The second entry for this series is going to be a short one. But a very spontaneous one. Today was a lovely nice sunny and warm day. Perfect ice-cream weather haha. After the sun went down and the temperatures dropped a bit it was my time to shine. At least that how it felt to me haha. I just very randomly left for a little drive just out of town. No big plans, no expectations, nothing. But then I found some pretty decent spots and places that I just had to snap. And so I did. Here's a selection of tonight's shots. The sky was clear, very moody with the sun juuuust in there. It made the forest and the fields look so amazing. Don't you think?
All these pictures were taken between my hometown Grathem, and the one next to us to the north. Baexem. This area is not part of "Het Leudal" that I wrote about in my previous post. But its in the same municipality though. So, lets just call it part of it, shall we? Anyways, little spontaneous trips like these make me appreciate my surroundings. Far away, but also very much so: locally. Good end to a nice weekend! see you around folks!
-Arjan
Out and About 1: Leudal
Hi all, I am going to start this series of blogs called "Out and About" This series will be blog posts about National Parks and other great outdoor locations in and around the area where I live. I will be showing you some of the most known, and lesser known spots and places in these areas.
So today I went to "Het Leudal" which is a beautiful nature reserve in the municipality of Leudal, In The Netherlands
Leudal is a municipality with close to 40.000 people living in it. With it being the biggest municipality in Central Limburg it is still very green, and has this great outdoor feel to it. No big overcrowded cities or busy highways here. The nature reserve is quite big (for Dutch standards) It extends over 900 hectares. And is filled with beautiful forests, little streams, wide open fens and plenty of hiking trails. Great place to forget everything around you, and breathe some fresh air.
Below are some photographs that I've taken today, all of them were taken between "Heythuysen" "Roggel" and "Haelen". All three are towns located in and around "Het Leudal" The nature reserve is much bigger then the tiny area I covered today, perhaps I have to dedicate a second "Out and About" blog to "Het Leudal" to cover some more areas of this place, and show you some more beauty of it through photographs!
The weather was quite dramatic today, a bit windy, heavy clouds. But that all made for quite dramatic conditions, conditions that I like to be out in. And that really work for landscape photography. Enjoy!
My wife, the interior designer
This post goes out to my lovely wife. She is just the best person period to begin with. She has this talent. This really amazing talent. In my eyes she is a very good interior designer. She sees it as a hobby only. But when you look at the style and feel she creates inside the house it really blows me away. As if a professional interior designer came in and did its job. That's how it feels to me at least!
Personally I have not a very good idea of what interior design actually is. Sure I do know what I like, and how I like a house to be decorated and look like. But I don't have these specific skills I think my wife does have. I do know the style is kind of "Scandinavian" if I am correct. But what do I know. This blog post is therefore more of a appreciation then actually telling you something about interior design, because I simply can't, haha...
All I know is that I love the way she plays with light, material, and small details to make our house a home! hit the share and like button below if you agree!!
Nikkor 35-70mm F3.3-4.5 AF
Last week I picked up this old lens that was up for sale on the internet. I was after a little extra "fun" lens to add to my camera bag for quite a while. I just couldn't decide on what lens to get. Also, I was not planning on spending a large amount of money for just a "fun" lens. Sure, I have a wishlist of lenses that I one day would love to call mine (the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED for example) but that would put me back between €1000/1600, and I just can't afford that right now.
So I was looking around, and found this super cheap Nikkor 35-70mm F3.3-4.5 (got it for €25)
And I just had my first little test shots with it on my Nikon D7000. Nothing spectacular, just quick snapshots to get a feel for the lens and see how it holds up despite being quite an old lens. Let's be honest here, its not going to be super fast, super sharp, and for that matter not super impressive. Not useful in quite some situations as well as you can imagine. Why? think about chromatic aberration, its a bit soft here and there... if you need the images you produce to be as sharp as they can be, don't use this lens.
But, all in all its a nice little lens to have. Its super light, its relatively strong in low light due to the f3.3. It does a decent job on bokeh and with my D7000 its auto focusing perfectly fine. And all of this for just €25, you feel me? Can't go wrong. It is probably coming along in my bag whenever I am outside, exploring and enjoying the outdoors. For some casual snaps here and there. Here's a really quick snapshot I took with the lens just after I picked it up.
The photographs of the lens itself were taken with my D7000 and my trusty Nikkor 50mm F1.8.
Thanks for reading, see you next time!
- Arjan Wilmsen
Normandy, France, 2015
Back in September 2015 I went to France with my wife, brother and sister and my brother in law. Reason? You guessed it, no reason needed to go to France, that's always a good idea. We just went on a nice little family roadtrip together. Going away for a bit, breathe some fresh air and have some quality time together in a beautiful area.
And obviously I took my camera with me to snap some landscapes. Here's a small collection of the photographs I came back home with.
Étretat
My brother in law is taking some long exposure shots here, go follow him on 500px
We went to Normandy, to the towns of Etretat and Fécamp. Both are incredibly beautiful towns located at the Atlantic shore. Situated between the cities of Dieppe and Le Havre.
The weather was as you expect for this area in September, sunny and warm, but not boiling. Just perfect to go out and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
ÉTRTAT
Étretat is best known for its chalk cliffs, including three natural arches and a pointed formation called L'Aiguille or the Needle, which rises 70 metres (230 ft) above the sea. The Etretat Chalk Complex, as it is known, consists of a complex stratigraphy of Turonian and Coniacian chalks. Some of the cliffs are as high as 90 metres (300 ft). Nature has carved fabulous shapes out of the white cliffs at Etretat. The extraordinary site drew Impressionist painters aplenty. Another startling attraction is the cliff-top golf course.
Fécamp, long exposure
FÉCAMP
Fécamp is situated in the valley of the Valmont river, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Albaster Coast. It is around 35 km northeast of Le Havre, and around 60 km northwest of Rouen. Fécamp has a population of roughly 20.000 people.
The history of Fécamp has always revolved around the fishing industry and its harbour (first mentioned in the 11th century). The beach in Fécamp, like many in this area, is shingle rather than sand—that is, made up of small rocks. The falaises make for a dramatic setting. To the north of the town is the Cap Fagnet, with beautiful views of the town and the English channel.