Nature

While in the Netherlands we generally don’t consider our forests very exciting (it lacks bears, tigers, trees the size of skyscrapers … oh and some pinguins would be cool!), when you look a bit harder and pay attention to the smaller stuff, there is plenty of cool things to see.

: Small and old Hortensia petals of a lower leaf

: Bamboo shortly after rain

: A bumblebee being very busy with the lavender

: Agapanthus, also called ‘Lilly of the Nile’

: Hazy and clouded morning in the ‘Amsterdamse Bos’

: Droplets on yellow flowers

: Buttercup flower, known for its hydrophobic petals

: A tree that’s not imposing in size, but definately has a cool characteristic shape.

: Fairly straight stream

: The floor here seemed like a bed of moss floating on water

: More mosses!

: Little red crab depriving reed of whatever it eats

As promised, some more terrestrial photos. I was hoping to shoot some more, but rain has been been pouring down continuously the last couple of days.

While preparing my telescope for some astrophotography in the early evening, I was curious how far back I could achieve focus with my DSLR attached to the f/10 refractor. Turns out I can take photographs within my living room. Below a Bogonia at ~ 7 meters distance, illuminated from behind by a low sun.

Bogonia through a 900mm telescope

On June 2nd, I took my camera with me on a walk around the Twente University campus. This time with the regular lens attached instead of a 900mm telescope 😉 . Some paths give beautiful fresh green pictures like this one:

Green paths just off the Twente University campus

While walking I came across a very small dam in a stream. A 1/200 second exposure gave a good image, but the 2 second exposure below made a way cooler picture. Just on the bottom of the little falls, the splashing water turns into a white mist. Also, the image shows cool bubble paths.