Kinderdijk

In my kind of travel (vacation based) the photography is opportunisitic – arrive at a location and find the images from within the conditions and weather you are faced with and within the narrow time you have available.  The serious photographer would plan to be at that location, choose the time of day, check the weather in advance.  Arriving at Kinderdijk in the Netherlands at midday in hot, bright, hazy cloud with dead, flat lighting was far from ideal for photography.

Whereas once upon a time I would be fed up at the bad luck of less than ideal conditions I am now much more philosophical. I guess it’s an age thing. I now see it as a challenge. It’s a case of visualising what can be achieved later at home with that initially dull picture – can the conditions be used to advantage?

The 19 windmills around this village form one of the most visited Dutch tourist attractions and has UNESCO World Heritage Site status.  It is certainly an amazing site to view so many windmills in one view.

I wanted to capture the landscape of the canal and the view of numerous windmills – a unique vision I was unlikely to visit again – any yet the lighting from this angle was so bright and severe. There was so little detail I almost discarded the flat images that resulted. But at the same time I was thinking of the washed out watercolour paintings that often depict these kind of views.  So I worked on these until I could reproduce the kind of pale watercolour painting impression I had in mind.  They are best seen as originals on a full screen to see the textures but I include them anyway.

Basics & crop in Lightroom CC Classic and Photoshop CC to use HDR Toning, the palette knife filter and oil paint.

Hope you like them.