Dear all,

one of the most exciting aspect of nature photography is the fact that nature is far from predictable and you can always expect something unexpected….. As I was photographing for Natura2000 in Kampina, I cycled along a path and in my eyecorner I saw a brown creature. I looked back and saw it was a Roe deer sitting next to the path, apperently not being frightened by my presence. I stopped and crawled back with my telelens. I could approach it up to a few meters! I was puzzled by this situation, but decided to change my lens for a wide angle and later for a macro. I was so close I could smell the animal and it even sniffed at my macro lens! It was totally relaxed and didn’t seem ill, wounded or in pain, although I believe this behaviour would not have been performed by a normal Roe deer. I could take a shot of its eye, reflecting the surroundings…

Enjoy! Niels

Dear all,

Although at first sight the wheather does not seem particularly inviting to step out of your front door these days, photography wise there are some fine opportunities. Windy and rainy days put your creative skills to the test as there is little light to work with and almost everything is swaying. But for me this can be rewarding when I am using the motion to get special effects by, for instance, using long exposures. I was out in my ‘backyard’ the Blauwe Kamer with my friend Melchert Meijer zu Schlochtern and we both noticed this scene with the big willows and the flowers in front, swaying in the fierce wind. The sun had already set, so we could use long exposures without elements being overexposed. This results in the ‘cloudy’ appearance of the willow’s leaves and the blurred flowers. The stem of the trees give the photo a ‘steady’ base and an eye-catcher to focus on.

Cheers, Niels