Sunrise in black and grey
A monochrome sunrise in black and greys.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
A monochrome sunrise in black and greys.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
The Magnoliaa few weeks ago, ready to burst out into Spring.
The foreground is here the show stealer, the background adds just context to the frame. For this week’s LAPC (#392) ‘foreground, middle and background’.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version



The garden comes back to green and colors. This tree was a new addition and looked quite poorly but is recovering day by day.
The LAPC theme this week (#391) is ‘Phone photography’.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version


If you visit my blog – like I hope you do or from now start to do – you must have recognized my ‘old’ love for monochrome. When I started this hobby, mono was fashionable and a standard for news photography. And it was cheaper. In this series I offer you two versions of a photo. And you can prefer one over the other, or not.
This week’s theme #390 is ‘color in black and white’. The theme focuses on the cognitive fact that our brains still know a color, even if it is in a grey tone. So the sky is blue, the grass green etc. Here you can see what colors do in greys, and if that is appealing or not to your taste pallet.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Well, it is not a box, but the association with the name is quite powerful. This ‘box’ holds only sparkly things, instead of the mythological one. I published the color version a week ago. Westfield in Leidschendam, Mall of The Netherlands.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseedand Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.


If you visit my blog – like I hope you do or from now start to do – you must have recognized my ‘old’ love for monochrome. When I started this hobby, mono was fashionable and a standard for news photography. And it was cheaper. In this series I offer you two versions of a photo. And you can prefer one over the other, or not.
This week’s theme is ‘Time to relax’. On a bicycle ride through fields where soon bulb flowers will pop up, together with other cyclists. This is a piece of a polder showing the low horizon in the sun.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version


If you visit my blog – like I hope you do or from now start to do – you must have recognized my ‘old’ love for monochrome. When I started this hobby, mono was fashionable and a standard for news photography. And it was cheaper. In this series I offer you two versions of a photo. And you can prefer one over the other, or not.
This week’s theme is ‘Time to relax’. On a bicycle ride through fields where soon bulb flowers will pop up, together with other cyclists. Thought I am not really sure about this piece of land, it is just been plowed it seems.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version


If you visit my blog – like I hope you do or from now start to do – you must have recognized my ‘old’ love for monochrome. When I started this hobby, mono was fashionable and a standard for news photography. And it was cheaper. In this series I offer you two versions of a photo. And you can prefer one over the other, or not.
This week’s theme is ‘Time to relax’. On a bicycle ride through fields where soon bulb flowers will pop up, together with other cyclists. On the color version you can see the deep purple of early hyacinths. With Some yellow late Daffodils.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version


If you visit my blog – like I hope you do or from now start to do – you must have recognized my ‘old’ love for monochrome. When I started this hobby, mono was fashionable and a standard for news photography. And it was cheaper. In this series I offer you two versions of a photo. And you can prefer one over the other, or not.
This week’s theme is ‘Time to relax’. On a bicycle ride through fields where soon bulb flowers will pop up, together with other cyclists. On the color version you can see the deep purple of early hyacinths. With Some yellow late Daffodils.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
This week’s theme is ‘Time to relax’. On a bicycle ride through fields where soon bulb flowers will pop up, together with other cyclists and the occasional runner.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Spring is here and last weekend I made a little bicycle ride to check out the bulb flower fields. Daffodils where coming up, and at odd places hyacinths started to show. A nice way to relax and enjoy the lovely day outside. As did others by walking, running or cycling. Fitting this week’s theme ‘Time to relax’.
Shot with iPhone 17 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version




Some of the last photos with the iPhone15 Pro Max. A close view on a shopping floor. Like it is an endless circle of steps lining the floor. what can you do waiting for someone shopping?
Westfield in Leidschendam, Mall of The Netherlands. This weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #387 is Shadowed. How do you use shadows in photography.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseedand Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Westfield in Leidschendam, Mall of The Netherlands. This weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #387 is Shadowed. How do you use shadows in photography.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Den Haag Haagse Poort on a day with fog. Just a mono.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseedand Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.


It is quite a simple question to ask. Do you prefer the monochrome version or the colored version of a photo?
I grew up with monochrome. Because it was cheaper. That applied to films as well as darkroom costs.
The mono version emphasizes the background and atmosphere. The colored version is high lighting the front of the frame.
But in the end, as the famous nr. 14 Johan Cruyff said: every advantage has its disadvantages. And the choice is as always subjective.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseedand Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Streetlights.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.


LAPC #386 invites to use the power of juxtaposition. I give the brief a bit more room for experiment, and put two pictures next to another. They both have a narrative of their own. It is basically the same subject (trees) but framed in a different way.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
LAPC #386 invites to use the power of juxtaposition. Basically put two objects in a frame to create a narrative or reaction about their relation. A street lamp and two poles.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.



