Wilco Westerduin

I have to admit, it was a bit of a surprise when I received Mark’s request to be featured on Shotkit, as I am really not gear orientated. Heck, I am not even a professional photographer, hahaha! But what a great opportunity to present my work and the tools I make it with! So, I decided to go for it.

Hello, everyone. My name is Wilco Westerduin, from the Netherlands, but mainly active in the wonderful Basque Country (Southwest France and Northern Spain).

At the end of 2013, without any experience in photography, I bought myself the entry-level Sony Alpha SLT-A58 camera. It came in a package with kit-lens: Sony 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 SAM and the Sony 55-200mm f/4-5.6 SAM. I started out shooting architecture, landscapes, urban exploration and on the street, with my own different view on it.

Along with this camera, over time, a few other shooting basics came as well: a Velbon tripod, ND-filters (Starblitz, Green.L and B+W ND 3.0), an external flash (Sony HVL-F42AM) and a remote control (Sony RM-VPR1). I wanted to improve image quality at some point, so I upgraded with three lenses: The Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 DC, the Sigma ART 18-35mm f/1.8 and the Tamron 90mm F/2.8 Macro.

And that is it. I use nothing else, except an old-school trick of waving a black plastic card in front of the lens, filtering bright sky at long exposures! I challenge myself to get maximum results with minimal equipment. When it comes to processing, I don’t use Photoshop. All my images are real single exposures, simply optimized in standard programs like iPhoto on my MacBook.

I publish exclusively on 500px, not on any other photo community website, or Instagram, Twitter, Flickr etc. I share links on Facebook, and write a Dutch blog every now and then.

My images did not go unnoticed, however. I received several (editor) awards and was featured in various magazines and photomedia, both printed and online. I made the 2016 Top 20 Urban Exploration Photos of 500px and about a hundred pictures reached a 99 pulse score or higher.

Today, my photos have been viewed almost 5.1 million times and more then 4,200 people follow me. Since 2016 I also exhibit my work about the Basque Country in museum quality. I have had solo-exhibitions in Biarritz, Saint Jean de Luz, Bidart and Bayonne (France).

This February it will go exclusive at 5 star Grand Hotel Saint Jean de Luz. Recently i had a request by Art Gallery Colorida in Lisbon, Portugal, to exhibit there, but i have not made a decision on that, yet.

You can view/follow what I make on 500px.com/wilcowesterduin and on facebook.com/wilco.westerduin

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