Paidor's Photoblog

Under Pressure

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:05 +0100

Project 52, week 14: Pressure/Busy (Druk). This week's theme Druk translates into both 'pressure' and 'busy'. This image covers both translations; being (too) busy can really build up the pressure in your head!

It took some trial-and-error to get nice-looking steam, that flowed horizontally. You can't just put a pot of water on a fire, but have to build up some pressure inside the pot. I eventually used a vice to keep the lid down and a piece of cloth to seal it.

Setup:
Steam:
Canon EX580II @1/4, 28mm, camera right, bare
Portrait:
Canon EX580II @1/32, 28mm, camera right, bare
Sigma EF-500 DG Super @1/8, 35mm, behind subject, bare
Both flashes triggered w/ Cactus V5's.

Sun Rails

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:47 +0100

Just a beautiful sunset seen from the stairwell of our appartmentblock. On the horizon are a building on the University of Twente campus, and the local soccer stadium, the Grolsch Veste.

This photo's name refers to one of my personal favourites, Sun Sails, which I took with my first compact camera in New Zealand. Ah, memories...

Drip to Be Square

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:29 +0100

Project 52, week 13: Nerd. I couldn't think of anything nerdy I would want to photograph (a nerd with big glasses, computers, etc). So I considered some associations and synonyms for the word "nerd", like "geek", "dork", "anorak", or even the Japanese "otaku". Two somewhat older synonyms gave me the idea for this photo: "drip" and "square". They reminded me of Huey Lewis & The News' song Hip to Be Square. So I grabbed a square vase and did some top-down droplet photography.

Incidentally: I'm at 25% of my project 52!

Setup:
Canon 580EXII @1/32, 35mm, subject bottom left (on floor), bare (pointed slightly upwards)
Metz 48 AF-1 @1/32, 35mm, subject top left (on floor), bare (pointed slightly upwards)
Sigma EF-500 DG Super @1/128, 105mm, subject right (on box), bare
Canon and Metz triggered with Cactus V5, Sigma as optical slave.

Lightsaber

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:53 +0100

Project 52, week 12: Lightpainting. Just showing off my rad lightsaber moves. Doesn't everyone have one of those things lying around somewhere?

Actually, I used a fluorescent inspection lamp (looplamp). I taped a sheet of white paper around it to dim the light. The 50Hz AC current causes the nice parallel lines, adding to the sense of motion. I used an off-camera flash to 'freeze' my face (I tried standing still for a few seconds with the lamp in front of my face at first, but the light wasn't bright enough to prevent ghosting).

Setup:
Sigma EF-500 DG Super @1/8, 105mm, facing me from left, DIY snoot.
Triggered using on-camera speedlite (was using 2nd curtain at first, which you can't do using a Cactus V5)

Tiny

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:40 +0100

Project 52, week 11: Small. One of my other hobbies is to tinker with electronics. I've made some stuff with the ICs in the back (bogstandard NE5532 opamps from Texas Instruments), but the one in the front (a kind of USB sound card all-in-one chip, also from TI) is just too small for my big hands to handle, let alone solder onto a print...

Taken using a set of Soligor extension tubes, a desk lamp and a piece of aluminium foil as a reflector.

Anchorman

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:53 +0100

Project 52, week 10: Through the Eyes Of. This is what I imagine an anchorman (news presenter) would see if they'd be able to look through the camera and auto cue into our living rooms. Bored couch potatoes.
This shot took a lot more work than meets the eye. Firstly, the camera had it's back to the wall (located where my TV usually is), so I had to hook up my TV as a live view monitor to see what I was doing. Secondly, I couldn't get the lighting right because I didn't have enough room, nor the right light modifiers. I ended up using two bare flashes, which cast harsh shadows I had to edit out. I had set up a rim light behind the couch, but it had gone into power save when I took the final image..
The shot is composed of several exposures; ambient (no flash), left flash only, right flash only, both flashes with us in the shot. This allowed me to layer the lights to get the effect I was after.

Setup:
Canon 580EXII @1/64, 70mm, camera right, bare, aimed between subjects
Sigma EF-500 DG Super @1/64, 70mm, camera left, bare, aimed between subjects
Canon triggered with Cactus V5, Sigma as optical slave

High Warp

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:58 +0100

Project 52, week 9: Abstract. This reminds me of Star Trek's faster-than-light travel: warp. Only on LSD or some other hallucinogen.

Setup:
Canon 580EXII @1/128 (multi @1Hz), 14mm, camera left, bare
Sigma EF-500 DG Super @1/128, 17mm, camera right, bare
Canon triggered with Cactus V5, Sigma as optical slave

Two Halves Don't Make a Whole

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:00 +0100

Project 52, week 8: New Year's Resolutions. Since I'd been drinking way to much coffee last year, I'd decided to drink less this year. I tried drinking half cups instead of whole ones, but that didn't really work -- the coffee kept poring out. When I tried two halves to compensate for my lack of coffee while figuring out the cause, things only got worse. So now I'm back to whole cups, and no more mess!

Actually, I have no New Year's resolutions. I just had this broken cup lying around, waiting for something to do with it.

Setup:
Sigma EF-500 DG Super @1/128 105mm, camera left, bare
Canon EX580II @1/32 105mm, behind subject right, w/ DIY snoot
Metz 48 AF-1 @1/64 53mm (106mm equiv.), above subject, w/ DIY snoot

Canon & Metz triggered using Cactus V5, Sigma as optical slave.

Grey Ice

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:37 +0100

Project 52, week 7: Cold (Kou(d)). This isn't actually ice tea, but rather frozen regular tea. A bit more postprocessing went into this shot than I planned; not least since Photoshop crashed when I was nearly finished, corrupting the file, and forcing me to start over, but also since I couldn't get the lights and angle just right while the tea pot was still frozen over. I like the end result though. :)

Setup:
Canon EX580II @1/128 50mm, below subject
Sigma EF-500 DG Super @1/16 35mm, through 45" umbrella, subject left
Metz 48 AF-1 @1/16 28mm, gelled Slate Blue, into background (translucent reflector)

Canon triggered using Cactus V5, Sigma & Metz as optical slaves.

Jigsaw

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:01 +0100

Project 52, week 6: the Holidays. We have two christmas trees and lots of other decorations adorning our living room at the moment, but I didn't really want to use those as the subject for my project photo. Since every Christmas holiday I complete at least one 1000+ piece jigsaw puzzle, I chose that to be my subject this week.

Many Hands Make Light Work

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:46 +0100

Project 52, week 5: Proverbs. Many hands don't just make work easier -- they also make it so that light works!

Anno 1672

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:31 +0100

Project 52, week 4: The City/Village. Since I had an appointment near Amsterdam this week, I had this idea of contrasting Amsterdam's old city centre, with its canals and narrow houses and streets with its new, high-rise business district. Because of the heavy traffic, I could only complete the first part.

Stare into the Sun

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:27 +0100

Two of my friends, on one of the last nice autumn days of the year. I just love the colours, the textures, the contrast, the lines, the heart-shaped cut-out in the tree... Just about everything, really. :)

Come Out And Play

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:47 +0100

Project 52, week 3: Children. These days you can't seem to point your camera at children without someone calling you a pervert and hitting you over the head with your camera. So I decided to try and give an empty playground a desolate look. This is my first attempt at lightpainting with my flash gun, and it took me just over an hour to make it. Considering, I'm quite happy with the result!

