The less official side of photography, personal work, a bit of philosophy and anything else I'd like to get out of my system.
In the area around Leiden there are a lot of greenhouses. During the day you don’t notice them much, but at night, on a cloudy moment, you can easily pinpoint their locations by just looking for the light they emit. It is a beautiful sight, even if it is basically light pollution.
On a quick trip into the city to collect my Leiden Marathon medallion and get some Christmas presents I came across this archway that was brightly backlit. The lady with the bike completed the photograph. There was very little colour in the photo, so converted to black and white.
Recently my girlfriend and I had to go into town. I was in need of a haircut and she was in need of some new clothes. Neither of us are very fond of busy shopping streets, and this aversion has only increased with the situation around Corona. We were therefore somewhat unpleasantly surprised when the city centre was busy (wednesday, around 14:00). In our minds busier than usual. Apparently shopping is part of what people consider ‘essential’. Mind you, we were there too, so have no right to judge.
My haircut was done fairly quickly, and after hanging around a bookstore, deliberating wether or not to buy Jimmy Nelson’s ‘Before they pass away’, I waited for my girlfriend, ready to go home. This group of people caught my attention. They were clearly enjoying the outside, and the sun, while they still could (at a distance). I also noticed the great number of people carrying plastic coffee cups. According to the news, buying coffee to go is the new ‘going out for lunch’. I’m afraid this Corona year has undone most of the good progress we had reducing our plastic waste, with all those disposable masks and coffee cups..
The trees are turning yellow and orange, and the mushrooms are popping up: it’s autumn!
As everybody and his uncle is now posting images of the comet Neowise online, I had to get a go at it. Light pollution where I live is heavy, and cloud cover frequent, but in the past week there were 2 clear nights in which to capture the phenomenon. It took a while to find it, but once you know where to look it gets easier.
Yesterday a friend enthusiastically apped me that it was the perfect day (night) to go to the beach and photograph Zeevonk, or Sea Sparkle, a small sea creature that exhibits bioluminescence when disturbed. Never having seen the phenomenon in real life, I signed on to a late night trip to the beach.
Unfortunately, we were not alone. I guess half the local residents and a lot from places farther afield were there as well, in a swim, walk and disturb frenzy, hoping to see the beautiful blue glow appear. It was there, but not in very great quantities. Sometimes you could see a wave appear blue. Just as if it was lit up from below. Pretty enough, but not entirely spectacular. It was nice to see it for the first time though! And a nice place to test the X-T4.
I read a news article that the Sea Sparkle is appearing more often than before, so maybe again soon?
