09-FEB-2009
Too many choices
Heading home after a meeting of the photoclub I set up with some colleagues I missed the train. To kill the time I started walking towards the end of the platform. This was a sight I couldn't resist. The photoshoot earlier that evening had been hindered by pouring rain, but that same rain had made the steel of these tracks nice and shiny. It's not often that you have your tripod and and telezoom with you, so I had to take this oportunity. Unfortunately trains run very frequently in the Netherlands, so I did not have the time to experiment any further, but I will go back there!
08-NOV-2009
Our current land
This is one that I like particularly from my series called 'Our current land', depicting as simple and straight as possible the strange and often overlooked beauty of small local transformer houses. Without complaining they do their work day and night and nobody cares about them. I encountered this one not far from home when touring the bicycle on a very dull and misty day and not expecting anything interesting enough to get my camera out of my bag for. I like it because of the limited colour range and because of the colour repetition: brown floor, light grey facade, brown roof, light grey air and mist. Well see for yourself...
13-DEC-2009
the new railway station Liège Guillemins by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava
04-JUL-2008
La Grande Parade by Compagnie Off
A radiant smile from one of the actors of Compagnie Off at their Grande Parade show. These actors are trained in creating very expressive looks. I was trying to capture that, but my first try with this woman failed. She noticed, paused for a moment and ushered me to try again and make a smiling portrait of her. This time I got it all right.
04-SEP-2009
Usain Bolt wins the 200 metres in 19.57
17-MAR-2010
The gorge
I find the fibres of the tree impressive, they strongly convey the idea that this is (was) a living thing with lots going on inside. The structure is comparable to that of a piece of meat such as tuna. By the way, it is interesting to note that in English you can discern between wood and timber and between flesh and meat, which is impossible in Dutch, we just have the words 'hout' and 'vlees'.
This image is one of a series
"Into the wood", shot on a very small wood cutting site. I hoped to find something like this to dive into the detail with a new macro lens. You can really loose your mind just concentrating on a few cubic inches. Indeed, relaxing is almost a prerequisite to do this macro work: the depth of focus is so shallow that you have to move the camera back and forth millimeter by millimeter.
30-OCT-2010
preparing for halloween
After some interesting strolling through outskirts of Leipzig and riding around the city by tram I returned to the busy square on the eastern side of the old town, with the Opera, the Gewandhaus and main tram interchange. Dusk fell and the square in front of the Opera began to fill with youngsters preparing for halloween. They had carefully dressed up for this night. They would not tell precisely whether they would put up a show later that night, but were very willing to pose. In some ways it even seemed to me they were (semi-)professional actors, because they were so good at putting up faces and posing.
29-MAY-2011
Kiiyeng, Mekasha, Cherono, Ejigu, Dibaba, Defar
12-AUG-2008
Looking down
This image is dear to me, because it was shot during a very fine clear evening in York, after a holiday in the north of England with way too much rain. I was glad I took my G9 along when we went out for dinner. I remember I was so overjoyed with the light that I completely and consciously ignored my travelling companions who wanted to move on. I was redwarded with an area a dark stone showing the York Minster reflection with extreme clarity. It made my day, photographically.
31-AUG-2008
I do not do portraits or group portraits that often, but was asked to by these girls. Despite the harsh midday light the result is quite pleasing, more so because they look very relaxed and spontaneous. I did some shadow/highlighting as PP, softening some of the hard edges of the shadows on their faces.
05-JUN-2007
Swing Bob (hon. mention in Pbase competition)
I enjoyed a few rides with my sons in this speed monster during the day. Getting back there in the evening with a tripod did pay off. I could do without the railings of course, but this was the best viewpoint. Perhaps I´ll try to get closer and use a wide lens next time.
04-JUL-2008
La Grande Parade by Compagnie Off
This image captures the complete metamorfosis of a rather mundane city street into a dreamy but spectacular scene. I like the way the figures seem real and unreal at the same time. To take the shot I had to get really near, which was difficult, because this was a parade, and everything was constantly moving, so I had to walk backward while taking the shots. That was akward but fun to do and this image is a good reward for the effort.
