Dragonflies, summer 2013

I love to record dragonflies as I am intrigued by the complexity of these insects.

 

 

More pictures can be found in my Flickr account. An overview can be seen by clicking this link:

 



Shallow Depth of Field

A well known photo technique: Go close to the subject and open your diaphragm to f/4-f/5. The more open your diaphragm  the less the depth of field will be. You could choose to have only a part of your subject sharp, in which case you open the diaphragm to f/2.8 or lower if your lens allows.

2 examples:

Both pictures are for sale in my shop:  http://keesvanderhave.werkaandemuur.nl/                          

We now have an app for iphone and ipad. You will find it in the applestore as "werk aan de muur"
You can then take the number of the photo you choose, enter it in the app, take a picture of the wall in need of decoration, and you will see if my picture (or any other with a "work on the wall" number) will fit your interior. Fun to try!

Shortly international orders will be accepted.

Summer 2013, Dordogne

We are enjoying a couple of summer weeks in our favourite part of France, The Dordogne.
There is no problem at all to enjoy my hobby: photography, and especially macro and close-up photography. Some examples:

Super Horse

Seen on a dike near Poonhaven, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. This photo made "explore" on Flickr and has been viewed by 5600 people. Most of my pictures only get between 50 and a 100 views. Hence the title "Super Horse"

It is also for sale on dibond, canvas, framed, in sizes of your choice:

http://keesvanderhave.werkaandemuur.nl/index/132/nl/De-wind-in-mijn-haar/view/49538/0

Wild orchids.

We happened to  be in France for a spring break, when the wild orchids came out in full force.
A combination of the right humidity level and temperatures. They thrive on the chalky soil here.

 

All pictures taken in Saint Julien de Lampon, on the border of Dordogne and Lot. We used to live here for nearly 10 years, and I never saw even one orchid. 

 

From top to bottem:

 

Orchis Mascula

Orchis Purpurea

Orchis Ustulata

Orchis Araignée

 

 



Werk aan de muur

Some of my photo's are now for sale in my webshop, hosted by "werk aan de muur"

 

The artwork can be projected in virtual rooms, to judge how it would fit your interior.

 

Prints can be made on paper, canvas, dibond, framed etc.

 

Buy now!

 

Go to: http://keesvanderhave.werkaandemuur.nl/

 

 

Icy cold weekend

Spring has begun with sub-zero temperatures and snow and the weekend before Easter was exceptional. It has not been as cold in March since 1952.
Some  shots taken in Halsteren, Noord-Brabant:

Karin and Noa

       Jayden

Janny and Jayden

The Sigma Collection

My Sigma lens collection:

 

 

 

From left to right:

85mm f/1.4 hsm
105mm f/2.8  macro
18-50mm f/2.8-4.5 hsm
28mm f/2.8 manual focus  (this one is for sale)

On the wish list:  35mm f/1.4 hsm Art  (new lens not yet available in the Netherlands.)

I prefer the Sigma lenses over the Pentax lenses because of their ratio price/ quality. Also the hsm type lenses by Pentax are known to have motor problems.
With a 35mm lens added, I cover a good range with prime lenses, which are usually better than zoom lenses.

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 portrait lens

The lens on the wishlist arrived just after Christmas and having played with it a lot, I can now handle it properly. The beauty of this lens is it's extreme sharpness, but very shallow depth of field at f/1.4, creating these creamy backgrounds.
At f/1.4 and iso values of 200-400 it is hardly necessary to use a flash indoors. The focussing is internal and happens by an HSM motor (hyper sonic motor) silently and very quickly. All this makes the lens ideal for children's photography. Some examples of our grand children:

At nearly 800 grams it is a very hefty piece of high quality glass:

Highly  recommended!

Pentacon Bokeh Monster.

