Author: jansenphoto

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!

Friday Mystery Location – 2019 #021

Walk across the grass

Here comes the twenty-first mystery location post of this year….

There were some very accurate responses to last week’s post, one including the Google map coordinates where I was standing! Well done!! This week’s offering might prove a bit more challenging, but I fully expect that some among you might know where this is…

Perfect weather for visiting this place…

Green grass and blue skies…

Looking forward to seeing who might have the answer here!

Three Line Tales – Passing

Time continues its path…

Many thanks to Sonya for Week One Hundred and Ninety-Four of Three Line Tales, part of her awesome blog Only 100 Words!

a cathedral ruin
photo by Watari via Unsplash

Time has passed too fast,
Our existence, a mere husk.
Remembrance, always…

****

Thank you to Sonya of Only 100 Words for coming up with Three Line Tales.

You’ll find full guidelines on her TLT page, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write three lines inspired by the photo prompt (& give them a title if possible).
  • Link back to this post.
  • Tag your post with 3LineTales (so everyone can find you in the Reader).
  • Read and comment on other TLT participants’ lines.
  • NEW: If you want your post to be included in the round-up, you have until Sunday evening to publish it.
  • Have fun.

Happy three-lining!

A Milestone and Gratitude

More than 10000 followers!!!

As I have many observant followers, you may have noticed that this little blog passed a (for me) significant milestone recently: over 10,000 people made the decision to follow ‘Dutch goes the Photo’!

First of a great, big, heartfelt Thank You!! When I decided to take a stab at getting earnest about running this blog in January of 2016, I had no idea that it could grow to this level. It’s been a bit of work to get here and there definitely were a couple of detours to find out what I can contribute that might be of interest to folks in the blogosphere!

Dora Bean thanks you too!

Dorothea Lange (aka Bean) relaxing on the couch…

This blog was actually started about 8 years ago, but I failed to make an impact with it. So, just under four years ago, I decided to take a WordPress 101 course that promised to teach me the basics of getting a blog up and running. The exercises in the 4 week course were invaluable and taught me a lot of the basics.

Beyond the basics there were a couple of other factors that have helped out:

  • Listening to feedback from fellow bloggers and readers to learn what might be of interest
  • Building a regular cadence to posting on the blog, which created something that readers would expect on a recurring basis
  • A bit of elbow grease…
  • Persistence!

Let’s see where we go to from here! Thank you again!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Back Catalog

What is old becomes anew!

Welcome to week 182 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

Last week’s theme of Tourism generated an incredible number of amazing entries! I came up with an idea for this week’s theme pretty quickly, but then struggled to find just the right image for it (I will have to shoot something for this idea). As often happens, when I start going through the archives, I find something that I just might want to treat in a different manner… That led me to the theme for this week: Back Catalog.

My challenge to you is to find an image in your back catalog that still grabs your attention and share it! Of course, if you want to re-interpret the image with what you have gained over the years, feel free to do so. Any kind of image is appropriate for this challenge! Let us know why this image still gets your attention!

Here’s a new interpretation of an old image…

Mysteries of the Farm…

In 2010, I was actively looking for dilapidated subjects to photograph and came across the old farm of the Westborough State Hospital, here in Massachusetts. This was a wonderful subject, as I captured a number of interesting images. In this image, we’re in the old stables. This shot is comprised of 5 different exposures ranging from -2 EV to +2 EV. In my original treatment, I leaned the image toward the feel of the interior of a ship, such as the Flying Dutchman. In the new version, I’m going more for the mystery of this location, keeping it simple and a bit muddy…

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • 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)!!

Looking forward to seeing what you bring out of your back catalog!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 181

The best spots ever?

Welcome to the 181st round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

Thank you for an amazing line-up of tourist location that you enjoyed and some of the side-effects of locations being popular! I can fully relate to some of the great examples of tourist spots being overrun by crowds to the point that they are no longer fun to visit. For that reason, it’s that much more satisfying to find those amazing spots that not only speak to you, but also give you the sense of being the only person in the world, who has found it… Those are magic moments!

Thank you for creating this fun reading experience for me, and I hope that you enjoy each other’s posts!

Here is one of my preferred tourist destinations…

View across Palatine toward Maxentius

This photo really reflects part of my positive tourism experience with Rome; after being overwhelmed by the crowds in the Colosseum (seen in the background), it was a breath of fresh air to visit the Palatine Hill, as it was not overrun by selfie-stick toting tourists… Furthermore, walking across this hill is a trip across history and gave me a real sense of the seat of power that used to be located in this area.

Please enjoy the following blog posts:

