young planespotter

young planespotter
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I love pics like this. Spent an hour or so with Bas and Akos shooting some planes. Bas is now using my D50.

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.

Sometimes the subject matters a lot

Sand Lizard aka Lacerta agilis
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I've been after one of these for about a month. They're skittish and well camouflaged. Finally I got one. With the trusty ol' 28-105.

Sand lizard also known, in dutch, as dune lizard. One of the 4 species of lizard native to the Netherlands.

Ai Chihuahua!

Ai Chihuahua!
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Or, what you can do if you take your camera with you. Spotted this and had the d300 with me.

small fry

small fry
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

About the limit of my tokina I think. These were freshly hatched and about 3mm.

living in my garden

DSC_3621
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

This sort of bee. I got an "insect hotel" which is a wooden frame with pieces of reed like you can see here. All sorts of insects live there now.

Black Cormorant

Cormorant
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Sloppy nest builders these birds. They'll land in the top of a tree and wrestle away whatever small branch they can.

I still remember sometime in the second part of the 1980s. The first breeding pair was back and it made the news. These days there's thousands of these birds around and they're pushing other fish eating birds away.

Peanutball

Peanutball
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Or how I love that D300. Lovely action shot this!

Seems like the year has flown by, already it's may again and the yearly peanutball tournament is here again.

Pied wagtail in flight

Pied wagtail in flight
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

This is hard. The D300's AF system is excellent but my Sigma 70-300 isn't the fastest to focus and I don't have the skills yet to track these birds.

Why I'm no fan of UV filters for protection. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=31831120

What's horizontal?

base player
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

One of my pet peeves in photo processing is pictures that are a few degrees short of proper horizontal or vertical.

When I used photoshop as my main editing tool I used ptlens to correct this. In Capture NX it's build in. These tools tend to work by the user (that's me) identifying a straight line. Usually works great.

However, in situations like these it can pose problems. The building is 400+ years old and the window isn't very straight any more. The base player? I doubt it, he was pretty mobile and enjoying his music. An object on the ground? Again, doubtfull, the ground wasn't perfectly level.

In the end I fiddled with it, rotated it about 3 degrees counterclockwise and left it at that.

Sunshine on my cappuccino

Sunshine on my capuccino
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I've never been a fan of franchise restaurants. But today I went to a Bagels and Beans in Leiden and decided I like it. Good, fresh bagels, nice staff, decent coffee. Good concept. OK, the bagels are a little lighter than they should be and the cappuccinos are huge but there's a big audience for that.
Only thing I really didn't like were the very sweet muffins but that's personal. Since I bake these things myself I've tweaked my recipe to be less sweet. I like it that way but it does mean I find most other muffins (and a lot of pastry) too sweet. Other people won't have this problem I expect.

At the feeder

At the feeder
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

One of the gang of 7 house sparrows that come to my feeder. Tricky shots with my simple sigma 70-300.

Annual pilgrimage to the efteling

Lost!
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

And just as every year we went to visit the efteling. Bought a new map and still had a hard time navigating trough the sprookjesbos.

Learning Nikon's CLS

Esther
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I'm making very slow progress but it's progress nonetheless.

River boat

River boat
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Another fine example of my current problem with photography. It's got nice colors, I like the simplicity of the scene and I already know that it won't draw flickr crowds.

Why I always have a large plastic bag in my camera bag

Wild pansy or Heartsease
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Noticed a clump of these tiny wild flowers. The flower was about 8mm in length and at most 5 cm of the grond. So a very low shot. Fortunately I always carry a big plastic bag in one of the side pockets of my flipside 300.
Simply a matter of unfolding it, kneel on it, take the shot. Shake the sand of the bag, fold it again and stow it. You don't get dirty and it's hardly any extra work.

pouring concrete

pouring concrete
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Starting of yet another new shopping area in the center of my town. We already have at least one shop from just about every leading chain. The rest is filled up by small retailers. I really can't see why we'd need another 10000 m3 but hey, that's morons, sorry, property developers for you.

Schiphol panorama

Schiphol panorama
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

On my way to work I noticed what a vista you have on Schiphol. So I took a late lunchbreak and lugged my tripod up a hill. I was a bit careless with the overlap, this is the only one that worked out well. Shot with the tokina 100mm and an ancient Velbon tripod I got on long term loan from my dad.
Thing I learned with panorama is that you want everything manual, WB, exposure, everything.

Obligatory spring shot

Obligatory spring shot
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Still haven't found the time to drive to the coast and get some bulb fields shots in. This field is a lot smaller and closer to home but it does manage to convey a nice mood I think. The man inspecting the hyacinth flowers really balances the shot for me.

contrast and not

archery for beginners
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Took this pic as a family snap at the time. At home at the pc it strikes me how nice the similarities and the contrast here are. The positions are so identical and you have the other contrasts in outfit, skin color and gender.

The shot that saved my morning

Swan closeup
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Some time before this I spent 40 shots at a group of deer. Kept getting low contrast, somewhat overexposed shots. Then I met a couple of swans, one of them came so close that I had to switch my sigma to macro mode. Only started hissing when I walked away.

Felt better after I reviewed this on the computer.