Being the perfectionist that I am, I've spent another evening making the version you see here. It uses some additional images I didn't use before, and I've brushed out the background (and left the files full-size rather than resizing them to 25% for speed).

Selfportrait

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:31 +0100

The second instalment in our Project 52, a selfportrait. I had some moderate trouble getting the picture in focus (since I don't have a remote), and some fun putting the two shots together -- which actually is quite straightforward. I didn't brush out the right side of my face (left side for the viewer), but rather overexposed it using flash. This left only some light outlines I had to brush out.

Strange

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:17 +0100

With some friends I started a Project 52 this week. Each week for a year we agree on a theme and create a picture within that theme. Not as a competition, but as a fun interactive way to improve our photography. The first theme is Vreemd, which means 'strange' (or 'weird'). I decided to take the word literally. :)

You can follow the project on our site, p52.nl.

Ooh la la!

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:31 +0100

How's this for a spontaneous picture? We made it some time after the formal parts of the wedding, when everyone was really relaxed and in a playful mood. I'm starting to like working with people more and more!

Glow

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:04 +0100

Last year my girlfriend threw a big party for Halloween. The decorations featured everything from fake cobwebs and spiders to some real hollowed-out pumpkins. I couldn't decide between these two images, so I decided to make them into this sort-of-diptych.

Registrar's Table

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:24 +0100

A happy couple during their ceremony at the town hall of Zwolle. Looking around for nice angles and shots I noticed their reflection in the registrar's table. I wish I'd had a little more time to frame it just right, but it still turned out to be one of the best shots of the day, so I'm quite happy with it. :)

Up Close and Colourful

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:02 +0100

It's been a long time since I've posted a macro photo. That's because I only have a macro lens for my Olympus, the Zuiko 35mm f/3.5 (with 1:1 magnification). Because I kind of missed macro, but don't really have the cash for a macro lens, I recently bought a set of second-hand Soligor macro extension tubes, which allow me to use any of my Canon lenses for macro. First impressions: the tubes work best with my 70-200 (allowing me to focus less than 10cm in front of the lens' front element!) and not-so-good with my 24-70 (at shorter focal lengths, the point of focus is inside the lens!). My 85mm works nice too, but its lack of zoom makes it far less versatile than the 70-200 -- and its maximum aperture of 1.8 isn't really useful for macro. Also, AF, metering, IS and aperture all work fine (the tubes have electrical contacts). On the other hand I have to say the 5DmkII isn't the best camera for macro photography; its full-frame sensor makes it a lot harder to achieve 1:1 magnification (although with 21MP cropping is a real option) and the whole rig (5DmkII, 70-200, tubes and 580EX flash gun) is a bit too large and heavy to easily take pictures at these small scales. But still, for only Ã¢â€šÂ¬70,- it's a good alternative to a dedicated macro lens (it saves space in your bag, too).

Anyway, about the photo. Far too many pictures of colour pencils have already been taken, but I always like the colours and the texture of the wood. I used a DIY flash modifier made of cardboard, white paper and aluminium foil to mimic two flash guns shooting from opposite sides of the lens. The light is a bit flat, but nicely soft, so with a bit of tweaking it should work fine.

Guest List

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:16 +0100

My lovely assistants during an evening wedding for which the bridal couple asked me to take pictures of all the guests arriving at the venue. I'd been the 'second shooter' during the first parts of the day (dressing of the groom, portrait sessions, ceremonies, etc) and after that was responsible for covering the evening wedding, including dinner. I used a really basic setup (a single shoot-through umbrella to camera right) shooting towards the dark garden. My assistants (friends of the bride) volunteered to 'rope in' new arrivals and hand them our 'guest list', so I could focus on taking pictures. This picture nicely portrays the mood and the amount of fun we had during the half an hour or-so that it took to cover all the guests.

Belt Bridge

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:48 +0100

On our way to Norway from Kiel in Germany, around sunset our ferry passed under the Great Belt Fixed Link bridge in Denmark, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.

Splash

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:12 +0100

Yet another image taken during the University of Twente's Kick-In (during the Storm of the Bastille event, to be more precise). I tried something different this time: shooting at ISO 800 with a short shutter speed (1/800 sec) to get a larger depth-of-field to more easily capture fast-moving people without having to worry too much about shallow DOF and motion blur. The flying globules of mud are an added bonus, I think. :)

Overhead

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:00 +0100

I've been on holiday in Norway the last two weeks. We took the ferry from Kiel (Germany) to Oslo. Having no less than 15 decks the ship offers many different perspectives, including "overhead bird's eye".

Sing-along

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:31 +0100

I had the privilege of having one of my photos appear on the cover of Break-In magazine (the Kick-In's daily newspaper) again this year. This is it, and it appeared on Break-In 2011 nr 4. It was taken during the cantus, which is basically a sing-along with some humiliation and a lot of beer thrown in.

New Recruits

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:16 +0100

Another university introduction period (or Kick-in, as they call it), another fresh batch of first year students to complete the annual Assault of the Bastille. In the four years I've been shooting this event, I haven't seen many students do it as gracefully as this girl.

I Will

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 14:22 +0100

Here's a couple who will be getting married soon. I'll be the 'second shooter' during the day, so I invited them for a test shoot to scout some locations and for them to see what it's like to be in front of a camera. Since this pose was their own idea, things should work out fine on the Big Day. ;)

Timberframe

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 13:40 +0100

A timberframed building in the village center of Arbon on the shores of the Bodensee in Switzerland.

Self-Shot

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:58 +0100

My first self-portrait on here, taken in a hotel in Frankfurt during our trip to Switzerland.

I Do II

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:21 +0100

Another photo from the wedding I shot recently. We shot the portraits of the bride and groom and their families and friends at a park in Zwolle called Het Engelse Werk, with lots of old beeach trees providing a lovely backdrop.

..and I Bring You...

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:00 +0100

The guys currently living at my old dorm (studentenhuis) organised a barbecue. Of course, being (former) students, after the meat was gone we just had to fool around with the hot coals, cooking oil and water.

Incidentally, no students were harmed during the making of this photograph.

I Do

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:44 +0100

I shot my first wedding last month! Thanks to the happy couple who trusted me to record their Big Day.

This photo was taken during the ceremony at Zwolle's beautiful and very old town hall. I'll be posting more pictures of the day in the near future.

Local Fishermen

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:11 +0100

Some locals fishing in the Bodensee in Arbon near St. Gallen, Switzerland.

The Lord's Way

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 15:49 +0100

A hallway in the former monastery where I work, complete with church benches and ancient heating. This is an HDR composed of three exposures 2EV apart).

Mojo

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:28 +0100

One of my other hobbies is making music. This is my guitar, a Parker Fly Mojo. It has a kind of glass fibre exo skeleton that not only makes it very light, but also gives it a very nice translucent glossy finish. Not to mention that it plays like a dream!

This is one of the very photo's where I used Photoshop, to edit out some unwanted reflections and highlights.

