The lighter side....

Word up! Just going drop this post really quick, been up to my ears with editing, fixing things, hustling, connecting, and living the good life in my spare time. This is also something I figured out lately, and I'm going to quote my buddy Dr Eivind Wang "Bang" here, "you have to emphasise the quality of life". Well said brother, well said.

It isn't always dramatic, fabulous, extravagant, and over the top taking pictures. Sure it's great to have that energy around you, working in studio or on location with an assistant, make-up, hair, big lights, effects, having a budget to play with. Some times all it takes is a bunch of good friends, a few skateboards, a hill or a mini ramp in a backyard. One camera, one lens, one light. I love documenting, I love Instagraming, I love sharing. I love the spontaneity of some of my friends, "Hey, why don't we get naked in a totally hetero way and take pictures with skateboards?"Awesome. Love it.

The quality of life right now is great, young, single, free, surrounded by positive energy and good people. I feed off the energy and vibes of the people I choose to keep in my company. Every now and then I whip out the camera and document the happenings. The following few pictures is what happened when all the goodness falls into place. Have an awesome Friday everyone, take it easy and keep it real. N.

An open letter to Columbia Records...

Att: Marketing Director, Columbia Records UK.

Dear Columbia Records,

I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is Nic Schwerdtfeger, I am a photographer and music enthusiast that is originally from Cape Town, South Africa. I currently reside in Trondheim, Norway.

I have a bone to pick with your fine record label, well, lets not jump into that right off the bat, let me start by commending you on a job well done. It has come to my attention that the young vocal starlet known to us as Adele is signed to your company. This must have been a fantastic acquisition for you. Where I'm from when a man acquires a young female to make a profit from he is labelled with names I dare not write on a Sunday. (I am writing this entire letter assuming you are a man, if you are a woman, my sincerest apologies. Also, I have recently heard some shocking things in the music industry, if you are a minotaur, triceratops, goat or of a different species, I am terribly sorry too.) But its great that you probably got a promotion and a not so well deserved vacation for scouting out and signing the stunning voice that we have all come to recognise and love.

My real issue isn't with you or your company, some of my favourite artists are signed to you label, so please receive this knowing it came only with the intention of trying to better the music industry. My real issue is with Adele and whoever is helping her with her songwriting. The titles are catchy enough. But the actual meaning behind them is slightly bothering. Bothering to a point that my paranoia has driven me to believe that she must be some sort of mutant. I will list some examples. "Set Fire to the Rain" - This is not humanly possible. I tried. I poured a bottle of water on to the sidewalk and even with the aid of my cigarette lighter nothing happened. My hands got wet which was slightly irritating. As we all know rain is small pieces of water, and the molecular structure of water is 2 parts Hydrogen, 1 part Oxygen. Do you know what temperature is needed for that bond to become broken and for the Oxygen to be ignited? No, you probably don't. Well I do. Its roughly 1000C. How could one 24 year old woman generate this kind of heat all by herself? There must be some genetic hiccup that grants her this magnificent ability. Or is she faking it? (She wouldn't be the first.) I have noticed she always wear loose fitting clothing, what is she hiding under that pashmina? Some technological inferno device that isn't yet publicly available? I'll tell you one thing, as soon as it does become available to the psychologically unstable masses, I will purchase one, and the rain is not the only thing I will be setting fire to. Unless I am provided with some sort of blatant lie that has brilliant marketing, or something for free, I will be forced to continue believing that she is a monster.

The next song is a tricky one, partly because I have no idea what it is about, and partly because I have let my imagination run a little wild. "Rolling in the Deep" - I assume this song is about some sort of confusion? Obviously at some point our young diva was having some boy or girl trouble. Let's take a step back and analyse this for a second. Rolling in anything cannot be good for you. Unless it is some sort of pastry or sweet substance, even then, you would have to shower afterwards, which would be a nuisance and no fun at all after the first time. "Rolling in the Hay" on the other hand would be a suitable title, but once again, there are problems with sexual suggestion in popular music. The deep is never a good place to be. Well, unless we're talking about sex again. The first thing that springs to mind  is water. Why would you want to roll around underwater? Furthermore, how could you possibly do this for an extended time period? You would most definitely have to be some sort of mutant. This only emphasises my previous point of her being genetically "gifted". I can hold hold my breath for maybe 1 and a bit minutes if compelled to do so under drastic circumstances. Given that I have the build of an over-fed otter, we will take this as a base line for the next calculation. Adele has the build of a... well, lets not beat around the bush here, a seal. (admittedly she has made some "positive" improvements with regards to her image.) A seal can hold its breath for a lot longer than an otter. How do I know this you might ask? I dont. But it makes sense to me. Getting to the point here, no matter what this measurement of time is, it is finite. So once again Adele has lead us to believe that she can defy natures laws of physical properties. And yet no where have I seen mention from your side that she could possibly be something other than Homo Erectus. We want the truth.

