You’ve probably noticed it by now: my website has had a full make-over. The last couple of months, while weather conditions were horrible most of the time, I spent many small bits of time to redesign my website. Today is the day to bring it out in the open and let you experience my photos and follow my photographic activities in a new way.

I’ve tried to make the site much cleaner. The homepage is completely new, now showing recent photographic activities and providing links to related photos. The menu at the top provides access to the various photo galleries, interesting links, the contact page for any feedback and the about page, telling more about me. There’s a new sidebar on the right providing search functionality, all available ways to follow my photographic activities and links to a selection of sites where you can actually buy my photos, on canvas for example! Finally, there’s now social media integration. Enjoy the new site!

Meanwhile, spring is here! Since long, this morning we actually had some friendly sunshine and temperatures are rising. Sounds like we’re finally entering a photographically much more interesting period. Can’t wait to go out there again. The photo above was taken early spring last year, showing boats ready for the season to come at Leekstermeer, The Netherlands.

This shoot was actually a last minute action. Luckily I had visited the place before so I knew exactly how to get there and what to prepare for. Most important: bring boots! Why? Well, that’s because the images I took were al taken while standing in the water. Luckily I have a sturdy tripod, since it had to stand in the water as well.

The area, “De Onlanden”, is a difficult area to photograph. Most of the area is hard to access and finding nice compositions is tough as well. And on top of that, the area is continuously changing as well. This all makes “De Onlanden” a very interesting area, close to home.

I posted two images of this shoot. One of them is shown above, for the other one, please follow the link below.

A misty autumn morning along the Drentse Aa river. While the mist still hangs above the river on this cold morning emphasising the old tree, the first rays of sunlight highlight the autumn colours.

Drentsche Aa – Oudemolen – The Netherlands

First signs of autumn 2012. Chestnut trees are the first to drop their leaves and show off beautiful autumn colours.

This photo was shot at a small park, the “Notaristuun” in Grootegast, NL

Overwhelming colours reflect in Greenspoele shortly after sunset.  Drents-Friese Wold, Frisia, The Netherlands

Very quiet and tranquil sunrise at Lauwersmeer, The Netherlands. Three photos from this shoot were added to the gallery.

Capturing sunrises in this time of year in NL means being at your location around 5:30. To my own surprise, getting up at 4:30 went rather easy. Trick is to just don’t think about the fact that on a regular working day you get up an hour and a half later…

This morning I went for dawn patrol with Ton, Peter and Herman. This meant getting up around 5:15.
Although it’s April, it was still quite cold this morning, but we still had great fun and I think we all shot some nice photos.

My pick for today, however, is a photo I made while almost home again. I saw a blue sky, some sunshine and some dark rain clouds coming in. I decided to give it a try in nature reserve “De Onlanden”, close to the city of Groningen.
This location had been on my list for a while and this was finally a good moment to go there. I arrived just in time to take a few shots. On my way back to the car I caught the first rain.

The early morning dawn patrol photos are available in the gallery.

Tranquil sunrise with a clear blue sky. Whisper boats seem ready for the new season already. 5 photos added to the gallery.