photo heart connection august

these two images represent my most inspiring and exciting event in august.

after meeting at one of Kat Sloma's classes last year, Elsie and i started a collaborative photoblog. 

on the 30th of august we met each other in person for the very first time in Utrecht.

we had an amazing day together.

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

an embarrassment of riches     

photo-heart-connection may     

creating a royal homestead

at the end of april we got a new king. actually, the queen stepped down and her son became the first king in ages. it was a huge event, things like this don't happen very often :-) it also generated a lot of commercial activity: all the big stores pushed their own little toys, cards, crockery and other 'royal' gadgets.
i got blessed with a couple of soft furry orange balls with gold carton crowns. i kinda liked them and named them willies, after our new king Willem Alexander. after the coronation, my friends started adding to my collection by asking for left-over willies at the store. (you can say they literally gave me the willies lol!). i ended up with 49 of them and decided to give them a home. so i ordered this wooden 'palace' from a toy shop and had loads of fun glueing them in their rooms and on the roof and finally setting up this tableau in my shed window, arranging the remaining willies on the sill beside the royal home...
i call this an embarrassment of riches, because the first thing people say when they see my willies is: wow, you must have spent tons of money at the supermarket...! (they came free with every spent 15 euro)
this photo was taken with my iPhone. i love it as much as i love seeing my willies every time i walk past the shed. so this is most definitely my photo-heart connection for this month!

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

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

sharing my august photo-heart connection     
celebrating a new photoblog collaboration
there is absolutely no doubt about the image that best represents my photo-heart-connection for august

here is the image i picked for the launch of a new photoblog i created with Els, a woman i met in one of Kat's classes and who happens to be dutch as well... somehow we 'clicked' and our connection has grown over the past months with this blog as a creative and mutually inspiring result.  it would even be better if i had a photograph of Els or of the two of us together, for she is my true photo-heart connection for this month, but although we don't live far apart, we haven't seen each other yet.... so maybe next time....!

Wilhelminapark revisited
photo heart connection april

For Kat Sloma's photo-heart connection i browsed through my april shots and picked this one, taken on the 1st of april.
We went to see friends in Utrecht, the place where i lived and studied 25 years ago. They took us for a walk through the Wilhelminapark and it felt like a giant step back in time. Memories came flooding back and i felt the magic of the park again, walking past the pond with intense green mourning willow trees stretching their tendrils towards its glittering and sparkling water. Just as i took this shot a pair of ducks landed on the water. A veritable touch of grace...!

Photo Heart Connection
reviewing my february photographs

This photo was taken on february 13, when the ice on the lake was melting and the weather was gray, wet and cold. I took a number of shots of the thawing ice and the riverbank, rather halfheartedly and dispirited, shivering and grumbling about the wet rain and sleet trickling down my neck. 
When i got home and browsed through my shots this wonderful applegreen umbrella suddenly popped out of the screen and told me to cheer up and stop complaining. Even the most dreary days can contain small and unexpected moments of brightness, joy and happiness.
I'm glad i didn't miss this one....!

my photo-heart connection

For Kat Sloma's new project I reviewed all the photographs I have taken last month and picked out the one that spoke to my heart.
There were many that did, but I finally decided on this one:

This was taken with my new Olympus PEN P3 at night, when I was out with my dogs. I have been wanting to capture what i call the 'silent lights' for many years, but have never been able to do so in a way that felt and looked good. The PEN finally allowed me to get some great results and i am really happy with this picture. The reflections of the streetlights in the water are fascinating. They are forever changing in form and shape and hue, due to the rippling of the water. 
I first became interested in these kind of reflections after looking at some paintings by Leon Spilliaert, years ago. He lived in Oostende and often couldn't sleep due to stomach problems, so he went out for walks along the sea at night and painted what he could see in the dark. Like this and this and this. When I moved to my current home I discovered the same kind of lights along the river at night. I think they are magical and breathtakingly beautiful.