Photographyandmore

Las Fallas

One month ago I went to visit Valencia for The Fallas Festival. The Fallas celebrations are held every year in the first two weeks of march. From the 1st of march to the 19th of march. Last year I went to Valencia to experience the festival for the first time and I really enjoyed it. Seeing people in traditional clothes, watching the fireworks, listening to music and admiring the colourful pieces of art. It’s a wonderful experience you will never forget.

Fallas 2020 postponed

I visited Valencia from the 9th of march till the 13th of march. A week before I was wondering if I should go or not. The reason was because the corona virus was spreading quickly in many countries. Because the travel advice for Spain was positive I decided to go. When I arrived in Valencia, I noticed that it was more quiet than the year before. It was less busy at the airport and less busy in the city centre. The following day I went downtown to have a walk and take pictures. Because of the corona virus the Valencian Regional Government decided to postpone the celebration of The Fallas following the instruction of the Ministry of Health. This was a pity of course. But there’s no doubt this was the best decision because the safety and health of many people was at stake.

City of Arts and Sciences

So I felt a little bit dissapointed that The Fallas was postponed. This was the main reason I went to Valencia. But no worries, Valencia is a versatile city so there’s no reason to be bored. Valencia is well known as a bike-friendly city. Guess what, riding bike in the city was on my bucket list. So I rented a bike. This was big fun. One of the cycle paths is through the Turia Gardens. Along its 8 kilometre stretch one can freely ride bicycl. The weather was great. Blue sky and very sunny. I saw people sporting, riding bike, walking, picknicking. One of the places I visited was the City of Arts and Sciences. I love this place. The architecture is wonderful and you can do many things there. I could spend hours there just to enjoy the atmospere and take pictures.

Street Art

Valencia is also well known of its street art. Everytime I saw something that I liked, I stepped off my bike to take a picture. It was a lovely thing to do. But there wasn’t enough time to see all the street art. So this is what I want do on my next trip to Valencia.

One of the popular street artists is Xemayo. He makes very beautiful things. I really like his style. See for yourself..

Street Photography

Valencia really stole my heart because of its rich history and cultural inheritage. While I was riding bike in the historical centre of Valencia, I saw many beautiful things. For example the cathedral, the Mercado Central, the round square and Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

Of course I also stepped off my bike to relax on a terrace at plaza de la reina. A lovely place to walk around and sit on one of the many terraces.

I like to observe people but what I like most is to take pictures of people.

So I saw one guy sitting in front of the cathedral with his 2 dogs, reading a book. Because he was fascinating me I walked down to him and asked if I could take some pictures. Unfortunately he couldn’t speak English and myself doesn’t speak Spanish. But he understood my question and said yes. I was very happy that I could take some pictures. Check them here..

One place I wanted to surely visit was Heraklion, the capital of Crete. From Chersonissos I went with public transport which was an experience. Just take a seat if possible and wait until the bus assistant comes to you so that you can buy your ticket. After about one hour, the bus arrived at Heraklion. I stepped out of the bus and took some pictures at the harbour. After that I took a hop on hop of bus to Knossos.

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Knossos is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe’s oldest city. I walked around the site for some time. I could spend hours in a place like that. It´s interesting and there are many things to see. Most of all I find it interesting to imagine how the ancient people must have lived there a long time ago. After walking and taking pictures it was time to go and pick the bus that would bring me back to the busstop. From there I took the bus to Chersonissos.

Crete is a lovely island to spend ones holiday. Ther are many interesting places to visit or nice things to do. For example one day I visited Old Chersonissos. Old Chersonissos is a small place in the mountains close to Chersonissos. The tour guide who told me that the place is interesting to visit, said that it is about half an hour walk. The man from the pizzeria told me that it´s about 10 minutes walk. Well I went off and started to walk. It took me about 45 minutes. A little bit longer but I have to admit that I stopped at a real Greek taverne to eat something. I ordered a Greek salad with lettuce, onions, feta, tomatoes, cucumber and pepper. It was delicious.

When I arrived at old Chersonissos, I enjoyed it. With a village square, nice tavernes around the square. The street life is interesting. Old people met around the block, sat on chairs, took a drink, chatting with one another. It was a relaxed atmosphere.

