Alcazar in Sevilla

Below are shots from the Alcazar in Sevilla.

The Alcazar is an old palace in the city centre of Sevilla(or is it Seville). It is an old palace from both the moorish and christian empires of ancient Andalusia. It is a great place to wander around and look at the beautifull gardens and architecture

Arcos de la Frontera

View from our hotel in Arcos de la Frontera. Isn't it great? The drive up to the hotel was a different story. We did not make it without a small dent in our hired car. Those alleys are quite small and steep! We decided to park in the underground parkinglot in the city centre and walk up the hill.



Exploring my iPad

It has been a while since my last post. I have been busy with my new iPad. Bought the 32Gb 3g version (only using WiFi at he moment). I think it's great. But what makes it a beautiful device to use? It's not because it's made Steve Jobs. I think it's the size. It just the right size for couch surfing.  I guess size does matter.

One of my favorite apps on the iPad is Fotopedia Heritage. This app is like a coffee table book of Unesco World Heritage sites. You navigate through 20.000 pictures and when you want you can get more information or map of the location. Best of all it's free! Give it a try.

Pictures of the week

The Boston Globe has posted another series "Pictures of the week". Again a great example of how photography can combine journalism and art into a powerful mix of emotions. 

ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images

Northern light

I have always been fascinated by the northern light. It looks so magical and mysterious. You can find some great looking shots overhere. Yesterday there was a chance you could see it in the Netherlands. I looked for it but I it wasn't there. Too bad. Anyone else seen it in Holland?

21st century frame size

Scott Kelby has an interesting post on his blog about frame and mat sizes. It got me thinking and I checked some sites selling frames. My conclusion is that small frames (10 x 15 cm) are almost always available in the 2:3 aspect ratio. If you want a bigger size then it becomes more difficult. You can check on the IKEA site for yourself.


The same is true for paper size. Common size in the Netherlands is a4. The aspect ratio is 2:2.8 Again this is different from the sensor ratio. I guess we will have to keep cropping our images.

Imagine Peter Lik

Peter Lik has released a new image called "Imagine". For this photograph he returned to his roots in Australia, the Great Barrier reef to be specific. I think this is more a Peter Lik image than his previous release Romantica. The colors are bluetifull. 

Imagine © Peter Lik 

Running with bulls

Today the Festival of San Fermin ended. Seems like running with a lot of angry bulls can be very popular in some places. 

Although this festival has been held since 14th century and has very deep cultural roots I oppose against the killing of animals for "entertainment".  

Click on the image to see more photos. Caution: There may be some graphic content.

AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano

Final goodbye

It's over. The Netherlands lost the final to Spain. Although I am very disappointed, at least we got the memories in the form of amazing photographs. The Boston Globe got a final goodbye to the World Cup Football (or soccer as some say). For me it means more time to spend taking photos, besides watching the Tour de France. 

World Cup Football Sadness

The world cup football in South Africa is coming to an end. Two teams are left.This makes for a lot of sad fans. You can see a beautiful slideshow on the site of Reuters

Below is one of my favorites. Sad doesn't describe how this supporter feels. I almost feel guilty because our team caused this little drama.

My bestselling stockphoto

I am a stockphoto contributor on different websites for three years now. Started with iStockPhoto but added a few more soon after. After a few months I noticed that the same image is a bestseller on all sites. What strikes me is that the margin against the number two best selling image is huge.  See the list:

• iStockPhoto     236%
• Dreamstime    450%
• Shutterstock   258%

Is this image so much more attractive then all others? I don't think so. 

© Photographer: Koshar | Agency: Dreamstime.com

The number two bestseller on Dreamstime is an aerial of the Bungle Bungles NP in Australia.

© Photographer: Koshar | Agency: Dreamstime.com

The number two seller on iStockphoto is  this portrait of a crocodile (Dreamstime link because iStock doesn't provide HTML include code) 

© Photographer: Koshar | Agency: Dreamstime.com

The only reason I can think of is the fact that the black crow is on a clear background so it is easier to extract. 

Top 40 collection of National Geographic Photos

The Big Picture has put a top 40 collection of National Geographic Photos on their site. Amazing stuff.  I put up a small collection of my own "National Geographic" collection below.  Let me know what you think. 

Saltwater Crocodile

Rainbow in Nambung NP

Village near Lake Turkana in Kenya

Zebras in Serengeti NP

Working with a model

Last weekend I had a great time at the Calumet workshop "Portrait and Model photography". Instructor Bert Meelberg did a great job on teaching us. We started with some theory about the use of studio lighting but most of the day was spent shooting a real life model (Dian Biemans). I must say that I am really pleased with the results.

I want one

It has been around for a while but dpreview got a review online now. I am talking about the new Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS II USM 

It is on my wish list for quite a while now, but there are two things holding me back. First off all the price. In europe you have to pay around €2200,-  I have to sell a lot of stockphoto's to earn that. Secondly the weight of the lens. It weighs more then 1.6 Kilo.  It will make you work hard for some great shots. 

But still I want one

Warrior Portraits

A few years ago I took a trip to Kenya and Tanzania. During this trip I had a chance to take some shots of Samburu Warriors in a town called Maralal. The Samburu are a tribe in the northern part a Kenya and are related to the Masai tribe.   It took some time to gain there confidence but after while the really started to pose like warriors. 

The images where shot on slide film and scanned with a Nikon slide scanner.