  1. Sarah takes us on a visit to the Florida in Canberra in her post in By Sarah! The flower displays are stunning!
  2. Lee’s post in ladyleemanilla is a true cornucopia of fantastic sites to visit and they would make any vacation a celebration!
  3. Viveka takes us to the Carnaval de Nice in myguiltypleasures in a post that is truly fantastic!
  4. The Grauman Chinese Theater in Hollywood is a great tourist attraction, as we see in a wonderful post in Beautiful Photographs.
  5. Nicole shares a fantastic photo in her post in Une Photo, Un Poéme: Blackness Castle looks well worth the trip to Scotland!
  6. Jackie’s trip to visit fabled Uluru is chronicled in her post in Junk Boat Travels, which looks like it was truly amazing!
  7. I agree that there’s no prize for guessing the tourist destination in another awesome post in the theOnlyD800intheHameau; it’s well known!
  8. Na’ama features a great family destination in her post in Na’ama Yehuda: looping through the sky! Love the poem as well!
  9. Jaspa takes us to the gateway to India in Jaspa’s Journeys; I’ looking forward to visiting the gateway myself next year!
  10. A tour of some of the wonderful locations on can find in Italy is featured in radhikasreflection! Awesome post!
  11. Diane brings some of the tourist locations of the towns, in which she lived in her post in pensivity101: great set of locales!
  12. Irene brings us a glimpse from above in her post in Heaven’s Sunshine; the view of Diamond Head is gorgeous!
  13. This week we get another wonderful post in the Jesh Studio that brings us some great tourist spots!
  14. Maria takes us on a fantastic tour of Iceland in another amazing post in Kamerapromenader; what amazing spots!
  15. Andrea brings us to Sedona, Arizona, in ARHtistic License; a wonderful trip and great post!
  16. Alice lets us know that the hills are alive in her post in The 59Club; of course, the hills near Salzburg are a great place to visit!
  17. Jase has a pretty spooky post in Proscenium, as ghost tours are a popular attraction in Gettysburg. Having been there, I can tell you that it is a very powerful area to visit!
  18. Regina’s post in Help from Heaven features some wonderful places in Spain; Elche looks like one that I want to add to my list!
  19. Luring the tourists in can be good for business and very creative, as we can see in Heart 2 Heart; that’s an awesome camel!
  20. Cath goes on a day trip in her blog, Cath’s Camera, as we get to see Maria Island, which looks like a truly interesting place!
  21. In a wonderful post in Travel with Tech, we go on a trip to Ilocos in the Philippines; this post makes me feel like I’m on the trip myself!
  22. Hammad apologizes for bragging about his trip to Dubai in 2017, but as you can see in the Blog of Hammad Rais, it was a fantastic trip!
  23. In a lovely post in My TravelCSP we get to see some interesting locations; can you identify them all?
  24. Len’s quote in his post in Len Journeys forms the basis for a truly fantastic post! Love the take on what tourism can do for people!
  25. Kristina put together an insightful and wonderful post in Looking for Enchantment; I agree that locations that are overrun by tourists lose much of their luster…
  26. David shares some rather amazing spots in hist post in David M’s Photoblog; Beeston Castle looks like a great climb to get to.
  27. Eric takes us into Rocky Mountain National Park in his post in Up North, where the view is simply stunning!
  28. In a magnificent post in A Day in the Life, we take a trip back into time during days of tourism from the 1980s!
  29. It looks like a lovely day for a bicycle ride in the photo in Take a Walk… and Discover; a ride around the park is always nice!
  30. There’s a great post in Scroll that draws us to the other side of the sea and the city of Dubai.
  31. Deb finds a location in Kimba that has an incredible display of what can be done to enhance the landscape in Twenty-Four; great choice!
  32. Tatiana takes us to a museum of on of my favorite artists in her blog Travelways: Salvador Dali has always intrigued me and this is one museum that is on my list!
  33. Brian put together one of the most amazing array of travel location in his post in bushboys world; all I can say is WOW! Thank you!
  34. Nandini features some wonderful temples in her post in queennandini and I am intrigued to visit some of these great locations!
  35. Woolly highlights some of the misgivings that I had about visiting Rome in a great post in Woolly Muses; I remember visiting the Colosseum off-season to be surrounded by the masses; it felt good to cross the street and visit the Palatine Hill for some more personable sauntering.
  36. Amy selects an interesting location for the photos that she processed in Photography Journal Blog: Mount Snowdon!
  37. If the photo that we see in Land of Images is any indication, the Lake District is a great area to explore!
  38. Susan shares a wonderful image of a dapper looking tour guide in her post in Musin’ with Susan; it’s quintessential shopping at the market! Also, please check out Susan’s week in review in Musin’ with Susan!
  39. I really love Ken’s take on the new role of the mermaid to being a background for selfies in his post in Pictures without Film; Ken and Kristina should compare notes on their experience!
  40. This week’s photo shared in sgeoil brings us to the edge of a labyrinth… will you enter it?
  41. In a wonderful post in OstendNomadography, Stef has us visit the city of Brașov in Romania; the monochrome approach is perfection!
  42. Sheetal’s post in her wonderful blog sheetalbravon takes us to the top of the Milan Cathedral, which is stunning!!
  43. As I’m pretty familiar with Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I can very much relate to some of the sentiments in One Letter Up – Diary 2.0! Yes, it has grown and parking is a nightmare! And it’s still a great little city!

Please let all of these great bloggers know your thoughts about their posts!

Friday Mystery Location – 2019 #020

Easy as pie, so where am I?

Here comes the twentieth mystery location post of this year….

The 19th one in the series was fairly easy to identify, so I’ll give you another relatively easy one. However, for extra credit: where was I standing to take this photo? And, no, I was not standing on the grass 🙂

Cloudy skies with both old and new…

Easy as pie, so where exactly am I?

I expect that this is going to be guessed within the hour, so precision will matter!

Three Line Tales – Penseur

Read the map…

Many thanks to Sonya for Week One Hundred and Ninety-Three of Three Line Tales, part of her awesome blog Only 100 Words!

three line tales, week 193: a man beside a map of New York
photo by Tony Wang via Unsplash

World-wise, well-traveled,
One’s face, a map of experience.
Listen to his words…

****

Thank you to Sonya of Only 100 Words for coming up with Three Line Tales.

You’ll find full guidelines on her TLT page, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write three lines inspired by the photo prompt (& give them a title if possible).
  • Link back to this post.
  • Tag your post with 3LineTales (so everyone can find you in the Reader).
  • Read and comment on other TLT participants’ lines.
  • NEW: If you want your post to be included in the round-up, you have until Sunday evening to publish it.
  • Have fun.

Happy three-lining!