tips to allow yourself the creative freedom of not always knowing what you do.

1. Play it safe … for 5 minutes
Don’t start your session with crazy experiments, take it easy and spend the first 5 minutes using things you know. You may not end up with a world press photo but at least you will have something usable. And your client/subject will get confident in your skills which will buy you a bit more credit when you get to the experimenting phase.

2. Forget something in your car
You can buy yourself some time to think by getting something from the car. You don’t want to look like a fool, so don’t leave any must carry items in the car. But it can be perfectly acceptable to leave 50kg worth of sandbags in your car.

3. Wardrobe change
If you still need more time to think, just ask the subject to have a wardrobe change.

4. Bring someone to do the talking
It happens often to me that the time you are not actually shooting is spent talking to the subject and/or the clients. I’m just a man, so I can’t multitask so thinking about a creative shot while chitchatting is very difficult. An assistant with people skills can do the small talk in your place so you have more room to think.

The tips above come in handy from time to time, but the last tip is the most important one :

5. Just tell
Being a creative photographer who’s trying to make a killer shot isn’t something to be ashamed of. If the assignment allows it, I’ll just tell the subject that I’m going to try to make something different. I also explain that that usually means that I will be spending some time on experiments that may not work. If I need time to think, I’ll just say that too. As long as you communicate it right, your client will understand and probably respect you even more. After all, why should anyone object to someone who’s trying to make them look stunning.
(You still might want to implement tip 1 before you switch to creative mode.)

How do you get away with your experiments?

Last Saturday, after many months of preparations, we finally did our first LIME workshop. Ake and Pieter helped me out to get the studio ready for the workshop and apart from the fact that it could have been a bit warmer, I think we managed just fine.

It was a great bunch of people and I was amazed about how creative they were with light. Pieter shot some video and we’ll show it after we found some time to edit it. In the mean time, here’s a stop motion impression of the day.

Stop Motion Impression of the First LIME Workshop from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

A big thanks to all the participants to make this a fantastic day. And also a big thanks to all those who made it possible with all their hard work.

Tomorrow is our very first LIME workshop and both Bert & me are very much looking forward to it !

But now it’s movie time. This week I made a post-processing screencast, using some of the images from the first part of the engagement session I showed you last week.

If you like it and want to see more in the future, please take a moment to drop a line in the comments and give us your feedback.

Enjoy !

LIME007 - Post processing images from the real life engagement session - Part I - by Pieter Van Impe from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, since it’s longer than 10 minutes, there won’t be a YouTube version of this movie.

Here is Episode 8 of LIME’s Happy Hour. As always we hope you enjoy it and we are hoping to get lot’s of feedback from all of you using the comments or by sending us an e-mail.

In this Episode :

• What’s up with LIME ? What have we been doing the past week & what have got in store for you in the near future ? This is where you’ll find out !
• Dear LIME In this section we will be answering your questions. Got a question ? Please send it to us @ dearlime@squeezethelime.com
  We’ll be talking about depth of field, working in dark environments and metering modes
• The feature segment Every week we will be talking about one specific subject. Last week we’ve been talking about ‘marketing on a budget’. This week we are going to continue on the same topic and tell you about using the internet/social media to get your name out.

You can listen to this podcast by using the player below or download it as an mp3 (right click/Save As).

We decided to do our first workshop (saturday) in our new studio. The place is far from finished but it will give the participants much more room and interesting shooting options than the meeting room we were going to use first. Our contractors worked very hard to make the main studio space ready for use. We’ll make sure it’s clean, heated and fun to shoot by Saturday. Time to update you guys on the progress of the construction works:

Things are starting to change in what’s to become my new studio and LIME’s headquarters. A lot of time was spent (and still is dedicated to) planning, changing my mind and making sure these plans still fit more or less in the budget (that’s the hardest part). A lot of work has been done already but it’s not always that visible. Time to take you on a short tour to see where we are today.

We started with the sanitary unit. The goal: 2-3 toilets and a washing table. Budget: as cheap as possible but still give visitors an enjoyable bathroom experience

First thing: demolish the wall in the middle and fill up the gap in the floor.

Then it was time to construct the interior walls.

Today all the walls are finished, electricity is done, joints are filled, …
Still to do: doors (handy in a toilet), floor, water, heating, connecting the toilets to the sewer and finishing. So it’s not finished yet but don’t worry, we have a completely functioning bathroom.

Most of the work was done by one man, but not a normal guy. Let me present you to Sven aka ‘Ponette’.

He’s a contractor, handyman, hunter, fisherman and above all the godfather of my youngest daughter and one of my best friends for many years.

Let’s take a look at the main studio area than. This is how it looked at the beginning of the week. It was compartimented into 3 spaces. Because I’d rather have one big space, we decided to knock all the interior walls down.

I’m not after a classic studio space. I want a kind of ‘real location’. And it can always be turned into a classic studio setup within minutes. It’s about 110 square meters.
This is how it looks without the interior walls.

Opposite side:

And this is how it looks from the second floor:

We will have this space empty and ready for the workshop on Saturday.

Downstairs there’s also going to be a kitchen:

And this room is going to be closed off and converted into an office.

This is the second floor. There’s going to be a new roof with skylights. The left part is going to be the workshop space/setting area/lounge and the lowest of the two ’stages’ is probably going to be part of it too. The highest ’stage’ will be closed off as a second office.

On the picture above, you can see a door on the right. This leads to what’s going to be the make-up room.

Behind the door in the make-up room, there’s the future dressing room.

