Growing Up
The aim is to get up into the light and find your place among the rest of the garden.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Posts from the ‘Oegstgeest’ category
Japanese Anemone
The Japanese Anemone in the front garden at close look.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
In Hindsight
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Final Approach
Incoming flights can be annoying, on the other hand they offer a dynamic photo subject!
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Levels Day
During the Summer we see much more incoming traffic to Schiphol Amsterdam. Quite annoying actually, every minute a plane coming in. During day time they approach just over 600 meters, but in the evening they fly in from 1000 meters. When the wind turns West again in Autumn it will be over. However, who enjoys sitting in his garden in Autumn rain?
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Morning Rain
The morning sun reflecting the drops of rain that the night left behind.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Catch if you can
A long dry Summer with a garden begging for rain.
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On Water
On a warm Summer’s day, there are traffic jams on the canal.
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Hovering
A plant in the front garden offers months of beauty in the sunlight of the morning sun. Using the portrait mode of the iPhone results in ‘hovering’ effects of parts of the plant that seem now unattached.
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Front Garden Beauty
A plant in the front garden offers months of beauty in the sunlight of the morning sun.
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Leaves
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Choices And Preferences 2 (Sky)
I have a fondness for black and white aka monochrome. That grew on me. Mono was cheaper 50 years ago and more ‘easy’ to handle in a dark room. Monochrome gives something extra at times. The sphere, the grain. And over all these years I learned to see objects in monochrome, visualizing what something looks like in grays.
When I bought my first Nikon digital camera (the D70), I naively asked ‘where is the monochrome setting?’. It was not there. Shooting was color only. If I wanted mono I had to create it myself afterwards in Lightroom, Photoshop or an app like Snapseed. But lucky for me, on the iPhone and on the recent Nikon Zf, there are monochrome settings. To be honest, that was one of the reasons to buy a Zf. So now I have a choice: choose a mono or color setting, or turn color afterward turn it into mono.
I know the taste of my ‘audience’ is different than mine. In three days I like to find out more about your taste. What do you fancy more: a photo in mono or in color?
This second one is about sky. Always there, lots of it. In color it can be blue, white, gray, dark. In mono it delivers whites, grays and dark zones. In mono the image changes it seems. An abstract sky can turn into something mysterious. The photo was shot in color.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Triple
And another update from the garden: the Magnolia is doing superb this year. Let’s hope the abundance of green in leaves will lead to an abundance of flowers next Spring.
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Growing Tomatoes and Cucumbers in Oegstgeest
This year we try to grow tomatoes and cucumbers in the garden.
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Stunning Sunset Over Oegstgeester Kanaal
And yes, another sunset. Well, they come around every day. This one is a golden gem.
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Blue
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And Another Sunset Nudge
One can not take enough photos of sunsets.
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Drips (And Other Thoughts About Photography)
This week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #359 is ‘Tools of Photo Compositions: Lines, Colors and Patterns’. Photography is about seeing. But what do you see? I can only talk for myself. It all starts with an appeal. Something in the real world captures my eyes. Most of the times that is spontaneous. It is about being there in the moment. What I visualize tells me a story, a small whisper, ‘come, shoot me! It’s fun’. And when building the photo lines, patterns, colors (or monochrome tones) are tools to try to bring that story out. And then the shutter clicks. My photo’s are my story of the world. My way of giving ‘voice’ to something that made me press the shutter, that reflects inside me. Yet, my click with the image can be totally different than the click of the observer.
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Swift
The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – July 2025
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Genesis Inspiration: Photographing the Moon with iPhone
One of my favorite bands is Genesis. In 1976 A Trick of the Tail came out with a beautiful song ‘Mad Man Moon’. Last month I tried to take a shot of the moon using my iPhone. And this is the result.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Golden Summer Morning
And the sun also rises in gold on a Summer morning. And when you shoot it in color, it is literally photographer’s gold.
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Capturing Summer Mornings in Oegstgeest
Summer mornings can sometimes welcome you into a warm, joyful and laid back day. This is one of those days filled with ease. The sun also rises, each day, at more or less the same place. And when you catch it early, it is photographer’s gold.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
White Agapanthus
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Summer Morning
Sun shining through the trees on the start of another warm Summer day.
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Contemplation
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Unique Dutch Stereotypes and Cherished Flowers: Chrysanthemum
We Dutch are often described as being on the penny. Of course, we all wear wooden clogs. We eat stroopwafels all the time. We have a fetish for windmills. And do not forget to accuse us of creating our own country by fighting the sea. We drink to gain courage and let you pay your own meal. Add tulips and other bulb flowers to finish the picture of the Dutch. Oh yes, we are considered rude. We call it ‘direct’.
In the end we sure have a laugh about all that is said about us, Dutchies, worldwide. But if you combine being on the penny with buying flowers, you choose flowers that stay good for weeks: Chrysanthemum. As Johan Cruyff used to say: “every disadvantage, has its advantage”.
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Exploring Dutch Gladioli: Culture and Significance
In The Netherlands, we do grow lots of cut flowers. A lot of them are exported but there is plenty of supply for the domestic market. In our household we have fresh cut flowers every week. Last week we had these big fellows. Gladioli are famous for the saying ‘death or the gladioli’. A Dutch proverb that translates to ‘all or nothing’ or ‘do or die’. Success or failure.
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Unexpected iPhone Long Exposure Sunset Shot
While trying to take an after sunset photo, my iPhone decided it needed a long exposure. The result an unexpected shot. This is the photo I aimed for. It was published two days ago. It shows the sun reflecting in the clouds after sunset.
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Garden Joy: Agapanthus
The garden is a joy now, flowers popping up everywhere. The Agapanthus are doing very well this year. They are the diva’s this time of year. This is a white agapanthus, tweaking it a bit with Snapseed turned it into yellow all of a sudden.
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Stunning Sunset Reflections in Oegstgeest
The sun reflects its light in the clouds after sunset.
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Allium Afterglow
This is the last stage of the yearly cycle of a giant Allium. It comes in three photo versions after showing that amazing flower, that we enjoyed this year.
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Hosta After Rain
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Rendezvous
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Roger that, Roger
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Sunset
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Coming Home
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Boats
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The Bird
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Sunflower
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Hosta
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Under Steps 2
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Under Steps 1
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Orchid
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More Peony
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Peony
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Wisteria 3
This is the Wisteria on its best! It is absolutely gorgeous, for us and the wild bees!
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Wisteria 2
The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – May 2025
This is the Wisteria on its best! It is absolutely gorgeous, for us and the wild bees!
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Wisteria
The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – May 2025
This is the Wisteria on its best! It is absolutely gorgeous, for us and the wild bees!
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
When You Feel Spring
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Fresh Spring Sun
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What's (in) the Picture? 