Nel 487

Nel and I spent the weekend of October 20th in Germany, visiting an extraordinary rock formation called the "Externe Steine", a few hours driving eastward of Enschede. Our B&B was located near a forest and there were almost no city lights so in the middle of the night I invited Nel to do a short walk and try some night photography in one of her Zenni glasses. The same pair in brown, with -8.00 lenses, was used in my photo shoot with Daisy in Flanders. Nel sometimes uses these red glasses in her own prescription when driving her car at night. It was a cold night and when we walked back to the B&B she said, "A great idea, trying a night shoot. It took a man like you to bring such unexpected ideas into my life". The same glasses were used in my photo shoot with Lucy in September 2011.

Nel 486

Photo shoot: October 20th, 2012
Location: Bad Meinberg, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany

Glasses: Zenni
[L: -11.00; c-1.25 v / R: -11.50; c-1.25 v]

Nel 485

Nel posing in the "Stephanie" glasses. I made one mistake when ordering these glasses from Zenni: the lenses have no anti-reflective coating. The glasses are now out of stock.

Nel 484

Zenni glasses usually carry no brand name but this pair is called "Stephanie". Nel and I spent a part of the afternoon looking for a suitable location for a projected photo shoot with a professional model from the area.

Nel 483

Nel and I celebrated the fourth anniversary of our relation in Groningen and I brought along a recent arrival from Zenni in her own prescription for long distance.

Nel 482

Photo shoot: June 2012
Location: Groningen, The Netherlands

Glasses: Zenni
[L: -11.00; c-1.25 v / R: -11.50; c-1.25 v]

Nel 481

Over the years, many of my models posed in these Zenni glasses with split arms (e.g. Petra, Jolien. Léonne, Melissa and Claudia Allegonda). The only model who could see fairly well through the strong lenses was Petra. Nel used them briefly during her photo shoot at KADE, half a year ago but we did not make portraits. This portrait was taken in the exhibition room where conditions were just as cold as they were outside the building. Nel commented that she was getting tired so we decided to call it a day.

Dear Nel, thank you so much for enriching this weblog with yet another fine photo shoot!

A word of thanks is due to the friendly staff of Steenfabriek "De Werklust" in Losser for their cooperation.
See www.dewerklust.nl for more information on this museum which is definitely worth a visit.

Nel 480

Glasses: Zenni 3390
[L: -13.00 / R: -12.00]

Nel 479

Glasses: Zenni
[L=R: -8.00]

Nel 478

An encore portrait of Nel in the glasses with the little roses. We decided to finish our visit to the stone factory in the building itself. Aside from it's museum function, the factory also offers facilities for exhibitions by artists.

Nel 477

Nel leaning comfortably against a blue cow sculpture. Nowadays the Zenni glasses with the roses seem tiny but they were perfectly fashionable when I first bought them in 2009. Changes in fashion.... but we both welcome the return of the big frames in the streets. Nel recently made the switch from her favorite Zenka glasses (the series with the many clips) to the big purple Zenni glasses that we used at the photo shoot in Ireland. She now regards the Zenka glasses as "tiny"!

Nel 476

But let's talk glasses.... This is a very popular frame among my models and several of them chose it for use in their daily life. Farishta baptized them "the glasses with the little roses" after her second photo shoot. Nel used this pair at the very end of her photo shoot at KADE, half a year ago, but we decided to give the glasses another try. The Rx of the lenses is just a touch away from Nel's own prescription.

Nel 475

Nel grew up on a farm so when she discovered a number of cow sculptures she was all go for some posing with the cows. The sculptures were placed near the entry of the stone factory to thank the many sponsors of the museum.

Nel 474

Glasses: Zenni 3391
[L: -13.00 / R: -12.00]

Nel 473

At this point we decided to look for a different location at the factory premises to continue the photo shoot. Nel had braved the cold long enough so we took a walk towards the other end of the factory.

Nel 472

These Zenni glasses in Nel's own prescription for long distance were featured at the very start of her photo shoot at Eem Quay. I was not satisfied with the way the close up portraits came out at Eem Quay so we gave the glasses another try at the stone factory.

Nel 471

Glasses: Zenni 2293
[L: -11.00; c-1.25 v / R: -11.50; c-1.25 v]

Nel 470

My favorite portrait from this photo shoot with Nel at the stone factory in Losser.

Nel 469

A seasoned model, Nel kept posing in her individual, quiet way, ignoring the cold outside the stone factory.

Nel 468

More display of power rings in the dark.... It was a cold afternoon and there was little shelter against the wind.

Nel 467

The dark red and purple colors give an entirely different "feel" to the frame than the rather delicate peach / yellow version shown by Daisy. Here the frame really makes its presence felt - but in a pleasant manner. Nothing wrong with the combination!

Nel 466

This Zenni frame 2788 was first featured in my photo shoot with Daisy, in peach / yellow and fitted with -8.00 lenses. Recently I ordered the same frame in red and purple, in Nel's prescription for long distance.