A few weeks ago I found an old (40 years or so) Pentacon 135mm f/2.8 lens, made in DDR, famous for it's bokeh. I started of by dismantling and cleaning it inside, as it was obvious it had not been used for many years. The pictures I have made with it so far are pleasing to me. The smooth background, the bubbles against the light, the sharpness. Disadvantage is that (of course) it is manual, and it produces purple fringes in high contrast areas (chromatic abberation). This can be corrected with modern software. A useful addition to my photography equipment, which now consists of a Pentax kx, a k5, pentax dal 18-55, pentax dal 55-300, sigma 18-50, sigma 105 macro, pentacon 135 and an old pentax 50mm f/1.7  On the wishlist is a Sigma 85mm F/1.4

Darters and another Damselfly

Willow Emerald Damselfly
Lestes Virides
Houtpantseljuffer

Yellow Winged Darter
Sympetrum Flaveola
Geelvlek Heide Libelle

Scarlet Darter
Crocothemis Erythraea
Vuur Libelle

These insects were photographed on the land of our friends "De Duitemeijers" near Axel, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. They own a couple of acres of orchard with in the middle a "frog pond" It is this pond that attracts the libellule. I guess it is a good year for these creatures, as they are plentiful.

Damselflies and Chasers

I have been trying for years to take quality pictures of these creatures when we were living in France, and never succeeded over there. Our son now lives in Halsteren, and near their house is a pond teeming with damselflies and schasers. All the above pictures are from there.
From top down:
Blue damselfly-  azuur waterjuffer
Red damselfly- vuur waterjuffer
Scarce blue damselfly-  lantaarntje
Blue damselflies at work- azuur waterjuffers bezig met hun nageslacht.
Detail of "blue damselflies at work"
Broad bodied chaser- platbuik libelle, korenbout.

My Sigma 105mm macro lens came in handy! I hope to publish some more close up insects some time soon.

Birds of the Western Scheldt

The Western Scheldt is being talked about. Antwerp wants bigger ships to be able to come to their port and therefore some sandbars had to be dredged. To compensate for this loss of habitat (?) for wildlife, an agreement between Belgium and the Netherlands has been made to flood the Hedwige polder, a very sore point in our province. The main issue is birdlife. This does not pretend to be a scientific point of view, merely a 60 year observation: I have never seen the water as clean as it is today, the birdlife is more abundant then I can remember. The obvious change that I notice is the abundance of Japanese oysters. Their shells are everywhere. Some birds that I managed to catch on digital film:

Top picture: Bergeend, Shelduck, Taranto Taranto

Middle picture: Scholekster, Oystercatcher, Heamatopus Ostralegus.

Bottom picture: Steenloper, Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria Interpres

Tentoonstelling Ut Fotocollectief Hulst

Dijken: Daar zijn er nog al wat van in oostelijk Zeeuws Vlaanderen, de voormalige Hulster en Axeler ambachten.

De Cisterciënzer monniken van Cambron-Casteau hadden  zich al  in 1223 te Stoppeldijk gevestigd. Zij vingen aan met de inpoldering van grote gebieden in de omgeving van het Hellegat.  Veel van hun werk werd vernield tijdens de tachtigjarige oorlog toen dijken doorgestoken werden om een waterlinie te creëren, om in de daarop volgende eeuwen  weer hersteld te worden. 

Het merendeel van de binnendijken hebben geen echte functie meer, maar dragen nu bij aan de schoonheid van ons Zeeuws Vlaamse landschap. De functionele- en moderne dijken liggen nu langs de Westerschelde.

Oost Zeeuws Vlaanderen is een ondergewaardeerd wandel en fiets gebied met prachtige landschappen, ruimte en rust.

Ut Fotocollectief, bestaande uit een aantal enthousiaste fotografen uit deze streek, tracht een sfeerbeeld te schetsen van dit relatief onbekende stukje Nederland.

De tentoonstelling van  zwart / wit  foto’s met als onderwerp “Dijk”,  vindt plaats van 8-22 Juni in het “s’Landshuis”  (de voormalige zetel van het Hulster ambacht)  in de Steenstraat in het centrum van Hulst. (VVV kantoor)

Maandag t/m vrijdag 10.00 uur tot 12.30 uur en 13.00 uur tot 17.00 uur, dinsdag gesloten. Zaterdag 10.00 uur tot 12.30 uur en 13.00 uur tot 17.00 uur, zondag van 14.00 uur tot 16.30 uur. Toegang gratis.