Some mornings feel like stepping into a story long before you take the first photograph. A week ago, after a long cold night, I woke up long before sunrise with that familiar excitement buzzing under my skin — the kind that only a camera, a quiet landscape, and a promise of light can create. I pre-heated the car, stepped into the darkness, and let the road guide me toward the Kampina in Noord-Brabant. While most people were on their way to work, I was on my way to chase a sunrise.

And nature delivered.

After a 30-minute walk through the dim early light, the world suddenly shifted. The entire atmosphere turned black and yellow — not just the sky, but the mist, the air, the ground. Low winter sunlight scattered through moisture particles, a phenomenon called Mie scattering, which often produces this rich, glowing yellow hue under the right angle and density conditions.

In the foreground stood an old, gnarled tree — twisted by years of weather and time — silhouetted against a backdrop of dark, leafless woodland. It felt like a character stepping forward from the shadows.

Captured handheld at f/6.3, ISO 640, with my Canon 5D Mark IV and Sigma 100–400mm, this image is a reminder that sometimes you don’t just photograph a sunrise… you walk into it.

#wonderinglens #ByMaikeldeBakker #MaikeldeBakkerPhotography #sunrisephotography #kampina #noordbrabant #dutchlandscape #naturephotography #mistymorning #yellowmist #gnarledtree #winterlight #canon5dmarkiv #sigma100400 #lightchasing #moodylandscape #atmosphericphotography #storytellingphotography #naturelover #landscape_captures #earthvisuals #treestudy #morningwalks #brabantnatuur #natuurmonumenten #goldenlight #mistandlight #fieldnotes #observationalphotography #photographerslife #ambientlight #dutchnature #wildernessculture #earlymorningvibes #moodygrams #forestmagic #natureperfection #wildscapes #naturestories #lightandlife

Some scenes only reveal their magic when you strip them down to the essentials. I rarely choose black and white — often it feels like an escape hatch when colour fails. But on my latest Arnhem adventure, standing on a hill overlooking a quiet valley west of Park Sonsbeek, colour wasn’t the problem… it was the distraction.

Among the dark reds and browns of late autumn, one bright yellow tree stood defiantly luminous. In colour, it looked beautiful. But in black and white, it transformed completely: its yellow leaves turning almost white, while the surrounding forest dropped into deep shadow. The effect resembled infrared photography — a glowing silhouette breaking through a monochrome world.

Nature doesn’t present these contrasts often, at least not with this kind of precision. It reminded me of the way light interacts with pigments: yellow leaves reflect more of the spectrum, so once converted to monochrome, they soar toward the highlights while other wavelengths sink away. A tiny lesson in physics, hidden inside a valley.

I shot it handheld with my Canon 5DsR and Sigma 24–70 Art at f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO 125. The late-afternoon sky was blue with a soft feather-cloud drifting across it — the last warmth of a day that felt oddly mild for the season (yay climate change… said with all the sarcasm required).

Sometimes, simplicity reveals the loudest truth.

#wonderinglens #ByMaikeldeBakker #BlackAndWhitePhotography #InfraredLook #Arnhem #Sonsbeek #NaturePhotography #TreeScenery #MonochromeMagic #FineArtNature #Canon5DsR #Sigma2470Art #HandheldPhotography #ObservationalPhotography #ForestValley #DutchNature #LandscapeFrame #NaturalContrast #AutumnLeaves #LightAndShadow #MoodyLandscape #PhysicsOfLight #InfraredEffect #CreativeMonochrome #PhotoStorytelling #NatureDetails #DutchLandscape #MinimalistNature #PhotographyIsScience #ArtOfObservation #OutdoorAdventures #ForestPhotography #TreePortrait #QuietNature #ValleyView #FramedByNature #WonderingLensPhotography

Flooded polder

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/madebybertien/flooded-polder/

#noai #art #digitalart #noaiart #polder #digitalartwork #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #landscape #landscapeart #nature #artwork #illustration #holland #dutchlandscape #wetlands #grasslands

Experimenting with Double Filters

Yesterday morning I woke up at 5 a.m. It was dark, cold, and quiet — the kind of silence that makes you wonder if you should just crawl back into bed. But the sky was clear with some clouds forming near the horizon, and experience told me this could become one of those fiery sunrises worth losing sleep over.

So I packed my Canon 5DsR with the Sigma Art 24–70 mm and headed to the Loonse en Drunense Duinen. Besides chasing light, I had something else in mind — a little experiment. I wanted to see what would happen if I combined a polarizing filter with a transparent plastic petri dish (from Corning).

If you’ve ever looked at a car’s rear window through polarized sunglasses and seen those oily rainbow patterns — that’s birefringence at work. When two polarizing surfaces interact with certain plastics, they reveal hidden stress patterns in vivid colors.

So I rotated both filters until the sky exploded into gradients of purple, turquoise, and gold. No Photoshop tricks here — just light, plastic, and curiosity playing together.

Sometimes, science and art meet right in front of your lens.

#ExperimentalPhotography #CreativeFilters #PolarizerEffect #OpticalPhenomena #Birefringence #PetriDishExperiment #ScienceInArt #NatureAndLight #SkyPhotography #ColorPlay #OpticsInNature #PhotographyExperiment #LandscapePhotography #AtmosphericLight #SkyMagic #MorningGlow #NaturalLight #PhotographyArt #ExploringLight #CreativeProcess #FieldExperiment #AbstractNature #PhysicsOfLight #Canon5DsR #SigmaArt2470 #DutchLandscape #LoonseEnDrunenseDuinen #NaturePhotography #VisualExploration #CuriousMind #ArtOfSeeing #PhotographyIsScience #ChasingLight #SkyWatcher #ExperimentalArt #BehindTheLens #ColorInspiration #LightAndShadow #OpticalArt #ByMaikelPhotography

Polder with cow

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/madebybertien/polder-with-cow/

#noai #art #digitalart #noaiart #polder #digitalartwork #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #landscape #landscapeart #nature #artwork #illustration #holland #dutchlandscape #wetlands

Polder

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/madebybertien/polder/

#noai #art #digitalart #noaiart #polder #digitalartwork #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #landscape #landscapeart #nature #artwork #illustration #holland #dutchlandscape

Loenersloot – Westkanaaldijk
https://kamafotos.nl/2025/08/29/loenersloot-westkanaaldijk/
#kamafotos #DutchLandscape #35mm #photography #VoigtlanderBessaT

There’s a jetty at Westkapelle, near the KNRM rescue station. At first glance, it looks like many others: a path of wood reaching into the sea. But when you take a closer look, it reveals a story written in salt, waves, and time.

From the start, the jetty looks strong, straight, well-maintained. Walk further and cracks begin to show, scars of endless storms, bolts rusting, wood worn down. At the very end, the jetty seems to surrender — twisted, broken, almost consumed by the sea. Yet, beneath it, you can still see how often it has been repaired. Again and again, people tried to keep it standing.

It struck me how much this resembles life. We all start with strength and promise, but storms leave marks. Salt crystals, like tiny blades, slowly break down the wood’s fibers; waves hammer it endlessly, reshaping it grain by grain. And still, despite everything, it stands.

Each scar tells a story — of survival, of endurance, of humanity. Just like the jetty, we are never untouched, but always carrying traces of time. And maybe that’s where the beauty lies: not in perfection, but in the evidence of having weathered the storm.

