Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone all the best for 2014!

Night photography

Tower bridge by night. What else can I say?

London Canals

London canals from a different perspective. I could not resist playing with the pattern and reflection of this old wall. To me the photo created a moment that seemed endless and lost in time. A moment that could exist anywhere. Contemplating the picture, what comes up for you?

London by night

London by night from the air. I thought this photo fitted well with the holiday season, imagining people visiting and celebrating all over town.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas! 

 Wishing you a peaceful and enriching holiday season.

Night photography

As the days grow gloomier and shorter, night photography seems like a very good option. With the lighting going on in the city, it gives me a brighter outlook on the dark season.

Change of Season

December. Back in the park to visit 'my' spot and mark the change of seasons with another photo taken of the by now familiar surroundings.

Urban contrasts

Another, less well known part of Rio de Janeiro is the Zona Norte, the neighbourhoods north of the city centre. This is the 'other' Rio de Janeiro, the Rio de Janeiro of the poor.

Urban contrasts

Home in Rio de Janeiro. More often than not, one window indicates the space of one apartment.

Urban contrasts

Sunset at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. Copacabana, probably the most famous beach of Rio de Janeiro continues to be a very popular and, on a hot sunny day, Rio flocks to Copacabana to spend the day relaxing and playing and bathing until the final hours of the day.

Urban contrasts

Central do Brasil is a huge strain station in the heart of Rio de Janeiro. Thousands come through the station every day in their journey in and out of the city. And many will use the trains to commute to and from the Zona Norte, the northern part of town, the second Rio de Janeiro, the Rio de Janeiro of the poor.

Urban contrasts

Aterro, a huge park just south of the city centre has become the resort for stray cats. Here they have found friends among the locals who will come and feed the hundreds of cats spread out everywhere.

Urban contrasts

And then there are the neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro. High buildings filled with small apartments, these are the homes to where many will return after a day of work or a day at the beach. Many of those who can still afford to live in the areas near the beaches, the Zona Sul, live in tiny apartments in tall buildings.

Urban contrasts

  

And keeping to its fame of city on the beach, this is one of the majour attractions of Rio de Janeiro; Ipanema beach, just south of the city centre, with all the commodities of a big city just across the street. And it is a beach where ambulant vendors provide anything a person might need or want to have a relaxing time.

Urban contrasts

And than there is the city.  Rio de Janeiro city centre with its buildings and parks. An abundant mix of old and new and the King palms competing with modern heights. The city spreads out into the mountains, and, as time goes by and space becomes an increasingly scarce resource, the building start to reach into the sky. 

Urban contrasts

Introducing another site to Rio de Janeiro. Leaving the city and its parks behind, there is the sea with its many charms and timelessness.

Urban contrasts - colour and structure

Building on my series about contrast in the urban setting in Rio de Janeiro, this photo stands for its strong urban and historic feel, bearing witness of times long gone and a hint of the modern times that have followed.

Urban contrasts - colour and structure

This photo is the beginning of a new series in which I will be looking at building a narrative using contrasting images. One of the themes that fascinate me in cities is contrasts. Rio de Janeiro is a city I know well and which is full of contrasts. Developing the theme over the next weeks, my first impression is about colours, structures and nature. To me tropical trees and flowers are a subject, I can never get enough of.

Animal portrait

Adding to my series of animal portraits, this is the last photo of the series. The animal studies are part of a little project I did, trying to capture the characteristics of the animal as I observed them from up close while taking into consideration the environment and light.

Animal portrait

Staying with my mini series on animal portraits, this photo is part of some work I did on animal photography exploring how to take a photo of a specific animal that reflected on its characteristics.

Animal portrait

Reflecting on my past blog entries, I noticed that I mainly worked with individual photos and thought, I try something new,  to develop the same theme and build up a small series. And I decided to make my first series about animal portraits. So, building up from the animal portrait I published last week, here comes the bear.

Change of Season

Two months to go until I complete one year of documenting how the change of season affects the park and its visitors. As London prepares for yet another winter, nature and people change their 'dress'. And with the season there is a visable change in light and colour, as I could notice this morning when I had to turn up the ISO considerably to make sure I could still capture the scene as my eyes saw it.

Animal portrait

Animal portraits are not the most regular of my practice, but I do enjoy taking photos of animals. It probably has to do with all those wonderful photo books I used to look at as a child. In my mind travelling around the world, seeing the most amazing of animals. Now, what I'm left with is the wish to create this and that image which reminds me of those photos.

Walk in the park

Fascinated by the reflections, I thought this photo tells its own story.

Illusions

Using a frosted window pane as 'filter', I was drawn to the image that emerged playing with the effect the glass had on breaking down the reality behind it.

Infinity

Part of Yayoi Kusama's 'Infinity' exhibition are rooms filled of mirrors that create a feeling of dissolving into infinite space. Studying the effect of a dark room with mirrors, light bulbs and visitors, I thought what I am left with is an image of an infinite horizon disappearing into infinite space and time.

A photographic study: Colour versus B&W

As I continue to explore photography from various angles,  the impact of colour is one of the obvious subjects of interest. And I thought I put this to the test by looking at the same image in colour and black & white.  Now, I would be very interested to hear your opinion. Which image does have a stronger impact for you? My last post which was published in colour, or its black & white version?

Getting into the scene

Do you feel like being in the water? Playing with perspective I'm interested on the effect it has on the message and the viewer. And, the photo also picks up on several of 'my' themes, it has a wide tonal range of the same colour, strong light reflections and a strong sense of space.

