Between Black & White

Dock

2006-02-04T01:01:00.000+01:00

Canon 350D + Canon EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 35mm, f/8.0, 1/400s, ISO 400.
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2005.

It's simply a docking harbour with a rope, covered with ice.

Leiden Canal

2006-01-30T16:33:00.000+01:00

Canon 350D + Canon EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 75mm, f/5.6, 1/80s, ISO 200.
Leiden, the Netherlands, 2005.

A canal in Leiden. It's not so often to have thick snow in Leiden.

Leiden Hofjes

2006-01-25T11:23:00.000+01:00

Canon 350D + Canon EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 33mm, f/8.0, 1/80s, ISO 400.
Leiden, the Netherlands, 2006.

Wow, it's been a long time from the previous posting. This is a picture of a kind of almshouse (hofjes) in Leiden, where it is used to be a place for old childless people. Now, the hofjes are a place where the inhabitans keep their eyes on the neighbours for the security reason, while they keep maintaining one's privacy. The gate is frequently open, as this photo shows it half-open, but keep it quite and quick if you want to visit this place.

Vanish

2005-10-24T13:39:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 28mm, f/11.0, 1/40s, ISO 200.
Leiden, Netherlands, 2005.

"... Parallel lines don't really converge. They stay apart, forever at a distance and never do touch. They stare forever at each other, clearly and distinctly, no matter how far from the eye they get....They go on." Vanishing Point by Jesse Weiner.

#3016

2005-10-20T12:26:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 132.0mm, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 100.
Kinderdijk, Netherlands, 2005.

Musicians

2005-10-13T16:57:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 53mm, f/6.3, 1/100s, ISO 100.
Leiden, Netherlands, 2005.

We've never seen this guy before and looking at his suit, he didn't seem to be just an ordinary street musician. After we approached him that he didn't object to be photographed and of course tipped him, I took several shots. I like this one, because of his face expression.

Against Water

2005-10-06T09:47:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + Cokin CPL + EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 38mm, f/11.0, 1/60s, ISO 100.
Kinderdijk, Netherlands, 2005.

There are 19 windmills in this area, these are 5 of them. They were built around 1740 to fight against the #1 Dutch enemy: water. Today there are about 1000 windmills in this country, preserved as one of their legacy in the history of water management. Some of them are converted into tourist attractions, but many are still used as they were built for. This area is also listed in the UNESCO World heritage list.

Incongruity

2005-10-05T11:16:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 65.0mm, f/8.0, 1/250s, ISO 100.
Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2005.

This is one example of a heritage preservation leads to incongruity. Instead of demolishing the old building, which I suspect that it is listed as a protected monument by the Rotterdam city council, Unilever created a new modern architecture on top of it. Well, you obviously can't see a harmony in this picture.

Bicycle Sign

2005-10-02T18:15:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @13.4mm, f/4.5, 1/640s.
Leiden, Netherlands, 2005.

This is the parking sign for bicycles. There are two things that have more population than the Dutch itself. One is mobile phone (or cellphone or handphone) and the other is bicycle. On average, each Dutch people owns two bicycles, one for daily routine work and the other for leisure/sport. The latter is mostly a very expensive one. Stealing bicycles are very common in Holland.

Marina

2005-09-27T09:04:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 16.2mm, f/4.8, 1/80s.
Saint Malo, France, 2004.

Saint Malo, the corsair city. Le corsair is the name of legal pirate from the French government during the old age to sabotage and plunder enemy ships, but never call them pirates, though they do exactly the same way. The picture was taken from the top of city wall. I used the diffuse technique to make it a little bit dreamy picture.

Le Mont St. Michel

2005-09-25T12:08:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 13.4mm, f/8.0, 1/400s.
Britagne, France, 2004.

Amazing, isn't it? A magnificent complex architecture in an island, separated from the mainland France during high tide. This sturdy building has been standing for more than 4 centuries, without being significantly destructed by the power of Atlantic ocean waves. Now, this wonder of the West legacy has been listed as one of UNESCO world heritages.

Father & Son

2005-09-24T14:10:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 9.4mm, f/4.0, 1/1000s.
Leiden, Netherlands, 2005.

When snow falls heavily like in this picture in Holland, it's always be a special day, because it is very rare, especially in the part of Holland where we live. Light snow falls, but they are immediately dissapeared. Most of the time, during winter, it is only rain. This year was a bit special, because heavy snow fell for a few days in the late of March, when people were expecting the beginning of spring.

