What's (in) the Picture?

Chris Breebaart Photography – finding stories

Posts from the ‘Windmill’ category

Choices And Preferences 1 (Cley next the sea)

A scenic view of the Cley windmill set against a backdrop of a cloudy sky and tall golden grasses in the foreground.
A black and white photograph of the Cley windmill, located in Cley next the Sea, set against a field of grasses under a cloudy sky.
England, Cley next the sea – January 2025

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: mono or color.

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 is the famous Cley windmill at Cley next the sea. It’s by far the best name for a coastal village. Interestingly, it actually does not have a sea front. The mill was owned by the family of James Blunt. The photo was shot in color.

Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Exploring Leiden’s Scenic Canals: A Summer Evening

The Netherlands, Leiden – July 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #359 is ‘Tools of Photo Compositions: Lines, Colors and Patterns’.
A sunset over the Galgenwater in Leiden. A warm Summer night, with lots of boats cruising the canals. In the background the replica of the windmill of Rembrandt van Rijn’s father.

Archive Leiden

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Frigate

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – June 2025

During the NATO summit navy vessels patrolled the coast. This is a impressionistic long shot of a frigate finding its way through the windmills.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Jonathan Livingston I presume?

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – June 2025

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Modern Times: Don Quixote needs swimming lessons

A serene view of offshore wind turbines on a blue sea under a clear sky.
The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – June 2025

In our times Don Quixote would be busy fighting a plenty of windmills. Most of them you find at sea, would he take swimming lessons?

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Goede Hoop

The Netherlands, Voorhout – May 2025

Windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ in Voorhout.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta.  Click the picture for a larger version.

The Road Ahead

The Netherlands, Voorhout – May 2025

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta.  Click the picture for a larger version.

On the beach


The Netherlands, Noordwijk – March 2025

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

All Quiet


The Netherlands, Noordwijk – March 2025

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

High Key

The Netherlands, Noordwijk – March 2025

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

De Valk

The Netherlands, Leiden – February 2025

Windmill De Valk is one of few left in the city. It is a museum, but since 2000 is it being used for milling again.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Where Old Meets New aka Advertising Space

The Netherlands, Leidschendam – February 2025

This week Lens Artist Photo Challenge #335 is exploring color versus monochrome aka black and white. Compare a color photo with a monochrome print of it. What works better? 

A few days ago I published a resembling shot in color and mono. This post differs from the earlier ones. The tree on the right went out of the frame. And a very modern advertising pole pops up in the background.

My love for the bleak colors of Winter’s light are the same. But I prefer this mono version, even if it was originally shot in color. GrainLab is a great tool, and the atmosphere of the photo is ‘old’ but the view is modern.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Meet The Ducks

The Netherlands, Leidschendam – February 2025
The Netherlands, Leidschendam – February 2025

This week Lens Artist Photo Challenge #335 is exploring color versus monochrome aka black and white. Compare a color photo with a monochrome print of it. What works better? 

Two landscapes, originally shot in color. I do prefer the monochrome version. That was tweaked with GrainLab.

Yesterday I publiced this one in color. I do like it, the bleak colors of Winter light are nice. But I prefer this mono version, even if it was originally shot in color. The dark spots are much more toned and I do like the grain feel of Kodak Tri X.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Back Up

The Netherlands, Leidschendam – February 2025

This week Lens Artist Photo Challenge #335 is exploring color versus monochrome aka black and white. Compare a color photo with a monochrome print of it. What works better?

I tend to think in black and white at most moments. Just my preference. And if I can I shoot just in a mono mode on my iPhone or my recent purchased Nikon Zf.

Yesterday I publiced this one in color. I do like it, the bleak colors of Winter light are nice. But I prefer this mono version, even if it was originally shot in color,

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Don Quichotte has to stand tall nowadays

The Netherlands, Leidschendam – February 2025

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Drawing Lines


The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – November 2024

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

An evening at Katwijk aan Zee Around Sunset – August 2024

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

Sometimes it just happens. You are in a place and the light is fantastic, and there is so much to frame in a photo. The sunset is spectacular and for some odd 30 minutes you are in a photography candy shop. This is a selection of what ended up on my phone on that hot August evening.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Who is afraid of Blue


The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

And the last one of a brilliant hour at the beach on a Summer evening to enjoy the sunset while having dinner. That was a nice bubble to be in.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Stunning Black and White Sunsets in Katwijk (Give a Little Bit)


The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

Yesterday I told you about my passion and history in monochrome. And that I do shoot sunsets in black and white. Here is another one of the same sunset, but framed different. I will publish an overview of all those shots of same sunset that evening. Each of them show a bit of it, it’s in my humble opinion nice to see the big picture.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Monochrome Magic: Capturing Black and White Sunsets

