Going Walkabout

Or, as close as you can get in my densely populated world.

My friend Akos has just bought a D90 and was interested in going outside and putting it trough it’s paces. I figured it might be nice to have some company on one of my walks and I find it rewarding to help a new photographer with those faltering few first steps. So on a bright sunday morning we set out for my 8km walk near Zandvoort.

Yes, that’s me on my size 16 Meindls with my new White Rock hat. For some reason I can’t take pictures well while wearing sunglasses and I find that now I’m older bright sun on my head gives me sunstroke way faster than it used to so this is my solution. On my right hip a 1 liter canteen US Army model I picked up in a local army surplus store for a few euros. On hot days like this protection from the sun is important but drinking enough is even more important. A doctor once told me that if you don’t need to piss you don’t drink enough. Still good advice I think.

The photography kit is safe in a lowepro flipside 300.

This walk leads you along a lot of rather bare dune landscape. Just one good shot there of a caterpillar crossing the road.

 

A bit further on I did manage a good landscape snap.

And here’s a shot Akos did of me doing this:

The color difference is significant. I think mine is close to the truth, the other shot seems a bit overexposed and more saturated than mine.  I like this a lot, it shows clearly what photography means for me. Just me alone with nature capturing it’s beauty.

Near the end of our walk we saw a lot of young rabbits.

A few years ago myxomatosis took a terrible toll on the rabbit population. I’m glad to see it’s recovering now. Not only because adolescent rabbits such as this one are a nice sight but also because they are an important part of the food chain.

I had hoped to get a better shot of a sand lizard but it was just too warm and sunny and these lizards are very quick when they are properly warmed.

This one I shot the day before.

That’s it. A nice walk, healthy exercise, some good shots from a small bit of nature that manages to survive in the overcrowded west of my country. The walk itself is mapped here.

Some day I hope to visit one of the bigger nature reserves in North America for some serious hiking and shooting.