This was shot at the Walk the Line 2011 festival: http://www.walkthelinefestival.nl/, one of my favourite music festivals, because it is one of the few that is just about the (new) music. Although I like this image a lot, aesthetically, it actually does not convey the mood of the moment and place. It was a in the dark venue called 't Paard that was then cramped and sweaty, with upbeat exciting and danceable music, whereas the image shows a concentrated almost introvert singer in a clean environment. I like the razor sharpness and coldness of the microphone contrasting with the warm-blooded lead singer of Young the Giant. Could it be so that nice professional mikes stimulate great singing? I was lucky by the way that the image came out well, despite the extreme settings.

I have good memories attached to this one. On top of the Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig most people come to gaze at the 360 degree view. But these rather tough looking guys came up the stairs and got some already open beer bottles from the inner pockets of their jackets, perhaps proud to have fooled the guards. When they leaned on the wall and started to enjoy their drinks I realised this would make a nice photo. I made a gesture and asked for their permission to make a photograph, but instead of standing still they all immediately backed away thinking they blocked my view. When I made it clear it was them I wanted to picture they where quite flabbergasted but willing to pose. Of course I should have taken more time to compose carefully, but I still like the image with such soft and kind expressions from tough guys drinking beers.

This is a close up from my Ice drifting at Gaast gallery. The combination of ice and wind makes drift ice on the IJssel lake pile up. The Dutch call this result of "kruiend ijs" "kistwerk". This winter brought us exceptional amounts of it. A few miles out of the coast of Friesland at Gaast there were piles of over 7 meters in height. Luckily there was a clear sky when I had a day off, so I didn't hesitate and travelled down there by train and bicycle. I should have brought my skates, because it was a long slippery walk over the ice. But it was worth it, especially because of these details with the glasslike and slowly melting and refreezing ice breaking the light. Lying down and getting wet all over I got a few of these images. I like the intensity of the blues in the ice that looks nothing but white from a distance.

I like this a lot because it is completely unposed and unstaged. People were standig on a dike waiting for a spectacle starting to happen so they made a chat like people normally do when strolling through a park with friends. The very strong backlight from late afternoon sun reflected on the sea behind the dike made the view a pure silhouette accentuating the poses. I like how the woman leans backwards to balance the weight of the baby. The pose of the wide-legged guys on the left supposedly doing men's talk is a bonus.

Triggerfinger is one of my favourite rockbands. It's a classic guitar, drum, bass 3-man band from Belgium, with a magnificent drummer, a stoic bass player and a hard playing guitarist and vocalist. This gig was in our small local rock temple called Burgerweeshuis. The room is actually too small for this type of band, but that makes the concerts a thrilling experience (with good ear protection, that is). The guitarist/vocalist who leads the band is a very flegmatic, tough looking guy doing the dirty man act on stage with expressive eyes and body movement. I was just in the middle of the crowd and made my way forward to get this shot. In was quite dark, but the high iso did the trick without having to use the atmosphere killer called flash.

This image is part of a series of impressions of early morning river mist along the river that passes by my hometown Deventer. I ventured a bit into the countryside and after a few minutes of cycling I had this view. With the dominating motorway viaduct it is, on a normal day, a very mundane, even ugly view. But it was completely different this morning. I saw the symmetry, the focal point and lines. But what I like most of all now is the horizontal gradient of colours. This was of course caused by the river mist and sun on the left. The more I look at it, the more I like it. But well, that may be just me....