The next day I went to Rethymnon with my rental car. It took me about 2 hours to get there. But it was worth the trip. The road to Rethymnon was nice. Sometimes I stopped to enjoy the beautiful view along the road. Rethymnon is a very nice place in the north of Crete. The old town has narrow streets with cosy restaurants and souvenir shops. The old houses are built in Venetian style. You can imagine it was a real party for me and I took lot´s of pictures.

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Chersonissos

In september I spend my holiday on the beautiful island of Crete. Crete is one of the biggest Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. I stayed for one week.

Chersonissos, the town I stayed, is a small tourist place but nevertheless very interesting. The hotel I lodged in is called Palmera Beach Hotel. It’s a lovely hotel situated at the boulevard, close to the sea. Even though I went in september, there were still many tourists. Some of the clubs were already closed but most of the places were still available for tourists. The weather was lovely. Although I have to say that for a few days the sea was wild. There was a little wind that caused some pretty waves which attracted lot’s of people. They were fascinated by the waves and made pictures. Of course myself was also fascinated and I took pictures of how the waves crashed into the rocks and exploded.

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Pink Saturday

2 brothers on the 4th floor

In the evening 2 brothers on the 4th floor performed on a large stage at the Parade in Venlo. I’m a huge fan of them and I like their music. Before they arrived I went to the stage to install myself with my camera. I wanted to be sure of a nice position to photograph the band. When they came on stage I felt lots of adrenaline going through my body. When the music started at first the dancers came on stage. After that Desray started to sing Dreams will come alive. One of my favourite songs. It was so great. The public went insane with songs like Come take my hand and Never alone. It was really fun and I took many pictures.

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Pink Saturday Venlo

A few weeks ago I went to an event called Pink Saturday. The event was in Venlo. I went to the event mainly to photograph some artists.

Pink Saturday was organised by two towns, Venlo and Krefeld to make a statement. This event was organised to celebrate freedom, tolerance and boundless love in Holland and in Germany . Everybody is equal. No matter the sexual preference.

Romy Monteiro

Around 12 noon I drove to Venlo. When I arived the first thing I did was to eat and drink something. In front of the city hall a huge stage was build. The place was very crowded. I was watching happy people. They were dancing, chatting, having fun. The town was in a festive mood. The atmosphere was great. Some of the artists that performed are Maan, Jonna Fraser and Romy Monteiro. I really liked Romy Monteiro. She was singing songs from Whitney Houston like I will allways love you and I wanna dance with somebody. The public was very enthousiastic. I walked to the front of the stage and took some very nice pictures of her.

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The Bossche Broek

I was thinking about what to do on a lovely, sunny day. One of the possibilities is to ride bike in the nature. This is what I did some weeks ago when the sun was shining and the temperature was rising. And guess what. I took my camera with me. It is good to forget your sorrows and find peace at heart and mind while you enjoy the natural environment. I rode my bike to Het Bosche Broek. This is a unique piece of nature between Vught and Den Bosch. It’s very beautiful and because the weather was lovely, it was just like spring, you saw that some trees and flowers already came out carefully. Anyway, I enjoyed riding my bike in this wonderful natural area and everytime I saw something beautiful I took pictures of it. Check below for some of the pictures I took on that day.

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Industrial photography

You already know that I like taking pictures of people because it is the interaction with the model what appeals to me the most. But did you know that I also like streetphotography and that I like taking pictures of architecture, industrial areas and landscapes? In this blog I write about industrial photography vs landscapephotography.

Strijp S

A couple of weeks ago I went out with my camera on a beautiful sunny day. My goal was to photograph in Strijp S Eindhoven. Strijp S is the creative and cultural centre of Eindhoven. Without Philips, Strijp S wouldn’t exist. When you walk through this area, you can still see the industrial buildings but now they have a different purpose. Different creative organisations make use of the old buildings so if you are interested in the history of this cultural inheritance of Eindhoven, just take a look at the website of Strijp S.

Taking pictures in Strijp S was great and I had a good time. Every time I saw something new so I became very enthousiastic. I saw many different things. For example industrial buildings and machinery. It’s fun to take pictures of the buildings in different ways from different corners. Outside I took a lot of pictures but I also took many photos inside. For example I went inside the Pastryclub. This used to be a machineroom, but now it’s a cool and trendy place where you can drink a latte and eat cakes or chocolate if you have taste for it. When you are in the neighbourhood, walk around and visit this nice place. It’s worth it. I had a great time and took a lot of pictures. Some of the results you can see below.

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