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Abstract

my birthday, I guess I was looking for a way to feel close to her. You can say it’s the reason I made an image of the sky, looking up at the trees. That’s not it though — I love looking up at the tops of the trees, to see the character in their branches edged against the blue sky. There’s something majestic about it.</p><figure id="92c1"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*DZ9oKv3eT3YNxKlgFehfrA.jpeg"><figcaption><b><i>Original settings: </i></b><i>ISO 100–18 mm — f 8.0–1/250 sec <b>Edit:</b> Lens correction in Lightroom — Increased temperature from 5500 to 5600 — Color preset: ‘bright’</i></figcaption></figure><h2 id="aacc">Escalator</h2><p id="95a4">Another month later, my husband and I spontaneously went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Kop van Zuid, Rotterdam. We took the cameras and walked around in a radius of about 150m from the restaurant. We entered the metro station, where the escalators run down to the platforms below. This was a quick snap, as there were quite some passengers around and I had to time the shot just right. If I had more time, I would’ve made sure the image was entirely symmetrical, something I couldn’t obtain with editing without losing too much of the image.</p><figure id="5096"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*cnSDJD3HLFvcYC-09AYadg.jpeg"><figcaption><b><i>Original settings:</i></b><i> ISO 1000–58 mm — f 4.8–1/15 sec <b>Edit:</b> Tilted photo slightly to the right for lines of escalator stairs to be straight — Cut off a narrow strip of the image on the left so the bottom of the escalator is in the middle — Black-white preset: ‘low contrast’</i></figcaption></figure><h2 id="f00d">Central station</h2><p id="82fd">One day in April 2019, we met a friend from the UK for lunch in a restaurant close to Rotterdam Central Station, which was reason enough for us to take our cameras. It’s always busy there, and on some images people were too close. At least this protects people’s privacy, without taking away from the beauty of the new station building.</p><figure id="b109"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*0UfbQEHh-iJRZhZ89IGxcA.jpeg"><figcaption><b><i>Original settings:</i></b><i> ISO 200–24 mm — f 9–1/320 sec <b>Edit:</b> Lens correction — Cut out to remove cyclist on edge of frame — Increased temperature with 5350 to 7600</i></figcaption></figure><h2

Options

id="0b8d">Our-cat-not-our-cat</h2><p id="fa8f">In June 2019, on a hot summer’s day, <a href="https://rebelsnotes.com/2021/08/our-cat/">our-cat-not-our-cat</a> was looking to cool down a bit. He lay down on the border, on the cool ground under a tree. I just had to grab my camera, as he looked so content with himself.</p><figure id="12ad"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*K281fDhYpXDIjTlKoYeRxw.jpeg"><figcaption><b><i>Original settings:</i></b><i> ISO 400–210 mm — f 6.3–1/100 sec <b>Edit:</b> Increased temperature with 1800 to 7000 — Increased lighting with 0.50 — Increased highlights with 25</i></figcaption></figure><h2 id="ae2c">Strolling along</h2><p id="b1d0">On my mom’s birthday in June 2019, I needed to get out of the house. We were on holiday then, so my husband and I drove out to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasvlakte">the Maasvlakte</a>, where I fought against tears many times. I walked down to the beach — <i>way, way down</i> — had a good cry looking out over the sea and almost stepped on a blue jellyfish (I was on my bare feet). I had to walk all the way back and by then I was almost crying with exhaustion, struggling through the sand to get back to where my husband waited. As I was trying to catch my breath, this little worm strolled along and made me smile.</p><figure id="a6ae"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*zqQlV9Ph8SrPP7T7fWi-DA.jpeg"><figcaption><b><i>Original settings:</i></b><i> ISO 100–40 mm — f 8.0–1/250 sec <b>Edit:</b> Lens correction — Increased temperature with 1800 to 6900 — Decreased lighting with 0.50 — Increased highlights with 25 — Increased shadows with 10</i></figcaption></figure><p id="3095"><i>If you’re thinking of joining Medium, click on <a href="https://medium.com/membership/@marierebelle">my referral link</a> to support me and other writers.</i></p><p id="336e"><b><i>Find more of Marie on <a href="https://marierebelle.medium.com/lists">her lists</a>, and here…</i></b></p> <figure id="ad5e"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://marierebelle.medium.com/embed/list/7f52ac40e9bc" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="184" width="undefined"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure></article></body>

Modern buildings in Rotterdam — image by author

PHOTOGRAPHY

First Half of 2019

From buildings to trees to special creatures

Ever since my mom passed away and up to when corona hit the world, my daughter and I went out on photo trips every two to three months, and sometimes I just drove out to some of our favorite spots with my husband.

