Today, I would like to show you one of my recent nature photographs. Let’s make Wednesday the #WonderfulNature day 😉
Sea Anemones, wonderful creatures of the sea
Photo of two tube dwelling anemones, a blue and a pink one, photographed in the Aquarium of Artis Amsterdam zoo, the Netherlands (August 31, 2014)
“Tube-dwelling anemones or cerianthids look very similar to sea anemones, but belong to an entirely different subclass of anthozoans. They are solitary, living buried in soft sediments. Tube anemones live and can withdraw into tubes, which are made of a fibrous material, which is made from secreted mucus and threads of nematocyst-like organelles, known as ptychocysts.
Cerianthids have a crown of tentacles that consists of two whorls of distinctly different sized tentacles. The outer whorl consists of large tentacles that extend outwards. These tentacles taper to points and are mostly used in food capture and defence. The smaller inner tentacles are held more erect than the larger lateral tentacles and are used for food manipulation and ingestion.” Source: Wikipedia
It was a great course and you haven’t been able to follow it live, or to see a re-broadcast, it is possible to buy the course in 22 downloadable video segments. I really recommend it for everyone who would like to make an income by making art. I surely learned a lot and will likely go back to my notes or rebroadcasts in the future.
A collection a day
During one of the sections of the course, Lisa told us about one of the projects she did a few years ago. It’s called ‘A collection a day’ , and that’s exactly what it is: during a whole year, every day, Lisa either photographed or drew a collection, and posted about it on her blog. I was so fascinated about that idea that I went over to take a look at it, and … it’s marvellous! The variation in the objects she collected and photographed is enormous, and the fact that she alternated the photo’s with her own drawings and illustrations of collections made the whole only more colourful and varied.
I LOVE collections too, and have been collecting small, ordinary things of all kinds all my life. The idea of putting them together and showing them to the world is so awesome. It gives the ordinary things that colour and beautify our lives another dimension, and ‘a larger impact’… And what a commitment to do this every day, 365 days, a whole year long! That’s something I would never manage to do. But I would like to do something more with my own little collections too, and Lisa’s project definitely brought me some great ideas!
Day 1: Vintage erasers by Lisa Congdon (*)Day 331 : Plates by Lisa Congdon (*)
Lisa’s collections are now recently printed as a book, and I think it would be great to have something like that on your coffee table, and to browse through it once in a while. Something for my wish list for sure! So if you love collections too, and would like to have a look, head over to her blog, where you can see all her blogposts online, or to her website, where Lisa tells you about her project, and the way she went about it, and where you can order her book!
Book: “A collection a day” by Lisa Congdon (*)
Thanks a lot, Lisa, for a great course, and for this great inspiration!
Do you have some collections yourself, and did you ever photograph them or blog about them? If you did, do let me know, I would love to come and see yours!
It’s a few weeks now that I skipped posting my Sunday Street photo’s, because I had other things to do that had priority. But I don’t want to forget about it all together. So, although it’s Monday night already, here come my Sunday Street shots.
Till now, I picked two different photo’s for my English and Dutch blog, but as of today, I’ll pick two, and post them on both of my blogs. Here they come 🙂
For me, it’s not so much a problem to think what to write about. Rather, to pick one of the many possibilities, and not trying to do them all at once. So as soon as I’ve done my two daily posts ( E and NL) , I will start making a list in Evernote with possible topics, so that I can keep track of all the ideas that come up. Or better, let me open Evernote right away, and jot ideas down as they pop into my head… 🙂
The Bijlmermonument
Yesterday October 4, it was the 22 anniversary remembrance day of the Bijlmer disaster, when an El Al plain crashed in two of the Bijlmer apartment buildings, and 43 people died, with many more injured and traumatized.
I couldn’t be there at the remembrance ceremony, but we’re living so close by the monument that we could hear the music in our living rooms, and I could see still some people around when I passed there later that evening.
