maandag 25 februari 2013

Close Encounters


Peanuts?
My first encounter with a fox up close and personal. When out for a walk quite late in the afternoon with some family at the Amsterdamse Waterleiding Duingebied (the Amsterdam Watercompany Dune area) we first spotted a fox on the other side of a small canal. Already totally excited we snapped some shots of the fox that didn't seemed scared at all! It was a bit dark an unfortunately not the best time to attempt a shot but we tried anyway. After a while the fox started  running in the opposite direction.

If i run i can still make it!



We thought it had enough of us. Suddenly we saw the same fox running towards us as fast as it could. We noticed he or she had a bit of a limp. To our amazement the fox then went into the bushes and then came up to us as if saying i am hungry please give me some food.




Fox chewing on a liga evergreen...
At a 30cm distance it was looking at us and i found some bisquits and raw peanuts in my bag. The fox ate all the bisquits and peanuts.

 Next to the fox there was a hurd of sheep looking most jealous. They even tried to scare the fox away to steel the bisquits. It was amazing to see this beautiful animal from such a short distance. It was a freezing day but worth it! I hope the little fox will survive and it's paw will heal. It is almost spring then it might be a better time for the fox to find food. So if you are ever near this area it is worthwhile checking it out. Apart from foxes there are countless deer,rabbits,sheep,cows, birds of prey, wild swans and more. I have been to no other place were it was that easy to see so many animals except for the zoo!


dinsdag 19 februari 2013

But what is it?



Sometimes you only see the details when you get home and sit behind your computer. In the forest of Ruissalo there was a tiny forest pool and it had completely frozen over. The rapid drop of tempurature had created intricate lines as can be seen underneath.
 
These lines already intrigued me as for all the years i have walked around these forests i have never seen ice formed like this. As i was was laying in the snow in an attempt to see all the detail and take a close up macro shot the above photo was the result. Small figures emerged from the ice like winter fairies frozen in time in an imaginairy world. The soft blues were added i must admit but that was all. I have a passion for blue and remember an art teacher once asking why i choose the color blue in a particulair painting.

When i remarked that blue was my favorite color that answer was not satisfactory at all. I remember protesting that the things i love most in nature are blue; the water reflecting the warm summer skies, the clear winterskies. Blue is both calming and serene and never boring. So i could think of no better color than blue. I regret not photographing the whole pond in the same detail. Imagine the stories but they have to wait for another winter to be told.

zondag 17 februari 2013

Waterworld

In the Netherlands at the coast is the Amsterdam waterleiding duingebied, which translates like Amsterdam watercompany dune area. It is a protected area were you almost stumble on deer, rabbits, all sort of birds and ofcourse people (afterall it is the Netherlands).As it was my first visit i was really amazed by the relax almost lazy deer that were not bothered by people at all. It probabely helped i didn't see any dogs running about.The area is covered in typical dune bushes like Buckthorn, small trees and ofcourse European beachgrass to keep the sand from being blown away. It was a bright sunny winters day and people were out in big hords. Despite the amount of people it was still possible to find a quiet path and see plenty of wildlife. Everywhere there were pools, small lakes and canals filled with all sorts of waterbirds like wild swans. It was the first time i saw them in the Netherlands.We saw foxes, at least a lot of deer, wild swans, tufted ducks, plenty of rabbits and more waterbirds. Pretty amazing. I know completely get the reports in the newspaper that the deer were roaming into people's gardens in Zandvoort when they got hungry. Anyway i am a waterfan and love blue so combining the two in one shot was inevitable ; )

woensdag 13 februari 2013

A New website

After thinking about it for a while finally the website is now up and running. The content excist mostly of nature photography in both the Netherlands and Finland. I have a background in painting and while photography is a different medium my aim is the same. When you really pay attentention at your surroundings and stand still to investigate what you see the natural world is truly amazing. The many colors, the bizar shapes, the variety of plants and animals it is mindblowing. Then i am not even talking about how the light can change everything in an instant. For everything the naked eye fails to see macro photography comes in. Just when you thought you did see all detail there is the discovery of a whole new world just in front of you. There is now need to take a plane or fly to the moon, it is just there for everyone who cares to take a moment to look. How often have i heard when down on my knees with my camera, but that is only a dung beetle! Yes it is only a dung beetle but have you ever taken the time to look at one? The shine shield the most exquisite blue like a forest jewel glittering in the sun. Even the most common fly is a work of art! For everyone who is curieus or cannot go down on his or her knees to observe that what surrounds us i have created this website and blog. Ofcourse all work is available for purchase through the main website: Feel free to have a look or come in contact for assignments or questions For now enjoy! Ester Scottish Cattle at Lentevreugd in Wassenaar.

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