The last song in question is the one that struck a chord with all of us. "Someone like you"- I was brought up in a multi-cultural, multi-race, multi-problematic country, this has probably had a huge effect on me, leading me to believe for some ridiculous reason that every human being is different and unique. Please explain to me how after being in a relationship with someone, you would want to go out and replace that someone with an exact replica? I can speak from personal experience here, after just having come out of a draining two year atrocity of a "relationship", the last thing I am looking for is to find a replica of the previous emotionally lethargic nag-bag that I was chained to. Being a firm believer in common sense, the logical thing to do would be to find someone completely different? Right? I am sure that I am not the only one with this train of thought. I assume that you being in the music industry have already had 3 different wives. So I would expect you to be somewhat understanding of what I am saying here. I find it hard to believe that a young woman of 24 would have the sufficient wisdom and life experience to make these sort of remarks either. Chance's are that this song, having already been written and published was a personal memoir of Adele's. This would mean as well she must have gone through some heartbreaking situation. Let me give you a heads up sweetheart. If he is your ex now, the guy you be terminally happy with, will be nothing like him. So I will save you some time that you could put to better use by writing songs or stealing Grammy's from Lady Gaga. Stop trying to find the "someone like you". You should instead be looking for "nothing like him at all". All of this back and forth and psychoanalytical insight has left me to believe on thing. Adele is a robot. She is a construction  of the music industry that has been created to spread confusion and lies into the hearts of the general public. As soon as I can prove this, I will come out with it to the tabloids and the internet. Adele will be shamed and then Gaga will win all the Grammy's.

In conclusion I would like to say thank you for taking the time out to read my letter. I will end off by saying well done on a two more points I forgot to mention earlier. The name thing. Adele is whole lot better than Adele Laurie Blue Adkins. Way to go on dropping the "Blue" part, as we all remember the last thing that British music industry purged into the world with the word "Blue" in it was, well quite frankly quite shit. The image thing is a case study waiting to happen. WOW! You guys managed to find a voice so powerful, so bright and so honest that we have all been brainwashed into completely forgetting what she is actually singing about. The whole "girl next door to the farm house" thing really lends itself to her musical style as well. Its minds like yours that made Madonna what she is today, in a completely way more b-grade porn kinda way.

 I hope we can manage to be civil about this whole thing, as an editorial photographer, my goal in the future is to be shooting the bands and artists that your fine record label is signing. Let me know if there is anything you want to swing my way in the future.


Kindest Regards.

Nic "TwoShoes" Schwerdtfeger.

The Queen was most unimpressed that Adele did not show face at the 2012 London Olympics.

An apology, kinda.

Oh my, oh my. Where are we now? Monday evening. Hope ya'll had a good weekend? Mine was pretty chilled. Work, eat, party, sleep, repeat. Love the routine of being away on a work tour, hate the mundanity of it all though. Whats on the agenda tonight then? Ah, yes. Its coming to me now…

You may have noticed that a few posts ago I took the liberty of having a jab at my ex. This I am indeed guilty of, and now I feel like an asshole. Most probably because I am one. First of all, lets sort this out. I am very much sorry about that. I do in no way regret the condescending slander I hurled through the vast chambers of interspace. I believe in conviction, if I say something, and even more, if you read it here, chances are I stand behind it 100%. What I have come to realise though, that I put myself in a position of being a hypocrite and unprofessional. Here I am on my pedestal of up and coming photographer dishing out advice on how to be professional and deal with this and that and rapping on about how you should be so aware of your reputation and how you deal with your client/subjects, then in the same breath having a go at someone through my showcase to the world? Yeah. I did that. I have these moment's of insanity that tend to bite me somewhere down the line. Im down the line now.

