photo heart connection june

creating fine art with my camera

this image touches my heart every time i look at it. from the moment i finished processing the original shot i kept saying to myself: this is it! for me it is a piece of art and it enables me to experience myself as an artist. it is 'just' a simple shot of some cheap glass objects seen through the window of a big chain store. by coaxing out the myriad exquisite colours and reflections in Lightroom i was able to create something very special. i just love it!
i am planning to have it printed on plexiglass

fading tulips      

photo heart connection march     

the mesmerizing beauty of decay

a week ago my neighbor came by with a bunch of beautiful tulips. i took some shots of them and put them on one of my blogs

after a week they began to fade, the shape and texture of the flowers becoming even more beautiful and captivating

these shots remind me of 17th century still life flower paintings

water magic     

reflections and distortions     

"if there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water" - Loren Eisely

a sunny day in the city, the quiet water in the canal reflects the buildings in the street

a bit of wind disturbs the tranquil surface and creates long, slow ripples in the mirror

zooming in on the colorful distortions. all context disappears, what is left is an abstract interplay of color, shape and light

night time is the right time    
joining the photo-heart-connection

two weeks ago i started my advanced photography class in the city center
on my way back i took a couple of night shots of the shop windows and the street lights

this one is my absolute favorite, and therefore my contribution to the photo-heart-connection.
the image gives me a feeling of emptiness and desolation, because of the alien green fluorescence that is repeated throughout the frame. i love the intense shiny blackness of the chairs and drawers, all lined up neatly, waiting for customers to bring liveliness and color into the sterile looking scene. most of all i love the curved woodgrain-finish board with its eerie green shine (just off the top-center). it makes a perfect transition to the dark grainy wall on the right

here's a shot with a completely different atmosphere. the abundant colors of the flowers and plants are enhanced by the warm yellow shop lights and the bright aqua of the big painting in the back. 

a typical night town street view: trees forming a wide green roof of leaves above, lots of bicycles parked in front and around the tree trunks, the antique streetlamps providing soft star-like points of light and the red taillights of a car leaving its parking space providing a bit of contrast and a sense of movement

and of course i couldn't pass this shop window without taking a picture.... especially when the name of the shop is so beautifully accentuated by the light of the street lamp and the lush and luminous colors of the displayed objects

allowing space     

creating room for improvement

Kat Sloma's 'exploring with a camera' series this month is about 'space' (the separation between objects within the frame) as a visual element, a tool for creating compelling photographs.

I have been browsing through my images from the past few days to find out in which ways i allow space into my photographs and how it affects the impact of my images.

Last wednesday i took a whole bunch of shots of all the airplanes flying over, preparing to land at Schiphol Airport. The sky was a wonderfully clear blue color and i was able to capture a lot of crisp detail in the airplanes.

By letting the airplane fly out of my 'frame', picking it up and refocusing a few seconds later, i managed to keep the crisp detail, while at the same time allowing more distance, more space and more context into the image, which, in my opinion, makes it a lot more interesting

Here three other images i took recently, that have definitely improved by allowing more space into the frame. First the fluffy white seed head of a thistle, surrounded by  green grass and red clover. Second the silhouette of a cormorant, resting upon a light pole alongside the ice rink. Third is a young boy walking away from the mall with a candy bar.

Here is the thistle seed head again, this time it's a close up with a shallow DoF that makes it stand out from the background, emphasizing the details of the seed head, especially the tiny dewdrops clinging to the fluff. Instead of allowing more space by creating distance while maintaining the detail, like i did with the airplane, here i have achieved the same effect by moving closer and enhancing the detail by decreasing the DoF.

Here i allowed more space into the frame by choosing a horizontal perspective, focusing on the cormorant and the top of the light pole, thereby excluding most of the pole itself. By changing my position i managed to include some of the white cloud. Allowing more space around the silhouette increases the contrast, thereby enhancing the impact of the image.

The boy in red walked by while i was standing on a bridge just outside the mall. I first managed to 'capture' him unawares while he was standing still, nibbling on his candy bar. Then he walked on and slowly disappeared into a tunnel. I kept shooting, allowing more and more space into my frame. This shot is the last one before he disappeared completely, and for me it is the most compelling one, precisely because of the amount and the quality of the space around him: the lines and the color of the tunnel wall emphasize the shape and the color of his clothes and allow his shadow to 'follow' him going down into the tunnel. 

Joining the August Break  25      

sharing a summer shot a day

11:03 am

Joining the August Break  23     

sharing a summer shot a day

6:39 pm

Joining the August Break 16-18     

sharing a summer shot a day

I have been on a short summer vacation 

Here are my august break shots for the last 3 days

day 16 - 9:35 pm

day 17 - 4:37 pm

day 18 - 9:36 pm

Joining the August Break  14     

sharing a summer shot a day

6:37 pm

Joining the August Break  13     

sharing a summer shot a day

10:00 am

Joining the August Break  10     

sharing a summer shot a day

10:25 am

Joining the August Break  8     

sharing a summer shot a day

10:16 am

Joining the August Break  6     

sharing a summer shot a day

9:44 am

Joining the August Break  3  

sharing a summer shot a day

10:23 am

Joining the August Break  2   

sharing a summer shot a day

9:32 am

talking in photographs part 1
nature

my passion for photography started with nature.
the more i explored the landscape around me, the more i became aware of the beauty of its colors, lines and shapes.
the deeper my perception of that beauty in its myriad details, the stronger my desire to 'capture' it and show it to the world
i started shooting the landscape behind my house with my iPhone in december 2010 and haven't stopped since.
with my images, shared through my first photoblog, i am telling the landscape's story, recording the changes from day to day, from year to year.

here are some examples of the images that are closest to my heart.

flowers in the most beautiful colors and shapes, attracting butterflies and bees

our dutch national icon, the mill, a true landmark in our polder

all the animals on the land and in the water, the landscape's main inhabitants...

the constantly shifting colors of the lake and the majestic lowland skies

the countless shades of green, translucent with sunlight or moist with raindrops

and last but not least: the people enjoying and savoring the landscape, be it on foot, by bike or from the water.