Bikes

Sun, 29 May 2011 23:05 +0100

Some children's bicycles for the little kids to play with during this year's family reunion.

I'm glad I brought my 85mm f/1.8 along to play with. ;)

Red Rusk

Wed, 25 May 2011 21:43 +0100

A piece of rusk (beschuit) engulfed in the red-ness of some delicious strawberries (and a cutting board).

Eleven Years

Fri, 13 May 2011 00:01 +0100

Today it's been 11 years since the fireworks depot in Roombeek, Enschede exploded, destroying most of the neighbourhood and killing 23 people. This monument was placed on 'ground zero' to commemorate those people and the disaster. Though of course the disaster was a tragedy, Roombeek has been restored and rebuilt into (one of) the prettiest and architecturally most interesting parts of the city.

Towards

Mon, 09 May 2011 22:01 +0100

Sometimes it's just the way you look at things. Who'd have thought a big old radiator with a bad, brown paint job could look this interesting.

This is one of the radiators in the former monastery where I work. The lighting comes from the stained glass windows abundant on the lower floor and in the stairwells.

Rough Gem

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:07 +0100

Looking through the photos I took during my internship in New Zealand, I came across this little gem. It was kind of a rough gem, since it needed a lot of tweaking, sanding and faceting before it looked the way I wanted it (and remembered the original scene).

Skyline Fields

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:45 +0100

Sunset over a field next to the resort near Almelo we stayed at one New Year’s. This used to be 7 photos, before I made them into this panorama.

Silly Daddy!

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:15 +0100

My colleague's baby son. We spent an afternoon trying to get some good shots of the little rascal, with his dad making silly noises and faces from behind me. This was my first attempt at taking baby pictures and I'm quite pleased with the 20-or-so best shots we made.

Diagonal

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:58 +0100

Buildings in Roombeek, Enschede, next to where the Grolsch factory used to be before SA fireworks exploded on 13 May 2000. Though the explosion was a disaster with quite a few deaths, it allowed the area to be rebuilt with some really nice architecture.

Perpetual

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 16:59 +0100

Here's what you get when you put stone and metal in perpetual shadow: moss and rust.

This is a wall along a flight of stairs built into the side of the hill Schloss Rapperswil is built on.

Umbrella

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:12 +0100

To keep the rain out of the inner court of Schloss Rapperswil near Zürich, Switzerland, they created this beautiful transparent construction. It allows the sun to fall into the court and the visitors to see the wooden gangway around the top.

Le Chef

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 22:51 +0100

A piece of decoration at my company's annual BBQ (which this year was a buffet due to the bad weather that day).

Seven Seconds

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:48 +0100

"You have 7 seconds to drink you beer! Go!" was the command these girls got during the cantus of 2010's freshman introduction period at the University of Twente, Enschede. While this edition of the cantus wasn't as rowdy as those of the previous years, my fellow photographers and I stil had our gear carefully wrapped in plastic bags to prevent all the flying beer from ending up inside our cameras.

Together Forever

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:12 +0100

When I was in Bellagio (Lake Como, Italy) during my holiday last summer I found this lock attached to the fence along the boulevard. If my Italian is any good (which it isn't) units per sempre translates into 'united forever' (or voor altijd samen in Dutch). I kind of like the symbolism there.

Hood'oo

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:19 +0100

This sinister-looking hooded figure is a friend of our's, looking scary at Gerdi's Halloween-themed graduation party.

Wooden Waves

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:14 +0100

Gerdi posing on the Holzbrücke Rapperswil-Hurden bridge across the Obersee near Zurich. At 841m it's Switzerland's longest wooden bridge, and 'commemorates' bridges that have been in the same location since the Bronze Age.

The bridge consists mostly out of squared wooden beams that have a natural 'weave' to them, making for quite a pretty bridge.

Door

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:32 +0100

A door in the gatehouse of Schloss¸ Neuschwannstein in Germany (Neuschwannstein Castle, located on the border with Austria, southwest of Munich. As castles go, Neuschwannstein is quite pretty; the castle in Disney's logo is heavily inspired by it.

Traffic Light

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 22:37 +0100

Another one from my family's annual reunion: the son of one of my cousins playing on a bouncing castle. While browsing to the photos I made that day I noticed that the three balls resemble a traffic light. I made the most of this coincidence by desaturating the rest of the image. Besides, the image originally was a mess of colours, with all the red, yellow and purple of the bouncing castle.

In Full Regalia

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:05 +0100

Another peacock at the petting zoo across the street from our flat, showing off its regalia (plumage, or ornaat in Dutch) for all it's worth. As I recall, it was trying to scare off some foraging chickens, none of which seemed very impressed.

Incidentally, I have to say again that I just love my 70-200mm!

It's Cold Out

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:09 +0100

When this is the first thing you see when you open the curtains in the morning, you just know it's going to be a decidedly nippy day.

Cascada

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:00 +0100

The main act for the Kick-In's concert at the Oude Markt was Cascada. Me and my colleagues were allowed to photograph only during the first three songs (well actually, we we're asked/told to leave during the third song), so we had to shoot fast.

I managed to get some good shots -- partly thanks to my 5DII's great high-ISO performance and a splendid (and recently bought) 85mm f/1.8. Since I couldn't choose between them, I've made a triptych. Some of these photos were used in Break-In Edition 6 (Th 26 August 2010).

Colourful Crowd

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:36 +0100

This year I joined the photography team for the University of Twente's Kick-In again. Since I have a full-time job, I could only really join them in the evenings, but I still had lots of fun! During the concert at the Oude Markt in Enschede, a few of us got to take pictures from backstage, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. I took this picture from the stage during the gig given by the Crazy Pianos. It was used the next day on the front cover of the Kick-In's own newspaper, the Break-In (Edition 6, Th 26 August 2010).

El Toro

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:21 +0100

These aren't bulls, but cows. Still, they looked like they were having a good time frolicking around a meadow near where I live on a warm and very dry summer's eve.

Tick Tock

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:00 +0100

I recently bought a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, and I love the DOF and bokeh! This is one of the first photos I made with it.

After the Rain has Fallen

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:21 +0100

Sometimes in summer the weather can be unbearably hot and muggy for days until finally a good thunderstorm comes along to clear things up and cool everything down. This photo was taken late one afternoon after we had one of those thunderstorms -- it made the air cool and everything damp, and we had a really dramatic sunset to top things off.

This HDR was made from three exposures, at -2/0/+2 EV. I used my 17-40 f/4 L at 17mm.

Blue Droplet

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:55 +0100

After doing some droplet photography with my Olympus camera and its macro lens, I decided to have another go at it, this time using my 5DII and newly bought 580EXII flash gun. The setup was basically the same: a breakfast plate in the kitchen sink. Only this time, the plate was blue. :)

Incidentally, the difference in sharpness and crispness between the Olympus and 5D is quite remarkable. Good to know I didn't spend all that money on new gear for nothing. ;)

Droplet

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:41 +0100

Partly inspired by the Discovery TV show Time Warp I decided to try my hand at some droplet photography. I made this photo using a very simple set-up: I put a yellow breakfast plate under the kitchen tap and bounced the flash off the white tiles on the back wall.

