Bas Uijlings

Hi there! My name is Bas Uijlings and I shoot weddings around the world, mostly with my photography and film team. High quality is my main focus in the choice of equipment, service and products I deliver to my customers. I mainly shoot high end and exclusive events and I love doing this so much!

After working as a manager in the ICT for years, one day all of that made me feel like it was ‘groundhog day’. The daily routines got me bored and I wanted to give my life a spin. Since 2002 I started to shoot commercial work for families, portraits, events, theatre and television studios, until the day a friend of mine asked me to shoot their wedding. I shot my very first wedding in 2009 and fell in love immediately.

I am a big fan of new technology and look for ways to improve my results. I strongly believe that new isn’t always better, but it can be better and I like to try everything.

I have been featured in magazines, TV and a lot of websites for shooting an entire wedding with an iPhone 7. It was challenging and if the time is right I will probably do it again someday.

A couple of years ago my career got a serious boost because I started to compete in online photography competitions and I have won a lot of them!

To name a few: Silver Master 2012, Best Dutch Wedding Photographer 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, Best European Wedding Photographer 2018, 2019, Winner of Dutch Masters Awards 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, ISPWP Award Winner 2020 and jury member for Dutch wedding photography contests.

I love weddings and combined with travelling, it’s an awesome combination!

Gear

Being a brand ambassador for Nikon and Profoto I have the opportunity to try out the latest gear and give feedback on development. I love how technology is improving and giving me more and more power to capture the moment.

Since 2014, I have been using a drone for aerial shots and nowadays I use a DJI Mavic Pro 2 with a Hasselblad sensor. Amazing what you can capture with that!

All gear will eventually give up and considering the type of clients we offer our services to I have to have backups, just in case. My clients don’t care how or with what I capture their images. They want to be able to feel the way they did on the big day.

As a four year old kid, I have always been working with camera gear. I grew up seeing my dad and granddad shooting with a 75mm Rollei and Nikon F3 and later F4.

I had been shooting film and as soon as digital came I switched but always stayed at Nikon, I just love the brand. The feel it has to it is magical for me.

Since 2018 I have been adding Nikons with the Z mount, they have a big lens mount that offers high speed autofocus and great dynamic range. Some new Z lenses like the Nikon Z 35mm 1.8 are cheap, fast and razor sharp! Best of all, I can shoot completely silently, which gives me even more options to be less intrusive as a wedding photographer.

Cameras

Nikon D5 – Amazing fast camera, low light performance, great skin tones and dynamic range.

Nikon D6 – Even faster autofocus than the D5, amazing DSLR.

Nikon Z7 – High resolution (45.7MP) monster camera in a tiny body.

Nikon Z6II – High speed, lightweight and great for video as well.

Lenses

Nikon AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8 – Great for small spaces, large groups or party pics!

Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 – Safe allround choice, fast focus.

Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 – One of my favourites, great bokeh, fast and balances the D5 and D6 nicely.

Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.4 – My absolute number one favourite lens, always on my camera! Fast, great colours, bokeh and razor sharp.

Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4 – Great for portraits and amazing bokeh.

Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 – Macro. Great for portraits and wedding details.

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 – Cheap, sharp, fast, great colours.

Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 – Great allrounder, versatile and fast.

Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 – Amazing new lens in the Nikon line up, will replace the favourite spot of my AF-S 70-200 if that one should ever give up on me.

Lights/Triggers

Profoto A1X – I just love the consistency of these lights! Extremely fast and great skin tones.

Profoto B10 – The A1X with a lot of extra horsepower!

Profoto C1 Plus – Great small lights with less power but the same quality as the A1X.

Profoto AirTTL-N – The trigger that fires them all, always.

Bags/Straps

Pelican Case 1560 – Indestructible waterproof place for all of my gear on location. Rain, snow or rocky deserts, it doesn’t matter. My gear is safe!

Lowepro ProTactic AW450 – Fits the hand luggage of most airlines and with two of them, we can carry a lot of gear to any destination wedding.

Blackrapid R straps – Reliable for carrying two heavy camera setups and prevents me from terrible back pain during a 16 hour wedding event.

Tripods

Manfrotto Master Stand Air 1004 BAC – The safest place for expensive flashes during a party. With a height up to 3.85 meters or 12.5 feet, they can reach great heights.

Manfrotto 5001B Nano Stand – Lightweight and excellent for travelling.

Manfrotto 055 – Old school indestructible tripod for photography. Heavy!

Manfrotto BeFree Advanced Carbon Tripod Ball Head – Lightweight, small and strong enough for Nikon D6 + Nikon AF-S 70-200.

Manfrotto Pixi mini – For placing a flash on uneven ground or sand.

Drone

DJI Mavic 2 Pro – Simply the best small drone. Great for travel and with high quality imagery.

Hardware & Software

MacBook Pro I9 – 4TB
Eizo 30” IPS display
Lightroom
Photoshop
Wacom Intuos M tablet
Xrite I1 Display calibration tool
Synology DS1819+ with 80TB Western Digital RED for office storage.
Synology DS1817+ with 80TB Western Digital RED for remote backup.
Synology DS1812+ with 60TB Western Digital BLACK for long term backup.

Misc.

There is always a bride and groom rescue kit in my case and bags, anti-mosquito repellant, blister plasters, tissues for happy tears, sewing kit and muesli bars for the couple, my team and me off course.

Final Words

Overall, the quality and reliability perspective is extremely important to us. We need to deliver in all circumstances. Having a great workflow and streamlined backup system can be a lifesaver for your clients.

I had a bridal couple who saw their house burned down, including the wedding album… I was able to deliver a complete remake of the wedding album, including a download for all of the images. Their wedding was eight years ago! Can you imagine how happy they were they paid a premium price for a professional?

Want to collaborate or want more info about our way of doing business? Please reach out, I would be happy to help you!

www.basuijlings.com | @bas_uijlings