Nel 465

Glasses: Zenni 2788
[L: -11.00; c-1.25 v / R: -11.50; c-1.25 v]

Nel 464

Fine, patient posing by Nel, showing the facets polished at the edges of the lenses.

Nel 463

Zenni slightly polished the outer edges of the lenses to reduce the thickness with a millimeter or so. The effect can be seen in the corner of the right lens. Note the rather extreme "cut in" effect created by the left lens.

Nel 462

Another example of strong lenses lighting up in the dark like crystal veils....

Nel 461

Mighty power rings lighting up in the dark.... The lenses are Zenni's standard 1.57 and the thickness at the outer edges is over half an inch. The frame lends itself really well for a high prescription by the way it folds back towards the arms.

Nel 460

Nel posing in the same Zenni frame as in portraits 451 - 454 but here in pale purple and fitted with lenses some three diopters above her own prescription (-14 / -15). Generally speaking, my models find it easier to pose in glasses that are too strong than in glasses that are too weak.

Nel 459

Glasses: Zenni 2611
[L: -14.00 / R: -15.00]

Nel 458

Another fine portrait of Nel in the tiny Zenni glasses. Great posing job!

Nel 457

The weather changed rather abruptly during the outdoor part of the photo shoot. Dark clouds came in but this proved beneficial to the portraits. It's almost like a photo shoot at night!

Nel 456

This is one of the earliest Zenni frames ordered with lenses around Nel's own prescription. When the glasses arrived I was surprised by the thin lenses. Apparently Zenni made a mistake and fitted them with high index lenses although they did not charge me anything extra. Up Zenni!

Nel 455

Tiny but friendly, this Zenni frame was featured in several earlier photo shoots including Nel's at KADE. Many of my models said they liked it and one of them selected the glasses for use in daily life, in her own prescription.

Nel 454

Glasses: Zenni 3818 / 8818
[L: -11.00 / R: -12.00]

Nel 453

Nel commented that she liked the brownish color of this frame: "A nice match with my hair color!".

Nel 452

Nel showing the power rings in the Zenni glasses. Lens thickness is about eleven millimeters but this is neatly hidden by the way the frame folds back.

Nel 451

Nel first posed in these Zenni glasses in art hall KADE, half a year ago. The lenses are near her own prescription so the glasses gave her fairly good eyesight. We decided to give them another try for comparison with the same frame in purple, fitted with considerably stronger lenses. The purple glasses will be shown later in this photo shoot.

Nel 450

Glasses: Zenni 2611
[L: -11.00 / R: -11.75]

Nel 449

Another fine portrait of Nel in  huge 1970's style glasses by Zenni. Nel said that she liked the effect of this frame to her face and needless to say, so did her court photographer! I bought it when Zenni had a special offer: two pairs for the price of one. Unfortunately, the frame is now out of stock.

Nel 448

When I showed Nel these recently arrived Zenni glasses, her initial reaction was disbelief. "Are you sure that these are new glasses? They really look like my old glasses from the 1970's!".

Nel 447

Nel and I have been a model / photographer team for four years and her photo shoots really all go by themselves. No need for instructions except when the glasses themselves cause limitations in the vantage points.

Nel 446

Glasses: Zenni
[L=R: -8.00]

Nel 445

Another lively portrait of Nel in the giant PVC glasses made by Zenni.

Nel 444

These giant greenish Zenni glasses were first shown in my photo shoot with a red haired freelance model in Flanders called Daisy. It's unlikely that the glasses will be used in future photo shoots. The frame is broken :).

Nel 443

A giant among the Zenni glasses, this frame is made of PVC - or a material very reminiscent of PVC.

Nel 442

The location for this photo shoot with my beloved partner Nel is "Steenfabriek De Werklust", an old stone factory which is now transformed into a museum.

Nel 441

Photo shoot: November 4th, 2012
Location: Steenfabriek "De Werklust", Losser, The Netherlands

Glasses: Zenni
[L=R: -8.00]

Nel 440

This fine portrait of First Lady Nel concludes our brief but pleasant photo shoot at Eem Quay in Amersfoort. Again, the myodisc effect is striking but in my opinion pleasing to the eye. Nel prefers short photo shoots to extended sessions. There was not much time available anyway because of the terminal illness of my brother. We both enjoyed the hour at Eem Quay very much and it gave us the inspiration to do another photo shoot during the next weekend.

Nel 439

Pensive mood.... Nel showing the fine polishing work done by Zenni on the 1.57 standard lenses in more detail. What looks like a carrier lens is in reality the edges of the lenses polished under an angle of 45 degrees to reduce lens thickness so that these big glasses could fold up and be shipped to the Lowlands of Holland. Aside from a nine dollar extra charge for the high perscription, Zenni did not charge us anything for the polishing job. The effect is very much like a favorite - and quite expensive - white pair of Formlenti myodisc glasses made by Christian Olivier in the late 1980's. Nel used the Olivier glasses to great effect during the catwalks at the opening of my exhibitions in Holland and Germany. It's nice to have an affordable alternative by Zenni available now.

Nel 438

Eem Quay turned out to be a windy but nice place for a photo shoot. This almost looks as a studio portrait but the background is a grey steel door.