This evening we went to the polders north of Amsterdam to capture another sunset. As it it currently late June the sunset took place at 22:04. We set up our gear east of the Kinselmeer so we could see the sun disapear on the other side of this lake. Unfortunately, the sunset was not as beautiful as we had hoped. Furthermore, there were vast amounts of flies flying around our heads and cameras, there were literally millions of them. These flies did not sting, but they were annoying. If you look closely at the photograph, you can see the flies (the dots and stripes).

This photograph is shot approximately a quarter-hour before sunset. I used my Canon EF 17-40mm L f/4 USM wide angle lens with an exposure of 1/15 sec at f/8. I used this aperture to have a good focus in both foreground and background. Furthermore, I used a graduated warmth filter (Cokin 197), which works nicely for sunset photography. Off course, the tripod was used.

This is not my best sunset photograph, but it’s always nice the be in the polders and play with the camera.

This weekend we camped with a couple of friends on a small island in the middle of the Veluwemeer (see here). We slept in tepees and it was a perfect weekend to relax. Naturally, I had brought my camera gear with me. On Sunday morning I stood up early and sneaked out of the tent around 5 a.m. It was an early Spring morning, a little cold, but the colours were marvelous.

This photograph was shot at 5.41 a.m., just a couple of minutes before sunrise, probably one of the best times for landscape photography. I like the combination of the rocks on the foreground and the red sky and reflections in the water. I used a large depth of field for the focus on both the rocks and the background. Like for almost all of my landscape photography I use Aperture priority (Av) to control the depth of field. I also used a graduated filter to lighten the foreground. With these dark conditions the small aperture (f/16) resulted in an exposure of 2,5 sec. so my tripod had to be used. Continue reading »

For most tourists the Netherlands are known for their mills, wooden shoes and off course tulips. In April and May vast amounts of tulip fields start to blossom. As there are thousands of species growing, these fields have all kinds of beautiful colours. The most well known fields lie alongside the dunes in Zuid-Holland and the West-Friese polders.

This photograph is taken in a tulip field near the town of Purmerend. The tulips are nicely aligned and the fields have small aisles for seasonal workers to be able to cut the tulips.

For this photograph I have made some modifications with Photoshop. The day I took this photo the sky was heavily clouded and therefore I shot with ISO at 800 and the widest aperture at f/4.  I shot the photo with the Canon EF 17-40mm L f/4 USM wide angle lens at a focal length of 17mm.

I used photoshop to copy a more cheerful sky into the photo. After that I used Lightroom to adjust a little in the tone curve, brightness, contrast, clarity and saturation. Usually I’m not using photoshop to alter photographs this much, but this was a nice experiment and the result gives a better feeling of Spring.

I went to London for two days meeting some fund managers. I’d like to make regular visits to the City as part of Optimix’ manager selection process. The results of these visits were sufficient, as I found some fund managers which are eligible to add to our client portfolio’s and I came home with some useful insights.

Between the meetings I fortunately had some time to enjoy the city. For that I had brought my camera equiped with the Canon EF 17-40mm L f/4 USM wide angle lens. This combination fitted easily in my single bag hand luggage. The weather on the two days was lovely and I’m happy with some of the photographs I was able to shoot. The first photograph is typical for London, it’s cab. I tried to make a more abstract photo, using the technique of zooming during the lenght of exposure while panning the movement of the cab. I like the result. Continue reading »

Artis is the zoo in Amsterdam. My girlfriend and I are a huge fan of this zoo and we try to pay a visit as often as possible with our annual season ticket. As Spring had just started all kinds of animals have given birth to new younglings. So, on this second Sunday afternoon in Spring we encoutered some goslings searching for food in the grass. These are goslings of the Egyptian Goose (wee wiki).

The photograph has been shot with my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM tele zoom lens at 200mm and f/2.8 for a shallow depth of field. I did not bring my tripod to the zoo this time, so all photo’s were shot from hand. Continue reading »