Blakeney
The seafront in Blakeney.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Posts from the ‘sky’ category
Rejected Photos
Lens-artists Photo Challenge #382 is about rejected photos. What do you do with photos you do not like? You can throw them away, or you can keep them. And if you keep them what can you do with them? First a story of myself, how I work. And in the end an example.
I am a snap shooter for a long time. When looking at this question for myself, I have to distinguish between the analog age and the digital age. But in both ages it is about quality, how you can assess that and what instruments are available after shooting. And above all: how can you be creative, and how much room is there to experiment?
The analog age was expensive: film was expensive, darkroom materials were expensive too. And being a poor student I shot as efficient as possible. You had to be patient while shooting, and selective. You also needed to trust your skills. Experience was essential to figure out what worked and what not. To produce good prints you needed to develop darkroom skills. And some negatives were impossible to print. But you kept them all. I never threw away negatives. That decision was beneficial in the digital age. After scanning my negatives, I properly made them look like what I had in mind when shooting them. What the darkroom did not deliver, software did.
In the digital age the cost of a photo is nearly non existent. The original photo (the former negative) can be copied lots of times. From the start technology offers instruments to oversee the quality of the photos. What you shoot is instantly visible on the camera. You can try different changes in the photo. Adjustments like shutter time, focus, and shutter opening can be tested most of the time. The RAW format offers flexibility for editing the ‘negative’ after the shoot. Software offers lots of creative tools to change the photo, or create new images.
So, do you keep rejected (bad) photos or not? I do reject photos, overseeing the result on my camera. I keep photos that can come to a good result after editing. The rest I remove straight away (e.g. bracketing shots).What I keep is stored on my NAS, where I use Lightroom as my archiving tool. I use editing tools to tweak a photo slightly. My favorite is Snapseed for web and social media publication. And Lightroom and Photoshop for prints.
The digital age is a time for unlimited creativity. The photos of ‘dinner at Wiveton Bell’ are an example of testing out the iPhone in a very dark situation. I shot about 8 frames, I kept them all but had my doubts. At home I worked them in Lightroom and Snapseed. And was surprised by what came out. And the ones that did not work were indeed deleted.
On the left the photo published and on the right the original RAW file.
Old Pub
The King’s Arms in in Blakeney. Founded in 1763. And still sells fresh beer.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Marshes With a bit of Cley Next The Sea (on the left)
The last in the series of monochrome, more or less minimal photos for this week’s Lens artists photo challenge #381 (minimalism in black and white photography).
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Marooned
An old boat, slowly decaying on the marshes near Blakeney. Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Bus Stop Morning
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. A bus stop at sunrise.
If you wonder how it looks in color? Here is an iPhone shot of 2024 at the same spot. In the monochrome the sun is not over the horizon, in the color one it is.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Dinner at the Wiveton Bell in Norfolk
Having dinner at the Wiveton Bell. A beautiful moonlight night, an open invitation to play with the iPhone. The results did surprise me.
The bottom right photo is taken with the night modus. The rest with the manual mode of ‘real light’.
The one of the church reminds me of a medieval painting.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Iced Sky
The sky through ice on a window.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
It’s Pink
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Different Levels
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Traces
Traces in the sky, passing by and fleeting.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Big Old Jet Airliner
The sky at dusk is a nice canvas to play with.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Sky
At dusk, a beautiful Winter sky.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Meerkoeten aka Moorhens
Moorhens in the canal.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Heavy Horizon
An iPhone long lens shot of a heavy rain sky. This was the first of the three photos I published the last three days.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Birds
An iPhone long lens shot of the horizon, catching geese by accident, against a heavy rain sky. I cropped the motorway A44 out on this one.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Blues
A long shot with an iPhone; a heavy rain sky with birds over motorway A44.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Out of the chimney
Who says chimneys are boring?
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
A Grey Quiet Day
Who says chimneys are boring?
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Just missed Saint Nicholas, or Waiting For Santa?
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Under A Rainbow
At the end of a rainbow should be a pot of gold. Not sure if that is a Mcadee.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
Lake Side
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Moon over Oegstgeest
The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #375 is ‘where to find the mysterious’. The full moon over the canal. A sight not often seen. This is a different photo of the same scene I posted yesterday.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Mondschein
The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #375 is ‘where to find the mysterious’. The full moon over the canal. A sight not often seen.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Incremental
Autumn skies at sunset.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Windowed Leafs
The sky and fallen leaves on windows.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
On The Road At Sunrise
On the road at sunrise, the A44 and A4 to Schiphol Amsterdam.
