Dublin, view toward Samuel Beckett Bridge – 30s, ISO100, f/22, 70mm
Breda’s futuristic Chasse Prromenade with the historic Grote Kerk in the background as a reminder of the historic past.
Breda, this city close to Eindhoven in the south of the Netherlands – I stumbled across by accident. The “pearl of the south” locals keep telling me, so I used the chance to explore this place for myself.
Roughly 170.000 citizens does the city count its own – admittedly it feels smaller. It feels compact, cosy, very much like a place you can walk around and explore in one day easily.
So I did today, on my “free” day. Sadly it was an overcast day, not particularly exciting for photography. A bit chilly too, a cool wind ensuring that there were no spring feelings in the air.
I was already home at half past five in the afternoon, putting the feet up after a day on the go, with a hot coffee in my hands, when suddenly this strange yellow thing squeezed through the thick layers of greyish clouds…. a signal!
So I got my cam and went out again, back to places I saw and shot throughout the day, but when checking the outcome on my laptop I had to admit the photos looked flat and dull, mainly because there was just no light.
In my head I always had this idea of shooting a stereotypical photo of the Netherlands. A canal, boats, cute little houses reflecting in the water…. here I got it, tonight, finally!
Though you can see dark clouds threatening on the right hand side of the sky. I’m happy that It got my arse up and went out again after a full day on the go, to get the one shot I REALLY wanted.
Nice little surprise – in their recent Sunday edition the Guardian Observer published my photo of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto! The image was taken during my trip through China and Japan in December 2016.
A fine reward for the effort it took to actually get the shot in first place. The Kinkaku-ji was rammed with people this particular afternoon, most likely because it was a mild, sunny and calm winters day.
There is is this one vantage point from where you get to see the whole beauty of the pavilion and the reflections of the entire scene in the calm waters – and on this day hundreds and hundreds of people where there to witness one of the most iconic pictures of Japan with their own eyes.
But here it’s an advantage to be small – at least once in life! You can squeeze your way through the crowds easily, and so I made my way to the front and was able to fend of the masses for a couple of minutes to take this photo – which is one of my favourites of the entire trip – yet it doesn’t do the place justice. It’s SO beautiful.
Great Skellig, the larger brother of the Skellig islands, stand tall and proud eleven kilometres off the west coast of Ireland. The islands peal rises to over 230 m above sea level and is recognised a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A sixth-century Christian monastery sits at 160 m above sea level on a ledge close to the top of the lower peak- back in the day it used to be known as the end of the world. It certainly feels like that if you happen to find yourself there coated by layers of fog…
Shanghai, December 2016
TOKYO – a strange place. A modern place. A busy place. Guess it can be a little bit overwhelming at times. Well, it was certainly for me, that’s for sure.
A busy place, with busy people and busy lives – little wonder that people can be overwhelmed… overwhelmed by tiredness that is!
This photograph of Shanghai is one of my favourites from a recent trip to China. Not because it stands out through sensational lighting, dramatic clouds or an immensely captivation scene.
No – it’s because I feel the image illustrates the progress I have a made as a photographer in 2016. Why? Well, first of all this was a day as dull as it gets. Imagine the most boring, grey & flat light ever!
In the past I would have been disheartened, losing any interest in photography encountering this type of conditions. However in 2016 I really learned to embrace – in fact love – those grey, dull days.
Why? They challenge me as a photographer!
Those days are not about being at the right time at the right place, i.e. at the top of the mountain half an hour before sunset. No, it’s so much more about creativity…. you know, I feel days like this lend themselves perfectly to try new things, to imagine, to think big…. or simply shoot something a bit more “arty”.
And that’s what I wanted to achieve on this particular morning when I went out in Shanghai. I dreamed big – literally! The idea in my had was a huge , atmospheric panorama in black and white – give some sense to the dramatic scale of this mega city.
Looking at the photograph – which is actually four images stitched together to one panorama (ISO 100, F11, 1/50s) – I feel like I fulfilled the vision. And that is another point: imagining, visualising & creating, not merely taking a photo. Something I’m still learning to get better at.
Shoot It Now 