Little Diva

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 14:55 +0100

My cousin's daughter during my family's annual reunion. She can be quite the little diva.

Three-Stage

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 14:46 +0100

My cousin during a game of klootschieten at our family's annual reunion. I was practicing tracking with my 70-200mm and shot a burst of his throw. Since I liked all three poses I initially made a triptych, but later made this version which I think looks a lot nicer.

Cautious Cat

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:21 +0100

Having seen a lot of nice pictures of cats some of my friends made, I thought I'd try my hand at photographing my brother-in-law's cat. As they had just moved to another house, Shiva was quite skittish and shy, so she tried to hide behind things a lot.

This picture is a nice example of the resolution and crispness you can get out of a 5DII with a 70-200mm f/4.0. In the original file, you can see my reflection in the cat's eyes, even though I'm several metres away!

In the Field

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:15 +0100

A field in Enschede on a beautiful spring evening. The buildings in the background are typical for the region.

Peacock on the Roof

Sat, 22 May 2010 15:24 +0100

A peacock lounging in the shade at the petting zoo across the street from our new appartment. Pretty as these birds look with their elaborate feather coat, they sure can make a lot of noise.

Fifteen Clicks

Sat, 15 May 2010 15:58 +0100

This photo was taken in the woods somewhere near Hengelo, and is one of the first photos I took with my new 70-200mm f/4.0 IS. What a splendid lens it is! Tack-sharp, contrasty, and blazing fast focus.

Coming from a FourThirds system camera like my Olympus E-510, the range of this lens is much more familiar terrain to me than that 'whacky' ultra-wide angle 17-40mm -- which does really have an appeal of its own, though.

Spring Leaf

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:39 +0100

Spring is in the air and the leaves on the beech trees are sprouting. This one has only just done so and is still crumpled, with downy hairs. Taken at Hof Espelo, just north of Enschede.

New Beginnings

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:47 +0100

I've found a new job and have moved back to Enschede. The company's located in a very pretty former monastery called Dolphia, with all kinds of authentic features like stained glass, church benches, and prehistoric heating.
Now that I make a decent living, I can finally treat myself to some equally decent gear. I really like my Olympus E-510 with kit lenses, but any entry-level DSLR leaves things to want when you get a bit more serious with your hobby. So, I've finally taken the plunge and treated myself to a Canon 5D mark II, with a (second hand) EF 17-40mm 1:4 L lens. (A 70-200mm 1:4 IS is soon to come.)

Of course, a camera from a different brand that's a few leagues up in class takes some getting used to, but right off the bat I'm really impressed and pleased with the detail you can capture with L-glass and a 21 Mpixel full-frame sensor! And the DOF (even at f/4.0) is just beautiful -- especially since my Oly has a 2.0 crop factor, which seriously limits DOF.

Right now I'm a very happy camper, with many months and years of experimenting with my new gear ahead of me!

At the In-Laws

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:05 +0100

This may look like a cozy place to live, but it'd be quite cramped, since this house is part of my father-in-law's Christmas decorations, and stands only about 20cm tall.

Christmas Lights

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:00 +0100

A square in Zwolle, a few days before Christmas. I love the lights in the trees (which are there every year) and the way they bathe the square in warm light. This is an HDR consisting of three exposures.

Yucca

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:51 +0100

A yucca plant in Burger's Desert in Burger's Zoo in Arnhem. It was a heavily overcast day when we visited the zoo, so I had to shoot at at least ISO 400 all day, even outside!

I.C.U.

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:47 +0100

This owl is pretty good at disguising itself -- it took use quite a while to discover that it's dimly lit enclosure wasn't empty. (Photo taken at the Noorder Dierenpark in Emmen.)

The Fire Inside

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:25 +0100

The flames on the inside of the kitchen geyser (water heater) in our kitchen. To take this photo, I had to peer through the rather tiny air hole for the pilot light with my macro lens.

Fairy Ring

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:16 +0100

A fairy circle or heksenkring (well, part of it) behind my parents' house.

Leaf Blower

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:18 +0100

Meet my mom and her leaf blower. I thought the leaves shooting off in all directions would make for a nice photo. It turned out they can, although you need a bit of luck for them to fly in the right directions. I took at least 50 shots and got covered in bits of leaf, sticks and sand before ending up with this photo, which has a lot of stuff happening, while you can still see my mom.

Logs

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:34 +0100

Walking in the woods near Hattem, Overijssel, I came across these freshly cut trees. The red tint of the wood contrasts nicely with the prevailing green of the rest of the forest.

Timber!

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:34 +0100

Another one from 2009's freshman introduction period at the University of Twente. This time the freshman had to span the farthest distance using only beer crates. These guys won and then got to push their creation over.
This photo was used (in black-and-white) on the cover of the next day's Break In, the introduction period's daily magazine.

Flood Lights

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:06 +0100

Another one from 2009's freshman introduction period at the University of Twente in Enschede. I didn't post this one before, because it had a lot of high-ISO sensor noise in it. Fortunately Lightroom's new algorithms really cleared it up!

In the Army

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:12 +0100

Another freshman coming out of an inflatable tube during "The Charge of the Bastille". Near the start of the course, the freshmen had to crawl under a net, where the grass gradually turned into muckpool because of all the muddy water from a nearby pond that was scooped over the net. Add to this all the water sprayed over the various other obstacles and you can emagine the freshmen and obstacles got pretty muddy during the charge. This guy plainly was one of the later people to come through.

The mud and 'flash-to-the-face'* gave this photo a look that reminded me of war movies, which I enhanced in Lightroom.

*: I'd like to apologise again to the guy in the photo, since he couldn't see where he was going for a few meters after I fired my flashgun right into his eyes when taking this photo. I hope you made it safely to the bar and beer at the end of the course, mate!

New Born

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:09 +0100

Another one from the University of Twente's freshman introduction period. The final event (apart from partying and drinking beer) is an event called "The Charge of the Bastille", where all freshmen must complete a course of various inflatable obstacles in order to reach the bar in a building on the campus called "Bastille" (hence the partying and drinking afterwards). Amongst some waterslides, this "rebirthing tube" was one of the more photogenic parts of the course.

Volleyball

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:21 +0100

This photo was taken during 2009's freshman introduction period at the University of Twente (the same kind of introduction period as 'Turbulence' and 'Strip!', only one year later). On this particular day, all kinds of sporting events were organised by ways of teambuilding amongst the freshmen. A great opportunity for me and the other photographers in the media team to practice our sports photography skills.

For this photo, I took position under the net and basically just pointed my camera at anything that moved. At a certain point, I didn't even use my viewfinder anymore, but instead just guessed where exactly to point my camera and relied on the autofocus system to keep up. My E-510's AF system (which can be quite sluggish sometimes) struggled, but I did manage to get some nice "in your face", "middle of the action" shots.

Mountain Lake

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:27 +0100

The SÃ¤mtisersee seen from a mountain called Hoher Kasten near Appenzell, Switzerland. We went to the Hoher Kasten on an overcast day and reached the summit while it was shrouded in clouds. After a while the skies cleared a bit, resulting in some really pretty 'sunbursts'.

