FAQ

Every week, I get mostly the same questions through email and social media. If you don't find your question here, you can always shoot me a message using the contact form below on this page.

 
 

Which camera/lens should I buy?

First and foremost, you really should shoot more with the gear you already have. I'm really not that kind of a gear nut myself, although this is often thought about professional photographers. You have to be really interested and aware of new cameras and lenses in order to know which one is the best for a specific goal. That's not what you want to hear, I know.

I'm a tough client. A good wide-angle lens should really do everything in my eyes: Minimal aberrations for night photography, huge aperture, wide and especially sharp. My experiences with Samyang, Sigma and Tamron have been really good if you're ever considering a new lens. Tamron's 15-30mm, Samyang's 12, 14 and 24mm and a very honorable mention goes out to Sigma's 35mm f/1.4 Art. As for a nice telephoto lens, I like to use light lenses. So an f/4 would be my preference if I can choose between an f/2.8 or f/4 lens.

 

Please take a look at my image. What do you think about it? Can you give me some advice?

Please be aware that I don't have the time to give everyone critiques, nor can I afford to give free advice. My time is the most precious commodity I have. There are great social media sites for this like 500px, where I'm quite active as well. Maybe I'll see your work there.

 

Which camera and lenses do you use?

At the moment, I'm shooting with a Nikon Z7. I use a Colorado Tripod Company Centennial 2-series tripod, equiped with a Highline Small ballhead. and have a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 and a 100-400 f/5.6. Sometimes I use a Canon adapter with the Z7 and use a 100mm f/2.8L for mushroom photography. It's a fantastic kit and finally found what I was looking for to realize my vision. I've also had great experiences with these:

  • Tamron SP 90 mm f/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD

  • Tamron SP 15-30 mm f/2.8 VC USD

  • Tamron SP 70-200 f/2.8 VC USD

  • Samyang 14mm f/2.8

  • Samyang 24mm f/1.4

  • Samyang 135mm f/2

  • Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

  • Sigma 150-600mm C f/5-6.3

  • AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G

  • AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/4G

 

Where are you from?

Originally, Den Helder, the Netherlands. It's a small town surrounded on three sides by the sea. I'm now located a little more to the south. In a small village, 15 minutes away from the beach.

 

You aren't English?

English isn't my primary language, but I've been accustomed to speaking and writing in English since I was very young. I guess playing those computer games did some good after all. Writing music and lyrics also help in expanding my vocabulary, but this had really taken off during my education and later writing weekly essays for Fstoppers.com, which got redacted by native speakers.

 

What's your idea of the Dutch countryside?

Damn, I miss my mountains. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the landscape we have (again) and I'm an admirer of National Parks. We also have a long stretch of beach and stunning dunes all along the west coast. The best part about the Dutch natural landscape though, are our forests, where I love to crawl under ferns, looking for mushrooms.

 

How do you create those mushrooms?

It's a neat little side-project that generated a lot of international interest. Although I'm a landscape photographer at heart. If you're interested in the entire workflow, then I suggest getting the processing video, that includes a lengthy article describing every detail about doing that yourself.

 

But this isn't photography anymore. It's more Photoshop than anything else.

The word "Photoshop" got a negative connotation over the years, as it stood synonymous for trickery. I’m a landscape photographer, but an artist foremost. I take considerable artistic liberty in post-processing because I actually like the results myself. There is no motivation for me to either hide the truth that much of my work is heavily edited or to tell you with every piece that is. Let me be transparent here. I use Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw and other software:

  • …Because previsualization is more important to me than recording reality.

  • ...Because photography does not end with the press of a button. Analog (film) photography also needs developing. In that process, all kinds of decisions are being made to recreate an image according to somebody. What most people tend to forget, is that digital photography too, has to be developed. Digital camera's make decisions for you if you shoot JPEG's. I want to be in control of my results.

  • ...Because I want to be in control as an artist. I want to show you a bit of myself instead of showing a location per se.

  • ...To overcome the technical constraints of the camera. Not even the most modern camera can't shoot directly into a setting sun and correctly expose fore- and background at the same time. My solution is to use multiple exposures and put them together. Others rather use grad filters. There isn't a right way.

  • ...To accentuate or to subdue parts of the image.

  • ...Create art instead of registration footage.

  • ...and to enjoy the moment of the shoot more intensely than by just looking at the picture again.

Post-processing is an integral and essential part of every form of photography. To me, using composite techniques, or other forms of heavy processing are part of my process. To each their own. Post-processing has been a part of film photography and it will only play bigger roles in the future. Probably AI will get more involved in the editing process as well. How much and to what end is a question of taste, experience and skill in the software you use and the language of the visual image. If you want to get better at post-processing on your own images, then I suggest heading over to processing videos.

And recently, I started generating AI images. A whole new topic of controversy.

 

Where can I download a photo to my computer?

I do not allow this for the following reason: The resolutions on monitors continually increase. If I would show my work on these resolutions on this website or anywhere else online, it would be quite possible to print a decent quality image yourself. Even though I'm working hard and with great joy to produce the finest prints available. Within no time at all, fake-Laanscapes are circling the web, and as a professional, I'm dreading that day.

 

What's your age?

I saw my first sunrise on December 30th, 1984.

 

Can we go photographing together?

Sure, although there's a fine line here that separates "Taking pictures together" and "I want a free lesson in photography". I don't offer the latter, but if we could go shooting without pretense, I'd love to get to know you in the field. It's our passion, isn't it? :)

Be aware that I'm not much of a social shooter at golden hour. I constantly run from one place to another and often pant as a result like a sweaty dog. Apart from that, I change lenses every ten seconds and I mumble to myself a lot. Especially when I’m tired. But maybe you work in the same way and we’ll have a blast talking about the light afterwards.

 

Can we work together on this project?

Shoot me an outline of the project and I'll let you know! Whether it's hosting a workshop together, writing a review of your product or publishing branded content for your travel destinations. I've worked with publishers like Fstoppers, PetaPixel, Expert Photography abd 500px, travel agencies like Scan Brit, Magazines like Zoom.nl, Natuurfotografie.nl, Landscape Photography Magazine and brands like Haida Filter, Sigma Lenses, Colorado Tripod Company, Breakthrough Filters, Fornax Mounts, BenQ monitors and MSI laptops.

I've also written articles containing interviews with many world-renowned professional photographers and social influencers like Erin Babnik, Thomas Heaton, Paul Hoelen, Simon Baxter, Ryan Dyar, Ted Gore and Alexandre Deschaumes.

Contact me with your proposal here.

 

Any more hobbies & Interests?

Where to start?

Hobbies: Music. I play guitar, bass, drums & synths. I own a few Mayones guitars and a wall of hardware synths and effects. I like trail running, my health and love my cats.

Interests: space and rocketry, altered states of consciousness, global electrification, novel ways to generate or save energy, usability (UX design), mushrooms, metal and dark synth music,