LEFTOVER LOWLAND LANDSCAPES – my favourite shots

Behind the town of Zaandam is the area known as De Gouw, ‘The Shire’. It’s not large and there’s not a lot there. I can see why shires appealed to J.R.R.Tolkien.

We’re entering ‘Year in Review’ mode, so it’s time to publish photos that didn’t quite fit into any other stories.

Landscape photography suits me well. Unlike friends and relatives, birds and bikes, landscapes stay relatively still while you fiddle with the camera settings. I’m coming to appreciate Dutch scenery more and more. There are no spectacular snow-capped mountains, towering waterfalls or breathtaking desert canyons. Instead everything in little Nederland is on a small and manageable scale.

The English word ‘landscape’ is derived from the Dutch word ‘landschap’. Remember that! Now you can say you learned something by visiting this blog.

DRAMA IN DUTCH SKIES – and a photo tip…

Basiliek van de H. Nicolaas and Amsterdam Centraal Station…a trick shot (see below).

My brother-in-law Jacob Oldenburger always claims the Dutch skies are the most beautiful in Europe. He’s cycled many a kilometre and he ought to know.

You’d think sky was sky and light was light wherever you went, but on a windy autumn day as Mevrouw T and I rode over the flat landscape of Waterland, north of Amsterdam, it was the clouds that caught our attention.

I only took a few shots, then converted them to black and white and did a little experimenting…

SHOOTING IN ITALIAN ALLEYWAYS

I sat by the washing, waiting for an old man with a dog to walk by. A lady with a stick was just as good. How’s that for an authentic Italian cliche?

Venice is popular. For good reason, of course.

Naturally, much of the Italy we tourists see looks like the picture on the right, but as photographers we prefer the privacy of deserted places.

So although it’s not possible to avoid the well-trodden path altogether, you can glance sideways into every little alleyway, point the camera at it and hope that it might be free of visitors.

If you’re really lucky, you might even spot a local doing something colourful and charming.

VERONA – 12 reasons for photographers to fall in love

Of course where there’s a tower, you have to climb it. This is the view from the top of the Lamberti Tower.

I know, I was a little critical of all that Romeo and Juliet stuff in my previous post on Verona. That was largely for comic purposes, though I was pleased to see people shared my hatred of the 3D graffiti that is love lock mania.

There is of course much to love about Verona.

BLUE MOUNTAINS PHOTO CONTEST – No, I didn’t win, but…

Wentworth Falls – Gary Moloney.

I think it’s surprisingly difficult to make good photos in the mountains. It’s surprising because so many views are spectacular. It’s difficult because any shot you can think of seems to be a clicheed image, just the same scene that hundreds of others have captured before you.

So it was an interesting challenge when the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service ran a photo competition for the best shot of the Blue Mountains. Thanks, Antonina, for bringing it to my attention.

What the best of the shortlist of 17 entries have in common is that they had some luck with the weather. The sun breaking through the clouds at exactly the right moment, Narrow Neck in fog, an isolated shower approaching the Three Sisters…these are the sights that you wish you’d been there to see.

I say they had ‘luck’, though who knows? Maybe getting the perfect light was the result of months of patience and planning.

Whatever their merits, the chosen shots show some of the variety of landscapes and activities that make the Blue Mountains one of my favourite places in the world.

I’ve posted some of my picks of the pics here.

AUSTRALIA’S FAVOURITE BIRD – my practice shots

The Superb Fairy-wren. He’s not as well-known as the kookaburra or the emu, but he’s very well liked. In a recent survey of 8000 bird lovers, he was the favourite. I say ‘he’, because this is a male.

Mevrouw T and I have signed on for a wildlife cruise around the Scottish island of Mull, once the weather improves in May. Puffins, otters, eagles, maybe peregrine falcons and dolphins too.

It sounds excellent, so I’ve decided to use it as an excuse to practise my wildlife photography. Armed with yet another new longish camera lens (Canon 70-300mm this time) I set off around Sydney’s Cooks River, just a couple of kms south of Casa Tulloch, to shoot the wildlife there.

I mustn’t let familiarity breed contempt – these shots are all of very common birds in Sydney, but no less interesting for that.