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.
A bicycle tour brought us to the Zijwatering, a canal from Wassenaar to the Oude Rijn (in the time of the Roman Empire the present Old Rhine was part of the Rhine estuary and came into the Northsea at Katwijk). It was a surprise and also a delight to see the beauty of the landscape under a beatiful early Autumn sun. The bottom photo is a panorama, using this feature on the iPhone makes straight lines bend.
I pictured a rainbow You held it in your hands I had flashes But you saw the plan I wandered out in the world for years While you just stayed in your room I saw the crescent You saw the whole of the moon The whole of the moon
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’.
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.
This week LAPC 243 is ‘it’s tricky’. Lots of tricky things.: a cold day, a cold sea, a cold dive. Snapping on the iPhone with zoom, tricky and a bit cheeky.
Sometimes the color and mono have a fight. Two totally different tones and feelings to the same photo. And an answer to the question I phrased in the previous two posts.
This week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge 240 is hosted by John Steiner. He invites to show my favorite type or style of photography as the road I have chosen to take most often. And – I was not really honest when I wrote this – that creates a bit of a problem for me. I might need direction.
Basically my attention gets caught and produces an image. It is not conscious, it is in the context where I am. And it results in an array of subjects. It is easier to say what road I do not take: fashion, portraits, urban. But travel, cities, landscapes etc are part of the portfolio.
I asked visitors feedback, and I am happy that those who took time to answer (thank you!) confirmed my own view on ‘my work’. Describing it as ‘random variety’ ‘context orientated’; I am in the place I should be (and I feel comfortable in). And it is a true pleasure to receive these kind phrased comments. So: I keep doing what I do, snap in context, it is fun!
Right now the coast at Katwijk is work in progress. Sand is dredged out of the sea, pressed through tubes and added just before the beach under the water. 5,5 cubic meters of sand. Making it safe again and compliant to standards. As always Rijkswaterstaat does an amazing job.
The weekly theme for LAPC #237 is ‘bringing softness’. Softness can be achieved in processing a sharp photo. Or just use zoom on an iPhone and do not keep it still while pressing the shutter. It gives the softness that makes this beach view interesting.
Right now the coast at Katwijk is work in progress. Sand is dredged out of the sea, pressed through tubes and added just before the beach under the water. 5,5 cubic meters of sand. Making it safe again and compliant to standards. As always Rijkswaterstaat does an amazing job.
The theme for LAPC 234 is ‘messages’. The dunes and the retreated sea create a wonderful open space that connects land, sea, sky and men. A space for stories, dreams and desires.
The Lens-artists challenge #197 is ‘rule of thirds’. The rule of thirds is a rule of thumb how to compose images. There are more ‘rules’; another is the ‘s’ like in the photo above. Whatever rule you like to use: break them and tweak them till you are happy with the result of the photo you are putting together. In the end your gut tells a lot about what constitutes a decent picture to your liking.
This weeks challenge #187 is ‘water’. The Galgenwater in Leiden. In the background a replica a of the mill that was used by the father of Rembrandt van Rijn, who was born to the left of the bridge in the distance in 1606, 410 years before this photo.
In the paradox of Achilles and the tortoise, Achilles is in a footrace with the tortoise. Achilles allows the tortoise a head start of 100 meters, for example. Suppose that each racer starts running at some constant speed, one faster than the other. After some finite time, Achilles will have run 100 meters, bringing him to the tortoise’s starting point. During this time, the tortoise has run a much shorter distance, say 2 meters. It will then take Achilles some further time to run that distance, by which time the tortoise will have advanced farther; and then more time still to reach this third point, while the tortoise moves ahead. Thus, whenever Achilles arrives somewhere the tortoise has been, he still has some distance to go before he can even reach the tortoise.