Dutch landscape photography - It comes from my heart
Living in the Netherlands I am surrounded by beauty. Every day I look for new opportunities and locations to photograph; to share the unique landscape in which I live. Every landscape image that I have created has been carefully chosen for its ability to evoke interest and emotion, for its simplicity and because I believe it is an image that represents a location or moment in time that I want to be able to share.
Every day the changing weather presents opportunities for capturing the huge skies in all their glory. I don't think I ever noticed the sky before I started my landscape photography journey! Now I notice the different cloud formations, I notice sun rises and sunsets, I notice the days when the sky is so blue with perfect fluffy clouds and here in the Netherlands the rising of the mist at each end of the day is a sight of beauty to behold with the right sky to go with it!
Living in a rural location, I absolutely love photographing natural landscapes that include trees, grass, natural colours, fields, water and skies. So you will see a lot of these in my portfolio. Over half of these images are taken within a 30 minute drive of my home - I am lucky to have the Hogue Veluwe and Posbank literally on my doorstep. The landscapes throughout the country are quite diverse, and I love travelling to different areas. The Netherlands is not so big and a 2 hour drive gets me almost anywhere in this country. Funny really; before I arrived here I assumed Holland was all the same - flat, brown and covered in windmills, and that I would have no inspiration to pick up my camera!
I am also drawn to the Dutch architecture here in The Netherlands. I don't think I really 'noticed' buildings before I was exposed to the diverse range of architecture on show here in the Netherlands! They hate to build anything plain square or grey; and so a huge amount of experimenting and showcasing the unique goes on here. Its not chocolate box pretty or even relaxing to look at, but something about it is very interesting to photograph and the resulting images tend to quite bold, incorporating colour, clean lines and contrasts.
No two cities are the same here. I love the tightly packed narrow living in the Amsterdam that the Dutch are famous for - it's quite a challenge sometimes to capture the height and grandeur of this style of building. In Utrecht you have the old canals with so much character, the beautiful Dom tower with a view from the top which is a just reward after climbing hundreds of steps! The relatively modern architecture of Rotterdam and its rivers landscapes are in quite a contrast, and the boat tour to one of the largest ports in the world opens up even more photographic opportunities. Although I have photographed Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht a few times each I know there is so much more to explore at these locations, and of course many more cities and towns around the country.
In landscape photography; I believe that locations can be enhanced by the inclusion of objects, individuals or events that tell a story or add context or show perspective. In many of my images you will see cyclists - these are so much part of the landscape in the Netherlands its often hard to keep them out of images!
I hope this explanation of my passion for landscape photography enhances your understanding and viewing pleasure of the images that are for sale. If you have any questions, or would like to know where any photos have been taken please do not hesitate to contact me.