I guess the realisation came when my mom sent me a message asking if I was in Trondheim or in jail for deformation of character. For those of you that don't know my mom or my relationship with her, i'll break it down like this: If I received a complaint in the mail from the cops about a lawsuit involving deformation of character, I would chuck it in the trash and roll a cigarette. If my mom sent me a message lie the one I received from her, I would write a blog posts apologising to all my readers for being a toss. Although I show no remorse to the person all my slagging off was aimed at, I do apologise to all of you that have supported me over the last almost a year. My gratitude is unmeasurable, and from now on, I'll keep my hateful comments towards certain members of the public in a non-return addressed envelope. Except for Jacob Zuma, you my friend can go fuck yourself. Yes. Actually, whilst we're at it, whoever stole my BMX at my 16th birthday party, you can go fuck yourself too. Ok, Im done.

I guess what it comes down too is calibre and karma. For me, I didn't just have a shot at someone over my space that I use to show off my work as a a photographer, I shot myself in the foot, kinda. I guess I feel like a jackass for going on about all that professionalism shit and then taking out my anger on my blog. Im bigger than that and a better person than that. Its also the energy you give off though. Karma is a bitch for sure, imagine if you lent someone money out of the kindness of your heart, and waited for months for them to pay you back, and they went and bought a house instead? Kinda says something about who you are if you cruise with the attitude of just taking and not giving anything. It all comes around in the end, I just need to get my conscious clear and keep truckin'. I want to be recognised as a not just a good photographer, but a great photographer, an epic photographer. I hardly imagine Joe McNally or Zack Arias having a shot at their respective partners over there blog. That shit is weak. Grow up Nic. I know that I'm a good dude, and regardless of whether some people deserve to have their genitals spontaneously explode to prevent them from passing their genes on to any future generations appreciate/tolerate me. If I don't have anything positive to say from now on, I'll post it on Facebook. haha. Once again, Im sorry to all my readers for acting a fool. And sorry Mum for being a tit.

Speaking of which! Facebook! What a joy! I love it! What a rad tool! Ok, I'll stop with the abbreviated sentences now… But really, the power of the internet has once again amazed me. Having liberated my Facebook account from that person I shall no longer mention in polite conversation, I got with it and started making right. This coupled together with Instagram has just rocked my world. Where have you been Instagram? I have become somewhat dependant on that your little speech bubble with a heart silhouette though. I can't believe I was hating on these life changing software gizmo's of so long. Words can actually not convey my appreciation for these two gadgets. Admittedly though, I think I crossed the line today. I was always against food photo's. The point being that food is there for one reason, to be eaten. Why the hell do I want to look at pictures of burgers, cupcakes and all the other shit everyone else is eating? I want to taste these delicious things, not pixel peep at them. Today was a big step though. I took a photo of a bunch of yoghurts on my daily shopping excursion. Yoghurts? Really? Have I turned into a Instahipster overnight? Blogging? Facebook? Instagram? Pictures of yoghurts? (admittedly they were very cute, they had little cartoon penguins in all different colours on them.) I stood there in the shop shocked, stunned and utterly flabbergasted at what I had become… This was all followed by two people immediately liking my new uploaded yogart. (haha, see what I did there.) The whole situation de-escalated fairly quickly, I ended up buying six yoghurts and some other crap for those of you wondering. Iceland pictures coming soon!!! WOOHOO!!! Going to be siiiiiiiick! Have a good night ya'll. N

PS. You can find me on Instagram under the handle: twoshoesphoto

Damn you yoghurt, damn you Instagram.

And now for something different...

I'm writing this on a Friday evening, sitting in the lobby of my hotel, just had a shower and some dinner. If you're reading this, let me kindly inform you, it's Friday evening and you should be out doing something way more interesting. I have an excuse for being lame on a Friday evening, I've just finished a 14 hour of legit manual labour. I have no care in the world right now except to get cracking on editing  a series that is long overdue to be delivered to the client. And some other trivialities like blogging and trolling Instagram for inspiration.

Something cool happened today though, NRK (Norwegian national broadcaster) followed myself and my team around for a few hours. People in the general public have no idea whatsoever about rope access, neither do you probably. Google it. They have decided to make a "thing" on us over the next few days while we carry out a job on the second highest building in Norway. There is a pretty cool edited clip that aired at 7pm tonight on TV, but that hasn't made its way into the channels of the deep, dark interweb yet. I'll be sure to post it as soon as it does though.

I usually dont do onshore work at all anymore, but I was headhunted because of my previous experience from South Africa when I was working for Skysite to come in and supervise this job. I kinda miss being offshore, but going home to a hotel every night does have it's perks. Regardless of where I am though, be it a floating power drill in the North Atlantic of a picturesque town in warm southern Norway, I want to be home shooting and making connections. Frustration has set in with the utmost intent of distracting me at every waking moment of this trip.