The LAPC theme #385 is ‘unusual crop’. Station Den Haag – Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië (that is a throat breaker for most of you non-Dutch speakers). Tracking the tracks.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The LAPC theme #385 is ‘unusual crop’. This one was cropped/framed by zoom on the iPhone while shooting.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The LAPC theme #385 is ‘unusual crop’. It is about cropping (re-framing an existing image) for effect. I used an old photo from March 2018 to play with for this theme. I cropped it to get rid of some elements that I kept in the original shot. This theme makes me think about how I shoot and the principles I learned in the past.
I am not sure I fully understand the essence of the brief. I only understand it if I take it literally: how it is unusual for me to use cropping while editing. Let me try to explain. Cropping afterwards is to re-frame a shot. My aim is to frame a desired photo at the shoot on the camera. That is a principal I learned long ago. Modern technology helps. You can see the result of a shot right away on the camera. And zoom lenses give you the flexibility to decide about the framing. Long ago, all I shot was on a 50 mm lens on film. Then sometimes I deliberately shot to ‘crop’ the result. E.g. when I was unable to get close enough. In the darkroom, you enlarged the picture (blow up), and then decided the result of the frame. Nevertheless, this often resulted in a loss of quality (grain, sharpness). So I learned to frame from the start, long ago.
But even in those analogue days, blowing up negatives was creative, it added to the texture of a photo. Nowadays it is easier to be playful using better technology. Camera’s, phones, software, monitors, computers all contribute to more agility in the editing process.
I am curious about the perspective of other ‘old school’ photographers. The ones who used film and a darkroom in the past before the digital age. How do they view this challenge?
Shot with iPhone 6s plus edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.


Every time we travel to the UK via the Channel Tunnel, I try to take photos of these steel giants. The same goes for when we return from there. They carry power lines in the area of St. Georges-sur-l’Aa. No worries, I’m in the passenger seat.
They remind me of mythical knights, marching in line over the fields. In the archive you find a set of photos over the years.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. The marshes at first sunlight, as the light details the waving reeds.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. Overlooking the marshes at first sunlight in the direction of Cley next the sea.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. The marshes at first sunlight.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Lens artists photo challenge #381 is ‘minimalism in black and white photography’. The marshes at Blakeney are a place for running and hiking.
Shot with Nikon Zf,edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.



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.
Even in Winter there is blossom. Like Spring is already here.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Even in Winter there is blossom. And in monochrome it looks like snow :-).
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
The year 2025 ends and we cross over to 2026. I hope the new year will be a good one. I wish it brings some of the desires I cherish in my heart. I am sure others cherish these desires as well.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
The canal in the fog.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
A small milestone maid: yesterday I passed the 300.000 views on this blog. Thank you.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.



Moorhens in the canal.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
End of the year event in Encore in Scheveningen.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Who says chimneys are boring?
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.






The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #374 is ‘on the move’. Most of what is on these photos has not moved in a long time. However, the machines they got moving again are brilliant. It is a place where they try to keep history alive and accessible, touchable and usable.
The Steamtrain Museum Katwijk Leiden is run by volunteers. It offers the history of steam trains and their use on narrow gauge tracks. And the volunteers fix up and restore old locomotives, carriages and other cars. They have a big storage full of old parts and rusty machines.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Having fresh flowers in the house is a blessing.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.




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


The same location, two photos.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

The front of the Reichstag. A visit was on the top of my list. In 1989 the Berlin Wall was right next to the building; and since 1989 this area was completely developed. So we booked a visit to the dome. On this photo I left the dome out consciously. I wanted to have an image like the building looked in November 1989 below.
The history of the Reichstag is connected to my hometown and Leiden. In 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe was accused, tried and sentenced by the Nazi-regime for setting fire to the building. He was born in Leiden en lived in Oegstgeest, as did his family.
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.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version. The monochrome photo of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX.
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.


Checkpoint Charlie, symbol of the cold war.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Berlin has a wonderful (and cheap) public transportation infrastructure. One of the building blocks is the U-Bahn.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version




Last September I revisited Berlin after 46 years. One of the reasons to come back was to visit the Memorial to the murdered Jews in Europe. I had read stories and seen photos, and I wondered how I would take photo’s of it. And what it would be like to wonder through it. This visit I had my first experience with the monument. Here is the first impression (and the coming days I will publish some more).
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.



One of the memorial landmarks of Berlin is the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche. In its simplicity it is a powerful landmark and memorial.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.