This is an HDR image composed of three exposures, bracketed at one stop (-1, 0 and 1EV). After generating the HDR, I processed it some more in Lightroom -- making it the most heavily postprocessed image I've posted yet.

Bach

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:25 +0100

'Bach' isn't just the name of the famous late composer, it's also the German word for 'brook'. This is the BrÃ¼elbach near BrÃ¼lisau, Switzerland. For this picture, I used a mini tripod and stopped down my camera to f/22 to get the longest possible shutter time. An ND filter would really have been a better solution if I had one though...

This is one of the most post-processed images I've posted. I played around a lot with mainly clarity and exposure, to give the image a more dreamy quality.

Guided Tour

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:58 +0100

When Gerdi, my father-in-law and I arrived in St. Gallen, Switzerland after our journey by night train from Arnhem, my sister-in-law gave us a guided tour around town. One of the most remarkable places was Dreilinden, a public swimming pool consisting of three small lakes on a hill overlooking the city center.

Blue

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:29 +0100

While waiting for the international train to Zürich, Switserland at Arnhem station on a lovely summer's evening, the sky turned just about the same colour as the nearby Arcadis building. And, if the new design is working, so should this blog!

Master of Reflections

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:10 +0100

This is the cover of my Master's thesis entitled "A Smart Camera Platform for Smart Signs: Visual Tag Recognition Using Computer Vision". I designed and implemented a software system that could detect and read circular barcodes in video captured by a (web)cam(era), to be used in the Smart Signs system.

For this photo, I put one such barcode in front of my wide angle lens, and lit it with an LED flashlight (the same light used for 'Under Construction') so that it reflected onto my camera. After a bit of tweaking, I managed to capture more than 12 separate reflections (even though only about 4 are apparent at first glance in this image). For the background I used a book about the Smart Surroundings project, during which Smart Signs was partly developed.

Fleur de Lit

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:20 +0100

Flowers can even be pretty from the back. This of course is not a fleur de lis, but a Cape marguerite lit from the front by the sun. This is the same kind of flower as in this photo, which was also taken in my parents' back yard.

Buggyback Ride

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:12 +0100

Another photo taken on a beautiful spring sunday. It's amazing how much life you discover in your garden if you just take the time to look for it. I for one didn't know bugs took piggyback rides!

Caterpillar

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:26 +0100

I usually work during the weekends (you know, to pay for my studies and all). Fortunately, I had the day off when we had the most beautiful weather last weekend. A perfect opporunity to go out into my parents' garden and try my hand at some macro photography. This caterpillar kept so perfectly still during its 'photoshoot' that I actually thought it was dead. It started moving after a few minutes though. Luckily I'd already taken this photo by then.

Eyes on the Ball

Sun, 31 May 2009 16:13 +0100

My niece's son during our family's annual reunion. Children at play can be really rewarding subjects for photography, especially if they don't notice your taking pictures. (This photo of course is an exception on that last point, but this one's a good case in point.)

Scream!

Thu, 28 May 2009 22:46 +0100

Ivo from ivography.com. During a party at university, we were goofing around with our flash guns, a remote flash trigger and some colour filters. I think he looks appropiately bloodthirsty in this photo.

Hidden World II

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:53 +0100

Another infrared photo taken at the Volkspark in Enschede. Again, I really like the ethereal feel.

This photo also shows that water mostly blocks IR light; only plants close to the water surface are visible, even though the water is very clear.

Hidden World

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:36 +0100

For my master's thesis I've been looking into infrared (IR) imagery (IR security cameras and the like). IR light basically is 'invisible light', that humans can't see, but cameras can. While browsing the web, I came across some really cool photos people took with their DSLRs using a filter that blocks normal light and only lets through IR light. Wanting to experiment with this myself, I recently bought the cheapest 720nm IR filter I could find on eBay (about €15,-) and took it to the park on a sunny afternoon.

I really like the surreal and ethereal look IR photography gives, so I'll probably play with it some more in the near future. Although I don't think I will take out my camera's built-in IR-blocking filter anytime soon...

Incidentally, you can actually see IR light yourself. Your eyes are just much more sensitive to 'regular' light. If you've got an IR filter, shield your eyes to block any normal daylight and look through the filter. After your eye has adjusted to the relative darkness, you should be able to see white trees and plants on sunny days. Pretty cool!

Inferno

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:47 +0100

Where I live, it's a tradition to light a bonfire for Easter. The bigger, the better. The one I visited in Vilsteren could definitely be described as huge. And very hot.
Inspired by Fire Breathers, I took this photo with a very short shutter time (1/1000 sec.) to 'freeze' the fire and show its texture.

Fan-atic

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:20 +0100

As a photographer at any live gig, it can be rewarding to point your camera at the audience instead of the performers every once in a while. Devoted and sometimes even hysterious fans can be a gratifying subject, as can a good mosh pit. With ska gigs however, nearly every glance into the audience usually shows you something funny or interesting, considering the antics some people perform there. People 'skating', moshing, dancing, jumping; the lot. This guy was one of the more fanatic dancers during Mark Foggo's gig at the Metropool in Hengelo.

Eyes Open

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:32 +0100

My flatmate plays keyboard in a skarock band called Spawn. They recently played in the Metropool in Hengelo as supporting program for Mark Foggo. This is Spawn's drummer, a guy that is very hard to capture on film (or, in this case, light-sensitive silicon) when he's playing drums, because he usually has his eyes closed during, and tends to move around quite a bit (not unlike this guy).

Moon

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:33 +0100

One nights some friends of ours took my girlfriend and me to the observatory at Bussloo, near Deventer, NL. To take pictures of celestial bodies, astronomers (well, amateur astronomers anyway) usually attach a camera body to their telescopes by using an adaptor ring. Unfortunately the observatory didn't have such a ring for the Four Thirds system handy, so I had to take this picture through a friendly guy's telescope's eyepiece, using my macro lens. A bit clumsy, for sure, but still not a photo one gets to take every day!

Grolsch

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:16 +0100

Beer can bring inspiration. It can also give you a good subject to photograph. For this photo, I used my computer's CRT monitor as a light source in an otherwise unlit room.

Pixel Art

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:22 +0100

Some pixels in a big LED-screen (the kind they use in stadiums and for billboards and such).

Swatches

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:30 +0100

When I got a Lee Filter swatchbook from a friend, I just had to experiment with the myriad of different colour and effect filters in it. This photo was taken by holding a blue swatch and a frost swatch at an angle in front of a tiny 5-led flashlight (the same light I used for Blue Bead).

Blue Bead

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:00 +0100

A clear plastic bead on a bracelet, lit from behind by a tiny 5-led flashlight.

My Turf!

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:52 +0100

My parents' bird has featured here before, and usually he's a very good-natured bird. Sometimes however, he can be pretty agressively defensive of his own personal space, such as in this case when my brother's blue parakeet decided he'd like to sit on the same shoulder as him.

Fireworks

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:24 +0100

You may not be able to see this at first glance, but this is a firework rocket. Fireworks are fun to light and pretty to look at, but they're also quite fun to photograph. The way I made this photo: focus to infinity, set the camera to low ISO, moderately high aperture and a long shutter time (a second or two, or possibly to bulb), and track the rocket's fiery tail as it is launched into the air. Wait for the tail to extinguish, release the shutter (the long shutter time gives leeway in timing the shot) and estimate where the rocket will burst. Voilà, a pretty picture!