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

If you did not notice, I am a big fan of monochrome. In fact, monochrome film was way back the medium I started with. It was cheap and you print your own photos in a darkroom. That was adventurous and frustrating at the same time. Not to sound old, but nowadays with wonderful software, editing images is easier, faster and more fun. And you instantly see what you get! But sometimes I do miss the anxiety of the darkroom, seeing a photo come up in the developer. Back to now. I do shoot sunsets in black and white, and here is one. The atmosphere of the shot is different, more dark and eerie.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Sunset Views in Katwijk – Wind, Water and Cabins

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

The view at the beach from the boulevard of Katwijk aan Zee, a few hours before sunset.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Spectacular Sunset in Katwijk aan Zee – A Visual Delight

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

The theme for this week LAPC 316 is ‘Destanation: Fun‘.  Going to the beach is fun, but witnessing a brilliant sunset on a warm Summer evening, while a display of boats and windmills complete the scene, is true fun. Here is the full view of the scenery of the sunset, I just picked out parts of it in other photos published earlier (and after).

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Beach Fun: Captivating Sunset in Katwijk aan Zee, Netherlands

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

The theme for this week LAPC 316 is ‘Destanation: Fun‘.  Going to the beach is fun, but witnessing a brilliant sunset on a warm Summer evening, while a dispaly of boats and windmills complete the scene, is true fun. I published a few of them already two weeks ago (see the archive Katwijk). I hope you still have fun watching them.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Dramatic Monochrome Skies Over The Netherlands – August 2024

The Netherlands, Voorhout – August 2024

The sky over The Netherlands is a wonderful object for photos, we do have lot of sky over our flat land above the low horizon. And that sky can be quite dramatic, even more in monochrome.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Netherlands Landscape: Summer Scene with Cows, Windmill, and Farm

The Netherlands, Voorhout – August 2024

The Netherlands is as flat as a pancake. That is the way foreigners describe my precious habitat. It is not completely accurate, we do have some hills and dunes. The advantage of a flat surface is that we have lots of sky above the horizon. Here a typical Summer scene: rain filled sky and cows in the meadows, the odd windmill and farm.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Noordzee Beach: A Stunning Sunset View | Lens Artists Challenge 314

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

The theme for this week LAPC 314 is ‘shorelines‘. My main shoreline is the beach of the Noordzee. And the views it offers, particularly at special moments of the day like a sunset. The sky looks like it offers an extra layer of reflection for the sun, a second horizon.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Is It A Romantic Sunset Shot Or Just The Two Of Us?

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

When you are on a spot where you see such a wonderful sunset, it is normal to shoot multiple photos. This couple appeared in a few of the photos already, but each time they are in a shot, it is the framing of a different story as I see it. Maybe you do too. The theme for this week LAPC 314 is ‘shorelines‘.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

All Ready For Tomorrow


The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

The sun sets, everything is cleaned up and ready for tomorrow for new clients. It is the Summer rhythm of the beach on the shoreline of the Noordzee. The theme for this week LAPC 314 is ‘shorelines‘.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

On The Shoreline


The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

Sunsets can be shared! The theme for this week LAPC 314 is ‘shorelines‘.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Sunset On The Shoreline

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2024

The sun sets in Katwijk, exposing the sea to a layer of gold. The theme for this week LAPC 314 is ‘shorelines‘.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Windmill De Valk in Leiden, Netherlands – A Living Museum Since 2000

The Netherlands, Leiden – August 2024

Windmill De Valk is one of few left in the city. It is a museum, but since 2000 is it being used for milling again.

Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Exploring Dutch Tourist Attractions: A Photo Gallery

Leann Cole suggested ‘tourist attractions, near and far’ as LAPC’s 307. My motivation for going to places changed in my life time. From ‘active’ holidays (including climbing some big mountains by bycicle) to complete leisure (eg seeing the Greek Isles with lots of lazy moments). And in between the travels to dig into the culture and essence of a place on earth, to learn and experience it. But wherever I went as a ‘photographer’ I tried to capture where I was. To be stunned by what is just there in front of you, the unexpected. And yes, the times I did visit an ‘iconic attraction’ I tried to find my own way of framing it, trying to keep away form the cliches that are so widely known. For this challenge I dig into my blogs archive, all the photos are here published already.

Over the years I learned to value and appreciate my own way of looking, being surprised by my own views of what I saw and how I saw it. To appreciate simple things of beauty that stuck out or the composition of objects. If you travel far, you are only there for a moment, if you stay close to home you have access all of the time. But being close to home the challenge is bigger to stay open, to see what is there, to not take it for granted.

Today is the ‘near’ version. So close to where I live, but for tourists reasons to travel. I just browsed and picked out some themes that may strike recognition: flowers, flower parade, Rotterdam and its architecture and harbour, Leiden (my alma mater and birthplace of Rembrandt), windmills, flat lands, watermanagement (polder, canals) and the beach. All of them so near and familiar.

