It's been ages since I took some time to work upon an update on this website. Somehow my Facebook page is taking up more of my time lately, responses are way higher there as well, one image may be seen by a 1000 people, while on the website the monthly total of visitors is a mere 1000 people.
But as not everybody is into facebook, I'll keep coming back once in a while ;-)

The biggest news of the last months is no doubt the extensive Safari tutorial I've been producing for Dutch magazine Natuurfotopassie. In the end it became a great story where there is a bit of information for the "newbie" as well the more seasoned traveller. It's still a thrill to see images actually get published on paper instead of a the digital highway. Publisher Jan Vermeer has done a great Job with launching this magazine onto the Dutch market.

I'm in high anticipation of the coming spring at the moment, it's about time that color, insects, flowers and new born life come back into our part of the world. Time to charge the batteries on the camera's, give them a good dust off! I'll talk to you later ;-)

Last October I received two separate requests to use some of my images to create brand awareness for Pentax. Pentax USA wanted to use one of my images, the monks of Pai monastery in Thailand, in their new brochure and Pentax France was featuring a daily rotating exhibition in the 2012 Salon de la Photo in Paris.

The images at the Salon de La Photo were presented very nice, large sized in 80x60cm and visible for every one of the 45.000 visitors. With 8 of my images on display during this event, my images got some good exposure last month!

(images of Salon de la Photo courtesy of Pentax France)

During the last 3 to 4 months I've been working my way through the raw images of my latest trip through Kruger Park in South Africa. For me personally taking time away of the images makes me a better judge afterwards. Favourite images change during the past 3 months and an image that was discarded earlier may be included in the overview afterwards.

The leopard in late afternoon light is an image any photographer would love to make and when I made it, I was over the moon for a week :-), two months later the encounter with the elephant that came walking up to the car with the rising sun behind his back was a favourite.

When reflecting on the trip, camping inside the park was definitely a must-do-again for the future and I still have a soft spot for the south and the area around Lower Sabie. The open plains, with the occasional trees and the density of rhino's in that area always makes for good game viewing.

For now though it's time to visit other parts of the world and in Africa Namibia and Botswana cry out loud for a future visit. Luckily the memories remain through the images I brought home. Those interested are most welcome to view the Kruger Park gallery. Should you wish to leave a comment, it's always highly appreciated :-)

In august a new Dutch naturephotography magazine was published: "Natuurfotopassie".

This new creation by multi-award winning photographer Jan Vermeer, will no doubt be a success on the Dutch market as it focusses on images made by known and lesser-known Dutch photographers who show us the beauty of both Dutch and foreign nature area's.

Besides the beauty of nature, there is also attention to the details: How is the image made, what camera equipment and settings were used, etc. This two-monthly magazine already has some raving reviews by the current readers and I'm very proud to be featured in it's opening number.

In 2011 I made a 3 day trip to Gran Canaria to show it's other face. Not the tourist covered beaches and bars that dominate the south, but the natural beauty of it's numerous nature reserves. Seeing them again in Natuurfotopassie is simply great!