Bas Meelker Landscape and Wildlife Photography

Well, I am back from a short trip to the Mosel region. Two days of travel, three days of location scouting, sunsets, sunrises, relaxation and wine. It could be worse. Autumn is really picking up it's pace now and the colors were great. So was the wine. On such a short trip, luck plays an important part in getting the right shots. Re-shoots and waiting for better light are mostly out of the question. You have to deal with what's given to you. And on the second day, I thought my luck had run out. The first two days gave us overcast conditions with dull light and colorless sunsets and sunrises. Bring on more wine. But you just have to keep on trying and so on day three there was another early rise to catch the sunrise. 

Village on fire - Wolf, Mosel region, Germany - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L at 200mm. F8, 1/800 sec., ISO 100, handheld with -2ev exposure compensation.

This time, luck was on my side with a beautiful fog hanging over the Mosel Valley, and the sun slowly burning it away. The constantly changing scenery was breathtaking. New compositions turned up again and again with the fog clearing and returning, giving us short glimpses of the landscape beneath. For me, this one single morning was worth the entire trip. Yes, I would have liked better light and more shooting opportunities on the first two days, but that's all in the game. As landscape photographers, we just can't set up our lights and scenery. The earth is our studio and the sun and the moon are our lights. In the end mother nature always decides and that's fine by me!

The Climpse - Wolf, Mosel region, Germany - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L at 195mm. F8, 1/60 sec., ISO 100, Tripod, remote, +2/3ev exposure compensation.

One more thing. I don't normally talk about equipment a lot but I would like to make an exception this time. I've recently started using Páramo clothing for my outdoors shooting and I must say I'm impressed! For me as a landscape photographer they have nailed it right on the head! It's 100% waterproof, very comfortable and extremely 'breathable'. And best of all, it's very light. You hardly notice it when you're wearing it. We all know that being cold, wet or too warm will affect our shooting. So having the right outdoor gear is important. And now, it's also available in the Netherlands. Check it out! It's got my vote.

The Mosel Valley - Mosel region, Germany - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L at 200mm. F8, 1/800 sec., ISO 100, handheld with +2/3ev exposure compensation. 

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I love bright and contrasty colors. The more the better! Still, I find myself more and more taking black & white photo's. Mostly landscape's. I like the power of b&w. The subtle nuances between light and dark, the shadows and the way b&w seems the emphasize certain parts of the picture. I don't really take b&w photo's but as usual these day's, I convert them to b&w during post processing. As a photographer though, I try to 'see' in b&w. A realy good b&w photo has it's own time and place and only a view really stand out.

Sunset near Roderwolde - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 L II, aperture f22, shutterspeed 25 sec., ISO 100, taken with a tripod and Lee ND9 graduated grey filter, mirror lock-up and cable release.

In the mean time I am still processing photo's from my last trip to the Bavarian forest in Germany. I have a stack of landscapes waiting to be unleashed in the image library. Yesterday evening was the start of my advances landscape photography course at the School of Photography in Groningen, the Netherlands. Twice a year I take the students on a journey through landscape photography, teaching them what it takes to make a good landscape photo. It is nice to see their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. It give's me a lot of energy! 

Cloudscape over the hills at the Bavarian forest - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L, aperture f11, shutterspeed 1/400 sec., ISO 100, handheld.

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In mijn vorige blog noemde ik al dat het materiaal vorige week aardig op de proef gesteld werd. Soms gaat het ook gewoon kapot. Gelukkig gebeurt het zelden, maar het kan gebeuren. Tijdens de workshops die ik geef wijs ik mensen er altijd op hoe belangrijk het maken van een back-up is. Hoe meer back-ups hoe beter. Vorige week ondervond ikzelf aan den lijve hoe belangrijk dit is. Dag 6 in het Beierse woud. s' Avonds in het hotel ben ik de back-up van die dag aan het maken. Eerst via mijn MacBook op een externe harde schijf (LaCie Rugged) en daarna op een image tank. Ja, twee back-ups inderdaad. Nadat ik de eerste kaart van de dag in mijn image tank (Canon M80) gestoken had en opdracht gaf om de foto's te kopiëren, viel mijn oog op de display. Die gaf aan 'Capaciteit 46kb'. Hmmm, vreemd. Een seconde later schakelde de image tank zichzelf uit en maakte nog een vreemd geluid om aan te geven dat hij toch echt aan het einde van zijn werkende leven was gekomen...Sindsdien weigert hij iedere  poging om hem aan de praat te krijgen.

 

Eurasian Lynx - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS + 1.4 extender. Diafragma f8, sluitertijd 1/160 sec., ISO 400, statief.

Even brak het zweet me uit. Ik heb toch wel van iedere dag een dubbele back-up? Na een korte controle kon ik opgelucht adem halen. Had ik alleen de image tank gebruikt, dan was ik alles van de vorige dagen kwijt geweest... Ja, wellicht krijgen ze de image tank nog aan de praat, maar of dat gaat lukken is nog maar de vraag. Direct na het incident heb ik zoveel mogelijk foto's van de externe harde schijf naar de harde schijf van de laptop gekopieerd (ik zet NOOIT foto's op de harde schijf van een computer!) om toch te kunnen beschikken over twee back-ups. Uiteindelijk hebben alle foto's veilig de digitale doka bereikt. Back-up, back-up, daarom dus!

Eurasian Lynx - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS + 1.4 extender. Diafragma f5.6, sluitertijd 1/250 sec., ISO 640, statief.

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