http://www.kareldonk.com/karel The blog of Karel Donk, a Software Engineer, Designer and Photographer in Suriname. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:14:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a photoshoot with a real live Rainforest Nymph for one of my clients. It isn't very often that you get these kinds of opportunities considering the amount of luck that you must have to actually meet a nymph in person. ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/06/15/model-photoshoot-the-rainforest-nymph/ A few days ago I had another photoshoot with a beginner model named Roanne, who I met on the Body&Soul Models website. She was a bit shy and nervous this first time working with me, but I could tell that she has a lot of potential. Below are two pictures ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/04/16/model-photoshoot-roanne/ [caption id="attachment_531" align="alignright" width="217" caption="No we can't"][/caption] A while ago I wrote a post titled "Barack Obama: More of the same," and in that post I basically described how Barack Obama was not going to bring any kind of change compared to what the former President Bush was already doing. At ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/04/16/the-obama-deception/ [caption id="attachment_504" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The Bride"][/caption] I've recently had the opportunity to photograph my first wedding, and I have to say right from the start that it was a very nice experience. I've covered various events before in the past, so I have experience with event photography, but I have been ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/03/27/my-first-wedding/ As part of my goal to do some more model photography this year, I invited a friend over for a test photoshoot. I recently moved to a new location where I have an office and some more room to do my photography. I guess you could call it a small studio where ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/03/12/my-latest-model-photoshoot/ Canon has sunken to a new low in trying to take down the blog of Fake Chuck Westfall, a parody of the real Chuck Westfall who is the Technical Information Advisor at Canon USA. The shut down notice posted on the blog contains all the details, including the letter from ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/02/17/canon-tries-to-take-down-fake-chuck-westfall-blog/ Note: This post has been updated below. Last update on 04/18/2009. After having written two posts about why the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is barely worth it (see the last one here), I have to take it a step up now and go ahead and say that the Canon EOS 5D ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/02/09/canon-eos-5d-mark-ii-not-worth-it-save-your-money/ I went out on a photowalk again recently with my friend Jimmy, this time specifically to capture some High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. Having experimented with it in the past in front of our houses, we thought it was time to go out and capture some more interesting images. Most of ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/02/08/results-of-one-of-my-latest-photowalks/ [caption id="attachment_445" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="United Business & Lifestyle Magazine Cover for Jan/June 2009 Edition"][/caption] The January/June 2009 edition of United Business & Lifestyle magazine is out in Suriname and the Netherlands, and for the second time my photography work is featured on the cover. I wrote about the previous time here. The ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2009/01/28/my-work-in-the-latest-united/ Update 01/02/2009: After exchanging some emails with Bryan Carnathan, I was able to explain to him the purpose of my "anti-Canon" posts and he has agreed to restore my original post back on the forum. Basically I told him I am a Canon user and that the purpose of all this ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/12/30/the-digital-picturecom-deletes-anti-canon-post-about-the-eos-5d-mark-ii/ Note: This post has been updated below. Last update on 04/18/2009. Canon has really lost it. It wasn't so long that I wrote why they have lost it, and it seems that they continue to take hit after hit, not only from the competition, but from their own mistakes as well. It's one ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/12/22/canon-eos-5d-mark-ii-barely-worth-it/ Canon has just lost the number one position in the DSLR market to Nikon. Here's from the article: Nikon has announced that it is now the UK's leading manufacturer of DSLRs. Speaking at the UK launch of the company's flagship D3X camera, the company boasted of a prosperous year, which has seen ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/12/03/canon-has-lost-it/ [caption id="attachment_407" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Barack Obama, The New Bush. Sich Heil."][/caption] Looks like it's official now, Barack Obama is going to be the next President Bush. I watched some of the election coverage, and it's simply amazing how many people still don't seem to get it, thinking Obama is going to ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/11/05/barack-obama-more-of-the-same/ Last Sunday I went out photowalking with a friend of mine and at the end of the day, we stopped at the J.A. Wijdenbosch bridge (over the Suriname river in Suriname) to take some pictures of the sunset there. The view of the bridge and the view from the bridge ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/11/01/pictures-from-the-j-a-wijdenbosch-bridge/ This is going to be the final nail in the coffin of the Canon EOS 50D. This is my third post in this series, and you can find the first one here, and the second one here. Read them before you continue, including the comments, to get up to date. Since ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/30/canon-eos-50d-not-worth-it-save-your-money-part-iii/ Let me apologize in advance for the size of this post due to the many pictures. :) Last Monday I went out with some friends to the celebration of the 155th Anniversary of Chinese Immigration in Suriname and I took some pictures at the event, which I am posting below. All ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/23/pictures-of-155th-anniversary-chinese-immigration-in-suriname/ [caption id="attachment_329" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="My Little Friend"][/caption] Today is my 30th birthday, and the beginning of the new phase in my life. I didn't plan on these changes myself, but it is a nice coincidence how things fall into place these days. Often people say things like "everything happens for a ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/18/30-years-and-counting/ According to Photography Bay, Nikon has announced a major event for November 20th. They even rented the MGM Grand Arena for this, so it looks like it's going to be really BIG, just like they claim. Could it be the launch of their 20+ megapixel D3x camera? Because if it ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/16/nikon-d3x-coming/ Photographer Dan Heller has written an excellent piece on the stock photography business, and the photography business in general. The article contains brilliant observations and is well worth reading, even though it's quite long. If you're a professional photographer or looking to become one, this is a must read, and ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/05/stock-photography-the-consumer-and-the-future/ [caption id="attachment_319" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The Jump"][/caption] In the picture above you can see two skydivers jumping out of a CASA 212 airplane at high altitude about to freefall down to earth at high speed. This is roughly what Canon's Director and Chief Executive of Image Communication Products Operations, Masaya Maeda, did ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/04/canon-eos-5d-mark-ii-the-autofocus-lie/ [caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Childhood Innocence"][/caption] Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if people remained children forever. Would all the issues around the world still exist? Would people still be fighting all the wars? I have a hard time imagining all of that happening if everyone still looked ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/02/childhood-innocence/ [caption id="attachment_304" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Dreams of the Past, Dreams of the Future"][/caption] Today I've launched a new design for my blog which was long overdue. The new design matches better with my main website at www.kareldonk.com, which was launched in december last year. It took a while before I finally got ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/10/01/new-blog-design/ A while ago, I wrote about the EOS 50D camera from Canon, and it wasn't very positive. At that time, the camera wasn't yet available but now that people are starting to get their 50Ds and are able to test it and see the images it produces, we can get ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/09/25/canon-eos-50d-not-worth-it-save-your-money-part-ii/ With the release of the EOS 5D Mark II camera by Canon recently, I have begun to wonder if the people in charge at Canon's DSLR division know anything about photography at all. This camera had the potential of becoming a great hit for many different types of photography. But ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/09/19/canon-eos-5d-mark-ii-not-all-it-could-have-been/ Someone is pretending to  be Chuck Westfall, a manager at Canon USA, and posting a lot of hilarious stuff on a blog called "Fake Chuck Westfall." Check it out. You'll have to be familiar with the photography business to understand most of the jokes though. http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/09/16/fake-chuck-westfall/ Dr. David Ray Griffin, a man who I deeply admire because of his beautiful use of logic in his reasoning, has released his latest book titled "The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up, and the Exposé." Griffin is without a doubt one of the best 9/11 Truth researchers, and ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/09/09/the-new-pearl-harbor-revisited/ When it works, the Canon EF 50mm f1.2 L USM lens can produce some really excellent images. Why do I say "when it works"? Because this lens seems to have a problem with autofocus consistency, making it backfocus quite often. I have written about this problem before. But I still find myself ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/09/06/canon-ef-50mm-f12-l-usm-lens-samples/ Canon has recently announced their new DSLR body, the EOS 50D (official site). From the information that has become available up till now, I can already conclude that it's not going to be a very popular camera. In fact, I won't be surprised if it sells less copies than the ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/09/01/canon-eos-50d-not-worth-it-save-your-money/ I understand completely if you're initially very surprised when you see the title of this post. The truth is, in your position, I'd be surprised myself, even though I've been known to cover a wide range of topics on my blog. Mostly anything that I feel I should write about. ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/08/24/donks-diet-the-ultimate-weight-loss-program/ In the picture above you can see a car belonging to a Korean photographer, with banners attached containing a message about Canon's EOS 1D Mark III camera. The text on those banners translates to: "Camera that is a piece of trash - Canon EOS 1D Mark 3." Apparently, the problems ... http://www.kareldonk.com/karel/2008/08/15/canons-dslr-division-in-trouble/