I just got back from Egypt to Photograph the 32 finalists of the Miss Belgium 2023 contest.

It was again a great experience as both the atmosphere and weather was great. Because of tear muscle I was not able to walk longer distances but the hotel provided me a wheelchair.

80% of the time I keep my camera on a tripod and shoot from a lower angle so I could sit down. For the portraits I was standing up and sometimes my leg did a hurt a lot but finally everything went well. I would not have managed without the wheelchair.

Again I was a little annoyed because the customs always make a fuss about the batteries I carry with me. Arriving in Egypt everything went (smoothly) but when we left for Belgium it became another story. The batteries of the GODOX ad1200 Pro are less than 100 Wh and allowed in the carry in luggage but the customs did not believe me. Batteries were taken back to the check in and the pilot approved. Finally everything turned out well but it is always a moment of stress. Why is it so difficult every time to pass the check points?

For 4 days we started shooting at 07:00 and stopped at around 15:30 and I had to photograph 8 contestants. 32 in total.

• In evening dress

• In Caroline Biss outfit

• Portraits

• Portrait with swimming cap (my favorite of the day)

The day before we left I also photographed the current Miss Belgium Chayenne van Aarle very early in the moring at the swiming pool. I woke up at 04:30 and started photographing at 05:15 when the sun was rising. You only get 15 minutes to get the shot but the result is stunning. I am very happy with the result. Sadly I cannot post any photos until the 12th of February until the new Miss Belgium 2023 has been chosen.

As a light setup I only used one flash. The Godox AD1200 Pro with a 60 cm beauty dish diffused inside. For the close ups a manfrotto 2 stop diffuser was used in front of the beautydish.

The Sony G 24—105 f/4 was my main lens used on my Sony A1. Only for Chayenne I also used the Sony GM2 70-200 f/2.8.

Because of the bright light I choose to use a ND4 filter (2 stops). Most of the time I shot at ISO 50, 1/200 between f/4 and f/5.

With this setup I am flexible. Worst case scenario is the photos are max 1 stop over exposed. (at 1/400, ISO 50, f/5) but in darker places I can shoot at 1/100, f/4 and ISO 250. I never removed the 2 stop ND filter.

Light was measured by a Sekonic L-858d with build in Godox wireless module adjusted to the 2 stop filter.

I also connected a Feelworld Lut6 HDMI monitor. The colors are very accurate and it is very bright even with the harshest sun light. It’s 2600 nits!

The president of the Miss Belgium comité was able to check the pictures I was doing.

I could have used a smartphone or tablet too but I also used this setup in February this year and it worked out well. Never change a winning team…

Doing this kind of work is teamwork. I was very happy to work again with emilieguillermin as a MUA and Brian as hairstylist and of course with the president Mrs. Darline De Vos, Anaïs and my lovely wife Nancy who took care of me in every way. (like pushing the wheelchair)

We used the matras on the ground to block the wind.

To cut a long story it was again a wonderful week and can’t wait to show you the results.

This photo was the cover photo for the show magazine of last years Miss 2021, Kedist Deltour.

For this photo I used a Godox AD600 Pro with standard reflector and AD200.