May 12 2013
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On what looked to be a promising weekend of wind, the call was made
to sail the Belgian Wave Championship 2013. Unfortunately for both
the spectators (and photographers :) as well as the competitors,
the wind missed out on the appointment and created a very gusty,
south tot south-southwesterly, side-offshore wind. The location set
for this years competition was Twins Club in Bredene, a spot that
tends to work better with a more westerly winddirection so
conditions could definitly be called 'very far from
perfect'.
The single
The single elimination was sailed on Friday but a quick look
at the list of competitors made it clear it wouldn't be a very
representative first day. Big guns like Olivier Pas or Wout Burman
were unable to sail because of agenda-issues and Steven Van
Broeckhoven was sailing in the DEFI-wind, making the fight for the
top-5 a bit biassed. At the end of the first day, the podium was 1:
Dieter Van Der Eyken 2: Jonas Handekeyn 3: Fabrice Devos.
The double
On Saturday, the competition got underway at around 2 in the
afternoon. Conditions were a bit better than Friday, but still the
wind was extremely gusty and the waves were about knee- to
waisthigh. Again the field of competitors was somewhat thin with
Wout Burman (a definite top-3 sailor) not being able to compete, so
the title would either go to Dieter or Jonas. In a very
exciting final with 2 jumps and 2 waverides to count, both sailors
seemed to keep each other in balance - both opening the battle with
a backloop, Dieter sticking it a bit cleaner than Jonas. On the
waverides it was Jonas to open with 2 taka's on 1 wave, just not
making the second one. Meantime Dieter landed an ankle-dry shaka
out the back putting him ahead on the jumping score
to later back it up with a quick and clean one-handed
backloop. Jonas had no problem finding waves to ride at his
homespot throwing fins-out takas and extremely vertical
topturns (considering the poor conditions) although he wasn't
running into many ramps on his way out to fill up the other half of
his scoresheet. On the waves Dieter was pulling a frontside wave
360 and taka's, as well as a very tiny aerial. A second, even
higher shaka meant it was a clear victory for the 21-year old
PWA-sailor from Stabroek over the Bredene local. In the final
seconds, Jonas tried another extreme wave-move but went down and
subsequently got a massive taka in the face by Dieter, who already
knew the title was in the bag. All the competitors realised it
wasn't a championship as it's supposed to be with the organisation
even refusing to wait for a peak in the wind to sail the final, but
the result stands nonetheless!
Final standings:
1: Dieter Van Der Eyken (Starboard - Severne - Choco
Fins)
2: Jonas Handekeyn (Witchcraft - Hot Sails Maui -
O'Neill)
3: Roeland De Rycker (Sailboardstarifa - Loft
Sails)
4: Fabrice Devos (Naish - Prolimit)
May 10 2013
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With a bunch of surferfriends, we had a good look at the forecast
and decided -since it was an official holiday in Belgium- to head
for Zeeland and take our toys. These shots were made during the
euforia following a fun session using all the watertools we had at
hand. David went windsurfing (or rather tried windsurfing but
didn't do much because the wind never really pushed through that
evening) Steven and Gilles went kitesurfing and in the end we all
went for a normal surf or bodyboardsession in the very small waves
at Domburg (or Domkipa, as it's know to some hardcore locals). The
evening was spent in a bar in Renesse (but we won't go into details
on that) and after a short night we were all up and riding the
early bird session at the Zandbank. No pictures of that because I
was too busy having a kickass time on the water myself. More wind
seems to be on the way so perhaps I'll get a bit of time to shoot
some action one of these days. Seems like an eternity since I last
got to do that...
April 08 2013
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Raf Reyntjens - Movie Director / Writer - Antwerpen
March 31 2013
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Variation might just be the key to motivation. The movie premiere
of Crimi Clowns, a bridal fashion defilé by Tim Van
Steenbergen in Antwerp City Hall and a concert by the legendary 2
Unlimited; it was all in a weekends work. I enjoyed the
defilé the most, largely because of the unique location,
although the very varied lighting situations didn't make it any
less difficult. Also the number of photographers using their elbows
to get a shot was a lot smaller than at the movies or the concert.
Next week I'll be dividing my time between shooting basketball and
a 4 million year old whale. Variation certainly is my key to
motivation.
March 22 2013
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As far as living legends go in the world of extreme sports, Ed
Templeton is up there with the best of 'em. Apart from being a
succesful pro-skater and businessman (his skateboard company Toy
Machine has existed since 1993!), he's also been a longtime
creative spirit. An exhibit of his most recent work has brought him
to Antwerp. Couldn't let this one slip past and tracked the man
down for a quick portrait.
After I had shot a few snaps to check the light, he opened his
jacket, revealing a beautifull Leica M6. Obviously sharing a
passion for photography, I suggested this shot to him. I'm happy he
agreed.
Thanks a million Ed, sorry I couldn't make it to your opening.
Let's hope next time you visit our crazy city you'll be rolling on
a Toy Machine...
March 15 2013
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During a press conference to announce a new musical about the first
World War I got 2 of the actors (who are both pretty worldfamous in
Belgium) and the director aside for a quick portrait. Nothing
fancy, just available light and my Nikkor 50mm prime. Great stuff
to work with these professionals! :)
March 10 2013
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One of the lesser known landmarks of Antwerp architecture will soon
be torn down. The 'Provinciehuis' used to serve many of the city's
public service offices. Nowadays it's about as outdated as a
dial-up internet connection is. From the outside its pretty ugly
(but still not as ugly as our police tower 'den Oudaan') but on the
inside there are some true gems from the mid-60's to be found.
Since retro has become trendy again, you could almost call it a
photographic study of a Hipster's fantasy-livingroom...
February 24 2013
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Tuur Florizoone, Celia
Ledoux, Thomas
Blondeau, Vitalski, Maarten Inghels, Michel
Massot
@ Werktitel #4. It was interesting. People talking about
Miss Piggy, sex and West Vlaanderen. And there was some damn fine
music as well.
#5 (and final one) will be on 21/3/2013. Perhaps you
should come too.
February 20 2013
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It's not every day you get to shoot photos on the tarmac of an
airport. When the invitation came to make a journalistic report
about Antwerp Airport -located in the very picturesque town of
Deurne Zuid-, I already had a few shots in mind. Happy to say I got
them in the bag, not in the least thanks to the special light we
had that morning (the golden one is actually pretty much straight
out of the camera). But then again you can't really fail when your
runway model is worth a couple million!
February 12 2013
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Planned to shoot a portrait of a friend. We ended up with more than
1. I couldn't pick the one I liked most so I put up 3. What's your
favourite?
