A Dragon in Assen

To celebrate the opening of a new wing of the Drents Museum in Assen, Groningen, the Netherlands a dragon was placed in Assen.



The first exposition in the new wing is called  ‘The Golden Age of China’, about the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD), the glorious dynasty with the most open cultural character in all of China’s history.

Stay tuned for photos of the exposition and the new wing!

Moai Statue NDSM-werf Amsterdam

I found these two Moai statues on the NDSM Werf Amsterdam – a long way from home.

Worldwide Photo Walk 2010

24 July 2010 the 3rd Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk will be held all around the world. This event is the largest photographic event in the world. Volunteers will lead a group of photographers and take photos of their area / city. Last year about 32000 photographers joined the walk.

Joining the walk is free, but you must register in advance. Each photo walk group is limited to about 50 people.

Go to http://worldwidephotowalk.com/ , take a look at the video and find out if there is a photo walk near you!

Aiyanar Horses

Aiyanar houses at Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
Canon 350D | Canon 17-55mm | 1/25 @ f/2.8 | ISO 400

Aiyanar is a Hindu Village god worshipped in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Tamil villages in Sri Lanka. Near the temples of Aiyanar there are usually colourful statues of riding horses.

This picture was taken during Wiki Loves Art/NL, hand held (no tripod or flash allowed). I focused on the eye of the second horse from the right. The picture was selected by one of the jurors of the competition. I like this photo because of the wonderful colours of the horses.

It took quite some shots to reach the final result. You can see the various shots I made, here:

The Making of the House Sonneveld Panorama

House Sonneveld is located in Rotterdam and is built in the Nieuwe Bouwen style in 1933. It looks very modern, even for today's standards. Since 2001 it is a museum house and you can visit it.

I visited this museum house during Wiki Loves Art/NL. During this photo contest the collections of a large number of Dutch museums could be photographed. Each photographer made his/her photos available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence. This way the photos could be used by others like Wikimedia Commons. The 10 best photos would get a prize.

Let me tell you how I made this panorama. I was shooting all objects the organizers wanted me to. Besides this museum I also visited the Tropenmuseum and later on the Verzetsmuseum. I was thinking that in order to win a prize the photo had to stand out from the crowd (one way to stand out is to give the largest number of photos to the project…click here to see my 314 photos which made me the top contributor :-).

When I entered the living room I decided to make a panorama so you could see all the objects in their surroundings. I assumed no-one else would submit a panorama. Click on the photo below to see the individual photos:


Normally the camera is put on a tripod with a panorama head to ensure the photos align with each other. However, the usage of a tripod is forbidden, so I took the photos ‘guerilla style’. This means you take the photos while rotating your body around a foot (in my case the left foot). It was a very sunny day and the orange blinds were down on the windows of the right side. You can see the orange cast on the individual photos.

All photos were shot in RAW, so colour correcting them in post production was easy. Autopano Pro was used to stitch the photos together. I was not sure to include or exclude the door on the left side of the panorama. In the end I submitted the photo with the door included, because it was my way to lead the viewer into the panorama.

When I won the seventh prize (see here and here), I was extremely happy, of course. I smiled when read the jury’s comment (translated from Dutch):

“Photo does good justice to the subject, beautiful panorama, disturbing is the composition on the left: the open door. The composition is better when the door is omitted". I am very glad they still awarded me with a prize!

Sunrise and Sunset For (Landscape) Photographers

Being at the right place at the right time is not an easy task for photographers. Generally speaking there are only two times when you have the chance that ‘ the light is right’. This is during sunrise and sunset when the sun is low above the horizon. The sky takes on wonderful colours and the lighting is much softer than in the middle of the day. This is called the ‘golden hour’. Click here to see an example. Especially landscape photos can look great or just awful, depending on the quality of the sunlight.
The downside of this all is that you have to get up early to arrive at your photo spot before sunrise. And if that is not enough, you will stand outside taking photos during sunset while your significant other is waiting for you because normal people are having dinner at that time. So I find it very important to know when and how the sunrise/sunset will be.
I used to lookup sunrise and sunset times at NOAA but it is a little difficult because you have to jump around to enter all the values for date, time, location etc. and I had only a vague idea where the sun would be.

Now I have found ‘ The Photographers Ephemeris’  (ephemeris=a table of values that gives the position of astronomical objects in the sky on a given date and time). This (Adobe AIR) application for Windows/Mac is made by a landscape photographer for (landscape) photographers. It has a nice user interface which lets you easily change location, date, time, see where the sunlight comes, and much more. With a little work you can determine when terrain (like mountains) will block the direct sunlight on your position, or if the sun will still be visible from your vantage point. This is something I have never been able to do before.