I hope you do enjoy the gallery, and if you want to plunge deep into more of it I invite you to search by category finding Amsterdam, Den Haag, more flower fields and flowers and who knows Dutch clogs?

Poppies in Dutch Landscape

The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – June 2024

This weeks LAPC # 304 is ‘Background: behind the subject’. Poppies against a familiar backdrop in the landscape of The Netherlands, 

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Light

The Netherlands, Voorhout – January 2024

This week’s Lens Artists Challenge #287 is ‘Sound’. The road is busy, the sound of cars is in my ears as I try to frame this mill against the sunset, trying to avoid a car in the frame at first. Then zooming out and coming back to the road I ended up with this one, showing the lamplight and the cars coming and fading in the distance. This is the last in a series of four of Windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ in Voorhout against the Winter sunset. The first three in a list in order of publication:

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Windmill at Winter Sunset

The Netherlands, Voorhout – January 2024

An iconic view of The Netherlands for many tourists. Windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ in Voorhout against the Winter sunset.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger

Winter Sunset

The Netherlands, Voorhout – January 2024

For LAPC #285 is ‘warm colors’. A warm toned Winter sunset.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger

Winter Sunset

The Netherlands, Voorhout – January 2024

An iconic view of The Netherlands for many tourists. Windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ in Voorhout against the Winter sunset for LAPC #284 ‘day&night’.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger

Dark: Hoop Doet Leven

The Netherlands, Voorhout – November 2023

The windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ between Oegstgeest and Voorhout in a backdrop of rain with matching cars to the dark sky.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger

Windmill

The Netherlands, Waardenburg – November 2023

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #276 is ‘looking up/looking down’. Road side view while not driving myself. 

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

There, near the windmill (‘Daar bij die molen’)

The Netherlands, Alphen aan den Rijn – September 2023

Windmill Vrouwgeestmolen at the Heimanswetering.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Rembrandt’s View

The Netherlands, Leiden – September 2023

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #266 is ‘Time’. It takes a lot of time to tell everything about the concept of time.

One of the best musical stories about time is by Pink Floyd: Time of the brilliant timeless album The Dark Side of the Moon, that was released 50 years ago.

This week I try to show aspects that come to my mind. The first is history at present. Places where important moments in time happened. Which you observe from the present.

This is a recent sunset over the Galgewater in Leiden. ‘Where? Why? Of what importance?’ I hear you say. At the bridge on the left side of the frame Rembrandt van Rijn was born. A copy of the mill his father used for his business is on the right. The only thing Rembrandt would have seen is the sunset, and the mills. All the buildings and boats etc are ‘after Rembrandt’.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

A Cloudy Windy Day At The Beach

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – August 2023

A windy day with some beautiful clouds on a Sunday at the beach in Katwijk. The clear views showed the curve of the coastline, with the silhouette of Scheveningen in the south, and beyond that, the harbor of Rotterdam.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Zijl

The Netherlands, Leiden – May 2023

How much more Dutch can a landscape be? Flat, low horizon, water, boat and windmill. and Water Lillies as a substitute for tulips 😂. De Zijl near Leiden.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Mill at Night

The Netherlands, Leiden – May 2023

A bit of a ‘a bit of this, a bit of that on a junk pile shot’. Molen De Valk in Leiden, the entrance of an underground parking, a lamplight and a building crane. Still there is some magic in it.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Hoop doet leven

The Netherlands, Voorhout – February 2023

The windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ between Oegstgeest and Voorhout in a Winter sun.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Silhouetted Windmill

The Netherlands, Voorhout – February 2023

The silhouette of the windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ between Oegstgeest and Voorhout in a Winter sun.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’

The Netherlands, Voorhout – February 2023

The silhouette of the windmill ‘Hoop doet leven’ between Oegstgeest and Voorhout in a Winter sun.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Zeeland

The Netherlands, Lisse – August 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #215 – Planes, Trains, and Automobiles… and the Places They Take Us.
On the road to Antwerp, a view on Zeeland, passing over the Volkerakdam, that was created by the Delta Works after the floods of 1953.

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version

Windmill en passant

The Netherlands, Noordwijkerhout – August 2022

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #211 is ‘what is your groove’. Basically I enjoy looking around, up and down till something strikes me as interesting. A wonderful way of looking around is during bicycle hikes. This small old windmill is next to an old transport canal from Haarlem to Leiden, and the railway Leiden to Haarlem. I shot it ‘passing by/en passant’ so the framing may seem a bit odd (and yes, it was safe to do that at that time 🙂 ).

Shot with iPhone 13 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version