Here is the link to the video and some pictures courtesy of NRK photographer Thomas Nikolai Blekeli. Now, do yourself a favour and stop surfing the interweb and reading random bullshit and get out and do something rad! Regardless, have a good Friday night ya'll. N.

The Video:

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/ostafjells/telemark/1.8285196

Some lifestyle shit...

Was that title inappropriate? I tried to think of something witty and smart that would lighten up everyones Monday, but then I realised I'm really not feeling very witty right now, nor do I have the time, so many projects running simultaneously now that Im actually stressing to deliver images to people, bollocks. As much as I love the system I'm running now ( Lightroom 3.5, EOS Digital, Mountain Lion, etc...) Java and Flash are giving me so much shit right now. I need to pay my retoucher to get back a set of images I need so I can send them to the client, but I cant pay him because I cant login to my bank because the login is powered by Java. New plugins please Apple!!! This is slowing the whole production line down as I cant send him more images to retouch before I have paid hime for the last batch. More bollocks.

On my way to Kristiansand now, sitting at the rectum of all airports, Oslo Gardemoen. God have mercy. Looking forward to what I can imagine to be a week filled with good weather, good vibes, filthy humor and the occasional bit of work.

I could actually be sent to Auschwitz for two weeks and not care right now, after the weekend, Im just fizzing with energy and good vibes. Been a while since I've had so much fun with my buddies. Ok, on second thought, Auschwitz would be a pretty shitty place to be sent, especially on a Monday. Here are some "lifestyle" shots from the weekend. I usually refrain taking a DSLR out just to shoot snapshits, but Its been a while since I shot my 7D and 8mm fisheye, but I really love WIIIIIIIDE shots, so I can see myself holding onto the 7D for a while longer just to play with it.

In other news, Moods of Norway are stirring up a fuss. I read in the paper they are expecting a local modelling agency in Oslo to deliver models for Oslo Fashion Week for free. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING?! This is precisely what I was on about last night. I dont know the in's and out's of the entire story, so I dont what to jump down the throat of a group without knowing the facts, but I can say this: Moods of Norway is making money, some where in the region of 271 Million NOK last year. And they are cutting costs and expecting the industry to give them freebies. Get real. Im not hopping on the bandwagon here or trying to start a boycott, but really? I think they are a very talented group of designers, that make some really cool swag, but I dont support them because its not my style of clothing. Thats a taste thing. Anyway, here are some shots from yesterday, Hopefully I can get some of the cool skating shots done later this week, take it easy, N.

Chill time in the sun.

Burger queen.

The candy man, dig this shot.

A well stoked Linn Sara.

All the candy floss disappeared very quickly.

Random cat-fight on the grass.

Drive by skate shot.

One of the outtakes from our session on the hill in Møllenberg. Classic.

Sunday evening again.

Hello internet! Where did we leave off? Ah, yes, yesterday was Saturday, which mean that today would be Sunday. The weekend has flown by, and what a weekend it was. MY WORD!!! First and foremost, if you were at SUPA's birthday last night, THANK YOU for the best night I've had in ages! I danced, I sweated, I smiled, I loved, I walked home with the biggest shit-eating grin on my face. (although this could have been partly due to my company on the afore mentioned walk.)

Back to work tomorrow, two weeks in Porsgrunn. (South of Oslo) Should be cool for a change to not be offshore, staying in a sweet hotel, working with cool people, and for a change, no 12 - 16 hour working days. Im actually looking forward to it, heard a lot of good things about Porsgrunn.

Something that has been on my mind lately is the balancing act. The juggling of trying to cut it as a legit photographer and having a full time day job. Although, as most of you know my day job isn't exactly normal. Working offshore for roughly half the month means that remainder is basically mine for whatever I choose. I chose to take pictures. Somewhere along the way it struck me that I could make money taking pictures, although the money in the oil and gas business is great, I know you can make a very respectable income from shooting pictures. Im going to get this right out now, money is not the issue here. I live very comfortably on what I earn now, and I would have to work extremely hard at photography to be making the same amount a month. Somewhere further along we will have to factor in some kids to support, a wife and all the things that come with these turns in life. I always thought it funny when people said: "Money doesn't count for anything." Probably because it was people that didn't have any. I was one of them. Now that I actually can afford the habit's I indulge in, I have realised that this is actually so true. It's one thing to say something and pretend to mean it, but its a different thing to actually understand it. Its one thing to sit and write blogposts on philosophy and the inner workings of an industry that I'm fairly new to, but its a completely different thing to believe in what you're saying and write about it anyway.

