Dutch arctic

Today I went to the little town Stavoren (± 1000 inhabitants; it was granted city rights back in 1118, making it the oldest city in Friesland!) to enjoy the drifting ice on the “IJsselmeer” lake. After a cold period, the ice shelf breaks up and fueled by the western winds it piles up on the eastern shores of this lake. I missed this impressive end-of-winter phenomenon the last 2 years, so I was very eager to go!

* Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 17-40mm/f4 @ 17mm; ISO-200, f16, 1/10s; +0.7 stop; polarization filter; from tripod.
* Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 17-40mm/f4 @ 26mm; ISO-200, f16, 1/2s; +1 stop; polarization filter and 2 stop ND gradient filter; from tripod.

Peekaboo

The last 2 weeks most open water has been turned into ice. Tomorrow thaw will set in according the weather prediction (but last night temperature still went below -10⁰C!). A good day to check-out ditches with some running water for Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus/Bokje). In one small ditch we (Jan Timmermans, Jarno van Bussel, and myself) found 6 birds. This one was very approachable, trusting its camouflage. Peekaboo!

* Canon EOS 7D with 100mm/f2.8; ISO-400, f4, 1/320s, -0.7 step, hand held.

The next morning

Snow yesterday evening and temperatures that have plummeted tonight to a historic low value of -19⁰C. These are the ingredients for a beautiful photogenic world. I chose to go for the sunrise to the nearby lowland stream “Kleine Dommel”. Here is one of the many pictures I made. When you compare this to the post of January 2009 you can see that this time the river is almost frozen.
Later that day I had parental duties. Me daughter Evelien phoned me; she got stuck at railway station “Utrecht CS” together with more than 1000 travellers. No trains arrived or got out, so I decided to pick her up. That is also part of the Dutch winter!

* Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 17-40mm/f4 @ 32mm; ISO-800, f13, 1/60s, +0.7 stop; polarization filter, hand held.

Winter has arrived

Finally winter has come! The last couple of days the temperature stayed below zero at daytime. Water turns into ice. And today we had some serious snow, with the usual side effects in The Netherlands, i.e. non-functional trains and huge traffic jams.
However, before the snowfall started I went with Jos van de Kerkhof, Theo van de Mortel and Wilco Minten to Zeeland to photograph shore birds. Here are 2 highlights: Dunlin (Calidris alpina/Bonte Strandloper) and Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus/Zwarte Ruiter) on ice.

* Canon EOS 7D with 500mm/f4 IS and 1.4x; ISO-400, f5.6, 1/320s, +0.7 stop; from beanbag.
* Canon EOS 7D with 500mm/f4 IS; ISO-400, f5.6, 1/500s, +0.7 stop; from beanbag.

I can’t withhold today’s sunset. So I added a third picture with snowy dikes and snow showers moving south towards Belgium. Temperatures were dropping fast when we drove back … to be continued (see next post).

* Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 17-40mm/f4 @ 17mm; ISO-400, f8, 1/60s, +0.7 stop; hand held.

Dutch ducks III

Thanks to the economic crisis and Ton Döpp I could extend my Dutch duck collection with a beautiful ♂ Wigeon (Anas penelope/Smient) and ♂ Smew (Mergus albellus/Nonnetje). Let me explain. The planned building activities for a new recreation park at the shore of this lake have been postponed (or cancelled?) because of the financial problems in the real estate market. Anyhow, this brave little Smew is alert as ever, hunting on small fish in the rain. The Wigeon is taking a powernap (or is it an after lunch dip?).

* Canon EOS 7D with 500mm/f4 IS and 1.4x; ISO-200, f7.1, 1/500s; from beanbag.
* Canon EOS 7D with 500mm/f4 IS and 1.4x; ISO-200, f7.1, 1/100s, -0.7 stop; from beanbag.

Ice floor

I recommend anyone who is interested in landscape photography to find and explore a ‘local patch’. For me there are 4 requirements for such a local patch:

• It must be close to home.
• It must be suitable for sunrises and/or sunsets; in practice this means that there must be enough far horizon.
• It must have sufficient foreground variation, i.e. different structures to experiment with.
• There must be water, for instance a small lake or large ditch, for working with reflections.

Mine is open heath area with a pool surrounded by forest. It is reachable within 6 minutes (5 minute drive and 1 minute walk), and is suitable for sunrises (not so much for sunsets). Why is a local patch important? Just count the number of really dramatic sunrises or sunsets in a year, may be there are 10 if you are lucky. On these 10 occasions, how many times are you able to witness it with your camera? I am optimist, so let’s say 3? Then you’d better be fast and prepared! Anyhow, here is my local patch with an ice floor on the pool. Sunrise is nice, with a pinkish winter sky reflected in the ice, but not dramatic.

* Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 17-40mm/f4 @ 20mm; ISO-200, f16, 2s; polarization filter and 2 stop ND gradient filter; from tripod.
* Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 17-40mm/f4 @ 20mm; ISO-200, f16, 0.5s, +0.3 stop; 2 stop ND gradient filter; from tripod.

Hen Harrier at first

Sunshine is scarce these days. But when the sun peeps through the clouds the winter light is so beautiful. I am very pleased that my first 2012 upload is a hunting Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus/Blauwe Kiekendief). One intention already has come true. I wish you all the best for 2012, good health, lots of happiness, and amazing light.

* Canon EOS 7D with 500mm/f4 IS and 1.4x; ISO-400, f5.6, 1/640s; from beanbag.