These images were taken for a report on the Belalp, Valais, Switzerland region for Wintersport Magazine #16 (Nederlandse Ski Vereniging). Hanging under a paraglider at a few hundred feet height in one of the most stunning regions of Switzerland is a treat unimaginable. If you love heights this is something really worth doing – Life’s good!
“I’ve been wanting to do evening photoshoots from the sky at EDM events for years. However, Hollands tough safety laws don’t allow flying after dark. But even at earlier timeslots I had never managed to get a helicopter available to me for a shooting. Then, late June, luck turned. As senior photographer for Q-dance I was granted heli-time at Defqon.1, not just any slot – a LATE shot, the latest possible in Holland.
At exactly 22:05 I took off for a 20 minute shoot in which I could expand my imagination to the limits. Thanks also to the new camera equipment like the Canon 1Dx (amazing noise-levels at 800-1600ISO) and the stabilizer from the 70-200IS II telelens, also by Canon, the photos came out incredibly good with never before seen camera-angles. I immediately wanted to up the ante: Tomorrowland was just weeks away and in Belgium one is allowed to do nighttime flights. I explained the organizers my plan to do something never been done before: a risky shoot over the mainstage during the massive fireworks! With a simple “make it happen” things were set in motion: a time-slot was reserved for me and all that was left was mentally preparing myself for the technically difficult shoot ahead.”
Tomorrowland is an Electronic Dance Music aka EDM event organized every year in the Belgium town of Boom. Normally there are 16.000 people living in Boom, but on Tomorrowland there are 180.000 people dancing on three days. This year Tomorrowland took place on Friday, July 27, Saturday, July 28 and Sunday, July 29. The line-up consisted of 400 DJs, such as Skrillex, Avicii, Skazi, David Guetta, Nervo, Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, Carl Cox, The Bloody Beetroots, Paul van Dyk, Martin Solveig, Chuckie (DJ), Fatboy Slim and Pendulum, playing on 15 stages per day.
The most unique view EVER from fireworks at an EDM (Electronic Dance Music) event!
Taken from a helicopter during the Friday’s fireworks show at the world No.1 dance event: Tomorrowland. These photos are the first ever made like this.
Equipment used: Canon 1Dx, 70-200 EF2.8 mkII , 16-35 EF2.8 mkII and one Eurocopter EC120 Colibri.
Many thanks go out to Ibo Örgüt (Q-Dance) and Christophe van den Branden (ID&T Belgium) for making this “world first” possible!
A 1500+ image timelapse shot over one night and a small part of a morning from the balcony in the Hamilton Lodge in the Belalp Skiregion in Switzerland.
DJ’s Erick E, Fedde Le Grand and radio DJ Niek van der Bruggen threw a balloon powered houseparty at 4500 feet for the Radio538 & Warchild charity week.
This video is a time-lapse of over 1400 images shot over 3 hours at a 6 second interval with a Canon 5D + Canon 20mm f2.8. Autofocus was set at AI servo with the full range focalpoints on.
Due to the fact that the setup was in the shade of the balloon I opted for a “safe” Aperture setting of f2.8 at 160ISO realizing this would lead to some exposure errors. There was no real way to avoid it and it worked out well, especially when the balloon was freed from the other two and sunlight hit the DJ and the tables.
The largest Dutch radio station and the charity that helps children and parents from war-torn regions setup a stunt-filled week to raise funds to help as many children as possible. People could get chosen to do all sorts of stunt by texting the special number. Persons lucky enough to send the xxth text message were chosen for the stunt. In this case 60 people for a rare feat: tying three hot air ballons for a house party at 4500 feet!
As a senior Radio538 photographer, I was asked to photograph one of the coolest stunts of the week and got to climb aboard the formerly largest hot air balloon in the world with a group of collegues.
DJ’s Erick E en Fedde Le Grand threw a balloon powered houseparty at 4500 feet for the Radio538&Warchild charity week.
DJ Erick E on the decks at 4500ft.
DJ Fedde le Grand performing from a hot air balloon
The largest Dutch radio station and the charity that helps children and parents from war-torn regions setup a stunt-filled week to raise funds to help as many children as possible. People could get chosen to do all sorts of stunt by texting the special number. Persons lucky enough to send the xxth text message were chosen for the stunt. In this case 60 people for a rare feat: tying three hot air ballons for a house party at 4500 feet!
Party setup in the sky!
As a senior Radio538 photographer, I was asked to photograph one of the coolest stunts of the week and got to climb aboard the formerly largest hot air balloon in the world with a group of collegues.
Mission accomplished and money raised for the WarChild charity.
View from 25 meters high in the RTL Netherlands television crane at the back of the Radio538 Koninginnedag concert area. Koninginnedag (or Queensday) is basically the biggest yearly national party in the Netherlands and the Radio538 hosts a large free festival in Amsterdam which about 200.000 people attend during the course of the day.
The panorama is a stitch of several Canon 5DmkII images to make it one 25 megapixel super panorama. Watch out for more to come.
Click preview for the mega-view!
Or click here to get it as a dual screen wallpaper!
Stage view with Markus Schulz on the decks (21mp).
Trance Energy 2010 in Utrechts Jaarbeurs. Great edition with Nic Chagall, Markus Schultz, Sander van Doorn, Armin van Buuren (live by satellite from New York) and Above & Beyond really getting the masses jumping at the mainstage.
Trance Energy 2010 Wallpapers coming later this week!
My most viewed photo of 2009 has got to be this Armin van Buuren wallpaper with a steady 10.000 photoviews since I posted it in early March. So, here it is in laptop wallpaper format now as well (16:9 that is) plus a few other ones of the world’s number one DJ. Enjoy!
