|
Images of the year 2011
A new year, a new start as they say. Yet I'm looking back......
I was very fortunate to have been in a position, where I could travel and explore new parts of the world in 2011. The joy of discovering new places yourself is unsurpassed and last year definately gave the travelling "bug" a new impuls. One of the highlights was definately Kruger National Park, I loved the scenery and very diverse area's. Rivers, riverbeds, sandy patches, grassland, rocky outcrops; all within a days drive of each other. In fact, we liked it so much that we will be visiting again in 2012!
But it was also the first year I had my own proper garden! After last years summer I affectionately call it "my outdoor studio". During the summer months there was always a camera with attached macro lens close by to capture the bug & insect life in the garden. I now wonder how one can do without a garden ;-)
I'm pretty happy with the image production in 2011 and at this moment there are quite a few favorites among them. In order to keep the short-list interesting (I'm sure you don't need to see 10 images of damselflies), I've picked a few from different categories.
"Storm over Terschelling"
In the beginning of december we stayed for a week on the Dutch island of Terschelling in the hope of enjoying a few nice walks over the island. We ended up staying inside for almost a week as rain and heavy winds tortured the island for days in a row. Extreme weather often makes for interesting things happening though. In this image a few things came together; sun, dark clouds and wind swept sand. Being sandblasted isn't so bad when you get to photograph a scene like this.
"Wood Anemone"
Close to my house lies Kasteel Duivenvoorde, a small patch of forest amid the fields surrounding our village. In early sping a very nice place to be; frogs and toads are chasing each other around and the first flowers emerge from the soil. One of the first to do so are the wood anemones. After the harsh winter months I'm always pleased that the more delicate and colourfull things come back in nature.
"Damselfly"
This summer I've been giving my old lenses a workout. In this case I used an old M42 thread Vivitar Series 1 200mm, f3.0 lens to isolate the damselfly from the reed it was resting on. I've been collecting old (and cheap) lenses for a few years and although I seldom use them, sometimes it's nice to see that 40 year ols lenses still perform quite well on the modern tools we are using now. I'm hard pressed to find a modern lens which can create a bokeh this smooth.......
"Impala female"
Of course we are all after the elusive BIG-5 when going on a safari, but I have to say I'm more like a safari-paparazzi. If the light is good any subject get's my heart rate up and my bloodstream flowing like a water-rapid. We drove for 3 afternoons through a dry river bed in Kruger and I immediately noticed that the light falling into this riverbed at the end of the day was magical. But I needed a subject! On the 4th drive through this riverbed light and subject came together to create this scene. An example that it pays off to keep going back to a spot that has potential!
"Impala male"
A totally unplanned image from Kruger NP. We were driving the H1 south and the grasslands around us were about a meter down from the road. The grass alongside the road acted as a natural filter and gave the impression of a free standing impala head. The light was great and the colors of subject and environment matched. Big smile when you press the shutter :-)
With 2011 being history and the images safely stored away, time to look forward to new trips! (Mount Etna is calling at the moment.........) |
