Tag: forest photography

Bucket list

As we start the preparations for our move to the Amsterdam region, we also are thinking about what we will miss once we leave. So we’ve started a bucket list of things to do while we are still around. Number one for me was a visit to my favorite forest pool on the St Jansberg in Plasmolen. It never disappoints!

Other items on the list:

  • Lunch at the newly renovated castle Jachtslot Mookerheide
  • Dinner at the Plasmolense Hof
  • A visit to the Oriëntalis museum about Middle Eastern history and culture
  • A visit to the landscape museum in Berg en Dal

Autumn colors

It’s been so long since I found time to get out into the forest! But today I was working from home and when it started to get foggy I packed my camera and tripod and went out. A last chance to get some autumn colors!

Open the windows!

In the woods, among the trees, in tunnels of green I feel connected to something larger. Nature nurtures my spirituality. This weekend, I will present some of my photography in a church – a spiritual place too. I took it as an invitation: how would I make this church my church?

As an adolescent, I rebelled against organized religion. In agreement, I wrote down quotes that described churches as cold storage silos where every divine spark was extinguished in the chill of authority, hierarchy and stifling dogmas. No, it’s nature I looked upon. Nature is free and does not judge. Wasn’t a majestic tree or a standing stone enough for people to meet God in the past? Wasn’t that as good?

Today I am more moderate. I like to visit churches. But wouldn’t it be nice to bring some of nature into the church as well? To open the windows, as it were? In my exposition, I took this idea as a starting point.

Awesome wonder

I am not the only one who feels inspired by nature. Through the ages, people have found God in trees, brooks, and mountain tops, and written and sung about it. The expression ‘awesome wonder’ comes from a beloved English hymn, where it describes the feeling of meeting something higher in nature. It is a wonder, an amazement at the beauty of creation; but it is also a feeling of awe and respect for a power greater than humanity. Awesome wonder became my motto and the title of this blog.

The feeling of awesome wonder, of amazement in awe, is the core of all religion, according to some: the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, the mystery that fascinates but inspires with awe at the same time. At the exposition, on the altar, I have placed three images that resonate with this idea: (wo)man in a cathedral of trees; an elephant, a gentle giant you don’t want too near to you; and the lion with his blind eye that seems to look straight into the spirit world.

If you are near Heumen this weekend, enjoy with me, in awesome wonder, of the majesty of nature in this exposition. And then, step outside and discover something beautiful!

Back in the Netherlands

I’ve been back a while, but finally the weather gods and employment gods joined up to give me the opportunity to photograph a misty morning on a quiet work-at-home day. So happy! Much better than seeing the fog from the train!

On second glance

Sometimes you take a photo and you come back home and it just doesn’t do anything for you. If that’s the case, it may be worthwhile to take a second look at it a couple weeks later. This one matured pretty well!

Madeira 11: Encumeada

We had planned to hike along an old trading route, the Caminho Real, but unfortunately there were roadworks with heavy machinery happening there and the road was closed. But nowadays it’s easy to find another hike on the many hiking apps, so we soon set out for a 9 km circular walk near Encumeada.

This walk started along another levada, and this time we would have to face the tunnels as well. The tunnels are passable, but you need a torch and some surefootedness! We were rewarded with some stunning waterfalls, so it was well worth it.

As we turned our backs to the levada and headed down into the valley, we found out what happens to the water in those waterfalls: it becomes a wild stream. We managed to cross one, but eventually we came to a river that was impassable. At this point we were about 7 km into our hike, and we saw no other option than to turn back.

The clouds are never far away in the Madeira highlands, so as we climbed back up, it started getting misty. In the video you see the same waterfall as in the pictures, but now it looked very different! We fortunately made it back in time to our car. Lesson learned: do not try to cross rivers in the rainy season!

Madeira 7: 25 Fontes

From the misty highlands we descended into a valley with levadas on several different levels. The famous 25 Fontes waterfall was an absolute highlight, but hiking along the levadas was beautiful too. And strenuous with over 500 meters of descending and then climbing back up!