Click on the videos to get a quick introduction on what the application can do for you!

Night Rider

Canon 50D | 10-22mm @ 10mm | 10 secs @ f/8 | ISO 100

An experiment with my new Canon 10-22mm lens. Canon 50D on Gorillapod SLR-Zoom clamped to passenger seat.

Reflections

A couple of photos of mine with reflections in it. Please click on the picture above to start the slide show.

Documentaire 'Fotograaf John Gollings - Oog voor architectuur' online

De AVRO heeft de documentaire 'Fotograaf John Gollings - Oog voor architectuur' waar ik eerder over geschreven heb online gezet. Je kan de video hierboven bekijken (Microsoft Silverlight is noodzakelijk), of klik hieronder om de uitzending te bekijken.

Flower Hat Jelly

Monterey Bay aquarium - flower hat jelly. See www.mbayaq.org/efc/living_species/default.asp?hOri=0&...

I made this photo with my Canon G3. It is a prime example that the subject is far more important than the gear which has been used.

Close Up: Fotograaf John Gollings - Oog voor architectuur

De Australische fotograaf John Gollings is bekend van zijn architectuurfoto’s in Australie en Azie. Omdat het deze maand ‘De Maand van de Fotografie’ is, zendt de AVRO een documentaire uit in AVRO Close Up op zondag 14 maart, 18.15 uur, Nederland 2.

Update: de uitzending staat online. Klik hier om het te bekijken.

Opunohu Bay @ Belvedere Lookout, French Polynesia

Canon 50D |17-55mm @ 17mm | 1/256 @ f/8 |  ISO 100 |  –2 / 0 / +2 exposures.

This is the excellent view from the Belvedere Lookout at the Opunohu Bay in Moorea. When I was there, the sun was shining almost directly into our faces (at about two o’ clock). Another perfect opportunity for HDR photography.

Subscribe to Marc's blog by Email

Canary Wharf Station Roof

Photo of the Canary Wharf Station roof.
Canon 50D |  1/740 @ f/4 |  ISO 200 | auto exposure bracketing –2, 0, + 2 stops.

This is what I like about HDR. You can see the building outside, as well as the details on the inside of the roof.

Subscribe to Marc's blog by Email

Online Colour Challenge

How well can you distinguish colours? Take this test and find out. You need a well calibrated monitor to have some chance in obtaining a good score.

The Photographer's Eye - Michael Freeman

Here is a photography book which does not cover the technical details of photography, but the much more important topics of composition and design. I have read this book. Michael covers all aspects like frame dynamics, design basics, graphic & photographic elements, light and colour and many other topics. I especially like the Gestalt perception.

You can read a sample of the book at Amazon. Click on this link, and on the Amazon page click on ‘Click to LOOK INSIDE!’.
In the Netherlands you can buy the book at Computer Collectief and other fine book sellers.

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 3

Paparazzi photographer Henry Flores shows how to move unseen through the street following celebrities. A unique piece of gear he uses is a pepper spray! He uses the Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS lens on a Canon 40D body.

Trey Ratcliff about HDR at Google

Trey Ratcliff is well known for his web site StuckInCustoms.com where he explains about all aspects of HDR photography.  Trey shot the first HDR photo which was displayed at the Smithsonian Institute. He gave a talk at the Googleplex for the Authors@Google program. Read more about it here.

Maand van de Fotografie - Maart 2010

De maand maart staat bij AVRO Kunst in het teken van foto's, het is dan 'De Maand van de Fotografie'. In samenwerking met het FOAM_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam en het Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam besteedt kunst.avro.nl volgende maand extra veel aandacht aan fotografie.
Er wordt ook een fotocursus en fotowedstrijd georganiseerd, Kijk op de AVRO Kunst Portal voor meer details.

What Is In Your Bag? – Part 2

Sports and lifestyle photographer Chase Jarvis explains what and how he packs his photography gear. I like his quote on the TSA rules which state what kind of carry on you can bring on board an airplane (6:38 minutes into the video).
From the TSA web site on http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1248.shtm (as of 15 February 2010)

Photographic Equipment

You may carry one (1) bag of photographic equipment in addition to one (1) carry-on and one (1) personal item through the screening checkpoint.  The additional bag must conform to your air carrier's carry-on restrictions for size and weight.  Please confirm your air carrier's restrictions prior to arriving at the airport.
Air carriers may or may not allow the additional carry-on item on their aircraft. Please check with your air carrier prior to arriving at the airport.
Our screening equipment will not affect digital cameras and electronic image storage cards.

What Is In Your Bag?

Wedding photographer David Ziser explains what is in his bag. A valuable tip from him is that everything must have its place in the bag.