In 2020, with corona and two lockdowns, we didn’t go out with the cameras, and 2021 up to now has been all about dealing with my husband’s illness. In two weeks, I have a photo trip planned with my daughter, but for now I want to share a selection of images from the first half of 2019.

Mixed buildings

In January 2019, my daughter and I went to Rotterdam for the day, walking around one of my favorite spots, Kop van Zuid. We crossed the Erasmus Bridge to the other side, and cross back again to end up at Hotel New York where we each had a cuppa and carrot cake. It was late in the afternoon on a winter’s day and the lights were already coming on. Paging through the photos of that day, this one jumped out, because of the old buildings at the front, and the more modern ones in the back. This is the face of Rotterdam, and so many other cities in the Netherlands (and across Europe), where you see the old mixed with the new; with the history of hundreds of years written in the streets and buildings.

***Original settings:*** *ISO 400–105 mm — f 5.6–1/40 sec **Edit:** Lens correction in Lightroom — Creative preset: older photo*

Up the tree

Five weeks later, my daughter and I went out again, this time to Clingendael. I chose this location because the last time I was there was with my mom, and since it was the day before my birthday, I guess I was looking for a way to feel close to her. You can say it’s the reason I made an image of the sky, looking up at the trees. That’s not it though — I love looking up at the tops of the trees, to see the character in their branches edged against the blue sky. There’s something majestic about it.

***Original settings:*** *ISO 100–18 mm — f 8.0–1/250 sec **Edit:** Lens correction in Lightroom — Increased temperature from 5500 to 5600 — Color preset: ‘bright’*

Escalator

Another month later, my husband and I spontaneously went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Kop van Zuid, Rotterdam. We took the cameras and walked around in a radius of about 150m from the restaurant. We entered the metro station, where the escalators run down to the platforms below. This was a quick snap, as there were quite some passengers around and I had to time the shot just right. If I had more time, I would’ve made sure the image was entirely symmetrical, something I couldn’t obtain with editing without losing too much of the image.

Central station

One day in April 2019, we met a friend from the UK for lunch in a restaurant close to Rotterdam Central Station, which was reason enough for us to take our cameras. It’s always busy there, and on some images people were too close. At least this protects people’s privacy, without taking away from the beauty of the new station building.

***Original settings:*** *ISO 200–24 mm — f 9–1/320 sec **Edit:** Lens correction — Cut out to remove cyclist on edge of frame — Increased temperature with 5350 to 7600*

Our-cat-not-our-cat

In June 2019, on a hot summer’s day, our-cat-not-our-cat was looking to cool down a bit. He lay down on the border, on the cool ground under a tree. I just had to grab my camera, as he looked so content with himself.

***Original settings:*** *ISO 400–210 mm — f 6.3–1/100 sec **Edit:** Increased temperature with 1800 to 7000 — Increased lighting with 0.50 — Increased highlights with 25*

Strolling along

On my mom’s birthday in June 2019, I needed to get out of the house. We were on holiday then, so my husband and I drove out to the Maasvlakte, where I fought against tears many times. I walked down to the beach — way, way down — had a good cry looking out over the sea and almost stepped on a blue jellyfish (I was on my bare feet). I had to walk all the way back and by then I was almost crying with exhaustion, struggling through the sand to get back to where my husband waited. As I was trying to catch my breath, this little worm strolled along and made me smile.

***Original settings:*** ISO 100–40 mm — f 8.0–1/250 sec **Edit:** Lens correction — Increased temperature with 1800 to 6900 — Decreased lighting with 0.50 — Increased highlights with 25 — Increased shadows with 10

If you’re thinking of joining Medium, click on my referral link to support me and other writers.

Find more of Marie on her lists, and here…