I love taking pictures, I love being creative, I love getting recognition for what I'm doing, I love exploring, I love making something that inspires people. I inspired my cousin and dear friend to start a blog, and she did! You can check her out at:

http://syk-findingmenow.blogspot.no/

What I'm getting at is at which point do I go from being full time Field Engineer/ Safety Leader, part time photographer to vice versa? I think I already know the answer, but I thought it would be interesting to raise this discussion here as there are a lot of you reading this that are in somewhat similar positions. When do you drop the well payed job for what your heart really beats for? Its a tough one. For me, I have had to be very careful with regards to treading on other people's toes in the small town I'm based out of. I'll explain this better. I don't shoot weddings, or have any intention of shooting weddings, reason being that I have assisted on a wedding shoot once before and I could not think of anything more stressful. White Balancing a white guy in black tux next to a black woman in a white dress against a white background? You try it with one light and let me know how it goes. I could easily do it on my free weekends and make a bit of extra cash, but the point is this, and this has been a raging discussion for a long time. Cheap photographers not only kill themselves, but they kill the industry around them too. If you do your research, you will see that wedding photographers that charge 25000 for a wedding usually deliver 25000 worth of images, you hire someone for 2500 and you're looking at 2500 worth of images. This depends on what you can afford as well. But generally speaking in the wedding business, you get what you pay for. The guy who is charging 25000 hasn't lost a job because of the couple choosing a cheaper photographer, he simply maintains his exclusivity and keeps a high standard of work. Am I contradicting myself? Yes. Read on.

My side of this argument has always been, that if you can afford the photographer you WANT, you will get the result you WANT. I have always declined to shoot a job for free when I know there is someone living nearby that is trying to make a living from whatever the job might be. I guess its a respect thing, because I would like to maintain and build up a good standard of business ethic in the area I operate. Its basic professionalism, you should never insult your competition, at the end of the day its your name and reputation that are on the line. Its much of the same when I work with female models, I dont touch! And I cannot emphasise this enough, as a guy and a professional, your job is not to perv, flirt, or make your subject feel anything else but comfortable. I have met so many girls that have had bad experiences with this type of shit. If taking pictures is an excuse to get a little fresh, you will come short very quickly, when you do something great the word will spread, when you dont know where the boundaries are word will spread even quicker. Do your job, don't be an asshole.
As general rule as well, I do not work for free. My work has value and unless its something extremely beneficial to my portfolio, I expect to be paid. Having said that I have done a lot of test shooting lately as I'm trying to build up a new book that is quite conceptual and experimental. This means that everyone I have been involved with on shoot's has not been getting paid. Make up artist's, hair stylists, fashion stylists, give their time for free, and in return they get images for their respective books. I cannot speak on behalf of the other parties involved here, but only for myself. You have to have a good understanding with your team. Communicate clearly. Its all nice to be fabulous and used big artistic words you hear thrown around on set but don't understand, but are you getting what you want? People have faith in you, and they are expecting a result. If you botch it, colouring it Black+White and calling it "fine art" will not save your name. This is a whole other post waiting to be written. We will get there another day.

In short, adding value to your work will help you get where you want to go, be reasonable, be creative and don't be scared to jump in and learn. At the end of the day, the product or service you deliver will speak for itself. Make sure you are meeting the requirements of whoever is paying you. Good things will come back on you time and time again.

Oh snap! I almost forgot, there will be pictures up tomorrow, featuring a mix of shit. Skating, cute girls, a naked boy, street photography and of course some more unrefined banter. Sleep tight ya'll. N.

SATURDAY!!!

Good Afternoon all, hope you guys had a good Friday night? I did! I connected with a fashion designer  in the UK, who is doing some very cool stuff. Basic, simple and beautiful. Also she is one of my best friends sisters. So I'm very excited to get some more fashion stuff going... Watch this space. In the mean  time though, you can also watch their space at:

                                                      www.rokadesign.com

or their blog at :                      www.rokafashion.blogspot.com

Now then, hopefully now the female percentage of readers here is satisfied with something shiny to look at instead of listen to me ramble. Here is some more news though, Im making a relatively conscious effort at the whole social media, network thing. I decided to reclaim and liberate my Facebook account from the harlot of a girlfriend that had control over it. Was great to find out though that since we split, she changed her status to single, or emotionally incapable, or just plain fucking deranged, but didn't bother to change mine. I only figured that out a few days ago. Its been like 3months since we broke up. What bothers me about this is that the potential amount of passer by's that could have possibly been Mrs Schwerdtfeger is well, realistically not that high considering I only have like 60 friends, but still existent. To make up for the unforeseen catastrophe and somewhat humorous attempt at cock blocking me, from today there will be a period of reconciliation. What this means to you is that if you were a single girl, that was turned away by the false pretence of me being monogamous during the said time frame, you can now make up for lost time. Im single, virile and disease free now, and have been for the last 3 months. You know what to do.

