Ice on fire. Continuing the abstraction by reflection theme, with frozen water making an interesting variation on the usual water reflections. Decent responses as well.
Steps. One of my favourite shots, combining minimalism and silhouette. These are actually my wife's legs, photographed while we were going to a high tea in Apeldoorn.
Walking the dog. A candid that I still like. Shot in 2009 in Enkhuizen, posted in 2010.
Ar[t]cheology. From my 2010 Shanghai trip. This is an open-air art project of a different kind. As part of the Expo2010 festivities, this one was commissioned and will stay at the banks of the Hangpu River. It is an imaginary archeology site of the future, in which numerous typical Shanghai daily objects are excavated from the mud, from watches and kitchen utensils to house parts and Chinese brand cars. I had a whole series of these.
Mandarin duck. One of a number of shots taken in the Shanghai Zoo. I am not a fan of the traditional zoo concept, but it did give some nice photo opportunities. Good reactions on this one.
Quench. Another zoo shot, one of my favourites. I like the composition, but it got little response at Flickr.
Red Dwarf. At the time, my wife was working large parts of the year in Shanghai, creating paintings that were used for silk and cashmere scarfs from the local high-end fashion chain Shanghai Stories. During the day I visited her in her studio. This shot was taken in that neighbourhood, an art display in a gallery. It reminded me a bit of the vintage BBC SF comedy intro, hence the title.
Crocodile rock. Another zoo shot that tanked on Flickr. I like the diagonal composition though, and the tight crop to give an extra impression of strength.
Ar[t]cheology 2. Another shot from the art installation described in more detail above. I kept this one in colour to contrast the two telephones.
Abstracted curves. A Shanghai abstract - once I tell you, you will see the house number 76 appearing in your mind.
Streetlife. A straightforward application of the frame-in-frame composition technique. I shot this one somewhere in Shanghai.
Race you to the top. A detail of the famous Shanghai Pudong skyline. The one on the left is the top of the Jin Mao tower, completed in 1999 and the fifth highest building in the world until 2007, at 421 m. Typically, its successor as the highest building of Shanghai (to the right) was constructed directly next to it: the Shanghai World Financial Center, completed in 2008, and at the time the third highest building in the world, at 492 m. Of course, Shanghai being Shanghai, meanwhile a third tower directly next to these two has been constructed. The Shanghai Tower, complete in 2014, is the second highest building in the world and dwarfs the other two at 632 m.
Abstraction in reflections. And of a very special kind: these are Shanghai traffic lights reflected in the roof of a viaduct.
Electricity lines. An evening shot of one of the office buildings at Shanghai's Huahei road. Intriguing how only the office lights are visible, and yet they give a clear indication of the building's shape. An abstract unlike any other.
Dumplings. Abstracts can be found in anything, even in food. The black and white conversion reduces these dumplings (handmade by my parents-in-law) to patterns in a string double diagonal set-up.
Abstraction in green. Another Shanghai abstract, this time of lights on a ceiling. An intriguing combination of regular and irregular patterns in one shot.
Oriental. Back to the lake near our Almere home, with a late frost in March somehow creating this image. I did not remember this one at all, it was not very popular, but I include it because for the life of me I cannot figure out how this reflection worked. Still, the result is intriguing and has the feeling of an oriental painting.
Ready for New Year. In 2011 I celebrated Chinese New Year with my wife in Shanghai. The street decorations were fabulous, and this colourful shot was popular at Flickr.
Urban landscapes. Another example how changing the orientation can turn a simple shot of a high-rise building (in Shanghai in this case) into a totally different image.
Shanghai patterns. A metal gate on a Shanghai street near our apartment. Intriguing play of lines, curves and reflections. This was the first shot that made money for me: a Singapore architecture firm paid for its use in their brochures.
Line play again. The Shanghai high-rise buildings are en endless source for this type of photography. One of the more popular ones in this series.
The shot that millions saw. I took this unpose snapshot of my wife while she was at work in her Shanghai studio. She liked it so much that she had it used in an article about her work in the Shanghai Metro newspaper.
Abstraction in red and blue. One of my best shots, this abstract is the detail of something in the centre of the German town of Leverkusen. "Something", because I really can't remember what it was - possibly an art piece. This one made Explore (#169), the first shot to do so in a while.
Stained glass. Taken in a church in Rheinbach, Germany. The diagonal composition with its alternating lines of glass and ceiling, makes for an intriguing shot.
I still got the blues for you. An abstract that had a lot of people puzzled. It's an ornament at my brother's home, with the shot flipped upside down.
Bottles. Shot in the restaurant of a brewery in Rheinbach, Germany. Not much reaction on Flickr, but I like the patterns and the bokeh.
Spread your wings. In June, we went to England (for my wife it was the first time) to attend the wedding of my lovely niece Karin, who was our bridesmaid in 2000, and her Chris. The day before the wedding, we went to London, where I took this picture.
Church window. Speaking of the wedding, this was the location, a centuries' old little church near Guildford.
Lunch. The same trip, somewhere in London. Typical pub food. I included this, because this is one of the few unposed shots my wife was OK with sharing on Flickr. And technically, this is a good balance between inside and outside exposure.
Memento mori. This was taken in a church in Enkhuizen. it's all about the chosen angle, creating a natural diptych that can be seen as symbolizing life and death. A personal favourite.
Ye Olde Almere. Inspired by the art photography of Martin Becks who created faked old shots of modern architecture. In my case, it was a b&w conversion of one of my shots of the Almere towers, application of a texture and adding a Holga effect in Picnik. Lots of people liked it.
Ye Olde Shanghai. The same idea applied to a shot of the Pudong skyline. Personally, I think this one works less well, but reactions were good.
Ye Olde Bridge. The third one in the series, a shot of the famous bridge at Millau, France getting the treatment.
Dragon. Back to normal - at least for me. Here we have the reflection of a branch in the canal of the gardens of Groeneveld Castle in Baarn - resembling a dragon in its shape. Strong composition, a textbook example of corner anchoring and using the diagonal.
88. A single house number and its shadow on a wall in Freiburg, Germany. A striking piece of minimalism.
Basel watercolours. A short day trip from the South of Germany to Switzerland and back yielded just one worthwhile image, this water reflection abstract. Cool how there are two strong diagonals in this composition, even if they are not that clear.
Autumn in Regent Park. In October we went to London for a week, to see more of this beautiful city that we had pais a one day visit in June. Here is a nice reflection shot in Regent Park.
Ye Olde Eye. Continuing the theme of modern cityscapes made to look old by applying a texture. This is my personal favourite of the series.
Swans silhouettes. Of the many swans shots I've taken over the years this one stands out in its uniqueness. Plenty of faves as well.
Psychedelic. Another shot from Regents Park, this one ended up more abstract than the previous one. And it gathered more faves.
Introspection. Yet another swan shot, appearing here only because it collected many faves. It is a rather elegant scene though (probably taken near our home at the time, in Almere).
Psychedelic too.Water reflections in London, turned 90 degrees for an even more abstract feeling. I came back to this shot with a variation early 2012.
Into the light. And the year ends with a bang rather than a whisper. Another shot taken while walking our dog (who makes a cameo appearance) in the park near our Almere home. I hesitated to post it on Flickr, but when I did, dozens of faves came my way, and it was my second shot of 2011 to make Explore (#119).
