Het Perfecte Plaatje 2021 ; Urbex Theme
I remember it well, the moment I was approached to make an appearance as a guest judge on the popular Dutch television show “het Perfecte Plaatje”. My first thought was: Wait what? Me, on television, for everyone to see? Are you kidding?! I felt a bit overwhelmed by that idea at first. But at the same time, the subject is something I am very passionate about, something I have a lot of experience with and something that gets me so excited when taking about it. And I did not have to do it alone, just as on real urbex trips, you never go alone, so I had my buddy Martijn to rely on. And of course, I said yes.
When I was preparing for the show and writing down all the tips I had for the contestants and everything else that is to tell about using your camera for this specific branch of photography. I soon realized, that even when something comes so natural to you, you actually have so much to tell about the technique behind the shots and that really got me excited.
The first day of filming came fast and I remember arriving at the shooting location with slight nerves and butterflies in my stomach. But I have to say, the warm welcome by the crew, the clear planning and everything there was to see made me feel quit at ease soon and before I knew it, we were introduced on camera. It was very exciting to see how competitive the contestants are, they had a lot of good questions and they were very eager to learn and start. Watching them working on their shoots was very enjoying. Their ideas, creativity, fanatism and yes also struggles made me so curious for the result.
That day that gave me so much insight on making such a popular television production. I was amazed at the level of professionalism by the crew, it was admirable how well the entire crew was attuned to each other. Nothing but praise to them. I went home after a long day feeling very satisfied.
And then it became…judgement day…
Finally, we got to see the results of all the contestant’s efforts and it was awesome to see their shots all lined up. Somewhere very good and there was even one that moved me. I was proud of all their hard work. Judging each shot took some getting used to, but in the end, I feel I did an honest job. And luckily there was no discussion about the winner of this challenge. Congratulations and my compliments to Patrick Martens, you did a fantastic job!
All in all, this was an experience I will never forget, and I am great full I got to be a part of this amazing production. Did you guys see the episode, and did you enjoy it?
