Chinese magazine

This is a photo that I made already quite a long time ago. This was a popular photo that attracted many other photographers to this place. Nowadays I don’t share the locations of my photos anymore to prevent that too many people visit the same places and to protect these places from the damage that will occur when too many people go there.

When the conditions for photos are right, I often try to made a detour with my car when I need to go somewhere. This photo I took on a beautiful late summer morning when I took a detour while driving to my work. The Dutch countryside has many photogenic places and with the right light, these places turn into magical places. Without fog or sunrays, these countryside roads are also nice but with fog or sunrays it is like magic is switched on.

A few years back when a couple got married, they carved a hearth in this tree. It might be a nice memory for that couple and the hearth in the tree may look nice on photos, but I think damaging a tree like this is not done. The impact of human on mankind is already large and unnecessary damaging trees should of course be prevented. The small amount of powder snow on the tree trunks makes the photo more interesting.

We don’t have snow in the Netherlands very often. In December 2017 we had some snow that turned this forest into a magical winter wonderland. In case of snow, pine trees are great to photograph, as pines can hold more snow on their branches and trunks than deciduous trees that lost all their foliage. The car on the road maybe me remember a Christmas song: driving home for Christmas.

Sometimes you have to be patient. This photo was made close to my home. I wanted to make a photo of these trees already for a long time. But I had to wait for the right conditions. I had this picture already for years in my mind before I finally made it.

When there is fog and the sun is shining through the branches and leaves, you may be able to witness some beautiful sunrays. Sunrays are created by the sun shining through the branches and leaves of the trees. Some fog is needed to make the sunrays visible. Being in a forest with fog or sunrays is a magical experience. When you see bright sunrays for the first time of your life, you will surely be blown away.

Although in forests often a telephoto lens is used, a wide-angle lens is great for making photos of a single, beautiful, old tree. A wide-angle lens creates a dynamic perspective and makes the viewer get the feeling that he or she is almost in the tree. Some fog creates a mysterious mood.

The light just after sunrise creates a beautiful warm glow on the trunks of these acacias. The texture of the trunks of these trees is simply amazing. Unfortunately, several of these beautiful trees have been cut down and that makes taking a good shot here more difficult now.

At the end of the winter, I always long for spring to arrive. This photo was made on an early spring morning. The trees did not have leaves yet. The fog in combination with the sunlight creates nice soft light. The perspective of the avenue provides depth to the image, such that the viewer is drawn into the photo. It is a bit of a messy avenue but the fog calms down the chaos.

Water and reflections are great elements for beautiful photos. While driving around in Canada, we saw this small lake with the cabin and the trees reflected in the water. I had to stop to make a photo of it. The water, the trees, the cabin create a very tranquil, relaxing view.

This photo was made in one of the many swamps of the USA. It was extremely hot when I was there and only around sunrise and sunset the temperature was comfortable enough to go on the lake. Floating in a canoe through the cypress tree of the swamps at sunrise while hearing the sound of crickets and seeing birds such as the great egret, the great blue heron and the southern bald eagle makes you feel connected to nature again and it makes you feel recharged.

I work together with Yen Do on photography, mostly on portrait photography. This is a picture that we made while we were in the swamps of the Southern part of the USA. Yen took this photo and I did the editing on this one. That is what we do more often: we shoot and edit photos together.

This photo I made in 2019, while travelling from the Netherlands to Austria. This avenue is one of the most beautiful ones that I have ever seen. In 2019 there was a beaver damaging these old trees. The trees are now protected against the beaver, so hopefully we can enjoy these trees many more years.

Autumn colors at their best. The colors are the most beautiful just before the leaves fall down from the trees. The last light of the day creates a nice and warm glow. This photo was made in Austria, which is a great country to visit in October to witness the beautiful autumn colors. Most of the time I shoot around sunrise but this photo is an exception and was made at sunset.

Autumn is the season with the highest chance to get fog. Fog creates a special mood and makes the forests look even more beautiful. This photo I took while my friend Ning from China was in the Netherlands to shoot the Dutch forests. My photo buddy Edwin Mooijaart was also with us. We were lucky that that day there was fog that was present for quite a long time and that we could make many beautiful autumn photos.

For forest photos, the best time of the day to shoot is about half an hour after sunrise. In the morning the humidity is larger than around sunset and that makes the light in the morning softer than around sunset. But this place is an exception: at this place the best light can be found around sunset. Reflections make the photo look more attractive. In spring there are many insects flying about the water. That is also what you can see in the photo.

Spring is my opinion the second-best season for forest photography. But sunrise is early in spring in the Netherlands. The means that you have to wake up (very) early to catch the best light. These oaks are very old. Old trees are basically like old, wise men that know a lot. And that is why photos of old trees can evoke certain emotions that photos of young trees cannot. The path through the oaks reminds us of the relationship between human and nature.

Spring is the season with many flowers blooming in the Netherlands. Some forests are completely undergrown with bluebells, anemones or wild garlic. And next to many roads you can find wild flowers such as these poppies. The last years, more and more wild flowers appear in the Netherlands. The smell of spring flowers can be overwhelming. It adds a whole new dimension to the experience of walking in a forest.

A person in a photo adds scale to the picture. It shows how large the trees actually are and how small we as human are. The blooming rhododendrons and the sunrise in the back of the avenue make this scene feel like the perfect place for a walk. Who would not want to walk here? Credits go to Edwin Mooijaart for showing me this beautiful place.