Dominique Velghe is a renowned pigeon photographer but he has proven over the years to be quite a successful pigeon fancier as well. He managed to finish in the top 100 in four Million Dollar Races, and he won a 7th prize in this year’s Sevilla Pigeons Race. This is his tribute to his grandmaster André Verbesselt.
From photo editor to pigeon photographer
Dominique Velghe from Ingelmunster, married and father of three, started his career at publishing group Roularta, where he digitally edited photographs for magazines and newspapers. It was thanks to a neighbour that he got involved in pigeon racing in 2011, as a photographer. He did some pioneering work, using digital photographs in an era where printed media were still prevalent. Over the years an increasing number of fanciers were interested in his services, and Dominique decided in 2008 to become a fulltime pigeon photographer. It was a job that enabled him to get in contact with some of the top tier teams in Belgium.
A foundation from one loft specialist André Verbesselt
One of those Belgian top players at the time was the late André Verbesselt, whom he met in 2011. Verbesselt had some of the very best Marcel Aelbrecht bloodlines in his collection, which enabled him to win numerous top prizes in One Loft Races in the Far East. Dominique began to photograph André’s pigeons for the first time, and the two would soon become close friends, talking to each other on a daily basis. And guess what happened next: youngsters of some of André’s very best pigeons were transferred to the lofts of Dominique in Ingelmunster, including descendants of André’s top pair BE07-4373754 Son Bak 17 x BE05-4130439 Miss Joyce. It was with these descendants that Dominique started to compete in one loft races across the globe, encouraged by his good friend André.