Back to Facebook, yes I'm on there. Find me, my general rule for being friends is that you should not be someone I want to strangle in real life. I'm on Instagram too now! Im using it for what it is, and trying to expand and get my work seen by as many people as possible. Twitter is next, but that will wait for a bit. Im getting used to the whole mish mash of this Facebook, Blogger, Instagram stuff first. You can find me on Facebook as: Nic Schwerdtfeger and on Instagram as: twoshoesphoto.
Uploading DSLR pictures to Instagram? Showing pictures that are post-processed in Lr or Ps on Instagram? What you guys think? Does it beat the purpose of Instagram as the platform it is? Or is it cool? Leave a comment.

Now for some pictures. All shot on iPhone, all fixed in Lr, except for the last one, you'll see why. Oh... I almost forgot. Here's a video that I have fallen in love with. Its Norwegian artist that one of my girlfriends introduced me to, Susanne Sundfør. Check it out, reminds me a bit of LARK! Have a rad Saturday everyone! Caio, N.

Pictures:

Plenty of time spent on trains over that weekend.

The cool part of Groningen, the city.

Acting like a horse?

Hulle kan mos langarm dans daar in die oorsee.

Two Shoes gets new shoes! Myself and my cuz rocking it.

Best fun you can have with a lawn mower engine.

I WON!

Kokomo Beach Club, sounds like a place outta Vice City or a Travolta movie? It is! The DJ booth is a frikkin' boat!

Most beautiful sunset Ive seen in 6 months, lasted for an hour. Straight out of camera. No PP. 

Some news... And some other shit.

WOW!!! People in Russia read my blog! People in Australia read my blog! Iceland, Sweden, The States, Holland and Brasil! THANK YOU INTERNET!!! Thats amazing. This little rant space that occasionally has some photo's on it was read by more than 800 people last month! Thats really cool for me to know that I'm doing something right. If you are reading this now, thank you very much. If you wanna be awesome you could link my blog on your FB, Twitter, Myspace, Soundcloud, or whatever the cool kids are using these days. I would appreciate that most definitely.

Also, I guess this is worth mentioning, this blog will go from SFW to NSFW with immediate effect, so if you view this at work, dont lose your shit if one day you logon and theres a naked woman on the homepage! Basically it means this space will feature a bit of language and some tits and ass. You have been warned.

Here is something cool though and something that I'm fizzing about! I just did a deal with a web design company to build a website and rebrand my online stuff. I wont give too much away, but I can let you in on this much: Its going to be slick, website for my portfolio and personal projects, a login area for client's, where you or they can rate and proof images, a brand new blog that will run with the theme of being clean, elegant, simple and easy to navigate. Thats all you get for now but I can say we will be having a BIG party for the launch, if you are in TRD, it goes without saying you are invited. Some guerrilla marketing will be chucked in for good measure. The company that I have entrusted with this mind boggling task is a local group by the name of Creatur Media. You should check them out here:

http://creatur.no/

This bring me to my next point. What a joy it is to be surrounded by likeminded, willing, energetic, creative people. Web designers, 3D animators, producers, art directors, models, actors, stylists, artists, and musicians. There are plenty others that deserve mention, but you know who you are! After being in a relationship with the closed minded, creatively impeded spawn of Satan that I foolishly called my partner  my dreams were crushed and my inspiration drained for over two years. (Yes, that was a cheap shot, but its true.) Don't get the wrong idea here, I'm not being narcissistic or a chauvinist, I love and respect women and the female form for what is is, the female spirit is a beautiful thing. It really feels like I was being completely static and held back not only with the way I was shooting, but my thought process with regards to concepts, art direction, ideas and finding inspiration, that now when I wake up, I have an idea, I write it down, brainstorm for a bit, and I'm making phone calls and, planning and fixing things within 24 hours. The weight of being in an abusive relationship will kill your creativity, your inspiration and your soul. I have so much love for all the people around me at the moment, my new friends in Iceland, my old friends in Trondheim, my family in Cape Town, my recently re-found family in Holland, and my superstar #1 Linn Sara. All of you mean the world to me. Thank you for all you support, affection and inspiration. 

