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Testing night photography lighting techniques under a railway bridge on a rainy night at the Amsterdam Central Station. Preparing for the Amsterdam Photo Club‘s upcoming ‘Sin City’ Real Shoot Experience  photography workshop.

I had a great time taking the Amsterdam Photo Club to photograph the spectacular ‘Turn on the Lights 2015’ ceremony on Dam square in Amsterdam. A great light show, combined with theatrical performances organised by de Bijenkorf every November. This year, the performance was by the Close-Act Theatre group and Eurovision winner Loreen, singing her hit ‘Euphoria’.

Once per year, Eindhoven lights up with a spectacular set of light sculptures and installation art. Contrary to the Amsterdam Light Festival that runs for months, this festival only last a week. I have for along time wanted to go to photograph it, and this year I finally got the chance.

Nothing goes better together with photography than beer. Right? The Amsterdam Photo Club  had a very nice evening walking through the Amsterdam canals at night. Finally ending up at the Heineken Experience, were we got to take photos from their rooftop. We also got to test some new camera equipment sponsored by the local camera store FotoBooms. For this photowalk, we were also joined by the local Instagram group @amsterdamcanals

Making photos at night overlooking any city scene during twilight hour will always be magical. Unfortunately many of the best places to take these photos have restrictions for photographers, not allowing them to bring their tripod up to the viewing point. The Galata Tower in Istanbul is no exception. But you do your best with the equipment you have. And the result still became nice. See the end result here: Istanbul by Night >>

Kjell Leknes

The Amsterdam docklands are restricted from public access. But recently I got an opportunity to shoot some up close photos of the enormous machines that operate this large industrial area.

I recently got a nice photo assignment to photograph Amsterdam’s Leidseplein area for a website that would promote the local businesses in the area.

During a full-super-moon I took a group of photographer for a fun workshop in night photography and light painting on Amsterdam’s main city square.

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Aircraft Spotting is a very specific subgroup in photography. But surprisingly very popular. With the help of a local plane spotter at SchipholSpotter.com, I recently got a tour of the Amsterdam International Airport’s best places to take picture.

As a first in a series of lectures to inspire other photographers to contribute their work to Shutterstock, I recently organised a lecture in ‘Styling Food for Photographers’ with food stylist Ajda Mehmet. Food photography is in high demand, and learning how to style food to make it look good on photos is an art in itself.