¤ Dutch Sky II ¤ : Monnickendam Photo

Photographer’s Note

[Motivation]
No Amsterdam today..nooo sunset either, but a different sky than I have posted before!
This is Monnickendam, a small admirable town in the Netherlands, with approx. 10000 inhabitants in the wide area. I was there for a 25-year marriage celebration, onboard of a sailboat. In this town, we 'jumped' on it.

Needless to say, it was a cloudy and rainy day, typical Dutch weather, although June and July typically feature a bit more sun.
Some waiting was involved till everyone was there, ofcourse having the camera with..I walked around in the 'harbour' and encountered this draw bridge (thanks jmcl). The name of the bridge itself is "Lange brug" = "Long bridge". It was open to make way for a sailboat to pass through, some people walked up on it..*click*

[Own written photo scene info]
The town, a typical Dutch one, received it's city rights in..hold on..1355! It still has an old tower standing from that year, having that said many buildings that period are destroyed by fires; in 1499, 1514 and 1515. After both of the first two fires only the church and a few houses remained.

From 1356 on, the town was expanded and a 'monastery' was build around the year 1400, one of the churches is build some years later.

In time, the name of this town had many variations :
Monnickendam, Monickendam, Monikendam, Monekiindamme, Monikedamme, Monicdam, Monekdam, Monickendamm, Monickendamme, Monickedamme, Munnekedam, Munnickendam, Munckedam, Monachodamum, Munnikendam, Monnikkendam, Monnikendam, and again Monnickendam.

Confusing huh?!
Since 1966 the official variation is the bold one.
Litteraly translated from Dutch to English it means : Monk's dam

[Photo technical details]
K10D, 17mm, F6.3, 1/125th, 100 ISO, Pattern metering, EV+1

[PP in CS2 @ tiff]
* Distortion correction + Crop
* Auto contrast + added more manually, does it make any sense? I don't know :-)
* Color balance
* Hue + Saturation adjusts.
* bit Shadow/Highlight
* Burn & Dodge tool -> starting appreciating them
* Resize + USM
* border + © & name -> save for TE

That's all, hope you enjoy!
Have a good weekend!

mphotographies, kdialyna, Xalkida, jmcl, TopGeo, bostankorkulugu, bertolucci, evanrizo, cozy, labro33, ekinokswest, aimiliospet has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mphotographies (1976) 2007-07-12 21:37

Hey Emiel,

This kind of sky is difficult to capture. Just a little bit of exposure of the clouds near the edge of the bridge. Everything looks pretty well, the charm of Monnickendam's architecture, colours look solid, and very sharp! I would have liked it more if you included the passing sailboat...that I would have 'jumped' on to it :)

All the best and Have a good one as well!

Jom

Dpbours (220) 2007-07-13 1:17

Hi Emiel,

Oh, you are making me homesick! And you make me wonder why I never took pictures of the Netherlands. There are so many beautiful spots in the Netherlands, I'm just never there ;-).
Nice shot, yes Jom has a point there. A little turn on the polarizer perhaps. But as you know 'De beste stuurlui staan aan wal'. :-)

Have a good weekend!
Dennis

lestans (15500) 2007-07-13 3:41

Ciao Emiel!!
first I like to see this place, so typical Dutch! Small houses a channel a couple of people walking
Second I noticed that the two people are quiyely walking towards the open bridge looking to anothert direction!! They are on the point of falling in the water!! Ha Ha!
Well,you should avice them to spot instead of shooting such a nice view!

Livia

Cretense (57010) 2007-07-13 4:12

Hi Emiel!

Very impressive POV and perspective on this one. At first sight, the elements seem a little "mixed up", but with a better look I see order in it. Great composition and perfect light managment. Congratulations!

Hercules

kdialyna (3074) 2007-07-13 14:57

Good evening Emiel.
A little bit depress, but also interesting, your sky at this time.
The light from this kind of skies, if you have a good exposure, makes the colours to look good and your colours look great.
I like the raised bridge which gives to your photo an interesting touch.
Well done picture.
My regards
Kostas

Xalkida (11740) 2007-07-14 15:35

Excellent clarity, fine colors and lighting. Very nice shot.

jmcl (14149) 2007-07-14 22:01

Hi Emiel.

I love the three green triangular buildings and their relationship to the church steeple in the back ... I also like all the modern bits interspersed with the old town .. I think I would like a darker more threatening sky .. very nice image .. "draw Bridge" by the way ..

take care,

John

TopGeo (22231) 2007-07-16 6:20

Hi Emiel!Very well captured and composed shot!Very impressive POV and perspective on this one picture! Excellent clarity colours look solid, and very sharp!Bravo
ciao
Georgios

bostankorkulugu (33984) 2007-07-16 7:53

despite it is not the best weather to take pics you've managed to get beautiful colours and a perfect sky emiel... i like the composition and i think the coluple adds a lot...

cheers

korkut:)

(when are you going to the kyklades?)

bertolucci (12014) 2007-07-17 0:03

Hallo Emiel het is leuk om te zien hoe je naast je fraaie en soms dramatische Griekse foto's, Nederland benadert. De aanpak heeft elementen van straatfotografie, de mensen in je frame die zich actief verhouden met hun omgeving. De compositie met de leidende diagonaal links onder die naar de open brug leidt, werkt hier goed en dynamisch en de zware lucht boven de pittoreske geveltjes maakt het zeer Hollands. Goed en weldoordacht werk.
Fijne dag,
Bert

anesugur (17018) 2007-07-18 11:55

Hi Emiel,
Beautiful shot!
Nice colors, good sharpness with the point of view!
Well done.

evanrizo (456) 2007-07-19 3:55

Hi Emiel, the moment you shot it gives this very interesting effect, the couple there, is walking while the bridge is on the air!-:) Will they go down in the water???
The lightness is very nice.
Cheers
Evan

cozy (966) 2007-07-20 12:03

Hi Emiel,
Lovely composition with the couple walking over the bridge, whom look as though are about to have an accident if they don't look forward very soon, the picturesque houses which give us an idea of the Nederlands architecure and that great, cloudy sky! Very nice colours, great sharpness and clarity.
Regards,
Costa.

labro33 (2804) 2007-07-24 9:42

Hi Emiel,
I m glad to see a post from you again.
The colors here are terrific creating a nice subject.The clouds giving a dramatic tone to your theme.I like a lot the sharpness and contrast.
Thanks for sharing…
George

ekinokswest (2974) 2007-09-08 15:27

this photo has value in terms of information , it is peculiar to the Benelux countries how people evaluate river transportation.you were able to put focus on that , eventhough maybe it was not delibarate.

Monnickendam seems like a fine old town, but what s more of a fancy in this photo is the setting, how the couple are aware that their way is not open to cross the bridge, but despite this they keep walking as if they will end up falling into the canal. ironic , causes some ambiguity, the viewer knows that might not happen but still it is a contradicting view so this photo is more than the cloudy sky