2021 was another very active photography year for me. The corona pandemic still had the whole world in its grip and also in the Netherlands we painfully moved from one lockdown or semi-lockdown period to the next, with some little breathing spaces in between. At times our freedom of movement was quite limited and social contacts were also only sparsely allowed. Reason enough for my sister Agnes and me to often seek each other’s company and to go out with the camera very regularly: luckily nature reserves within the Netherlands were always freely accessible, so we made ample use of that to visit beautiful places and go explore.
Early January, therefore, is the right time to look back on this year of photography and make a selection of my best photographs. This year the emphasis was very much on nature photography, while street or social photography – partly due to the circumstances – came off poorly. Following is a presentation of my own favourite photos this year. Not necessarily technically perfect photos, but images that tell a story, capture a unique moment or pass on a special experience.
These images you can also view in gallery style on my Photodeck website: click here
Birds
My own top-favourite photo this year was one from the ‘Reed bunting in the blizzard’ series. A special image that accurately reflects the harsh conditions for small birds and the need to survive in winter weather. Flying birds were certainly a favourite this year as well. Perhaps this was the first year in which I really managed to get some good pictures of it, more than ‘just by accident’. But birds also remain a challenge in the water or on the ground, and it is exciting and exciting to portray them properly. The black-tailed godwits (and other meadow birds) on Marken, the spoonbills on Terschelling, the grebes in North Holland and Zeeland, the swans on the Veluwemeer, the ostrich in Artis and the greenfinches in the dunes of Egmond aan Zee… we enjoyed them all!
Trees
Another theme that came up very often in my photography this past year was trees. Trees in the landscape or in small detail. This was partly due to the fact that at the beginning of 2021 we (Agnes and I) had completed the personal coaching traject, which we followed for most of 2020. As a final assignment, we had to submit a series of 8 photos. I chose the theme ‘Trees in weather and winter’ and decided to make a diptych for each tree of one wide photo (landscape) and one close-up or macro photo. I will show the result of this photography project in another blog post. However, due to the choice of the formula of a diptych per tree, some trees, of which I only had a wide shot, fell out. Others were made in another season and didn’t fit the winter theme at all. Some of my favourite tree photos are therefore given a place here.
It’s a few weeks now that I skipped posting my Sunday Street photo’s, because I had other things to do that had priority. But I don’t want to forget about it all together. So, although it’s Monday night already, here come my Sunday Street shots.
Till now, I picked two different photo’s for my English and Dutch blog, but as of today, I’ll pick two, and post them on both of my blogs. Here they come 🙂
Family, mom, dad and kids, with rented red Mac Bike bicycles, in the busy touristic centre of Amsterdam. The boy and girl in front of the carrier bicycle eating salted chips, and sharing some with dad – Amsterdam Street photography
Lady with blue hat is turning her back to “het Amsterdams Lieverdje” (“the Amsterdam Little Darling”)) – statue on Spui square. The square is decorated with balloons in the National colours and orange flags, for the Soccer World Championship 2014.
After a long walk through the busy city centre, they finally found a nice terrace. It takes some time before they are served their drink – so in the meantime: Let’s see what next…
Admitted, they are attractive, decorative and delicious, these huge round ‘Old Amsterdam’ cheeses, piled up in the window display, in yellow and black. And great to take home as a gift after a vacation in the Netherlands too! The old Amsterdam houses reflecting in the shop window and the everywhere present bicycles add to the ‘typical Holland’ atmosphere…
This Snowy Owl was photographed in Pairi Daiza zoo, a marvellous themed zoo on the grounds of a previous abbey in Brugelette, Belgium.
The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large owl, typically found in the northern circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60 degrees north. However, it is a particularly nomadic bird, and because population fluctuations in its prey species can force it to relocate, it has been known to breed at more southerly latitudes. (source: Wikipedia )