The Thinker

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:18 +0100

My uncle during a family New Year's reception. Having bought my flash gun (a Metz 48 AF-1) a couple of days prior, this is one of the very first photos I've ever taken with it. I bounced the light off the wooden floor, giving a warm light from a somewhat unusual direction.

Blaze of Construction

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:36 +0100

Taken the same night as "Under Construction", this photo is another long-exposure experiment. This location was lit by two halogen lampposts, and it was slightly foggy. I played with the shutter time until the light from the lampposts gave this "light at the end of the tunnel"-effect, which is accentuated by the converging lines of the buildings.

Under Construction

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:12 +0100

Taken at night in the basement of a large building under construction, this photo was lit using a flashlight with a single power LED with the reflector (the shiny part that focuses the light) screwed off -- this gives a nice point source of nearly-white light. A friend of mine walked past the camera with the flashlight, while shielding the camera from it (so as to prevent it from shining directly into the lens). This effectively creates a light source that is very large in dimension and thus removes any 'hard' shadows, which gives the photo a kind of ethereal atmosphere.
We did all kinds of long-exposure experiments that night, such as 'painting in' scenes by illuminating different parts of them with flashlights, or using moving light sources. It was good fun and I plan on doing it again sometime!

Drummer

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:20 +0100

The drummer of metal/rock band Thocke at work during a flatfeest (a party organised by one or more student dormitories) called Smurfenland. (Unfortunately my own band couldn't play, since we were without a drummer at the time.)
This party is one of the main reasons I bought my flash gun -- not only because the shutter times I had to use often were too long (even at high ISO settings, which my camera -- being an entry-level Four-Thirds DSLR -- doesn't excel at), but also because my camera often struggled to focus in the low-light conditions (since it doesn't have a built-in focus assist light). Furthermore, the built-in flash often didn't have enough power, especially for subjects like this drummer, who's very hard to capture on camera, because he's usually moves all over the place while playing drums.

Fullwit Halflit

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:39 +0100

The rhythm guitarist from my band during one of our gigs.

At Play

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:11 +0100

A girl (a daughter of friends of ours') and her little brother playing on a slide near our flat.

Strip!

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:47 +0100

One of the assignments for a scavenger hunt during Twente University's freshmen introduction period in 2008 was for the new students to cover the most distance by tying together clothing they were wearing. This photo was used for the next days' cover of the introduction's daily newspaper, the IN-Flight.

Turbulence

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:33 +0100

In 2008, I spent several days taking pictures during Twente University's freshmen introduction period. New students are introduced to the university and each other by means of entertaining and challenging (and often photogenic) activities. One such activity was a kind of scavenger hunt through downtown Enschede. While I was photographing one group of students that were examining their instructions and clues, I accidentally released the shutter while rotating my camera, resulting in some circular motion blur, which I think nicely expresses the theme of that day, "Turbulence".

Mirrors

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:10 +0100

The German parliament (the Bundestag) houses in the Reichstag building. Their debating chamber is located under an impressive dome with this mirror construction to direct in sunlight. The dome is a really nice piece of architecture, with photogenic lines practically everywhere.

Berlin Bike

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:41 +0100

Berlin is a beautiful city. The stark contrast between old and new, and East and West Germany is one of its most interesting features. Revolutionary architecture can be found right next to dilapitated buildings from the Cold War, such as this alley in Hackesche Höfe, just east of the former Berlin Wall.

Rays of Shadow

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:35 +0100

A gorgeous sunset over the pastures behind my parents' house. Although I didn't have my Olympus with me, I had fortunately enough lent my Panasonic to my mom, so I was at least able to capture the spectacle!

Yellowshanks

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:42 +0100

This tiny-but-colourful spider was crawling around on some flower buds in my parents' garden one sunny afternoon. With macro lenses, DOF is usually only a few millimeters (if that), so I had quite some trouble getting this little fellow into focus, what with the flowers rocking in the breeze and all.

Pink Flower

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:21 +0100

A 'classic' shot of a Cape marguerite (Spaanse margriet) in my parents' garden.

Conifer

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:57 +0100

A ray of sunlight falls through the treetops on this conifer (at the Beerzerbelten, near Ommen). I really like the way the light accentuates the texture of the bark.

Pasteltint

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:05 +0100

I just love sunsets -- bold, bright, constantly changing colours, preferrably interspersed by some clouds. Just lovely. One misty spring evening, nature treated me to this lovely pasteltint sunset, which was something quite different, but equally lovely.

June Bug

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:11 +0100

This obviously is not a june bug (a kind of beetle), but some other kind of bug. The photo was taken in June though. (Like "Poppy", this photo was accidentally taken at ISO 1600. Here also, I think the noise addes something to the photo.)

Poppy

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:09 +0100

A poppy bud on a sunny spring afternoon (with some foxglove flowers in the background). I accidentally had my camera set to ISO 1600 from the previous evening, causing a lot of noise in the image. In this photo, I think the noise isn't distracting, but rather adds something to the image.

Liberation Day

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:27 +0100

A big and colourful crowd at the 2008 Liberation Day Festival in the Weezenlandenpark in Zwolle.

Duckies Galore

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:32 +0100

One of the organised events on Queen's Day in Zwolle this year was a rubber duck race. This photo reminds me of the sketch in which Mr. Bean counts sheep because he can't sleep.

Streetlights Lit

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:02 +0100

After waiting for my train in Enschede I arrived at Zwolle's railway station during a rather spectacular sunset. Good thing I still had my camera with me!

Waiting on the Railroad

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:00 +0100

What do you do when your train is delayed and you have your camera handy? Right: extend your photoblog. :)

Ferris Wheel(s)

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:44 +0100

Twice a year there's a funfair in the Volkspark in Enschede, which is right behind my house. One afternoon in October, the sky was ashen grey, beautifully contrasting with the yellow leaves on trees -- and with the ferris wheel, of which I took the photo on the left. Six months later, when the funfair was lit at night, I was reminded of that photo, and decided to mimic it and make this diptych. Considering I didn't have the first photo handy as reference, I think it worked out quite well.

Charles Dickens

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:53 +0100

This chilly image reminded Gerdi of Charles Dickens' stories, hence the name.

Shiny Pearl

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:39 +0100

This photo was taken during the recording of PaperJam!'s first demo. It is used on our sound engineer's site (Sonic Assault), along with several other of my photos.

Tiger Frost

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:02 +0100

A sheet of ice with heavy hoarfrost on it. The 'tiger stripes' are shadows cast by weeping willow branches. This photo did not make it on our Christmas card.

Winter Scenes

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:44 +0100

Some photos taken in several parks around Zwolle, after two nights of heavy frosting. Gerdi and I used this for our Christmas cards this year.

Butterflies

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:47 +0100

Butterflies at Dierenpark Emmen zoo. While the brown butterflies are very tranquil and let you get quite near, the blue-white-and-black ones never stay in one place long and fly off as soon as you get near them.

