Classic Dutch view

While en route from the mainland to Vlieland, one of the northern Dutch islands in the Wadden Sea the sun suddenly broke through on a very dull and grayish day. I quickly rushed onto the viewing deck from the ferry and just as we were approaching the island I saw this vessel (the PI 66 a Lemsteraak) in the distance and figured it would line up nicely with the sandy beaches in less than a minute.

I quickly changed lenses from my 16-35 to my 100-400 (EF), manually setting it at f9 and 1/250th of a second to get a nice amount of depth of field for the ship and the background. After that it was just a matter of waiting a bunch of seconds for the line-up to be perfect, the shot was pretty straight forward from there on, the result couldn’t be more Dutch!

Photo is part o a bike trip to two of the smaller Northern Dutch Islands: Schiermonnikoog & Vlieland. Report is for the 2011 Bike Special that comes with the largest travel magazine in the Netherlands: ANWB REIZEN Magazine.

Client: ANWB
© 2010 Fotograferen net

 

On the beach

PLEASE help me VOTE for this image (takes just seconds)!
Just click the image and then give a “thumbs up”!

Many thanx,
Rutger

While enjoying the beach in Zeeland with our friends Bell & Britt, our two year old daughter Sacha started fooling around in the large tidal pool looking for shrimp, starfish and crabs. I jumped for my camera and got as a low position as possible to get these two enjoying the lot.

To give the photo a warmer feel I used the internal flash (on this Canon Powershot G9) with an Av set at f5 and an exposure of -2/3 of a stop. Later on I found out the flash made the water reflect on their faces giving it an ever nicer feel. Shot quite a few images before Sacha actually pointed at the water, the shot I was hoping for.

This picture is also in a Dutch Water Photo Contest, please click the "thumbs up" if you enjoy the photo and would like to help me out.

 

Bastei
Sandstone and water erosion created this Bastei view a million years ago.

BasteiBasteiBastei
Views fit for the 19th century romantics…

While en route from Prague to Dresden by bike for this article we just had to make a full stop before entering the latter city. A couple of hours (by bike) before the town lies a fantastically hidden place called Bastei: remnants of water erosion that happened a millions years ago.
What was left is an incredible landscape of 300 meter high rock pillars in what is now appropriately called Saxon Switzerland. It is actually one of the oldest mass tourist attractions on the continent and it’s easy to see why. You really cannot prepare for the vistas that are to be expected when taking the 45 minute walk to the top.

Bastei Panorama
Hi-res Panorama of Bastei

In 1824 a wooden bridge was built that had to be upgraded to a sandstone one: the Basteibridge that is still in use today and is a monument to the building qualities of that day. Not surprisingly the place was highly favored by the romantics of the period like Casper Friedrich and Hans Christian Andersen. Going there is literally stepping back into the 19th century. That is if you can avoid the crowds by going up in a light drizzle, which also helps getting some spectacular low clouds in the picture. Stay in the village of Rathen if you’re not into rushing it, nice views and plenty of little restaurants which aren’t too packed after dusk sets in (and the tourbusses are gone).

Bastei
View from the 150+ year old Bastei Bridge.


Slideshow, browse it fullscreen!

 

Port Ghalib - The Palace entrance

Port Ghalib - The Palace poolside

Port Ghalib - Coral Beach Marina Lodge

Port Ghalib is a newly constructed resort and marina very close to the airport of Marsa Alam in the South of the Egyption Red Sea. In 2007 and 2008 I had the opportunity to stay and photograph the immense project as it just opened its doors. Incredible to imagine that before these buildings there was only sand and rocks. The Palace Hotel has the largest manmade saltwater pool area in the world.

Port Ghalib - Sahara Oasis Hotel Port Ghalib - One of the many (handmade) lamps Port Ghalib - The Palace lobby

Click on “full screen” for the high-res slideshow:

© 2011 Fotograferen.net Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha