Archive for March 2012

Dutch Open 2012

For the 39th Dutch Open I was more involved than normally since I also designed and implemented the website for the event (tkddutchopen.com).  For the event itself I can only say that it was one of the best arranged and timed Dutch Open’s I’ve visited. Normally passing the 22:00 mark on the saturday was no exception. This year however the final ended on a fairly early time.

Although the organisation was good there was a certain thing missing … I missed a certain “vibe”.  From time to time shooting pictures of a match with almost no sound around … that feels a bit strange.  Regarding the location were the event was held I must say it is starting to feel a bit “old”.  The lighting is harsh and uses a type of lighting that results in an inconsistent color (greenish, yellow-ish and “normal”).

Pictures of the Dutch Open 2012:

Saturday:  http://www.pascal-franssen.com/index.php/taekwondo-dutch-open-2012-saturday/
Sunday:     http://www.pascal-franssen.com/index.php/taekwondo-dutch-open-2012-sunday/ 

German Open 2012

As the opener of “Crazy March” I visited the German Open 2012 which was held on the 3rd and 4th of March 2012. I say “Crazy March” because there are 4 major Taekwondo events held in this month. These are the German Open, Spanish open, Dutch open and to conclude the belgium open. I’m taking pictures at 3 of these 4 events.

As the previous years the tournament was held in Hamburg at the “Sporthalle Hamburg” at the krochmanstrasse. One of my favourite bits of this taekwondo event is the center raised podium. This podium is the best Taekwondo area I have seen so far. Raised center stages should be used a lot more often! It is great for spectators and it enables the use of the Big gun (300mm f2.8) with a clear line of sight from most positions.

Pictures of German Open 2012:
Saturday: http://www.pascal-franssen.com/index.php/tkd-german-open/
Sunday: http://www.pascal-franssen.com/index.php/tkd-german-open-2012-sunday/

ps

One thing I have learnt this year is that driving in the center of Hamburg with old digital navigation maps is not really recommandabel since the one-way-street situation has quite dramatically been altered over the years. It took quite some time to get back to my hotel on saturday evening :>