Maternity Photoshoot

Yesterday I got to photograph my good friends. My friends that are expecting a baby very soon. We just headed out into the "Beegderheide" (nice local area with beautiful nature you have probably seen photographs of on my site before)

The weather looked like it was going to spoil the fun. But in the end we got lucky. Very lucky. The sun peeped through the clouds and made everything look so nice. It was as if it knew we were going to shoot right there right then. 

We ended up with a lot of good photographs that really show how happy these guys are with meeting their new family member very soon. Can't you tell? Just look at them :)

Hoge Venen & Bieley

Last week we had a public holiday, Kings-day. We celebrated the 50th birthday of our King. I had this day off just like many other Dutch people. I went and celebrated this day, you guessed it... Not in The Netherlands, haha. Instead of staying home I got into my car and drove off southbound. Into the Hoge Venen in Belgium and in Germany. I have always wanted to pay a proper visit to this area. And the weather was pretty good, skies full with nice clouds so off I went.

I first made my way down to this area just down south of Monschau, Germany. I have seen some photos of this rock called the "Bieley" and I was quite curios to how it would look and what kind of photographic perspective it offered over the valley beneath. I have seen a few photographs that looked promising. And boy, was I right. I had to walk for a few kilometers over some well organized paths through the forest to finally come up to a much smaller and "less traveled" path. At first I was skeptical to take this path and see where it would end up. Although I was pretty sure that this was going towards the rock I was looking for. So off I went deeper and deeper into the woods. All of a sudden I saw the rock peep out between the trees and overlooking this little valley beneath. Breathtaking place. With a little stream curving and finding its way through the valley. Surrounded by mighty pine forests. On top of this rock it really felt as if I was in the Alps or something. Really spectacular viewpoint and location. It was so good to be alone for a bit, taking in the environment around me and enjoying it. This place is so good to photograph, everywhere you look there's great shots waiting to be captured.

After making my way back to the car I decided to drive back home through Belgium. And I had a little stop in "Parc naturel Hautes Fagnes - Eifel" close to Ternell.
I got out the car and shot some more photographs in these great forests that are all around you in this area. The road that I drove crosses these massive woods. You really feel like you are alone with nature, something I really love and makes me feel comfortable. With everything. A nice way to spend a day off and an even better way to recharge. 

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert

Astrophotography

Recently I have been gaining quite some interest for Astrophotography. I have always loved these great images of night skies and star trails and such, but never saw myself take any photographs like that. Because I always thought that the techniques and materials you would need for this were out of reach for me.

I have been talking to my friend Asgeir from Iceland about shooting the stars for quite a bit for the past few weeks, and have to admit that his work and our conversations inspired me to give it a decent go. He basically nails this type of photography. His work are master pieces. He has provided me with plenty of very useful tips and the motivation to step out of my comfort zone and try something new, thanks buddy! (Check out Asgeir's great photographs right here) 

So below you can see what I managed to push out of my camera. I don't have a full frame camera, and my widest lenses are both at F3.5 only. For this type of photography you would really want a "fast" lens (with apertures ranging from F1.4 to F2.8) so F3.5 isn't that bad at all, but it comes with a little challenge. There is slightly less "light" hitting the sensor compared to a F1.8 for example. I had the ISO up to 3200 for both shots, which is still pretty good on my "old" D7000 but also showing that from there grain and noise become much more visible and a disturbing factor. I did edit both pictures in Lightroom and Photoshop to try and get the best quality out of these images. And I am pretty happy with how they came out, what do you think?

Anyways, I am back off to saving some more money to reach the point of possibly upgrading my body and lenses to something more powerful and capable, for experimenting a bit more with this type of photography. 

 
 

El Peñon de Ifach, Spain

Last year in September we went to Spain with the family (again, haha) just to have a good time together, and enjoying Spain basically. We went to Moraira, a nice and little coastal town that is located on the Costa Blanca strip. Back in 2011 we basically did the same trip, stayed in the same town and accommodation and sort of had a similar holiday. It was that good in 2011 that we decided to do it all over again.

A short drive from Moraira is Calpe, a little bit bigger, more tourism, more high rises and sandy beaches. Just as you would imagine the Spanish coast would be. But also home to a quite known landmark, the El Peñon de Ifach. It basically is a giant rock sitting on the shore next to the town. In the old times the rock was a strategic lookout point for locals providing them with perfect views of the sea and the surrounding towns. 

It is the smallest nature park in Spain, perhaps even in Europe. But when you are standing at its foot it is quite intimidating. It is 332m tall, and it is also home to over 300 species of animals and numerous rare plants. The rock has this awesome hike trail that takes you all the way up to the top. Its quite a heavy and tricky climb to get to the highest point. But the views are amazing. Have a look at these pics below, stunning views right?