Ok, now for some more news. I found my old iPod. And got it to work! This fossil has music on it from 4 years ago. So interesting to see my playlists from 4 years ago. I was so stoked to hear The Great Unknown by TonightWeDie. One of my all time favourite SA bands. YOU WILL NOT FIND THAT SONG ONLINE!!! I know this because I have tried with many hours of frustration. News?! YES! Something actually sensible now. I have been shooting! Some very cool stuff too. Im busy flipping pictures with my retoucher from Iceland, so you will start seeing those pretty soon. But what you are going to see now is the beginning of a series of work I have been planning for a while. This is just a teaser, and I dont have a name for the series yet, but if you got suggestions, throw them in the comment box! Here is a vivid description: 

"The setting is a hotel room, its warm, spacious, and vibrant. She is in a pair of knee-high stockings, black underwear with lace. Her make up is natural, her features shine through. Her eyes are a piercing sea-foam green. She lies on the floor, calm, her eyes are asking me to take pictures, her body is moving gently from side to side. I shoot and shoot. I am right here. I am focused. The direction I'm giving her is not needed, each time I begin to open my mouth to ask her to do something, she already starts re-adjusting. A few hours later, she is in the shower, the make up runs down her face.  Her hair is wet, the soft, gentle curls are now a mess. Her eyes are no longer on me, they gaze into the infinite void of a reflection of the mirror above the sink. I leave the bathroom."

More to come over the weekend. Stay cool. N.

  

Sunday evening once again...

Definetly a first blogging and editing pictures on a train. Done it on a plane, ferry, car and mostly while stationary at a desk of sorts. Trains are definitely not my favourite mode of transport, but the Dutch rail system is fantastic. Those weren't quite my first impressions after I got on the wrong train 3 times on my way out of Schiphol. I thought there was a major flaw in the system and the nincompoop that designed it should have all his dope smoking and soccer viewing rights stripped immediately. Because I am the leading authority on modern rail transport in Europe and thats the end of it.

Im on way to Eindhoven from Groningen with my long lost cousin Sabine. The plan is to meet her dog, crash on the couch and wake up and get my flight back to Trondheim tomorrow. Thats the plan at least. About halfway through the 3 and a bit hour journey and I felt the creative juices manifest in fingers, so why not right? One thing that is niggling me a bit right now is this: I bought a really cool T-shirt yesterday, which is white. I don't usually wear white because I'm very messy and they usually end up a pale shade of yellow within a few hours. But despite my common sense telling me not to buy a designer white t-shirt, my fashion sense told me that this new addition to me already bursting at the seams wardrobe would greatly increase my quality of life and amount of interest shown from the opposite sex. Seems pretty logical huh? Thats what I thought too, but for some reason, literally every time I look down I find a new stain or smudge of something on my new babe magnet of a t-shirt. Not only is this irritating as it further proves the point of common sense that I should just not wear white ever, but it is alarming to think of all the potential women that have been turned away because they can clearly see the off coloured eye-sores that are scattered down the front of me. Thank the washing machine I haven't been near a mirror, I dare to see what the back of this thing looks like now. In these trying times of being young and single, what is a bachelor to do? This current state of panic has left me with very few options, either just put on my coat and hide the grease rag that I adorn with shame and disgust, or just keep on truckin'? Either way, I don't think the chances of meeting the next Mrs Schwerdtfeger are very high on a train across Holland on a Sunday night. But being aware never hurt.

All the travelling in the last couple months has definitely done something to me. Im constantly seeing new things, new faces, new ideas, new places, new styles. Im really feeling like this could be just what I need at the moment. Work, take pictures, network, travel. Bit of sleeping and eating in between there every now and then and I could be peachy. I wish there was a way to make money form travelling…. I know there is, but thats not real money that now unfortunately I have become used to. Im torn apart with this catch 22 of buying an apartment in Norway and building a studio and building up my business from there and hustling in all directions and progressing upward. Or being young and free and travelling and seeing the beauty of the things that are just a stone throw away from me. Bring inspired is so important to me and I guess to everyone that is creating or making things that have a personal touch. I went through a phase a while ago, where I was more interested in inverse square law and technical mish mash of lighting than actually taking pictures. I didn't shoot for at least 6 weeks and felt horrible. I had nothing around me that I was able to draw any incentive from to go out and shoot, even if they were shitty pictures. Right now though I feel like Im on fire though. I have so many ideas and so many concepts that are starting to take shape and form, that Im really struggling to find enough time in the day to plan everything out and make things happen. A balance between the two would be nice though. As with everything balance is essential, I would love to be shooting two or three small productions over a two week period, once a month shooting something big, and in between doing all the bits and pieces needed to string everything together. I would also love a digital medium format camera, a wireless Profoto battery aggregate, and a big studio to chuck it all in. Donations are accepted. Life goes on without the niceties and the wish list continues to grow. 