Icy Road

2005-09-23T10:24:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 7.8mm, f/3.2, 1/800s.
Leiden, Netherlands, 2005.

I decided to walk to my office, instead of struggling to keep my bicycle stable on this icy road. It's amazing to see how people in Holland are capable of cycling on almost any road conditions in any weather. This shot was taken just next to our appartment. I like the simple central composition of the small path leading to our appartment. I waited for several cyclists to get a good one.

Bridge & Windmill

2005-09-22T09:53:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 5.4mm, f/5.0, 1/1000s.
Leiden, Netherlands, 2005.

One of the most beautiful spot in Leiden. The windmill is called Molen de Put. The wooden bridge is quite unique. Do you see at the middle of the bridge? Yes, the road is not straight, but almost 45 degrees stucked. It allows small boat to pass below, but a quite tricky for bicycle to pass above it.

Empty

2005-09-21T16:05:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 28mm, f/3.5, 1/1600s, ISO 100.
Vail, Colorado, USA, 2005.

They are a couple of ski lifts. During summer session, many ski lifts at Vail are closed for maintenance. We took this picture, because of the cable's diagonal composition. I cropped some unwanted portions above and below and put some exaggerated noise to get an old aged newspaper style to the BW image. I think it is more beautiful if sephia color tone is used.

Une Carte Postale

2005-09-20T12:10:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 5.4mm, f/4.5, 1/1000s.
Paris, France, 2004.

It's quite boring picture actually, seeing the Eiffel tower in this symmetrical composition, as you might have already seen tens of postcards like this. We were on the top of the L'open tour bus, the open roof touristic bus. I knew that it will pass this tower overlooking the Trocadero building. The weather was so clear that I didn't have to worry about the shutter speed, to compensate the speed of the bus. Then I snaped this picture, only once, and we smiled to get this composition. It's really a lucky shot.

Poortgebouw

2005-09-19T13:31:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60, multiple images, stiched.
Leiden, Netherlands, 2005.

Poortgebouw is the name of this old building. It's actually my current office. The structure on the far right is the Leiden's train station. I used the stitching mode of Canon Powershot camera to get several frames. The actual stitching was made later using Photoshop. It's not really good panoramic image and the noise between frames is inconsistent, which makes a terrible noisy BW image.

Tulpenveld

2005-09-18T17:15:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + Sigma 18-50mm DC @ 32mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 200.
Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands, 2005.

On Spring 2005, we went to some tulip field areas by bicycle: around Leiden, Noordwijk, Noordwijkerhout and Lisse. At this particular time, those part of Holland are covered with colorful tulips. This tulip field picture is our favorite, because of the barn, which gives depth. The original color is red. I used green filter and added some noise texture for flavour.

White Tulips

2005-09-17T12:47:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + Sigma 18-50mm DC @ 26mm, f/9, 1/200s, ISO 100.
Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands, 2005.

Another tulip field that we found when we went cycling. The original color is white. I like the position of the house in the middle and it creates other aspect of interest besides the tulip itself. Gaps between tulip lines give a good perspective that leads our eyes directly to the house.

Van Gogh Museum

2005-09-16T00:40:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + 28-135mm IS USM @ 70mm, f/8, 1/800s, ISO 200.
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2005.

No comment.

Extreme Face Contrast

2005-09-15T14:01:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + 28-135mm IS USM @ 135mm, f/5.6, 1/2500s, ISO 200.
Den Haag, the Netherlands, 2005.

Rondvaarten Leiden

2005-09-14T13:01:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + EF 28-135mm IS USM @ 41mm, f/5.6, 1/400s, ISO 100.
Leiden, the Netherlands, 2005.

Mudejar Alley

2005-09-11T05:55:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 5.4mm, f/4.5, 1/15s.
Zaragoza, Spain, 2003.

Snowy Day at Leiden

2005-09-10T03:22:00.000+02:00

Canon Powershot A60 @ 5.4mm, f/8, 1/100s.
Leiden, the Netherlands, 2005.

Sk8er Boi

2005-09-09T09:26:00.000+02:00

Canon 350D + Sigma 55-200mm DC @ 200mm, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO 400.
The Hague, the Netherlands, 2005.