Putting in some flash practice

Rhianne and Wendy bear
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Trying something I read in Thom Hogan's book. Set the camera to manual, underexpose by about a stop, put the flash on the camera and use it to make up the difference. Takes a few shots to master but I like it.

daffodil

daffodil
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

You can't win them all. This is a good shot, I think, but it misses the wow factor of the landscape in sepia. Still, it's not shabby either. Perhaps I'll get the chance to shoot something better soon.

worth getting up early for

toned tree
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

At easter monday.

I'm now getting the feeling that I can make that D300 sit up and sing.

D300 at iso3200

first high iso shot
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I've used one of the custom settings banks for family gahterings where image quality isn't as important as getting the shot. This one turned up at iso3200. I'm baffled. This is more usabel than iso1600 was on the D50.

Snapshots a snap with the D300

parrot
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Saw this bird sitting on top of a display case. Some netting in the background. Still had the 100mm mounted, decided I'd try it anyway. I got an af point on it's eye and squeezed off half a dozen shots. Every one of them as clear and colorful as this one.

flickr continues to amaze me

Happy "yellow" easter sunday
Originally uploaded by Ferdi's World.

Take this. Piss poor shot of a tulip. Yet it manages 23 views and about as many comments.

Getting it right the first time

feeding bee
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Noticed this bee, took a dozen frames as fast as my camera would go. Why a dozen? Because focussing is very tricky if you are this close and if there's enough breeze to move the flower.

This one I choose, chopped a bit of the right and.. well... there wasn't anything to process really. I'd nailed the exposure, contrast and colors. Was quite proud of that actually.

Thom Hogan wrote in his D300 review that when moving from an amateur DSLR such as the D50 to the D300 you need to step up your game photographically. He's right, I did, I still do but it's fun and shots like these are the encouragement you need to keep at it.

Got invited by Getty Images!

Some time ago flickr added the option to allow Getty to review your pictures to see if anything had potential. I agreed and expected never to hear anything about it.

Yesterday I found an invite in my inbox. Getty had selected 16 of my images! I feel so proud!

Now the hassle begins, I need model releases for these. For most this is no problem because the models are family but there’s also a few that feature people I don’t know. So I’ll have to drop those. Still leaves quite a few pictures. Would be very nice if some would actually sell. Some cash to spend on the hobby and the fun of getting your work published.

heron cleaning

heron cleaning
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

This shot is a lot better than the earlier one. Or is it?

I seem to be expecting national geographic quality from me, an amateur with my sigma 70-300, a lens costing as much as a pro will spend on a single filter.

Sometimes you shoot pics you know are not going to be popular

And yet, you enjoy them. Typical dilemma if you publish on sites like flickr. Are you going to shoot what you want or what you think your audience wants to see?

This morning I got up early enough to catch the morning fog.

 

This might me more of a crowd pleaser:

 

Ah well, there’s always Melody Gardot and a good glass of whisky!

Went for a much needed walk today

At the moment it’s busy at the office. Not only my regular work but the workscouncil is also very busy. So, this afternoon I took a few hours and went walking.

The weather was nice, very bright, blue sky, never good for my landscapes so I looked elsewhere. Had the 28-105 with polarizer on my d300.

First I noticed this huge pike, 70cm at least. Just hovering there, not doing much.

A bit further along the path, these plants.

Also spotted this cow, liked the contrast between it and the trees.

These roam free to control young trees, especially the american Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) which otherwise takes over the area completely.

And of course, there’s trees, big trees!

My One And Only Thrill

Is the latest album by Melody Gardot. Wow! What an album! I can’t believe she’s only 23. A very adult sound, hint of French in it. Excellent rhythms. One of those albums you need to listen to at least half a dozen times to start appreciating it.

Highly recommended!

New Diana Krall album out

I’ve waited quite a few months for this but Diana Krall’s latest album quiet nights is out now. Diana Krall is one of my favorite jazz artists, I just wish she’d release more live material. She’s good in the studio but really shines onstage.

It’s a lovely, very relaxed bossa nova album. Mostly classics done very well. One nice twist is that she’s recorded the boy from Ipanema.

If you’re into Diana Krall I’d certainly check it out.

My love

Snapshot
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

I've taken the trouble to map yesterday's walk in google earth. It's about 8km long and starts and ends at the zandvoortselaan entrance of the waterleidingduinen.

Everyone can enjoy nature!

Everyone can enjoy nature!
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

When I was finishing my walk I encountered this couple. To me it shows that everyone can enjoy nature.

vintage klm scheme

vintage klm scheme
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Here's something you don't see every day. A Klm 737-800 in the old color scheme as was used in the 1950s and 1960s.

Dad

Dad
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Pic I'm proud of. Light from three fluorescents above the table. Shot at iso 1600 with a 40 year old 135mm 2.8.

And of course I love the model here, after all, it's my dad!

misty trees

misty trees
Originally uploaded by j_wijnands.

Went to work today, noticed it was a foggy morning so I grabbed the camera. Noticed this on my way to the office. Did a bit of cropping to get the thirds working here. I do need to work on exposing these properly, I had to push contrast and correct a stop of underexposure.

Yellowstone park has just made it on my list of places I'd like to visit before I die. I am watching a documentary on BBC about winter in yellowstone. Impressive is a massive understatement. Wow, the animals, the vast landscape empty of anything manmade! And come on, who wouldn't want to take a picture like this: