A Fresh Perspective
Photography is more than just a vehicle for capturing the world around me; it provides me with a palette and a set of brushes, with which I paint not only what I see, but also look to express the emotions that are evoked by the scene in front of me in that moment.
Growing up in the Netherlands exposed me to a wide cross-section of visual arts that laid the foundation of my photographic view of all that surrounds me. Early influences were the Dutch Masters of the 17th century, to whom I was introduced by my grandfather during museum explorations; favorites among them are the scenes of quotidian life depicted by Jan Steen and Frans Hals and the vivid landscapes of Jacob van Ruisdael.
My classical high school education was supplemented by the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum, where I spent many a lunch hour exploring its great collection. Here I was introduced to surrealism with a particular love for the approach taken by Salvador Dali; Dali also rekindled my appreciation for the work of Hieronymus Bosch, who often showed the folly of us mortals.
Universal Connections
My approach to any photographic subject is to look for understanding first; in this I look to establish either a connection between the viewer and the subject or capture the connection of the subject with its surroundings. The captured image then aims to portray this connection from a perspective that is part of my personal interpretation.
This interpretation is often a form of externalized introspection, which may alternately display the connection of isolated beings and items with their environment or highlight the whimsy of the profound world, in which we find ourselves. The universe is full of connections, many of which are waiting to be discovered; part of my journey as a photographer is to document these connections.
Any assignment, be it an event, a product shoot or a portrait session is always approached through communication with the client; this is where the first connection is established. Ideas are exchanged and a collaborative plan of action forms, ultimately resulting in a set of images that aim to exceed the expectations of each client.
And, lest we forget, it is important to have fun while practicing the serious business of photography!
One of the frequent contributors to my weekly Tuesday Photo Challenge is Khürt Williams. Khürt’s photography and writing is always amazing, and a lot of fun too! He also writes about beer, which might interest many… You should definitely check out his blog at Island in the Net.
This week, Khürt has started a new challenge series, the 52 Week Smartphone Challenge, which is described in the link. The concept is fairly straightforward and inspired by the great quality cameras that are in smartphones these days: shoot something that goes with the them and pingback/tag it to have it show up under the challenge.
This week’s theme is ‘Self-Portrait’: “Take a picture that tells us who you are, without actually showing your face.”
Snow has become part of me…
Here’s my contribution to the first week, which tells you that snow has really become part of my very being… In New England, we get an adequate supply, and I’m one of those weird people that actually likes the white stuff, as it makes the entire world look gorgeous (for a while).
This shot is from this morning, after we got another dusting (1-2 inches); as it was on the warm side, the snow was heavy, but gorgeous! I took this shot with my iPhone 11Pro Max using the NeuralCam app. This app has become one of my favorite photography tools!
Welcome to week 190 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!
Wow, wow, wow! You really brought it for last week’s theme of Glow! That was amazing! Thank you very kindly!
Some of your posts provided me with a hint for this week’s theme, leading me to come up with Mist. Of course, Mist is more than just a fog, as it can also be a gentle, diffuse rain, which can provide very interesting light play. Unleash your creative brains and let them play with the theme to come up with those cool ideas that float around!
Have a lot of fun with this theme and make sure that no possible opportunity is missed (yes, I know…punny!)
Here’s a bit of mist on the path ahead…
Monadnock Staircase
I captured this image during an ascent of Mount Monadnock in Southern New Hampshire with my good friend George Fellner. We were looking forward to reaching the peak and getting some wonderful landscape images; however, this mist that we encountered on this staircase was only the beginning! The summit was completely shrouded in clouds, which provided a rather magical experience on the top, but not the views.
The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:
Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!
Don’t get lost in the mist and may the glow of inspiration guide you through it!
Welcome to the 189th round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!
I’m blown away by both the volume and incredible creative quality of your responses to the theme of Glow! This has been a banner week for submissions, which made for a bit more reading and commenting, which was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed reading your posts! One of the most fascinating aspects is that there were so many different approaches to the theme. It underscores the power of the human mind!
Thank you all for the effort you put into your posts and the creative outpouring!
Here’s a bit more glow…
Pyroplasm 3x
The glow of fire is one of the most primal glows that we humans experience, as it has brought us further along the evolutionary path and started a revolution in what we might be able to achieve. In this long exposure with motion blur image, I tried to capture that primal power and its creative energy.
Please enjoy the following blog posts:
Xenia, Eivor and Pearl kick off the week in a post filled with morning glow in the wonderful blog whippetwisdom. Xenia has a second post in Tranature, where the flower glows in true radiant fashion!
Another amazing photo in Land of Images is filled with the stunning glow that Nature can bring to us.
The medieval church in the town of Chauvigny in theOnlyD800intheHameau‘s post is simply stunning in the almost mystical glow!
Michelle captures the golden glow of Bangkok beautifully in her post in Take a Walk and Discover; a stunning photo!
Nicole captures the glow of the lights in the harbour in Une Photo, Un Poéme, which produces a gorgeous image!
Jackie’s photo in Junkboat Travels is absolutely fantastic, as the glow emanates from the almost magical figures!
Anita captured a glowing display beautifully in her post in For the Love Of…; the magic of the season shines through it!
Joanne shares a great photo in her post in Joanne’s craft and adventures; the sun’s image through the blinds is truly interesting!
Diane features some gorgeous shots in her post in pensivity101; those candles truly have a glow that is mesmerizing!
The sunset that is captured in a lovely post in Stine Writing is simply gorgeous! I could imagine sitting there sipping a relaxing drink!
Maria has an absolutely amazing photo in her post in Kamerapromenader; the forest floor looks absolutely aglow!
Na’ama’s beautiful poem in her post in Na’ama Yehuda paints a glowing picture of boats on the gentle, serene waters!
TiongHan features a fantastic image of the ship Rotterdam in its home port in his post in TiongHan’s Blog; the glowing image is just stunning!
Bren takes us to Las Vegas in a wonderful post in Bren & Ashley Ryan Photography; the glow in the first image is wonderful, which goes to another level with a bit of manipulation!
Klara captures the glow across the water in Pula, Croatia wonderfully in her post in Sliku svoju ljubim II. Gorgeous location!
In a great post in her blog Sharing Thoughts, Indira brings us both the glow of innocence and the Gate of India in Mumbai!
A lovely post in Willowsoul gives us plenty of glow ranging from the Sun and Moon to Santa Claus!
Sarah has some rather interesting glowing objects in her post in By Sarah, as these objects look rather alien!
In a fantastic post in My Camera and I…, we are treated to a beautiful set of images that bring Nature’s glow into focus!
In another amazing post in Don’t Hold Your Breath, we visit Wuhan’s Chu River area on Han Street; the area is aglow with lights and beauty!
David captures a gorgeous glow as the sun rises and lights up the mist in the hayfield in his post in David M’s Photoblog; the image is fantastic!
Brian brings us a veritable enchanted glow in his post in Bushboy’s World; those mushrooms really light up!
Kammie has an interesting variety of glows in her post in Nut House Central, ranging from Nature’s finest to something a bit more artificial! Great post!
Leave it to Shelley to get the elf on the shelf in her post in Quaint Revival! The elf looks a little older than the current model and glows with happiness!
The awesome photo in this week’s entry in sgeoil has a glowing flower and a fantastic quote from Bob Hope!
Cee brings us a fantastic glowing image in her post in Cee’s Photo Challenges, which is an amazing blog!
Sandy allows the morning light to reflect of the snow to produce a magical glow in her post in Out of my Write Mind; wonderful photo and poem!
Carol takes us back to the glow of the crowd and the hope of the Women’s March in 2017 in her post in Light Words; great post and let’s bring hope back!
Ken takes us to the heart in a stunning photo in Pictures without Film; the glow of the water of the Nith is amazing!
A beautiful photo in the post in Mazeepuran really brings out the glow of the leaf! Fantastic post!
Susan shares a great capture of the glow of the Supermoon in her post in Musin’ with Susan; amazing shot! Also check out all the great photos in Susan’s week in review post in Musin’ with Susan!
Russell really created an otherworldly glow in the image in his post in Beautiful Photographs; awesome result!!
Nandini really put together some fantastic haikus in her post in queennandini; go check out this awesome post!!
The holiday lights at Kew bring the most amazing glow in the wonderful photos that Debbie shares with us in her post in Travel with Intent; what a fantastic display!
A lovely post in the Jesh Studio has us enjoying all the good things and brings a warm glow to us!
Chris has a fantastic sunset image in his post in What’s (in) the Picture?; it absolutely glows! Chris also has a great second post in What’s (in) the Picture? which features golden slumbers in Oegstgeest!
Aletta brings us some fantastic glowing photos in her post in nowathome; that flower is stunning!
Deb has one of the most amazing photos in her post in Twenty Four; the glow from the light and the glow worms provide a rather ghostly image…
Jez experimented with a Himalayan Salt Tealight holder for this week’s theme and created some amazing photos that you can see in Jez Braithwaite; love the creativity of this approach!
Mariola has a couple of great photos in her post in Little white pearls! I just love the ducklings!
Viveka assembled an amazing set of glowing images for her post on the theme in myguiltypleasures; I particularly find the floating gate image just stunning!
A great post in Heart to Heart has a tree that is just alight with the glow of warm light! Also love the quote by Wilma Rudolph!
Tatiana takes us to Fremont Street in Las Vegas in her post in Vegas Great Attractions; the light displays are just amazing!!
Eric has a wonderful backyard ice rink in his post in Up North! It glows and looks like a great place to go skating!
In a great post in Fleeting Muse, we get to enjoy the glow of Paris and, in particular, the Eiffel Tower! Amazing photos!
The photo in JP the Wide-eyed Wanderer not only is aglow with the sun’s radiance, but it also is the most inviting scene!
I think that Woolly wants all of us to visit Geelong, as the images in Woolly Muses are simply fantastic!
In a fantastic post in Being in Nature, Suzanne laments the loss of Nature for a mall; I agree and love the photo that she features!
Maria brings us the stunning glow of Las Vegas in her post in Sagittarius Viking, where Nature’s glow lives aside the glow of neon lights!
This week’s entry in One Letter Up – Diary 2.0, we get some fantastic photos of a festival of trees; love that tree-topper!
An absolutely stunning photo of the Sun across the Adriatic Sea is in the post in Geriatri’X’ Fotogallery; gorgeous!!!
Hammad put together another fantastic post in the Blog of Hammad Rais; the glow is doing a great job on the woolen sweater!!
In another awesome post in Stuff and What If…, Olga brings us a stunning image that glows with positivity!
In radhikasreflection we get to experience peace through a lovely set of images that range from Nature to the spiritual!
Please let all of these great bloggers know your thoughts about their posts!
Here comes the twenty-fifth mystery location post of this year….
Last week’s offering was correctly identified as the Cliffs of Moher! Well done! For this week, I’m offering you an old travel snap that goes back a ways to 2002… It was interesting to see how much digital photography has progressed since then!
There’s plenty of water here!
Water everywhere!
As this is a rather easy one to identify, I’m curious to see what else you can tell me about this image…
Welcome to week 189 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!
Thank you all for the incredible amount of Peace that flowed throughout last week’s posts! This week, I’ve selected another theme that has been inspired by one of the images I captured in Liverpool just over a month ago. While doing some additional editing, I played around with one of the night-time shots to get it to speak a bit more. This led to an image with a rather warm Glow, which is pushed very much by the wonderful street lighting they have around the Albert Docks.
I think that the interesting part of this challenge will be your choice of direction with the theme of Glow…will you opt for the glow of an ember, a firefly, or the glowing praise that is heaped on a great performance? There are many choices, so feel free to push the boundaries and shoot for that glowing review!
This is definitely one theme that has me curious to see what you might create!! Have fun and go wild!
Here’s the image that inspired the theme…
Olden Times Glow…
The Albert Docks are a lovely area to explore during the evening hours with great restaurants and entertainment. A couple of notes about the creation of this image, as it’s a bit non-standard for me; the shot was captured on an iPhone 11 Pro Max using the NeuralCam app. This app is great for night photography, such as this. I then processed the image using Aurora HDR and used a toned down Misty Landscape preset (at 59%), which also added a bit of grain to the clouds. I cleaned that image up in PhotoShop with a bit of sharpening, a little soft light overlay and popped the contrast somewhat. I cropped it to adjust the aspect ratio to get this result.
The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:
Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!
May your creative energy glow and light the path to a wonderful image!
