What's (in) the Picture?

Chris Breebaart Photography – finding stories

Posts tagged ‘Black and white’

The Link

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

Intentional Creative Movement – Bicycle

This week’s Lens Artitsts Photo Challenge (#321) is Intentional Camera Movement (ICM). These photos are from a workshop in 1997 in France, where we had to create movement with a low shutter speed while following the subject. Basically a fun excercise but done on film. So the result literally came to light after developing the film. The excitement and anxiety about the possible results were out of scale! Patience.

These film archives are the source of my B4 retouch series.

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 Nikon F90 on Kodak TriX, scanned from film and edited using  Snapseed andMarksta. Click the picture for a bigger version

Exploring the Amsterdam-Sloterdijk Power Plant

A fossil power plant on smoke, next to the A5 in Amsterdam-Sloterdijk.

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

The monochrome loneliness of the SUP Paddler

The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – September 2024

Another – monochrome – photo of the SUP Paddler. The full sunrise colorful one is here.

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

Finding Beauty in the Ordinary: Canal Reflections

LAPC #316 is ‘Finding beauty in unexpected places’. One of the objects for photographs is the canal that runs through my village. It is quite ordinary, there is a vast amount of small and little canals to dispose of water in The Netherlands. To manage water in a country that is partly under sea level, one has to build infrastructure to keep dry feet. Two pictures taken at the same moment of the day, slightly different in monochrome style. The first is with the silvertone setting, the last with the dark setting on the iPhone. It changes the atmosphere completely. And one may be more beautiful than the other, it is all in the eye of the beholder.

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

Terrace Life

LAPC #316 is ‘Finding beauty in unexpected places’.

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

Coming In – Going Out

Incoming and outgoing traffic at Schiphol Amsterdam. Just a drive by, and no worries, I was not driving the car.

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

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

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

Glasshouses in The Netherlands: A Common Object | Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #316

The use of glasshouses is widespread in The Netherlands for all kinds of crops and flowers. Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #316 is ‘Common Object’.

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

On Track

The Netherlands, Denmark Haag – August 2024

A balanced rollercoaster at Drievliet.

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

Captivating View at Drievliet from the Ferris Wheel

The Netherlands, Den Haag – August 2024

Drievliet is a small and very old amusement park. A view from the ferris wheel looking at downtown Den Haag.

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

Captivating Views and Exciting Rides: Drievliet, The Hague’s Charming Amusement Park

Drievliet is a small and very old amusement park. Over fifty years ago I first went there on a school trip. Then most of the attractions had to be moved by muscle power. Last week I had my second visit to Drievliet with our grand children. The park is dramatically changed but still has the same appeal to kids: lots of fun to be had on rides, slides, rollercoasters, ferris wheels, merrygorounds etc. And of course the fries and icecream in between. The weather was not that good, but the clouds added to the view from the ferris wheel looking at downtown Den Haag.

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

Discover the Corbulo Tunnel Connection in The Netherlands | August 2024

The Netherlands, Voorschoten – August 2024

Building tunnels is not common in The Netherlands, the soil is mostly consisting of clay on top of a sandpackage. However, recently a new connection between motorway A4 and A44 was opened: the Corbulo Tunnel (link to a video). This is a shot from the first time I travelled throught it. The weekly LAPC #312 is sense of scale’

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

Atmosphere in Mono

The sky and clouds are a magnificent and continuous source of inspiration.

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

Missing His Twin

Egypt, Luxor – April 2002

This obelisk misses his twin, now standing in Paris on the Place de la Concorde, site for a lot of sports during the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The B4 retouch series
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. All of them are not completely retouched yet. Scratches, dust and stains are not removed.

Shot with Nikon F90 on KodakTriX, scanned from film and edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version.

Cairo 2002: Vintage Balcony Scene Captured on Kodak TriX | B4 Retouch Series

Egypt, Cairo – April 2002

A left over from an earlier LAPC ‘balconies’.

The B4 retouch series
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. All of them are not completely retouched yet. Scratches, dust and stains are not removed.

Shot with Nikon F90 on KodakTriX, scanned from film and edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version.

Asteroid B 612: Capturing the Power of the Moon

The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – July 2024

The Moon just stands there it seems, and mostly I do not pay too much attention to it. The power of the moon is enormous though, as it influences the level of the seas on Earth. At odd moments in the evening or morning I grab my camera when I spot the moon, I just can’t resist. This is one of those times, the haziness reminds me of the sand in the Sahara, the setting of Le Petit Prince, a beautiful book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Could this moon be asteroid B 612? The power of imagination, see what your eyes can not see.

Shot with Nikon D500, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version.

2nd Balcony Scene, but it’s not Shakespeare

LAPC 309 is about balconies. I have to admit that I do not pay special attention to balconies, unless they trigger me as I look around and they catch my eye. This in Rethymnon on Crete. My first entry was an original monochrome on film. With this one I could not decide between the original and the edited monochrome version. Hence you see them both. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

shot with Nikon D7000, edited using Snapseed and Marksta.  Click the picture for a larger version.