I really need to end this post by thanking everyone who make this happen. Ponette is working his ass off and performs miracles with the small budget. I don’t always agree with my dad but the truth is that I could never do this without all the planning, following up, researching, … he puts in it. My wife and kids have been true hero’s putting up with me being a bit stressed out too often. And then there are all my friends who lend a hand here and there. Thanks guys, once it’s finished we are going to have a crazy party in the studio.

I don’t know any good photographers who are not passionate about photography, do you?   Sure, there are average photographers who make lots of money, but they too have a passion, the passion of doing business. But I would like to talk about the passion for photography.

The Maniac
I eat, sleep and breath photography. there’s no switch to turn this passion off. Even if I go to sleep, I dream of pictures. I believe that there’s something like ‘talent’ but I also believe that many people have enough talent to become good photographers, be it as a pro or an amateur. I don’t consider myself being extremely talented. The pictures I made before starting to take photography seriously are just ordinary snapshots.
Without working insanely hard and thinking about photography all the time, you won’t get anywhere. This is where the passion comes in. Passion is what drives you to keep investing such a crazy amount of time and energy into getting better. I have a laid back personality and I guess you could even say that I’m a bit lazy. I’ll settle for ‘good enough’ instead of ‘perfect’ if that buys me an extra hour with a good book or with my family. But when it comes to photography, I become a maniac. With an evil grin on my face and a determination that comes close to madness, I want to make a picture that is perfect. And the next picture has to be even better.

The days when I was a student with lots of time on his hands and the energy of a 20 year old are long gone. These days I’m the proud father of three young kids, a husband who loves his wife dearly, part of a network of fantastic friends/relatives and a clumsy idiot who tries to convert an old house into a comfy home. Without passion I would be barely able to work a standard 8 hour day. The love for photography is what makes me invent the time and energy to become a better photographer.

Passion vs Obsession
Now here comes the ‘but’. Passion is necessary but be very aware of the fine line between passion and obsession. Obsession is where a passion becomes unhealthy and even dangerous. I walk that line and sometimes slip into the dark side of passion. Being very aware of the pitfalls is what makes me climb back to the good side every time but I can imagine how easy it can be for some people to loose themselves in the obsession.

I know people who’ve been there and destroyed relationships, damaged their health and lost themselves. Don’t let that happen to you. ?A few days ago I had a short but nice chat on Facebook with someone who admired the way I balance my passion for photography with my personal life. My ego likes it when someone likes my pictures but what he said was a much bigger compliment to me. I refuse to believe that it’s impossible to have a career and a healthy personal life at the same time.

Keep the Balance
It’s a constant struggle to keep the balance, but I’m slowly getting better at it. It’s good to have a network of friends with the same passion. It’s so refreshing to be able to talk about gear, photographers, influences, styles, … with someone who doesn’t fall asleep after 10 minutes. But I believe it’s also important to have a network of friends who have nothing to do with photography. A few weeks back I had dinner and drinks with two dear old friends. We used to hang out together all the time during our teenage years but hadn’t done that ever since. It was so great not to talk or even think about photography for once.

Your passion may seem perfectly normal to you but it may be very hard to understand for the people around you who don’t share that passion. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested. Give them an insight in your world and let them participate if they want to. They will still not have the same passion but it will be a lot easier for them to understand yours. Don’t lock up that part of you because you think that they won’t understand anyway. I’ve taken my kids with me on a few jobs, so they understand what their dad is doing when he suddenly has to disappear on a saturday. I’m not pushing them to take pictures themselves, but whenever they feel like it, they can use the compact camera. My wife may not be the most avid photographer but she likes to assist with make-up and styling on personal shoots. ?Seeing how much you enjoy what you do, will make it much easier for them to understand how important photography is to you.

In the beginning of this article I told you there’s no switch to turn the passion off, at least I haven’t found it. But I found out that I can put my passion in idle mode by turning another switch on. It can be anything, as long as it’s something that requires your complete attention: playing music, learning a language, doing sports, …
Last week, I had the chance to shoot with an airgun for an hour or so. After that I realized that I was so concentrated on aiming at a dot 25 meters away, that I didn’t think of anything else.

Don’t become a slave of your passion but do embrace it with a bit of caution, it will take you on an incredible enriching creative ride.

I’m very interested in reading how you manage to balance your passion for photography with the rest of your life, so hit the comments.

Bert Stephani

We are at the start of a brand new weekend, so time to unveil our latest LIME movie
In this 6th movie I’ll be taking you along on a real-life engagement session, it’s part 1 which means there is more to come

I’m very much looking forward to your thoughts & opinions, so please let us know by email or in the comments !

Enjoy !

LIME006 - A real life engagement session - Part I - by Pieter Van Impe from squeezethelime.com on Vimeo.

In case you can’t play the video, you can also see it on YouTube.

For a better version of the pics, check the Flickr slideshow below.

Here is Episode 7 of LIME’s Happy Hour. Now Pieter is back from Austria, things are back to normal. As always we hope you enjoy it and we are hoping to get lot’s of feedback from all of you using the comments or by sending us an e-mail.

In this Episode :

• What’s up with LIME ? What have we been doing the past week & what have got in store for you in the near future ? This is where you’ll find out !
• Dear LIME In this section we will be answering your questions. Got a question ? Please send it to us @ dearlime@squeezethelime.com
  We’ll be talking about graphic tablets, lenses, calibration and much more.
• The feature segment Every week we will be talking about one specific subject, this week we will be talking about ‘marketing on a budget’. Next week, we will talk more about it and tell you how the internet and social media works for us.

You can listen to this podcast by using the player below or download it as an mp3 (right click/Save As).