Between every two pine trees is a doorway leading to a new way of life.
John Muir
My heart goes out to nature, and to nature photography.
During the week, I work as a webcoordinator for SOMO, a public interest research organisation.
Even though I live relatively close to the centre Amsterdam, in my spare time, I can easily escape to several nice green areas near my home. They are great places to unwind and study nature. But when there is more time, I prefer to explore the coastal area of Holland, the country side, or the Veluwe – our biggest national park. And I can’t wait to explore the mountains again, as soon as the current travel restrictions are lifted.
My approach
When I go out with my camera, I really try to stay present and grounded, open up all my senses, and connect with nature. It’s a great way to practice mindfulness, non attachment, and miksang (not trying to let your mind get in the way, or trying to grab an image). Sometimes I leave my camera at home, and just go for a ‘forest bath’ – directly connecting with nature.
How I got started
I started at an early age with photography. My first camera was an analogue compact camera, but soon I could borrow a proper 35mm camera at high school. It was during art class in the 1980’s that I learnt how to develop black & white film and print pictures. I still remember the obscure red light of the dark room, and the strange smell coming from the developing fluid. You never really knew whether your pictures would come out right, and exactly which pictures you’d taken.
My camera
For years, I have walked around with a Minolta 35 mm, even when the first digital camera’s arrived. I loved my old fashioned camera, the image quality was so much better than digital. But eventually I made the switch, first to a Canon DSLR. Over the last 10 years, I’ve been working with Panasonic Lumix Micro 4/3 cameras, which I absolutely love for their compactness, colours and contrast. My current cameras are the Panasonic G9 and GX9, with a couple of nice prime fixed lenses, and some really great zoom lenses for real estate, wildlife and bird photography.
What I like to do
Mainly landscape and bird photography, occasionally urban life, real estate, or event photography.