I am not sure this is filling the brief of LAPC #373 ‘looking back at landscapes’. It’s more looking forward on the road.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Sky Views
The sky and clouds are a dynamic big display of forms, colors and light. Looking up at times can take your mind off the daily life at moments.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Take it from the top
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Oegstgeest, The Netherlands
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
In The Dutch Mountains
The Netherlands, as its name indicates, is flat. ‘Flat as a pancake’. But sometimes it looks as if we have mountains.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Autumn Announcing
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
High Rise Head’s Up Berlin
This high rising can be found near the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Clean Berlin
On the corner of the former Checkpoint Charlie (on the West Side).
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
From the Reichstag Roof
Views from the roof of the Reichstag. The panorama in the middle of the topline is from the iPhone15promax. On the bottom row on the left, you can see several notable ‘towers’. There is the television tower on Alexanderplatz, the International Trade Center, Berlin Cathedral, and the Red Town Hall. On the top right on the left the dome of the Französischer Dom, and on the right the Deutchser Dom (on Gendarmenmarkt).
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Panorama shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max.
From the roof of the Reichstag
A view from the roof of the Reichstag, overlooking Tiergarten. On the left The Victory Column. On the right side is the Carillion, a 42 meter hight bell tower. And in the background the Teufelsberg.
I am not sure this photo is dreamy enough to enter Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #369 ‘dreamy’.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz: From Wall to Skyscrapers
Human measure on Potsdamer Platz. During the time of the Berlin Wall people were a spic in a vast open space. Now they are a spic being over towered by high rising.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Berlin Brandenburger Tor Photographers
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is a much used backdrop for photos in Berlin.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Both Sides Of History – Berlin Brandenburger Tor
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) in Berlin was an iconic point at the time of the Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer). The gate then stood in no mans land, and showed the alienating effects of division through the city. Now the Brandenburger Gate is a symbol of unity of Berlin. It was a pleasure to walk through the gates, and enjoy the people and streets around it. And the see the gate back at its splendor.
About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.
The monochrome set of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX. The colorfilm was Fuji, and shot on Pentax Espio 115M. 2025 photos shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the pictures for a larger version.
Berlin Gendarmenmarkt
One of the beautiful squares in Berlin: the Gendarmenmarkt. On one side you find the Deutscher Dom a.k.a. Neue Kirche (German Cathedral), and opposite the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral). The top photo reflects the latter in the doors of the Deutscher Dom.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Bundesrat Berlin
Walking through Berlin was sometimes causing some disorientation. Lots of places that were ‘void and empty’ in November 1989 are now (re)build. In 1989 I just saw a small part of former East Berlin. It was a challenge to figure out what I was looking at. An old building, a refurbished one or a new build? I have a slight preference for old buildings. Lots of them are beautifully restored. This is one of them: the Bundesrat in the former Prussian House of Lords. As seen from the Mall of Berlin.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Berlin’s Transformation: German Humor?
September 2025 I visited Berlin for the second time. My first visit was in November 1989. That coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall. After 46 years I wanted to see how Berlin had changed since ‘die Wende’. The coming days I will publish some photos of this trip.
Friends had ‘warned’ me about the changes I would see. What in 1989 was a vast open space (e.g. the Potzdamer Platz) is now completely filled with modern architecture. But what struck me the most was the vibrant vitality the city breathes now. It is cosmopolitan and a magnet.
One of the landmark squares of Berlin is Alexanderplatz. On a building just a few hunder meters away I saw this text ‘Allesandersplatz’. Everything is different square? German humor? Or the basic conclusion after the first day. A lot changed. At face value.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Writing In The Sky
Sometimes the clouds turn into a abstract symbol.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
City of Rembrandt
A view on the city where Rembrandt van Rijn was born, Leiden. It was the home where he grew up. There he started his now famous career as a painter. Later, he moved to Amsterdam.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #366 is ‘City Mouse/Country Mouse’. I am not familiar with the story. But as the brief puts it ‘there is no place like home’. Home is where the heart is.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
After Rain
The Netherlands, Scheveningen – September 2025
After rain comes sun at Scheveningen beach.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
On The Corner
A detail of a front in the Breestraat in Leiden with the tower of the townhall.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Red Yellow
Red and yellow fronts of houses in the Breestraat in Leiden.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Sunny Street: Breestraat Leiden
The Breestraat in Leiden with the townhall.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Pas de Calais
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #365 is ‘longing’. This landscape is so appealing, I still feel the excitement I felt when I shot this sequence.
shot with Nikon D70, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Outside
Lens- Artist Challenge #364 is ‘Quiet Moment’. A bicycle ride to clear the head. Seeing the bulbs for Spring being planted.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
What's (in) the Picture? 