30-DEC-2008
l`Arc en Ciel (2006)
This is a building that is rather mundane on cloudy days. But on sunny days it comes to life when the sun is in the west. For this picture I chose to have the sun not in the middle but way down (another way of saying I arrived a bit late). Architect:IM Architecten Deventer
10-FEB-2008
Modern society
I find the way people behave in space very interesting. One of my early textbooks at university had an opening chapter called "On the beach" about people looking for open space or clustering. This image is a good illustration. The impression of dispersion of people across space is enhanced here by the dark line and the wedge of sea water that create compartments. Apart from this all, it was a perfect day at the beach very early in the season. I did not know the place very well and was very pleased to find a watchtower to takes pictures from.
10-JAN-2009
We only scratch the surface
Unfortunately in the last two decades good winters have become scarce. But 2009 started of very well providing the skate crazy Dutch abundant open air skating options. On this particularly fine day we also had beautiful frost on the trees and scrubs. This shot was taken when touring with my sons and a friend through the Alblasserwaard. This is an area that is not very popular throughout the year, except when its many canals and waters are frozen over. Open air skating is very addictive. It is healthy and very relaxing: no signs, no traffic lights, no speed limits, no billboards or neon lights. You pass small villages and just go with the wind, against the sun or the other way round on roads paved by nature. On and on and on and on...
27-MAR-2007
alienation (3rd place in S&T contest)
This image for me depicts the neverending uselessness of office work. People moving paper from A to B, going in meaningless directions or locked into boxes and departments that obstructs real communication. Well, sort of.... This photo was made in the "Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid" that is housed in a beautiful and very special building, holding the archive of public broadcasting organisations of the Netherlands up to 60 feet below ground level. This is a view looking down into that archive section of the building. It also houses a media museum and experience centre and is open to the public.
09-MAY-2008
spotted
I am fascinated by order and chaos, spatial rythms, hierarchies and fractals. This scene matches that fascination. It caught my eye mainly because of the dark spots and the light soil. From a distance it seemed that these were the shadows of the trees, only to realise later that they were dispersed piles of timber. I also like this because it has the feeling of being in a hot air balloon, hovering over the landscape, just as Yann Arthus Bertrand, whom I very much admire, has done for his many books. I do not have a balloon but share his fascination with oblique aerial views of the face of our earth.
05-JUL-2008
La Grande Parade by Compagnie Off
The reds are way over the top here of course, creating a strange kind of monochrome effect. Interestingly, these colours are just as they were in reality. This was shot during an evening parade lighted occasionally by intensely red ground fireworks. The woman has a pleasant kind of stare and the bits of bright yellow add some interest. This parade was a great photo occasion (there are more images from this shoot in this gallery).
03-MAY-2005
What are they all doing?
This is one of my early personal favourites. It whas shot during my first and still only visit to Venice, a treasure trove of photo opportunities. We were actually walking in the other direction, me lagging behind the rest of the family. On one of the small bridges I looked back and and quickly fired my point-and-shoot. Back home I found that I liked the photo very much because of its near monochrome quality but even more so becuase of the variety of human activity and poses, and of course because of the very good memories that get aroused.
04-MAY-2005
hommage to Gursky alternative
I made this edit on on earlier version of this picture (at
http://www.pbase.com/hiero/image/68132826) after that one was shortlisted for the 65th Pbase show and tell competition but critiqued for its convergent lines. It was shot from the Venice Campanile on Piazza San Marco. It was still early in the morning (I wanted a clear view from the tower) and the restaurants and cafes had just put their tables on the square. Everyone was working or busy sightseeing except this man.
28-AUG-2005
Eye contact
My youngest son has this natural style. He's not your regular model that can produce a laugh at command, but does have this special look. I was surprised to find that the face was still well lit, despite the very light background. Probably it was the sunlight that was reflected by my white T-shirt as I was laying on the grass and looking up towards my son.
