De oversteek

‘De Oversteek’ is the name of a new iconic bridge in Nijmegen over the river Waal. Translated the name means ‘The crossing’ in respect for the US Army 504th Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Brigade that crossed the river during operation Market Garden in 1944. The bridge was opened in November 2013 and is part of the new ring route of the city.

The bridge has a lot to offer for photographers, during day and night when the bridge is beautifully lit, among 48 lampposts, honouring the 48 heroes that lost their lives during the crossing.

I went to the bridge a couple of times, with the photo club but also on my own. Time to gather some pictures in one post.

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Men at work

Amsterdam is a bustling city that relies heavenly on its tram system to move people around.  Now and again the lines need maintenance/changing.

I was lucky enough to be invited by Fred Rietvink, who manages these kind of challenging projects, to see the demolition of some tram tracks. After the last tram passed, the power lines over the street were switched off. After that a gas cutter was used to separate the parts that should stay and the parts that should be replaced. A large cutting device cut the rails in small pieces. A robot rhino was then used to lift the rail and pull it out of its bolts. Finally the old rails where loaded on to a waiting truck. It needed to be done by a well oiled team because a week later everything needed to be ‘back on track’.

Thanks Fred for the invitation.

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Before the ordeal

The last series of Barcelona has some fine churches of the city. I’m always attracted by churches, big or small. Faith can result in remarkable things. I always try to find a different point of view in churches to emphasise the beauty of it.

Like the main cathedral of Barcelona in the gothic city centre.

The detail of the main entrance is unbelievable.

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The National Palace in Barcelona is situated on the hill of Montjuïc and from the front of palace you have a magnificent view of Barcelona.  It hosted the 1929 International Exhibition and now it hosts the National Art Museum of Catalonia. The building with its mix of the historic features and contemporary museum is spectaculair.

Please find some images of the building and museum in this series.

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Jacqui had to go to Barcelona for work  so I took the opportunity and went with her. I explored this beautiful city and it was a great opportunity to test my new Nikon D750. It was not all hard work and long hours for Jacqui, we had also some time together exploring the city and enjoying some tapas and wine.

Unlike my other travels, I limited my equipment to focus completely on the new camera. All pictures were taken with the Nikon D750 with a Tamron 24-70 lens., no filters, no tripod. Camera and lens turned out to be a great combination. Amazing how you can stretch the ISO without noticing any noise. This became very noticeable in the evening and in dark churches.

The weather wasn’t great, actually it was raining most of the time. There was even a weather warning along the coast. Luckily this wasn’t a problem for me and the camera, in fact it was an advantage. No busy streets filled with tourists and the wet streets created a beautiful reflection. So every disadvantage has an advantage, as a great player and manager of Barcelona football club once said.

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This are some pictures of the old gothic quarter:

Together with fellow photographers Frederik de Veer and Gerrit de Groot, I went recently to the Dutch town of Deventer. This town has a very rich trading history because of it’s location at the east bank of the river IJssel.

We started our photoshoot on the other side of the river and after it became dark we went with a small ferry into the historic city centre. There was some little rain and  that resulted in some nice reflections on the streets. We were so busy that obviously we missed the ferry back and we had to make a detour over the bridge to get back to our cars.

Hope you enjoy my series of Deventer by night.

The second series of some treasures I found during the couple of days in Madrid.

Thanks for watching.

The dome of the basilica

The city of Madrid has many treasures. After two series of the city life, a couple of series of some of the treasures of this stunning city.

Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena