Landscape and Outdoor Photography

Winter mood

Hoge Veluwe NP, NL -

A cold and misty morning, with a mix of fog and drizzle, created this beautiful atmosphere. The contrast between the dark branches and the white light created by the mist caught my eye. Ideally, I would include more of this majestic beech tree in the frame, but the sky above and behind the tree was too bright and would distract from the overall scene. Finding the right composition while excluding the sky can be a real struggle, so I decided to use a longer focal length and select just a part of the landscape, thus creating a more intimate scene.

Autumn vibes

Veluwezoom, NL -

Dutch windmill

Drenthe, NL -

A windmill and a moving sky are a strong combination, so I decided to take a long exposure photo.

Woodlands and heather

Veluwezoom, NL -

Spooky scene

Deelerwoud, NL -

A great frosty and foggy morning with awesome shooting conditions. Love those calm, cold and misty mornings…. 😁 I passed by these bare trees many times but never with the right circumstances to isolate them from the background. This time the mist took care of that. It was a pleasure to wait for the rising sun to break through and press the shutter at the right moment. 😊

Strandby Kirke

Denmark -

During our visit to Denmark I was focused on taking at least one image of one of the many lovely white churches you can find in the rolling landscape. Taking photographs in the middle of the day can be quite challenging due to the harsh light, especially when it's a bright and sunny day. So my plan was to take a black and white image from this church, but I kept it in color because of the beautiful contrast between the yellow grasses and the blue sky. I used a polarizing filter to saturate the wonderful colors even more and I really love the sidelight on the church tower. It definitely was a real joy to photograph this 'kirke'. 🤗

Birch tree in the fog

Loenermark, NL -

At first the fog was so dense that I could only see this tree and nothing more. Not the best circumstances to take an image of a lone tree. But fog often comes and goes, therefore I waited for the fog to lift a bit, revealing some background interest. The next step was to include the second tree in the background, carefully placing it underneath the arched branch of the foreground tree. 🤗

Pole position

Texel, NL -

Sometimes the most simple objects can make a scene work. Trying to capture the gorgeous light during sunset, I used this beach pole to act as my subject.

Sunset over the heath

Veluwezoom, NL -

Despite the drought there were some patches of blooming heather.

Skógafoss

Iceland -

Skógafoss, 25 meters wide and 60 meters high. Pretty impressive to be standing in front of this huge phenomenon. Although it's a pretty obvious subject to photograph, you can't get around this when visiting Iceland. We visited this location late in the evening to take advantage of better light and to avoid the crowd. During the day it's almost impossible to take photos without people in the shot. Almost as crowdy as Piccadilly Circus subway station during rush hour. 😅 Such a fascinating sight / site to visit. Sometimes you have to be very patient. Even during the evening there were still lots of people gazing at this wonder of nature. I managed to get just two people in the shot to emphasize the impressive size of this beautiful waterfall. 😃

Countryside

Burgundy, FR -

Beams of beautiful morning sunlight peeked through the clouds, illuminating the landscape. It was only a matter of time before the light reached the tree and its surroundings. Click. 🤗

Bræðratungukirkja

Iceland -

Búðakirkja

Iceland -

During our visit to Iceland, on our way to the Snæfellsnes peninsula, we turned to Búðakirkja, possibly the most photographed church in Iceland. This wooden, black church is beautifully situated close to the sea and with a mountainous backdrop.

Eldborg vulcano crater

Snæfellsnes peninsula, Iceland. -

Perfectly shaped Eldborg vulcano crater. This so-called explosion crater can be found on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. Only for a brief moment there was a gap in the clouds, through which the sunlight hit the crater. Click! 😁

Kirkjufellsfoss

Kirkjufellsfoss, Iceland -

Not surprisingly an iconic location, Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss.

Vikurkirkja

Vik, Iceland -

Standing on the black sand beach, I took this shot handheld, because of the strong wind, which is actually quite normal in Iceland.

This church has a beautifully coloured red roof, but I prefer the black and white version nevertheless. The church stands out nicely against the dark background and its surroundings. Furthermore, the light was a bit harsh and the sky was a deep blue with patches of white, fluffy clouds. Ideal circumstances for a black and white photo. 😎

Into the mist

NP Veluwezoom, NL -

I couldn't resist to photograph this 'road in the woods' again, because of the wonderful foggy conditions. The road with its beautiful curves just seems to disappear into nothingness.

Twin pines

NP Hoge Veluwe, NL -

The weather and dark clouds were just what I needed to complete the scene. I had this composition in mind for a while, but I just needed the heavy clouds to make the image work.

Sky impression

Veluwezoom, NL -

While avoiding the Scottish highlanders in this area, the evening sky turned nicely orange and I managed to get in the right position to capture this lone tree and the stunning clouds. 

Apple tree

NP Weerribben-Wieden, NL -

What started as a gray and uninspiring morning, turned into a day with a beautiful sky and great orange and yellow colors in the field. I noticed this lone apple tree in this reedland during an early morning bike ride. I set up my tripod and grabbed my wide angle lens to get as much of the amazing sky in the shot as possible. After a little while, the sun broke through the clouds, casting a nice shadow of the tree on the ground and the reed.

Bouncing light

Veluwezoom, NP -

The shining sun poking through the clouds

Pine tree, sunlight and clouds

NP Veluwezoom, NL -

I just needed some really 'bad' weather and some dark clouds to make this an interesting photo. It was just a matter of wait, in the pooring rain, for the light to break through the clouds. I think it worked well.

Sunrise

Veluwe, NL -

Heath of the rising sun....😁

Golden hour sunset

Veluwe, NL -

October version of the same group of trees I photographed a few months ago, when the setting sun was way more to the right and outside of the frame. I planned to come back early October, when the position of the setting sun would be more behind, or at least closer to the trees, what hopefully has turned out to be a great shot.

Resort

Austrian Alps -

Waal river

Nijmegen, NL -

Getting up early is often rewarding. The amazing red sky appeared about fifteen minutes before sunrise. Standing on the bridge 'De Oversteek', I found this beautiful view over the Waal river and the bridge.

In order to prevent flooding in the near future, the Dutch government is changing the course of more than 30 rivers throughout the country. These measures taken along the rivers IJssel, Lek, Maas and Waal are known as 'Room for the river'. Room for the river Waal Nijmegen is one of these measures.

Autumn

Posbank, NL -

One of my favorite early morning locations in The Netherlands is NP 'Veluwezoom', and to be more specific, the 'Posbank'. Visiting this location during autumn season is a treat. It gave me the opportunity to photograph the beautiful fall coloured, backlit leaves.

Night view

Normandy, Fr -

Dancing clouds

Normandy, Fr -

The moment I saw these clouds coming in, I knew they had to be in the frame. They look like crazy little ghosts, dancing in the sky. They definitely make the photograph.

Le Mont Saint Michel

Normandy, Fr -

Morning view of Le Mont Saint Michel. I tried to make a more compelling composition by placing the corn field in the foreground, covering up the lower part of the mount. The warm morning sunlight completed the scene.

Le Mont Saint Michel

Normandy, Fr -

Beautiful and warm sunset light hitting the mount and the abbey. I eliminated the distracting ripples in the water and added some dynamics to the sky by using a long exposure.

Le Mont Saint Michel

Normandy, Fr -

It's always nice to have the opportunity to photograph an iconic landmark, but quite challenging not to shoot the obvious. I waited until the sun had set and the sky would turn orange. The reddish cloud in the upper right corner and the posts of the fence on the left add a nice touch to the photograph.

Moulin de Moidrey

Normandy, Fr -

I was present at this location half an hour before sunrise. I knew the sun would appear just behind the mill and positioned my tripod accordingly.  After some wait, the sky and clouds turned beautifully orange and I had the opportunity to take this photograph.

If you're in the neighborhood, it's worth visiting the windmill and even buy some local products like buckwheat, wheat and rye.

Misty morning

NP Veluwezoom, NL -

This morning I was treated to a mixture of mist and sunlight. A wonderful combination of softness and gorgeous light. Definitely worth getting up early. Despite the exceptional drought this summer, there was still some blooming heather, providing beautiful colors.

Red glow

Veluwe, NL -

A few minutes after the sun had set, this amazing red glow appeared in the sky. Because I knew this would only last for a moment, I rushed back to a pair of trees I noticed earlier, set up my tripod and took the shot.

Silhouette

Texel, Den Hoorn, NL -

Mountain range

Dolomites, IT -

Heather

Schaarsbergen, NL -