Fish

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:28 +0100

A fish at Dierenpark Emmen zoo. Trying to photograph this fish and other sea creatures inside fish tanks at the zoo, I found out that this can be very hard to do. The thick glass and water distort anything viewed at an angle, and lighting and colours can be very strange and surreal. All the more reason why I'm quite happy with this photo.

Birdie

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:21 +0100

My parents' cockatiel (valkparkiet) finds any portable electronic device highly intriguing (especially if it makes beeping sounds), whether its a remote control, a mobile phone, or a photo camera. He's far less fond of my flash gun, though.

P is for...

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:24 +0100

P is for Peter, Paidor, photograph, or, in this case, all secondhand books in English by writers beginning with 'P' at De Slegte bookstore in Enschede.

Hard Work

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:37 +0100

Studying often can be hard work, as my girlfriend Gerdi shows here.

Fire Trails 2

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:54 +0100

Another photo made by the campfire, of light trails made by glowing particles rising up from the flames. The DOF gives this photo some real depth.

Fire Breathers

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 21:14 +0100

Two of my colleagues (Erik and Floris) showing off their fire breathing skills. I manually focussed on Floris by the light of his own fire clouds and set the shutter time by trial and error. I used a short shutter time (1/1000 sec) to 'freeze' the fire clouds.

Fire Trails

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:10 +0100

For a company outing we not only went to the Pitch & Putt, but also had some drinks around the campfire (here's what we did next!). The light trails and blurred people make this photo very dynamic.

Awe

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:35 +0100

Imagine being indoors, receiving a phone call and quickly stepping outside to answer it -- and then seeing this. Awe-inspiring, awesome! "I'll call you back in a minute, I have to get my camera!"

Pitch 'n' Putt

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:05 +0100

One of my colleagues during a company outing to the local Pitch & Putt. His pose, the lighting and the particles in the air give this photo a surreal quality.

Toadstool

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:40 +0100

A toadstool in my parents' garden. I really like the way the natural lighting puts all focus on the top surface of the toadstool.

Nuts

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:18 +0100

Like "Black Sheep", this photo also contains something that "doesn't belong": a horse chestnut (wilde kastanje) amongst sweet chestnuts (tamme kastanjes).

Along Came a Spider

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:02 +0100

If you've got a decent macro lens, you just have to crawl around the garden and try to shoot some insects or spiders. This little felow was prancing around on the edge of a leaf near the ground. I like the way the sun shines right through his legs.

Clown

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:38 +0100

To demonstrate the wonders of macro photography to my parents, I took some sample pictures of stuff in their living room. This photo of a clown statue turned out rather well.

Plane Seed

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:44 +0100

The seed of a plane tree (plataan) in autumn.

Window

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 17:56 +0100

The kitchen window of a house built into the city wall of Zwolle.

A Stroll on the Beach

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 10:28 +0100

On our way up from Christchurch to Kaikoura (NZ), we came along a beach with both white and black sand, and some nice views. I lingered in the dunes, while Gerdi went on ahead.

Pink Flowers

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 10:30 +0100

Some flowers in the botanic gardens in Christchurch, NZ. Forgetting to resetting my camera's settings after manually overexposing some shots of Christchurch Cathedral, this photo is slightly overexposed, which I think gives a nice effect.

Cloudy Skies

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:21 +0100

Many different types of clouds near Christchurch, NZ. At the bottom left you can just make out several of the Southern Alps.

The Light at the End

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:59 +0100

The lighthouse at Nugget Point, near Kaimataitai on the south coast of New Zealand's south island. On both sides of the pathway towards it are steep cliffs. Imagine carrying building materials to where the lighthouse was built...

Nugget Point

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:51 +0100

Nugget Point near Kaimataitai on the south coast of New Zealand's south island, named after the resemblance of the rock formations in the sea to gold nuggets.

Wizard's Vale

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:41 +0100

Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown, NZ, taken in the direction of Glenorchy. On our drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy and Paradise beyond, Gerdi and I feasted our eyes on this beautiful spectacle. In my opinion, this is the prettiest photo I've taken in NZ -- I've got in on my bedroom wall at A0 size!

This place was dubbed "Wizard's Vale" by Alan Lee, conceptual artist (and more) for the "The Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy. It reminded him of what he pictured the area around Isendgard would look like. Parts of the surrounding area were used as background art for the movies.

Grey Rock

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:47 +0100

The intense blue colour of the water makes the surrounding rock seem even more grey. The water is a river fed by glacial melt water. (Mt. Aspiring National Park, NZ)

Mirror, Mirror in the Ground

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:08 +0100

Lake Matheson is New Zealand's most famous lake (apart maybe from Lake Taupo), because it is a so-called mirror lake (a (glacial) lake with a surface so smooth under low-wind conditions that it acts as an almost perfect mirror), that just so happens to be situated so that it reflects both of NZ's highest peaks, Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman.

Technically, this scene is a bit difficult to capture. The snow-capped peaks and the clear blue sky are way brighter than the shadowy plants on the left. This photo is an HDR image, created from 9 images (each 1 stop apart, -4 EV to 4 EV).

Pebble

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 10:06 +0100

While Lake Matheson is New Zealand's most famous mirror lake, the best "mirror lake experience" my girlfriend and I had during our holiday in NZ was at Lake Mahinapua, about 10km south of Hokitika. We were there in the morning and the lake's surface was perfectly smooth. After we enjoyed the view for a while, we started skipping pebbles on the water, which resulted in this photo where you can actually see the pebble hovering above the water, and its reflection.

Dorothy Falls

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:26 +0100

Gerdi admires the Dorothy Falls near Lake Kaniere, NZ.

West Coast Weather

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:46 +0100

Typical weather (wet & windy) on the west coast of New Zealand's south island.

Black Swan

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:16 +0100

A curious black swan Gerdi and I encountered at Lake Rotoroa, Nelson Lakes, NZ.

Native Nelson

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:49 +0100

Native Forest on the shores of Lake Rotoroa, Nelson Lakes, NZ. The moss covering nearly all the trees (and the light mist) made this piece of forest apear really ancient.

Golden Footprint

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:47 +0100

My footprint in the 'golden sand' of The Anchorage in Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand. The sand contains a lot of iron, making it's colour somewhat golden.

The Watcher

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:43 +0100

Gerdi in the Sky Tower, overlooking Auckland, NZ.

Auckland Sky

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:33 +0100

Auckland (Mission Bay) from Mt. Eden during an amazing sunset. The sun was behind me when I took this photograph, as was this spectacle.

Sunburst

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:00 +0100

Looking at this incredible spectacle, I realise where the term sunburst comes from. The tree at the right gives it a bit of an 'end of the world' feeling. This image was composed of three photos. (Check this photo to see what I saw when I turned around!)

Cows

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:27 +0100

Cows on Mt. Eden, Auckland, NZ.

One Tree

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:48 +0100

A commemorative monument on One Tree Hill, Auckland, NZ. The monument replaces the original tree on the Hill, which was chopped down.

Parking Gap

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:45 +0100

Trying to catch a nice sunset, I climbed this parking garage in the hopes that it overlooked Waitemata Harbour. My disappointment that it didn't was soon gone after I turned around and saw this spectacle of lines.