Canon 5DsR + Sigma ART 24/70mm

#Westkapelle #Zeeland #Jetty #SeaAndSky #StoryInWood #WeatheredByTime #DutchCoast #KNRM #SeascapePhotography #LandscapePhotography #PhotographyArt #NaturePhotography #DutchLandscape #OceanWaves #CoastalLife #Resilience #ScarsTellStories #Survival #Endurance #HumanSpirit #HiddenStories #WabiSabi #EmbraceTheScars #PhotographyIsLife #maikeldebakker #SeasideMood #OceanPhotography #WoodAndWater #CanonPhotography #SigmaArtLens #Canon5DsR #ThroughMyLens #SeascapeStory #CoastalMood #WavesAndWood #NatureAndTime #DecayAndBeauty #WestkapelleJetty #PhotoStory #WonderInDetails #ByMaikelPhotography

#Watercolour #Acuarela #Painting #Art #Landscape #Heather #Posbank #DutchLandscape #Malerei #Peinture #Pintura #pitturacontemporanea #aquarelle

Zoutelande, Dunes, and a Dutch Coastguard Surprise

While walking atop the dunes of Zoutelande, we were suddenly circled by a low-flying SAR helicopter of the Dutch Coastguard. Its altitude kept dropping, and we instinctively kept our distance — unsure if we were witnessing a real rescue operation.

Was someone lost or in danger? The tension grew as the beachguard’s pickup truck rushed past us. We stepped aside to clear the way, hoping for the best, watching the helicopter hover lower and lower over the shoreline. For a moment, it felt serious.

But then the truck returned and stopped beside us.

"Just a training drill," the diver explained with a smile. “They didn’t even tell us.” We all shared a brief moment of relief and mutual respect.

What could’ve been a tense moment turned out to be a well-executed practice — a reminder of the unseen work that keeps our coasts safe. Coastguards train hard for moments they hope will never come, and it’s a privilege to have witnessed a piece of that commitment.

And yes — I captured the scene with my Canon 5D Mark III and Sigma 100–400mm lens. Now, with full respect to their mission, I can share these images.

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#zoutelande #coastguarddrill #sarhelicopter #searchandrescue #dutchcoastguard #canon5dmarkiii #sigma100400 #helicopterphotography #dutchbeaches #safetyfirst #coastalwatch #emergencytraining #beachlife #natureandrescue #dutchlandscape #dunescape #zoutelandemoment #coastalpatrol #lifeguardduty #hoveringheli #realmoments #unseenheroes #thankyouservices #zeelandsafety #strandwacht #photostory #visualreportage #coastlinesafety #naturewalks #dunewalk #emergencypreparedness #rescueoperation #dutchresilience #civicduty #publicsafety #landscapestory #militarytraining #witnessingnature #actofkindness #safeandaware #maikeldebakker

Zoutelande Through My Lens — Stories in Stillness

Photography is often about more than light and focus — it’s about perspective, emotion, and timing. These four images, taken with my Canon 5D Mark III and Sigma 100–400mm lens, represent a quiet but powerful narrative from last Sunday in Zoutelande.

📸 Image 1: My wife walking away between the wave breakers, avoiding the deeper water where I stood. A moment of everyday humor and love — where practicality meets poetry in motion.

📸 Image 2: A young girl standing alone on a small, sandy island surrounded by water. She gazes out toward the ocean, her solitude and wonder mirroring our own curiosity about the world beyond.

📸 Image 3: Here, lines take over the story — the towering dunes on one side, the endless sea on the other, and a wooden walkway that leads the eye straight to the horizon. Composition meets contemplation.

📸 Image 4: A solitary blue beach cabin, perfectly framed by sand and dune. It stands quiet and grounded — a symbol of stillness amidst the natural elements.

Each photo is a reminder that beauty lies in how we see things — and sometimes, in the space between what is and what could be.

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#zoutelande #landscapephotography #beachvibes #dutchcoast #canon5dmarkiii #sigma100400 #leadinglines #coastalphotography #zandduinen #zeelandnatuur #naturestory #visualnarrative #photographerslife #bluecabin #solitude #seascape #seadunes #compositionmatters #wavebreakers #dutchlandscape #naturalframe #oceanvibes #lifebythesea #dunesofholland #seasideview #perspectivephotography #sandpatterns #emotiveimagery #natureandpeople #climateandcoast #wanderlustphotography #natuurbeleving #femalefigure #everydaybeauty #photographyart #lensbasedmedia #beachperspective #wandelendvrouw #kustzicht #zoutelandemoment #maikeldebakker