Mysterious ways

For today, the forecast was a clear day with possibly some fog. So I headed for the local forest again to photograph a spectacular sunrise. Too bad, the weather was drab and gloomy, so no sun and no fog and nothing that even vaguely resembled a spectacular sunrise.

Next stop was a heathland moor where I knew I could find a male hen harrier and several shrikes. I spent about three hours, during which I did see my intended subjects, but nowhere within camera reach. It seemed to become one of those days not to remember.

On the drive home, I passed a little green shed. I had been told a little owl often uses it to enjoy the warm rays of sun. However, over the course of 18 months I had never seen even the tiniest bit of little owl anywhere near the shed. So I drove by and out of habit just shortly glimpsed over my shoulder towards the shed. And there it was!

The little owl was not bothered by my presence at all, just curious and so we spent about an hour together and played a little game of hide and seek. Unbelievable, as you may know that I spent about the full spring period to photograph a little owl family with hardly any success because they simply were too scared of my presence. Nature moves in mysterious ways... I will certainly remember that next time (and every time) I go out to photograph.

Little owl in farmers shed; Canon 1D mark III w. 500/4 and EF 2x; 1/125s at F11 and ISO 400; Beanbag from car window.

Autumn fever

Autumn is my favourite time of the year. The forests and parks sport an amazing variety of colors, there's a certain smell in the air that I really like and the mornings are often foggy and crisp at the same time.

(Maybe I should also mention that I am getting married in autumn, more specifically September 25, 2009.)

And best of all, there's an abundance of subjects waiting to be photographed. Birds come to the feeders again, roe deer and squirrels are easier to spot in the decidious forests and spiders and fungi make for interesting seasonal subjects.

The problem is that I often find it hard to choose what to photograph on the few autumn days that I have the time to go out and shoot. I have decided to leave the bird feeding station alone for another few weeks until the first frosty mornings are here (which seems to be soon!). And thus I am focussing my attention on macro subjects and landscapes, something I find myself doing more and more.

Here's a local stream on a foggy morning. Only in these low-contrast circumstances is it possible to get satisfactory results. With more contrast, the scene would get chaotic very quickly with all the scattered light and dark patches.

Autum stream; Canon 1D mark III w. 70-200/4; 1/30s at F11 and ISO 200; Gitzo tripod.

Of mice and men

Last weekend, my significant other and I did an inventory in a nearby woodland for mice, voles and shrews. Over the course of two days, we did 5 check-ups of the 100 lifetraps we had placed, spread over spots with varying vegetation (woodland, heather, grainfields).

We trapped over one hundred mice and voles, but just one shrew. As expected, the most common species was the adorable but jumpy wood mouse, followed closely by the fluffy and timid bank vole. Species we captured in smaller numbers were the scruffy field vole, the tiny harvest mouse and a deceased dwarf shrew.

Of course, I took the opportunity to photograph the various species we captured. For this purpose, I had built a special photostudio out of wood and plexiglas. As the mice and voles are constantly on the move or underground, my patience was tested to the maximum. But in the end I got the photographs I had in mind. I did not try for regular registration shots, but strived for more artistic photos with the use of common studio techniques.

Needless to say, my supermodels spent the weekend in unsurpassed luxury: each got a double room with a view and plenty of hay, carrot, apple, peanutbutter and oats. And although some made a succesful (but temporary) escape into my home office, they were of course released at the exact same spot we had captured them.

Wood Mouse; Canon 1D mark III w. Tamron 90/2,8; 1/250s at F11 and ISO 100; Homemade mouse studio and two flashes.

Are you nuts?

That's what the squirrel that features this photo must have thought when it saw me lying on the floor behind my camera, halfway into our living room with the garden door wide open.

In autumn 2006, this little chap came to visit our small garden every day at the exact same time to feed on the seeds and nuts we had put out for the local bird community. So I decided to make use of the situation and take some photos. I am glad I did. The large park garden in which it resided has been demolished lately, to make room for the build of 10 modern bungalows. We haven't seen the squirrel since.

Needless to say I feel sorry for the little guy and hope it has found a suitable new place to live. Please feel free to come and enlighten us with a renewed visit, we'll provide the nuts! And oh...thanks for the little walnut and chestnut trees in our garden.

Red Squirrel portrait; Canon 20D w. 500/4 IS; 1/160s at F5,6 and ISO 400; Beanbag from floor.

Argus 2008 finalist

2008 seems to become a rather succesful year. After having won this years Grasduinen competition, I am very happy to announce that my image of a common blackbird singing on a streetlight was chosen as a finalist in the 'night' category of the 2008 Argus photo contest.

Whether my photo is awarded a prize, a highly commended nomination or nothing at all will be announced during the award ceremony in December. Until that time, all 60 nominated images are to be found on the Argus website.


The public can choose their own favourite, and this photo will be awarded the 'prize of the public'. So if you are reading this blog, you might as well click here and vote for my photo! The whole process will only take a few mouse clicks and a minute of your time.

Common Blackbird on streetlight; Canon 20D w. 500/4 IS and 1,4X; 1/30s at F5,6 and ISO 800; Beanbag from garbage bin.

Naturescapes.net article

No, unfortunately the book cover to the left is not mine. It's the cover to Andy Rouse's latest coffee table book titled "Concepts of Nature". I'm a huge fan of both coffee and Andy's work, and his latest book is no exception.

In the book, Andy describes the process he has recently gone through as a photographer: the transformation from a mere 'soft light frame filler' to someone who uses the quality and direction of light to convey beauty and emotion. I got lots of inspiration from the book and the stunning images that illustrate it and decided to put that inspiration to good use during my latest Africa trip.

Trying to find a way to thank Andy for the inspiration, I decided to write an article for Naturescapes.net. In this article , I make a comparison between the photos I took on a former trip to Zambia (click here for the respective article) and the ones I took on my latest trip. I am sure you'll be able to see the difference between the images from both trips to the same place.

I informed Andy on the article and he was very happy to hear that his book apparently has the effect he had meant and hoped for. He has even made a mention of the article in his Blog. Of course, I am honoured to be mentioned by the photographer that must be my main source of inspiration!