22 years ago, and people still remember… This year, the ceremony had a special accent, in the light of the recent disaster with the MH17 in Ukraine, where 298 people died, among whom 196 Dutch. This recent disaster brought so many memories back for people in the Bijlmer, and they expressed their sympathy to the victims and their families and relatives now…
Advise from the Bijlmer to the family and relatives of MH17 victims: make sure there comes a monument, and often seek one another’s company and support – always remember! …
the Bijlmermonument, with the tree that saw everything, the remembrance wall and the mosaic tiles, photographed sept. 2012
Yes, I so would like to be able to post a little bit more regularly – let us say…. ehmmm… daily??? OMG – Why is it so hard to commit to that? Only a few sentences and maybe a photo every now and then would be enough, right?
My big difficulty is that I would like to do regular blogs as well on my English as on my Dutch blog. So indeed, that’s double work. And I’m aware that I am so unreliable when it comes to keeping up with my ‘daily’ resolutions… But why not giving it a try anyway? Shall I start today?… I DID!!
Previous weekend, I had a really busy photojournalistic weekend. On Saturday, I was photographing on the “Day of 1000 cultures”, the opening of the new cultural season In Amsterdam SouthEast: a colourful festival where all kinds of cultural and sprts organisations presented their programs.
And on Sunday, not only did I make use for the first time of my newly earned press card from DEMOTIX, to make a photo story about the Amsterdam City Swim 2014… I also spend a few hours making a reportage of a demonstration against the horrific actions by ISIS, the terrorist group that is very active in Irak and Syrië
It has taken me some time to sort out and edit all those photo’s, but now at least a few of the reportages are uploaded at DEMOTIX , the worldwide network for free lance and amateur photo journalists.
The Amsterdam Cityswim was organized this year for the third time, as a fundraising for the ALS foundation in the Netherlands. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most serious, invalidating and deadly diseases of the nerves system. The Netherlands counts about 1500 patients. Every year, about 500 of them die, and 500 new patients are diagnosed with the disease. While there is investigation done all over the world, the cause of the disease is still unknown, and no cure is found. For those 1500 patients, with a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years after diagnosis, there is still no hope for a future…
The 2000 participants to the City Swim, together with the 200 kids that participated in the Cityswim for Kids, raised together an amount of over 2 million €, by finding sponsors for their swimming effort. This money will be used for further investigation and support to people with ALS.
Participants of the Amsterdam Cityswim for Kids and lifeguards swimming under the bridge towards the Keizersgracht channel. Public on the bridge is cheering them on.Celeste (14) and Lianne (11), two of the 200 young swimmers who participated in the Amsterdam Cityswim for Kids.Eva & Mathijs, twins (10) proudly show their medals, earned in the Cityswim for Kids. Well done!.Quinten Helmstrijd (3d place), Sam Boorsma (2nd place) Carolien Beckers (1st place) – winners of the Cityswim for Kids.
First group of swimmers ready to dive in.With a big splash, the first swimmers hit the waterFirst group of athletes in the water – all along the route, life guards are standby to keep an eye on the swimmers’ safety.
View on the finish and the Keizersgracht where crowds of supporters are looking as groups of swimmers finally reach the finish after a swim of 2014m through Amsterdam’s channels.Participants carrying orange balloons arrive at the last strecht of the Keizersgracht Channel, in view of the finish of Amsterdam City Swim 2014. A life guard is standby, keeping an eye on the swimmers’ safety.Exhausted but satisfied, one of the swimmers comes out of the water, a black and white football on his backTwo women friends have now time to recuperate and relax, after the long swim of 2014 m.
Family, mom, dad and kids, with rented red Mac Bike bicycles, in the busy touristic centre of Amsterdam. The boy and girl in front of the carrier bicycle eating salted chips, and sharing some with dad – Amsterdam Street photography
This museum guard was walking around with two red and white traffic poles under his arms, which he has to place every afternoon to block the traffic in this narrow street next to the Amsterdam museum
Discovering Beauty 