CloudHead

April '23 Recap

Author

Giel Sweertvaegher
April 30, 2023

Welcome to the first edition of the CloudHead newsletter. My aim is to send you a brief email at the end of every month featuring some of my recent work, behind-the-scenes of my shoots, and some work by others that I'd like to share. Additionally, when possible, I'll include exclusive content, such as videos that I haven't shared publicly yet. 

I created this newsletter because Instagram has become increasingly unpredictable. My reels went from easily receiving 100,000’ views to just a few thousand on a good day. My story views fluctuate from a few hundred to several hundred on different days. In the last month, I've lost more followers than I've gained. This newsletter is a way to showcase my work and the work of other creatives without relying on an algorithm. I no longer want to be at the mercy of Instagram's algorithm, as it's too challenging to keep up with its ever-changing rules.

Thanks for reading and feel free to send me feedback on what you would like to see in the future newsletters.

Giel Sweertvaegher

Last month’s work

Behind the Scenes

🇲🇦 Morocco

  • I went to Marrakech for four days in April. To be honest, there isn't much to say about my trip. I filmed some videos for a short travel clip, but I didn't take any behind-the-scenes shots or create any Instagram stories. I simply wanted to relax and take pictures without any distractions. I haven't had a chance to edit anything yet, but you can check out some of my work in next month's newsletter.

🏍️ Multistrada

  • 📹 I had planned to make a short behind-the-scenes video for YouTube during the Multistrada shoot, but I got caught up taking photos and didn't have time. I hope to shoot some behind-the-scenes footage during my photoflying projects this summer since there's usually a lot of downtime between flights. I also discovered that using a camera to film behind-the-scenes footage was too much of a hassle, so I'll use my iPhone from now on and create more cinematic content with the X-T3. I'm considering buying an Insta 360 Gimbal to simplify the process.

  • 💡My initial idea was to shoot under a highway bridge and play with the light coming from between the pillars. The second idea was to capture the motorcycle doing burnouts with sand or dust flying up, but it didn't work out as planned. We tried a second location with sand, but the sand was too thick to create the desired effect. We went back to the first location to do some rolling shots instead.

  • 📷 To take the rolling shots, I had to run behind the bike and shoot without looking through the viewfinder. I admit it's not the smartest way to take photos, and I'm glad I didn't film any behind-the-scenes footage of that! To achieve a panning effect, I reduced the shutter speed to about 1/40th of a second, resulting in somewhat average sharpness, but I'm still quite happy with the results which you'll be able to see soon on my Instagram.

    • However, I can already share this video on how I have edit these photos. 

  • For those interested in gear, I took all the photos using my X-T3 camera and an 18-135mm lens. You can find all my gear here.

Worth Sharing

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🚀

📷

  • Where can I get this?

  • Billy Dinh went to Gotham City to make street photos.

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Connect

  • I would appreciate your feedback on this newsletter, and please feel free to share your suggestions for future editions with me.

  • Have something noteworthy that you’d like to share? Submit here.