Pierre Monkau » Blog » Photography

Sep 11

by Pierre in Photography, Travel 18 comments tags: antwerp, asian, location, Model, photography, portrait

Abandonement – part 2

After doing some shots in the full sun, we started using the buildings for our next series of shots. The overhang of the buildings ensures you have a beautiful light for portraiture with using modifiers. The shade from the buildings also provided some welcome shade, because we were melting. Unfortunately entering buildings was forbidden and we got sent away quit a few times by the security. Fortunately we are able to work fast together so we were still able to take the desired shots In no time.

Aug 13

by Pierre in Photography, Travel 11 comments tags: antwerp, belgium, Natural Light, red dress, Sammy

Abandonement – part 1

On probably the hottest day of 2015 Sammy and I decided to do a shoot in a abandoned village in Antwerp(Belgium). After a long trip including traffic jams we arrived at an awesome sight, a totally desolated village with all the buildings still intact that gave a lot of inspiration for shooting. However as soon as we got out of the car and the comfort of airco we almost started melting and got constantly attack by bugs. Every negative has a positive though, because it brought Sammy in the right mood and gave her the perfect expressions for our first set. The feeling and emotions of loneliness and abandonment

Jul 18

by Pierre in Anery, Aruban, Photography, Rotterdam 13 comments tags: afro, Anery, Aruban, festival, portrait, Rotterdam, studio

Festival season (in the studio)

Saturday morning my phone starts buzzing…. Anery: Pierre!! are you awake!!! We are going to make photos today !! Me: -__-…….uhhhhhhhhh(kill me)……I know… I’m not really talktive in the morning, nor do I like waking up early and I’m not crazy about shooting in the studio so I had to muster up some energy to actually get excited for it. Anery doesn’t seem to have those problems and is always super excited and energetic. The fact that she loves being in studio probably helped too. We weren’t able to do the shoot we planned for a while now, because of the weather so we went for plan B which meant studio. The reason I don’t really like being in the studio is because it kinda limits my creativity. Even my headshots/beautyshots are for 95% done in my home next to the window. However it seems we hadn’t much choice if we wanted to let the shooting continue so I let Anery come up with something. Seems she knew a stylist that wanted to show her skills and inspire people what to wear during the festival season. Inspire away ladies…. (make-up was done by Esma Haddad)

Jul 03

by Pierre in Photography, Rotterdam 10 comments tags: Candy, Kathleen, Model, photography, Rotterdam, shade, Thai

Sweet Candy props and Shade

After a successful first shoot with Kathleen we quickly planned a second shoot. The first time we only did headshots and I always like to have a combination of headshots and a location shoot. On my way to the location Kathleen suggested that using one of those big round lolly’s as a prop would be a nice addition to the shoot(and that she actually was just craving for candy). I liked the idea so I quickly got some lolly’s to use as a prop. Making use of right props (e.g. sunglasses, candy, jewelry, couches, leaves, staffs, hats, statues etc.) will make the story of the image more compelling. They also can have a positive effect on the model, because it can distract some of the attention away from the fact there is a camera in front of them. Also some props like the one we used is just a lot fun for the model since she loves candy. Although the sunlight was a bit harsh I didn’t use reflectors or scrims because I wanted to capitalize on the enthusiastic mood of Kathleen so I started shooting right away. Also without reflectors and scrims Kathleen had more room to move around, […]

Jun 25

by Pierre in Photography, Rotterdam, Yosephine 9 comments tags: Beautyshoot, Beautyshot, Black and White, Fashion, location, Natural Light, Pureza, Rotterdam

Yosephine

Earlier this year I was connected to Yosephine via one of my favorite make-up artists(Sadiye Baran). Yosephine is kinda a goofball that will make you laugh a lot during shooting, but between all the funny faces and trying to take pics of me during the shoot, Yosephine is always able to quickly provide the desired results. And I have to be honest the paparazzi snaps she took of me weren’t bad at all. In the last few months we have worked together a couple of times with great results and more is on the way, but for now tadaa… Mua: Julia Helmich Freestyle session: Mua: Esma Haddad / Hair: Ceyda Camdere / Clothing: Gossip fashion

Jun 18

by Pierre in Photography, Rotterdam 18 comments tags: Beautyshoot, Natural Light, Pureza, Red lipstick, Rotterdam