Curiosity

Sometimes my photos are simply about the story. After first becoming aware of the deer on Bowen Island, this was a photo I could not miss. And with these two very different experiences I could be tempted to think there is something about deer living on islands, is there?
The photo was taken on Miyajima Island where deer roam freely and are very much part of the landscape (though not allowed in the restaurants).

Shades of orange

Still making sense of my Japan experience, I'm slowly working through my photographs.
I had seen a photo of the torii gates at the Fushimi Shrine in the travel guide and felt drawn to the bright colour. With an image in my mind, I went to explore the full length of the walk to 'find my image', the one my imagination had created based on the photo I had seen.
Over the past year I have noticed that I sometimes seem to have images 'stored up' and that I find it liberating to work on creating these images.

Change of season

Back in London it's time to document the change of season. This little project has been going since January when I took the first photo down this park walk inspired by the winter mood of the day. Since I have been visiting the same spot once a month to document how the seasons affect environment and people as both nature and humans change their 'coats' and adapt to the changes in weather and temperature.

Japan Special - Floating Torii

The Floating Torii on Miyajima Island is well visited and has been photographed in all its splendour and from every angle. This journey through Japan has been an interesting experience for me as going sight-seeing is usually not something I do when on the road. So here I was, looking at the Torii from all angles myself and I decided to simply stay with my black & white project and to find out what the Floating Torii meant to me.

Japan Special - Hiroshima

What do you do when faced with a place that carries a history like Hiroshima? How can I contribute to all that has been shown, to all the monuments and documentaries? How can I create a photo to tell you how I felt visiting this very special site?

Japan Special

In a big city like Tokyo, I noticed that my subject choice seems to be people and structures. Catching the view out of the light rail in the early morning hours, I liked the outlook of both the strong lines and day ahead.

Japan Special

Morning commute in Tokyo. On the way to work. A black and white study.

Japan Special

Continuing to look at Black & White photography, this traditional bakery was pointed out to me while exploring Tokyo. The cookies are made of a waffle-like dough with a sweet bean filling and are very popular around here.

Japan Special

I just have the amazing opportunity to visit Japan and decided to include a study of Black and White photography on my blog. It's been on my list to do a more in depth study of Black & White photography, and to explore what subjects work, how B&W transforms the photo's message and how to translate colour into dramatic shades.

Close up

Another shot I brought home from the Vancouver Aquarium. One of my photographic experiments. The first thing that attracted me was the colour, those amazing shades blending somewhere between light green and light blue. Then of course, there is always the curiosity what it would look like as a photo if I went really close up ...

Close up

The sea otter was drifting on his back and was having what seemed a profound nap. I did not know that the sea otters do actually sleep floating on their backs. But apparently they do. Close up the scene translated into a photo between and abstract and a profile portrait.

Bumble bees

Bumble bees: this has been another little project I've given quite a bit of attention this summer. Photographing bumble bees was fun, it was exciting and very rewarding! It left me with a little collection of photos with bumble bees in flight and on flowers, I might want to continue sharing with you.

Change of season

Back in time in the park and at the spot to document the change of season marking the visual of the park. This has become a little pet project. I always thought I was well aware of the seasons but narrowing it down to the same place, same angle has focused my attention in a completely new way.

Camouflaged

The deer seemed to be aware of their advantaged camouflage and I noticed that they mainly kept  among trees and close to the shade of the trees. And then this deer calmly walked onto the street as if protected by the shade. The scene unfolded while I was photographing deer along the road and the photo was one not to be missed. And in case you wonder, the lorry driver did stop for the animal.

The Mounties

When it comes to portraits my preference is that of environmental portraits. Catching the moment of action and of involvement. I love taking photos of people who are absorbed in their activity. My visit to Canada coincided with a presentation of the Musical Ride and of course I could not resist a peek behind the scenes ...

Black & white

As I go on exploring the impact of colour and patterns to the message of the photo I had another look at what happens to that message when I convert it to black & white. I took this photo because I was drawn to the impact the dead trees had on the landscape.

From above

Looking down from the Harbour Centre Lookout Tower, this was not a photo I could miss. From above the older part of Vancouver city centre looked like a miniature replica. The angle and distance seemed to give the scene some surreal dream-like quality. The photo also contrasts nicely with my last blog post while staying with the observation of how patterns and colours define a space.

Nature's colours

Amazed by the colours and texture of the moss, I wanted to catch the seemingly abundance of the humid forest. I've never been in a forest so covered in moss and it reminded me of photos I had seen in books as a child. Looking at forests up close I find they become as individual and defined by their landscape as many the many cities I have photographed.

Landscape

What caught my attention in this landscape was the human influence on the landscape. A contrast which I noticed I often try to avoid in my photos as I feel drawn to nature and its wonders. This picture in contrast has been marked by the presence of the boats.

Light and time

This photo was taken at the same spot as the last one on a different day just as the sun disappeared behind the hills. Being able to go back to the same spot and study the impact the sun light has on the scenery is fascinating me. It's like a set stage with the sun as it's main actor. Every photo is completely different, yet it is the same scene in different moments of time. The photo was taken on Bowen Island, Canada.

Light reflections

What I was after were the light reflections in the water, a theme that's fascinated me before. But the image seemed incomplete without the sun. So I dared challenge the camera and took the photo with the sun straight ahead of me. The photo was taken on Bowen Island, Canada, on an early evening as the sun started to go down.

Painting with the camera

Pushing the border between art and photography I like to experiment and play with the camera. In this photo, using abstraction allowed me to have a different approach to an established theme.