The Bachelor

Hopefully you've enjoyed the long Easter weekend with beautiful weather as much as I did. Most of the 'photography time' was spent observing and researching for two small projects that I hope to reap the fruits of in the next few weeks. They both look moderately promising, so stay tuned for (hopefully) the first results.

Of course I had to push the button at least once during the weekend, and so I was happy to be invited by a good friend who reported a rather confiding Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca, Bonte Vliegenvanger) that had lived on his terrace for most of the week.


When I got there, the bachelor male had moved 50 meters to a large tree with a nesting box. He sang his heart out to defend the nesting box and hopefully attract a female. Ironically, the nesting box had long been taken by a pair of Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus, Pimpelmees) and some ten meters to the right, a pair of Pied Flycatchers had taken up residence. He did not seem to bother and went on and on singing and checking the nesting box. That resulted in a fight with the close neighbour on multiple occasions. But, according to the lastest reports, he is still there! The dappled sunlight through the canopy provides for some interesting lighting and the limited and soft DOF of the fullframe 5DII made for a beautiful background in most of the images. I have completely abandoned the clear, boring, evenly colored backgrounds and now tend to look for out of focus patterns or color patches. Much more natural and interesting, at least to me.

Pied Flycatcher male; Canon 5D Mark II w. 500/4L IS and 1.4x; 1/125s at F6.3 and ISO200; tripod

Back to Africa

Although I did go out to photograph this weekend, I had to devote this post to an oldie.

We have finished our planning for a two week trip to the Kruger national park in South Africa in June. It has been too long since our last holiday to Zambia in 2008 and we are really excited to go back to our beloved Africa once again! Travel pace will be quite a bit slower than what we are used to though, as our daughter will of course travel with us. I am curious as to how a nearly one year old baby will react to the environment and all the animals close to the vehicle.



With all the bookings made, I almost automatically opened the Lightroom folders with images from Zambia and my previous Kruger trip (2007). Amazing how my taste and preferences have changed over time. I tend to reopen folders like these once every year, and every time it seems there are new (old) images that have grown on me. Above is an image of a lioness (Panthera leo, Leeuw) in Zambia's South Luangwa national park that I never bothered to process. Why? The lioness is right in the middle of the frame, the background is a little distracting and she just sits there without any interesting behavior. What I did like was the quality of the light and the fact that it only hit her face. To stress the lighting and eliminate the rest, a B&W conversion did the task. The central position of the subject now even seems to suit the image rather well. I can't wait to go back and see what surprises Africa has to offer us this time!

Lioness; Canon 20D w. 70-200/4L and 1.4x; 1/500s at F5.6 and ISO200; beanbag

Finally: appreciation

-- Extra Newsflash --

I am proud to announce that my abstract image of a dewy spiderweb in front of a Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria, Vliegenzwam) has been awarded a Highly Commended at the 2011 Glanzlichter awards in Germany in the 'Nature as Art' category. This image from 2009 has long been one of my own favorites and reached far in every competition I entered it into. Until now though, it never survived the final round of judging, so I am relieved it finally got the appreciation I think it deserves.

Of course, there is more Dutch success in the competition. Both Andrew George and Heike Odermatt received no less than 3 awards. Quite an achievement! All winners can be seen here.

By the way: I initially had another winning image in this competition, but it has been disqualified for reasons I do not agree with. I'll post the story and the before and after images in a future post with my thoughts on the subject and am curious what your thoughts are.

Fog in my Head

It had been a while since the last time I got up and out very early. A chilly night had been forecasted with good chances for morning fog, so a good day to rise and shine early.

I decided to revisit the Bluethroats and see if I could photograph them against the sun in foggy surroundings. To keep it short: all of five Bluethroats appeared to be camera shy. They sang their hearts out, but all from a respectful distance and fearfull of my every move. I am happy I spent a few minutes to photograph the beautiful landscape on my way to the Bluethroats, otherwise I would have returned home with empty flashcards.


The fog had also gotten into my head, or so it seemed. After the Bluethroats, I had planned to walk a detour and place an observation camera at a spot that looked promising for May and June. Early morning at home, I had checked at least a dozen times if I had placed fresh batteries in the camera. But when I had it in place and it still did not work, it suddenly dawned on me that I had forgotten to place an SD card in the camera. Damn me! All in all, it still was a beautiful morning: I had a very pleasant stroll and a handful of decent photographs. On the way back, I found a large field with Cuckoo Flowers (Cardamine pratensis, Pinksterbloem), something to revisit on the next beautiful morning or evening. I will probably bring the observation camera again, but only after having checked the presence of an SD card at least two dozen times.

Landscape at sunrise; Canon 5D Mark II w. 70-200/2.8L IS II; 1/125s at F8 and ISO200; handheld

On Top

With the first obvious signs of spring, male Bluethroats (Luscinia svecica, Blauwborst) return from the wintering grounds and start to form and defend a territory. This goes with a great display of song and colors, but only during a week or two. I can never resist to try and photograph these beautiful birds and this year is no exception. So I went to a newly formed patch of wet nature with Bog Myrtle, Willow bushes, Reeds, Cattails and Common Alder to try my luck. Sure enough, I found two individuals that were more than willing to perform for me. They sang all morning and let me approach relatively close without bothering. But, here comes the ever present but: they tend to sing from the highest vantage point available. There were several young Common Alder trees of some 3 meters height at all corners of the territory, so all I got were shots against the bland sky. I do like the high key effect of the washed-out sky, but I would really like to get a more close-up shot of a singing bird against a colored background. For that shot to work, I will need a territory with bushes instead of trees. I will continue to search and probably have one more week before the males turn into mute mode again.

Bluethroat; Canon 5D Mark II w. 500/4 IS and 1.4x; 1/160s at F5.6 and ISO400; tripod.