A new face

“You’re done shooting already? That was the fastest photoshoot I ever did” was Kathleens reaction after shooting the first make-up look. Normally I tend to shoot most of my portfolio work with familiar faces whether they be models or good friends, but once a while I like to work with some new faces and establish new relations. Kathleen has something unique to her appearance which made me want to shoot with her. She kind of has those innocent bambi eyes, but when you put her front of the camera she transforms into a confident vixen. When working with a new model its always surprise what kind of person you are going to get. So to get everybody relaxed I make sure I have snacks and good music. I hit a homerun with the snacks( I always do), but it seems Kathleen and Esma(MUA) don’t like the dirtyhouse mixtape in the morning haha. My more laidback RnB mix made everybody happy again though. Kathleen takes instructions very well so I getting her into the right pose was really easy. Also before shooting she tries a few poses in front of the mirror so there is very little time wasted. With a […]

Jun 16

by Pierre in Photography, Travel 9 comments tags: Asia, Fuji X-20, Guestblog, Iphone, Japan, Travel, XioVan

Guestblog: Xio In Japan – Food is happiness

In between all adventures one needs to make time to enjoy and appreciate Japanese cuisine and snacks. And of course, it needs to be documented. I have shot countless photos of the things we ate and here is just a highlight of it all. I love meat. I love grilled meat. Therefore the best places in Japan I enjoyed eating were in the small places with grilled skewered meat such as yakitori. Nothing beats the meat of the grill with a good cold beer. There’s a famous alley in Tokyo, Omoide-yokocho, where most places have about 10 seats which gives it a nice and cozy atmosphere. You can just hop from one place to the next to try the menus of every grill master in the street. The flavours of a simple grilled piece of meat on a stick will blow you away every time. Osaka, home of Takoyaki (octopus balls). Take a bite and the savoury taste inside combined with the sauce will just melt on your tongue. Be careful though not to burn your mouth as the heat is also contained inside. For snacks, the onigiri’s have surprised me the most. Basically they’re just balls, or more […]

Jun 12

by Pierre in Photography 27 comments tags: Beautyshot, flash, kayan, Natural Light, Pureza, the hague

Boss Chick

When the make-up artist cancelled for the shoot the reaction of Kayan was, don’t worry about it. When I notified her that some parts of the clothing were too big(again) her reaction was again don’t worry about it. After she ripped out all the labels of the clothing and I was like noooooooo I have to return that….her reaction again was don’t worry about it (although the store didn’t like the last part tho haha). This attitude and the fact she still amazes me with her confidence in front of the camera while it’s only her 3rd shoot(with me) have made me come to the decision to award Kayan with the title(drumroll)….Boss Chick. Our 3rd and 4th look for this shoot actually perfectly embodies her new title. Easygoing models like Kayan make your job so easy..

Jun 09

by Pierre in Photography, Travel 9 comments tags: Cycling, Japan, Travel, XioVan

Guestblog: Xio in Japan – Up and down the mountains

Up And Down The Mountains – Matsumoto & Azumino Park, Nagano The quest for more nature. Japan has a lot to offer when you’re interested in seeing nature. The Japanese Alps are featured in most guide books and also caught our attention. Again, it wasn’t the best season for us to visit. Kamikochi is one of the main purposes to visit this region, but not fully accessible this time of year (February). The alternative wasn’t bad either. Instead of hiking in Kamikochi we made a bicycle trip from Matsumoto to Azumino National Park. Best of all, you can borrow bicycles for free at certain locations throughout Matsumoto city. It’s about 18km from Matsumoto to Azumino Park. It’s basically a trip from one mountain ridge to another with a stunning 360 degrees scenery. Mountains with snowy tops, farm fields and all kinds of birds in the clear blue sky. I even managed to take a photo of a Haysabusa (Peregrine) falcon, which followed us for a few kilometers. At Azumino park we were also surprised to see wild furry monkeys near the road and in the trees. In spring time one must also be ware of bears roaming the same territory, […]

Jun 04

by Pierre in Photography, Rotterdam, Travel 14 comments tags: Beautyshot, Black and White, Pureza, YangQiong

Nachos and movies

At some point during the process of reviewing and redesigning my website it became clear something was missing. I didn’t have any new material with YangQiong. Yang and I did so many shoots together in the past that it now feels weird now if she isn’t in my portofolio. So I send Yang a message on a lazy Sunday: Me: Miss Independent, I’m renewing my website and deleting all my old stuff Yang: So I won’t be your main model anymore? Me: Yeah it seems like but I need you in my series Yang: Well it has to be on short notice Me: Cool, let me know when you’re available Yang: Right now Me: Euhhh…….you serious(she lives 2 hours away from me) Yang: Yes Me: Cool, wanna eat nachos? Because we worked together so many times our shoots are always very short (with a record of 10 minutes, that resulted in a huge publication). So after shooting for approx. 30 minutes the rest of the day was spend on eating nachos, Vietnamese food and going to the movie theaters. We also found some pictures that I forgot about.