1st Balcony Scene, but it’s not Shakespeare

LAPC 309 is about balconies. I have to admit that I do not pay special attention to balconies, unless they trigger me as I look around and they catch my eye. This in Antwerp. My previous entry was an original monochrome on film. With this one I could not decide between the original and the edited monochrome version. Hence you see them both. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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

Capturing the Essence of a Typical Dutch Summer in Oegstgeest

The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – June 2024

June was wet, and July started wet but seems to end with more sun and less rain. It is a typical Dutch Summer.

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

Capturing the Charm of Paris: Balcony and French Windows in December 1993

France, Paris – December 2003

LAPC 309 is about balconies. I have to admit that I do not pay special attention to balconies, unless they trigger me as I look around and they catch my eye. I do however ‘collect’ French windows. So occasionally they pop up in a frame. This is one of those, in one of my favourite cities, Paris. From the analogue archive of December 1993.

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 Nikon F90 on Kodak TriX, scanned from film and edited using Snapseed and Marksta . Click the picture for a bigger version.

Side Of Motorway

The Netherlands, Sassenheim – June 2024

The same basin of the old watertower that I posted yesterday, but now on top of the barrier of the motorway.

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

Sassenheim Watertower Basin in Mono – June 2024

The Netherlands, Sassenheim – June 2024

The basin of an old watertower against the sky. It is not the nicest of buildings, but somehow it draws my attention when I see it. Last year I published its head in color, this time I choose for mono.

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

Government Departments Soaring Over Den Haag

The Netherlands, Den Haag – June 2024

Government departments rise up in the sky. For some the only way is up.

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

Capturing Views from a Train Window

The Netherlands, Den Haag – June 2024

Lines in the sky seen from one of the most beautiful frames for pictures in The Netherlands: a train window offering a beautiful frame with always changing content in it.

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

Castle ‘Oud Poelgeest’

The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – June 2024

Castle Oud Poelgeest

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

Scenic A12 Motorway Lights Fade in June 2024 – Den Haag

The Netherlands, Den Haag – June 2024

The lights seem to fade slowly along the A12 motorway leading into Den Haag.

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

Carpet Crawlers: A12 Motorway in Den Haag | June 2024

The Netherlands, Den Haag – June 2024

The A12 motorway leading into Den Haag downtown. You have to get into town to get out of the car, a free wording of a slogan used in the sixties and later in a beautiful Genesis song ‘Carpet Crawlers’ (the link to the Ray Wilson/Steve Hackette live version of 2014 in the Royal Albert Hall)

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

On The Beach

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – June 2024

A view showing the curve of the Dutch seafront looking at Scheveningen in the South from Katwijk aan Zee.

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

Allium Bulbflowers in Oegstgeest, Netherlands – A Twin Set of Mono and Color

Allium is one of our favorite bulbflowers in the garden. I present it as a twin set of mono next to color. Each version brings out different qualitaties in the flower I think, but that is of course subjective.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | Twins (5)

Architecture can be beautiful in full color as well in monochrome. In ‘twins’ I show the monochrome twin of the color shot at the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. The fift and last set is again New Orleans.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | Twins (4)

Architecture can be beautiful in full color as well in monochrome. In ‘twins’ I show the monochrome twin of the color shot at the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. The fourth set is New Orleans.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | Twins (3)

Architecture can be beautiful in full color as well in monochrome. In ‘twins’ I show the monochrome twin of the color shot at the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. The third set is the Montevideo.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | Twins (2)

Architecture can be beautiful in full color as well in monochrome. In ‘twins’ I show the monochrome twin of the color shot at the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. The second set is an old elevator at the Rijnhaven.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | Twins

Architecture can be beautiful in full color as well in monochrome. In ‘twins’ I show the monochrome twin of the color shot of the high risings in Rotterdam on the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. The first set is De Rotterdam by Rem Koolhaas.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | Blocked



The Netherlands, Rotterdam – May 2024

LAPC challenge #305 is about composition: two rectangles as a play tool to frame a photo. Sometimes you get lots more than two, which adds to another aspect of composition: repetition. Not sure if this qualifies as a valid entry, but I do like the building. This is De Rotterdam by Rem Koolhaas.

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

On the beach

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – June 2024

LAPC challenge #305 is about composition: two rectangles as a play tool to frame a photo.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | Floats

The Netherlands, Rotterdam – May 2024

The Rijnhaven in Rotterdam seen from the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s the Kop van Zuid: Old Trade

The Netherlands, Rotterdam – May 2024

The Rijnhaven in Rotterdam seen from the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam.

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

Exploring Rotterdam’s Kop van Zuid | New Orleans Skyscraper

The Netherlands, Rotterdam – May 2024

The Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam is home to various highrisings, some named after big cities. This is New Orleans.

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

Erasmus Bridge

The Netherlands, Rotterdam – May 2024

The Erasmus bridge in Rotterdam.

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

Dirty Window

The Netherlands, Katwijk aan Zee – June 2024

This weeks LAPC # 304 is ‘Background: behind the subject’. A dirty window of a terrace at the beach.

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

Skuumkoppen

The Netherlands, Oegstgeest – May 2024

A popular beer from an original small independent brewery on the island of Texel is called ‘Skuumkoppen’. It refers to the white on breaking waves.

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The Final Parrot


England, Dorking – Forest Green – May 2024

The outside terrace of The Parrot in Forest Green/Dorking.

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