07-OCT-2007
Treelirium
I like using manual exposure techniques. Of course much can be done with photoshop, but the effects are often more natural and less time consuming when created during the exposure. I did not come up with these myself, I just try to recreate what I have seen elsewhere in another setting and add a tiny bit of my own ideas. Panning, zooming or moving camera vertically can create interesting effects with some luck. I had some luck indeed here (and trashed 6 other images that were rubbish, to be honest). What I like here is the salt-n-pepper colours of the trees and the soft green on the ground and also on the top of the image. I should experiment more in this way, but often I just forget.
04-NOV-2007
Women on front
I live in a small-to-medium-size town (pop 80,000), but it does have a large population of Turkish descent (almost 20%) and houses a Turkish consulate. That was very clear on this day, when, riding home from the town centre I saw some roadblocks and heard some shouting. It turned out to be a demonstration against PKK terror. The demonstration was, although full of Turkish national symbols, not against Kurds, but against the violence. Luckily I had put my DSLR in my bag that morning (for no reason other than "you'll never know what will happen"). I was surprised to see that the march was headed by women, because often still Turkish-Dutch women walk a meter behind their husbands. The rally was quite emotional and it was easy to capture that.
22-NOV-2007
Hon. mention in Pbase competition: Meandering Life
During lunchtime I go for a short walk now and then. I remember this was a rather dull day. It had been pouring down all morning and had just become dry and somewhat lighter. I did not go far. This is just outside my office, taken from a basketball pitch built on top a bar. When idling there I realized at once the potential of what I saw, with some stronger light now on the wet pavement. Using the long end of my compact camera zoom and benefitting from the constantly changing hustle and bustle of students walking and cycling I waited for the best moment and came out with this one. Most people walking here daily do not recognize it!
20-OCT-2007
ja, wie sage ich daß jetzt?
ja, wie sage ich daß jetzt?
22-DEC-2007
"knotten"
It is not that I am shy, but I just do not often approach people to ask permission to take their picture. Partly it is because I mostly like unposed images better. In this case however it was so obvious I was focussing on this man that I just had to talk to him. Of course, taking pictures was no problem and I got all the details on what he was doing, why and why at this particular moment. It was a nice chat in a beautiful place at a beautiful moment. And the good thing was, he was just working an, allowing me to take unposed pictures....
06-JAN-2008
why shoot me?
This was taken on a photoshoot with my youngest son. We were rinding on our bicycles through the redeveloped eastern docks area of Amsterdam. We were shooting the harbour and modern residential architecture when this man rushed by. I always like urban backlit scenes with silhouetted people in it, so pushed the shutter immediately. For me the result is is the difference between an OK image and an interesting one. There is some extra interest here in the strange coloured reflection on the building on the left.
april 1990
we've got power!
This is a simple image of a humble crofter's residence. I was very lucky to have made numerous travels across Europe as a geography student. These study trips brought us to remote corners of many countries. I gather that this building was one of the last few simple crofter's dwellings still in use for residential purposes. It was connected to the electricity grid but one can imagine that the next step was to either move away or rebuild entirely. I like the image also for the texture of the ground, stones and roof. There is so much of it, that you do not miss texture in the sky.
24-MAY-2008
women's 5000 m
This is one of the images that made me realise the thrill of sports and especially athletics photography. These long distance runners do not attract too much attention in their first rounds. The group of mostly Kenyan and Ethipian ruunners mostly sticks together, but in the last 4 rounds the tension grows and faces start to show some emotion. For the photographer is is relatively easy once you are in the right spot, because if you blow things there is a second chance the next round. I have good memories of these specific games because it was the first time I hired a professional lens (Canon 70-200 L IS USM for who is interested) and what a joy it was to use it. The lens is quite heavy of course, but I see that as an advantage: it reduces camera shake and you can skip the gym. Uhmm I don't go there any way, but still....
31-AUG-2008
Pavel Baar
This close-up sports action is among my favourites because it shows the eyes, muscles and discus very well, despite the net through which I had to shoot. Shooting this sport is not easy: you either have to risk your camera and yourself by putting your camera under the net, or you have to shoot through the net, of course with manual focus, and risk the net obscuring essential parts of the image. When you succeed hoewever, I think the net adds to the atmosphere of the image. What I do not like here is my overthusiastic selective highlighting in postprocessing, which is especially clear in the thumbnail. Should have restrained myself....