Downtown

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:30 +0100

This photo captures downtown Auckland (the Central Business District) pretty much the way I remember it: tall new buildings, hardly any level roads, and a lot of traffic -- al driving on the wrong side of the road. Only the BMW in the front doesn't really fit, since most cars in New Zealand are from Japan.

Skyline Tower

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 17:30 +0100

Located in the middle of Auckland's Central Business District, Sky Tower really dominates the skyline of Auckland, NZ. The CBD in itself towers above the rest of Auckland, since it's virtually the only area of Auckland that contains any high-rise buildings. Being the tallest building on the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower dwarfs all other buildings in the CBD and can be seen from all over the city -- I've seen it from as far as 50km away.

Yellow is the New Blue

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 17:10 +0100

As the sun sets over a church in Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ, the sky turns almost completely yellow.

The Seagull is Landing

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 16:34 +0100

A picturesque scene in Western Springs Garden in Auckland, NZ.

Goose

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:31 +0100

A goose posing (or rather: looking for some easy food) in Western Springs Gardens in Auckland, NZ.

Ready to Bloom

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:31 +0100

The DOF in this photo makes it look as though the buds are protruding from a sea of green, and are ready to show their colours. (Wellington St., Auckland, NZ)

Black Sheep

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:48 +0100

Cars lined up at a dealership in Arch Hill, Auckland, NZ. This photo was initially a bit messy, but some heavy post-processing to focus on the black (originally blue) car in front cleaned it up nicely.

Car Parts

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 11:47 +0100

When I had just bought my Olympus, I went to an Aston Martin and Lamborghini dealership in Auckland, NZ to practice macro photography. This image contains some of the better photos: the exhaust and rear reflector of an Aston Martin (DB9?), the air intake of an Aston Martin (Vantage or Vanquish?), and the wheel of a Lamborghini (Murcielago?). Funny thing: while I was there, three or four other 'photography enthusiasts' were crawling around the cars with their cameras, too.

Colourful

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:27 +0100

This was the interior of an otherwise empty store next to Albert Park in Auckland, NZ.

Leaf

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:09 +0100

Sometimes a leaf is just a leaf. Under the right conditions, it can be a thing of beauty. (Wintergarden, Auckland, NZ)

Greenhouse

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:47 +0100

Some flowers in one of the greenhouses of Auckland's Wintergarden.

Bricks and Timber

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:16 +0100

A pergola casts shadows on a brick wall in Auckland's Wintergarden.

Black and Blue

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 09:46 +0100

Two black swans swim along the shore of Lake Taupo, NZ.

Red Mountain

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:36 +0100

The volcanoes of Tongariro National Park, NZ, are extinct, so they won't colour the skies red anymore. It can still happen the other way around, though. This photo was taken ten minutes after "Tongariro Rainbow".

Tongariro Rainbow

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:26 +0100

The sun rises over the snow-peaked mountains of Tongariro National Park, NZ, and the rainbow of colours is reflected in Lake Taupo. Notice how the mountains are still shaded by the hills to the left. A few minutes later, the sun shone directly on the snowy peaks, coloring them a bright red. This is part of a panorama consisting of eight photos.

Frost Prints

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:16 +0100

Footprints left on the stony shores of Lake Taupo (Taupo, NZ). This photo was taken at dawn on a cold winter morning.

Fern

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 12:07 +0100

The Silver Fern is New Zealand's national symbol (as is, of course, the Kiwi bird). While this fern is not Silver, it still captures the sun very nicely.

Sun Sails

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:17 +0100

This boat not only has the wind in its sails, but also the sun. It sailed past as I was enjoying a lovely sunset atop Bastion Point, in Auckland, NZ. I pictured this shot in my head long before the boat was actually in front of the sun and am very happy to have got the timing right. Incidentally, this photo was taken minutes after "Waitemata Harbour".

Waitemata Harbour

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:00 +0100

Waitemata Harbour seen from Bastion Point, looking towards downtown Auckland, NZ. This was the beginning of a very nice sunset.

Twisted

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:59 +0100

A very twisted branch of a tree in Emily Place Terrace, a park in downtown Auckland, NZ.

Yellow Leaves

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:40 +0100

Fallen leaves in Emily Place Terrace, a park in downtown Auckland, NZ.

Bright Spot

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:45 +0100

The sun breaks through the clouds to shine on Coxs Bay (Auckland, NZ).

Ye Olde Car

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:46 +0100

An old car parked somewhere in Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ. I really liked the desolate decayed look of the rusty hood, especially the way it contrasts the car's pale blue colour and its round shapes.

Fountain

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:13 +0100

A fountain in Albert Park, Auckland, NZ.

Art Arch

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:10 +0100

A piece of art in Albert Park, Auckland, NZ, lit by a lamp dug in the ground.

IMAX Theatre

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:40 +0100

The IMAX Theatre on Queens St. in Auckland, NZ. The theatre is partly located in an old Victorian building, along with a bookstore that doubles as a maze.

Blue Milk Pond

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:12 +0100

A hot water pool at Wainmangu Volcanic Valley, Rotorua, NZ. Minerals make the hot water opaque give it its colour. When the pool overflows, the water leaves silica sediments, forming the stepped structure. This image is composed of two photos.

Night Tower

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:31 +0100

The tourist information office at Rotorua, NZ. This photo was taken just after sunset.

Vintage Boat

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 16:10 +0100

A rowing boat lies in the shelter of a tree on Omaha Beach (Coromandel Peninsula, NZ). The light reflecting off the red rocks out of frame to the left and behind the camera and the yellow sands beyond the tree have caused the photo to have a very vintage look (which has been enhanced in postprocessing). This image is composed of three photos.

Buoy

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:06 +0100

A buoy awaits high tide in the shallow bay of Coromandel, NZ.

Sun Swallowed Whole

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:25 +0100

The sun appears to be 'eaten' by the mass of clouds covering the land (Coromandel Peninsula, NZ). Fortunately, the sun was actually chasing the clouds away, finally ending that morning's perpetual rain.

Auckland Dusk

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:45 +0100

Night descends on downtown Auckland, NZ. This image is composed of two photos taken from Mt. Eden.

Orange Pier

Sat, 26 May 2007 19:38 +0100

A pier at Paihia, Bay of Islands, NZ. This little Panasonic is quite good at night photography!

Bay of Islands Sunset

Sat, 26 May 2007 17:35 +0100

A beautiful sunset at the Bay of Islands in New Zealand, near Waitangi.

Autumn Leaves

Sat, 19 May 2007 11:15 +0100

Fallen leaves in Western Park, Auckland, NZ.

Fairy Rock

Sun, 13 May 2007 12:27 +0100

A rock in a pool at the bottom of Fairy Falls in the Waitakere Ranges near Auckland, NZ.

Autumn Couple

Mon, 07 May 2007 12:47 +0100

A couple enjoying a sunny autumn afternoon in The Domain in Auckland, NZ.

Devonport Tree

Sat, 05 May 2007 13:33 +0100

A dead tree on North Head overlooking Devonport and downtown Auckland, NZ.

Spaghetti Junction

Tue, 01 May 2007 19:06 +0100

Spaghetti Junction, Auckland, NZ. This is one of the first night photos I've ever taken with my little Panasonic.