The balance of things has been present in my thoughts more often than ever in last couple of months. Balancing myself, balancing my pictures, balancing my book, and the ever important balancing of the bank statements at the end of the month. I sent my book into a publishing group in Oslo a while ago, just asking for some feedback and constructive criticism on what I'm doing at the moment. I got both and a bit more than I bargained for in back. The one comment that I received and some thing I have been told by my peers as well is that I don't  shoot enough guys. My book right now is filled with beautiful women between 20 and 30. Thats great for me, as I love shooting beautiful women, but as a photographer I need to show that I can do both. The publishing house told me to expand my range, shoot men, shoot grandparents, shoot kids, shoot couples, and shoot more guys in general. I haven't really listened. I however do have a number of shoots lined up over the next month that feature one guy, two guys and a boy + girl. That should even things out a bit. Another thing that I personally noticed is that all my head shots are being done against 255 white. (255 white is pure white on the colour saturation chart) This is because I know it and can pretty much do it blindfolded, shoot a key light with a soft modifier at 45 degrees in to subject, over-expose the background by an evaluative 3 stops with a slave light and there you go. I have got that down, but it is also a bit of a one trick pony. Its my go to with anything that involves people. As soon as I get more space and bigger lights I will be doing full length shots like this too. The one one thing this type of shot has in its defence is that it is timeless. It will never be a dated shot. Its clean, its elegant and minimalist. These are three things that I love to get the viewer of the photo to note. Now, my next session, which should be on Tuesday or Wednesday week I will break out of this box. Im going to do something different, convey mood with use of lighting not only on subject but on the background and foreground too. Im excited now!

Almost in Eindhoven now, so here is something visual instead of me rambling on for the remainder of this post. Have a great week out there. Do something differently, do something you wouldn't usually, be daring, be adventurous, be alive. But most importantly, take it easy. N 

Word up AMSTERDAM!!!

I did something beautiful when I got home. I felt inspired to be a better person. I gave selflessly. I gave expecting nothing in return. I made someone cry with joy, I overwhelmed a friend and made this uneasy feeling in my stomach subdue to a gentle warmth. The franticness of everything comes to grinding halt in moments like this for me. I can think clearly for a few hours for a change.

Right now is two days later. Im sitting in my second home again (Trondheim Airport) waiting to catch a flight to Amsterdam. The whole point of the visit is to celebrate my cousin's birthday and show face in a family that I am a part of. Off the top of my head it must be at least 9 years since I've seen this side of my family. Thats a bit too long for my liking.

Photography is a great addition to my already very unique experience in life, but at the end of the day thats all it is, an addition. Having a fantastic job in the oil business is great too, but money can only

make you so happy, if happy at all. Travelling to exotic locations and eating exquisite food is also a treat, but once again, it ends there, its only a treat. Something that I've learned since moving away a from all my family a few years ago and that I knew a while before that is: Family is everything. Nothing is more important than family to me. I think that this has only been emphasised by the fact only see my close family once or twice for a short period a year. Theres that old saying of "You dont know what you have until you've lost it" or something along those lines. I know this far too well. Not that I have lost anyone, but I've gained a few thousand km's between, and that makes all the difference.

Its great to go somewhere not having to achieve anything. My goal this trip is just to celebrate a birthday. Not too much thinking and planning involved on my side there. No deadline to meet, no people to chase around, no technical malfunction that can hinder anything, Im already relaxed just thinking about it. I genuinely look forward to doing nothing for a few day in Holland. This will be a short lived chill out though, as when I get back to Trondheim, I'm straight back into run and gun mode. Two, possibly three shoots to get done, images to retouch from the Reykjavik trip, meeting with a web designer, meeting with a modelling agency, SHOPPPING! (unfortunately not for myself, I'm buying wardrobe for a shoot) and house hunting. But thats only happening in a few days, so for the moment I will savour the sweet taste of idleness.

Here are some shots from an event that I swung past with some friends yesterday. Cool to see the skating movement being showcased in the public eye for a change. More to come from about 5 different sets of pictures I'll be sifting through in the next few days. Geniet jou dag julle! N.