EDIT: The two little guys on the first slide were just tagging along all day, trying to get on film.

Submerged in pool for three months

When browsing the web I stumbled upon this article in the Daily Mail.  It's about south african photographer Greg du Toit. He spend three months submerged in an african waterhole to capture different animals drinking from the waterhole. The results are amazing. 

I wouldn't advise to do it yourself. After being in the pool for three months Greg got diagnosed with every african disease  you can imagine. 

Greg du Toit's website

Favorites part3

Another favorite photographer this time, Anton Corbijn. Like Erwin Olaf (see my previous post), Anton Corbijn is also a dutch photographer. He is most famous for is photographs of U2 including the covers for the Joshua Tree and Unforgettable  Fire.

But my favorite is his portrait of Miles Davis

This what is a good portrait is all about. Those eyes seem to look right through you.


 Take a look at Anton Corbijn's website and be surprised at how versatile he is.

New work from Peter Lik

Peter Lik presented his latest work on the 21th of April.  

You can find more info on his blog. Personally I think his latest is not his greatest.

I heard that some of the slideshows on this blog (See kayaking items ) don't work in IE7. Please leave a comment if you can't find the slideshows (you probably see a large white space) and tell me what browser you are using.

Whitewater kayaking Dutch Open

Yesterday I visited the Dutch Open Whitewater Kayak Championships in Zoetermeer. Below you can see an impression of the downriver and free-style competition. Finals where at the end of the day so it started getting dark. I really need the 70-200 mm f2.8. By bumping up the ISO I managed to get 1/1000th of a second. 

What's new in #CS5

There's a summary of new Photoshop CS5 functionality on Rob Galbraith's site. It's specially aimed at photographers. Check it out. One of my favorite blog's.

Pictures of the day

German online magazine "Stern" has grouped together last month's images of the day. Worth a look.

Favorites part 2

Erwin Olav is a dutch photographer born in Hilversum in 1954. What attracts me in his work is the symbolism and use of light. 

It is if you can almost feel the grief.  In another example below he uses the light like a 17th century painter.

Although you wouldn't say from the images above, his work can be quite controversial. Take a look at his website ErwinOlaf.com 

Whitewater kayaking

Last week I visited the training for the Dutch Championships Whitewater slalom at Dutch Waterdreams in Zoetermeer. I am gonna try to get a press pass through the "Red Carpet" program from Shutterstock. 


It was a bit cloudy but setting the ISO to 400 and using shutter priority set to 1/1000th I managed to capture every single waterdrop.

Photoshop CS5 content aware fill

Look at this video showing a new function in Addobe Photoshop CS5 named content aware fill. I think it is really amazing



It makes me wonder what's real and what's not. Is a photograph a visualization of the truth. Probably isn't  for a long time as this site is showing.  

Favorites part 1

One of my favorite photographers is Peter Lik.  Peter Lik is an Australian photographer born in Melbourne. He makes fantastic landscapes with amazing colors.

I've visited some of his galleries in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Sydney and I can say that looking at  his photographs in real life does take your breath away. On the other hand is makes me realize how much i've got to learn. See image below

The colors stay dull. I could bump them up in photoshop (I already did bit), but that's not what want.  I'll have to keep trying. In the meantime visit Peter Lik' s site for inspiration.

What gear do I use

I started photography with Minolta bodies and lenses. First I used analog equipment. I was very pleased with my Minolta setup. I even made the change to digital with a Minolta 7D. I found it a very good and reliable piece of equipment. I made a change to Canon when Sony took over Minolta. Who wants  a "My First Sony". Just kidding, I wasn't sure if Sony would develop the DSLR.

What's in the bag

Canon EOS 5D

I really like this Full Frame body. Image quality is excellent. 

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Great all-round lens. When used at the wide end (24mm) there is a little vignetting around the corners.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

I really like this lens. It's sharp and relatively cheap. Another important factor for me it's that not that heavy.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

The newest addition to my collection. I have not much experience with this one but one thing I can say that it's sharp. See image below. It is the internal of a harddisk. Because it is so sharp, I had a hard time dealing with dust particles on the shiny disk platters.

© Photographer: Koshar | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Canon Speedlite 430EX

I am not a big fan of on camera flash. The 5D doesn't have it's own flash so I have to use it once in a while.

Last but not least

Lenspen

I really love this gadget. It removes dust and specks like nothing else. Forget about everything else. Use the lenspen. I really love it.

In the beginning

For years now I am trying to become worlds best photographer. I want to make the mother of all images. The standard by which all others are measured. I am not quite there yet. Most of the time I am not pleased with the results and I wonder what I am doing wrong. But there are exceptions. You can see one of these below.

After years of boring my friends and family with slideshows, they urged me to find other ways to show of my pictures. Harassing complete strangers was not much of an option. Instead I tried getting them approved on different microstock sites and see if anyone was interested in buying them. I signed up with the following sites:

• IStockPhoto
• Dreamstime
• Shutterstock
• Fotolia

To my surprise the approval process went very easy and I was very excited to sell my first image. It is a strange feeling to know that somebody is actually paying you for the use of your images. More than being paid, I find it even more rewarding to see my images used. I even got published on the cover of a book! Wow

I will stop the sales pitch cause there also downsides. They will reject a lot of your submissions. You think you uploaded a beautiful image and all you get is an email saying "NOT APPROVED" . I still find that very difficult.