valkoog.com
is a website by Ilse Valkoog, dutch landscape, nature and travel photographer. You're looking at the new website, which is updated virtually every day. So do check in again for more.
Summer Fresh
[posted: June 18, 2008]
So when I was invited to design the promotional material, I happily accepted. The resulting invite holds both companies' identities and expresses the transition of the participant during the program, from hard work to job well done.
So in between business as usual, photography assignments and website development, I took a couple of hours to explore, and found these two inquisitive ruminants happily grazing on a grassy green dike under scattered clouds. Summer, here we come!
I had never heard of poet and psychic Michael Teal until earlier this week, when I received his lyrical email celebrating my work and website. Although a convinced skeptic and probably not the sole recipient, I very much appreciated it. Not in the least for its impeccable timing. Part of his email read:
Most impeccable timing, because these unexpected kind words came at a decisive moment. And impeccable timing, because it perfectly fits the submarine images I dug up this week. I snapped them over several diving trips in Egypt these past couple of years.
The Red Sea offers everything Michael versified, the blue, the wilderness, the waters, diversity and perfect harmony. All a photographer has to do is capture it. So join me, and explore the wilderness and living waters of my heart, and of the Red Sea.
The United Nations proclaimed the year 2008 as the "International year of Planet Earth". As a landscape photographer it seemed to me the right time to select twelve images representing the diversity of earth's landscapes and publish them in a design calendar.
Click here and go to the products page to read on, view the images and order your own.
In June of 2006 I visited China, or Beijing to be more specific. Soon after, I published a number of images at my previous website. As of today the China portfolio is online at this website, increased with comments and pictures that were not available online before.My twelve day visit was much too short, and yet oddly enough also just right. The fact that China, like so many countries, fell in the clutches of the tourist whirligig, was a bit of a disappointing surprise.
I could repeat clichés about China and the Chinese here, but apart from terribly boring they may be untrue. With China's tremendous dimensions, history and culture, giving a summary is also not an option. What I do have to go on, are my own observations (heavily biased by my western expectations and experiences of course). So in the image commentaries, I concentrated on the chinese sights, customs and facts I found remarkable, the ones ranking high on the "I didn't know that" scale. Enjoy.
Saturday I woke up to an icy world, white streets, frostwork on the windows, trees adorned with an ice crystal foliage. On the second day of winter and the first day of Chrismas break for many, the dutch fell under the frosty spell that had started four days earlier. While the fragile ice cracked under their weight, ice skating enthusiasts skated their first laps on natural ice on wednesday.
"The ice groaned ominously and at some places the ice was dangerousely thin, but it was worth it!" the newspaper quoted one of the dare devils.
But that all changed on saturday. The night had been extremely cold to dutch standards, averaging fourteen degrees Fahrenheit. The ice thickened to two to three inches and thus set the stage for an idyllic dutch winter scene. The last severe winter in Holland dates back to 1997, all the more reason for me to grab my bike and camera, speed to the nearest wetland and capture some typical wintry images. And I was not disappointed.
Many people had momentarily left their holiday season shopping be, to put on their blades, ride sleighs or just walk the ice. Most children had not skated on natural ice before. Even the river Zaan was partly frozen over.
The fun on the ice was not limited to the Zaanse Schans and surrounding wetlands. In Groningen participants of the mandatory dutch naturalization course mastered skates and ice, as reported to get to know the Netherlands a little better. Eightteen candidate-dutchmen and women had their first skating lesson.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. As the sun pushed the mercury into the forties, thaw set in, ice-holes occurred and people started falling through the ice. Some had to be saved by fire fighters and taken to the hospital for hypothermia. This morning the world was its old up-zero self again. The weatherman tells us natural ice will be water under the bridge for time to come. No white Christmas this year …
October was a busy month. I traveled to, thru and fro Ireland for a photographic exploration. Twenty-one days later I was able to take home a rich harvest of images and ample anecdotes.
Early October I studied my destination, made a rough planning and set out to the southwest of 'Eire' in search of perfect pictures.
My trip to Ireland was one of many 'firsts', my first solo trip by car, in Ireland, driving on the left, in a left hand drive car, and so on.
It also immediately moved up to the top of my "memorable trips ever" chart. Not in the least because of the anecdotal trouble getting there, and definitely because of the overwhelming and ongoing experience of liberty and independence.
You can find the results, carefully selected images and a wordpainting travelogue on valkoog.com. For your convenience, I also added a review of the hostels, campgrounds, and guesthouses on my way. And last but not least, free Ireland wallpapers can be picked up here.
October was a busy month. I traveled to, thru and fro Ireland for a photographic exploration, while spending much spare time on further development of this website.Early October I studied my destination, made a rough planning and set out to the southwest of 'Eire' in search of perfect pictures. Twenty-one days later I was able to take home a rich harvest of images and ample anecdotes.
The results - carefully selected images and a wordpainting travelogue - will be available online in November. Be sure to come back and explore Ireland yourself, or sign up for the newsletter if you want to be informed by email.
Featured are images that were never published on the internet before, as well as ones you may already be familiar with, all annotated.
As the term pilot suggests, not all images are available online as yet. Currently images are posted under location and Projects.
So what's next? More images will be uploaded shortly, advanced search and online ordering features are planned and remaining pages will be completed asap. And last but not least, new images have arrived and are coming soon!
Be sure to come back later to browse the remaining categories. And sign up for the newsletter, if you want me to keep you posted.
Dutch visual artists Angèle Noort (bronze sculptures) and Bernadette de Wit (mixed media paintings) exhibit their work in gallery 't Schuurtje in Warmenhuizen, the Netherlands. To illustrate the exhibition poster and to add to their portfolio book, they asked me to photograph a number of art objects.
The sculpture to the left 'Oerol' (private collection) is a creation by Angèle Noort. 'My love for theatre and dance is clearly recognizable in my work. The dancers and clown figures exude movement and suppleness, with grace and a hint of mischief'.
The mixed media painting below ('Baboon Stress' aka 'the Ladies') is brainchild of Bernadette de Wit. 'Anything can inspire me to create a painting. What matters to me is that my work is an expression of my feelings: open, clear, straightforward but also with a touch of mysticism'.
Please note that these works of art are subject to copyright by the artists mentioned in this article.
The exhibit runs from september 16th to october 28th. Opening hours are thursday through sunday, from 2pm to 5pm. Admission is free. Use the link below to plan your trip.
Visit the gallery outside opening hours? Contact Angèle Noort or Bernadette de Wit? Looking for a photographer for your portfolio? Please contact me through email.
At a 12 minute train ride from Amsterdam and 5 more to Schiphol airport, a 20 mile drive from the Alkmaar Cheese Market and with the 18th century picturebook village Zaanse Schans within its city limits, logistically Zaandam is a great place to stay for visitors of the Netherlands.If you want to stray from the beaten track, Zaandam itself is also worth a visit. The modern-day city centre is undergoing a much needed restyling, which may put off most tourists. But for the well-informed, Zaandam offers some interesting relics of the 20th
century dutch industrial era and other historic sites.
Personally, I like Zaandam for the firmament that tops it. The Wilhelmina bridge, which is in fact a sluice surrounded by buildings dating back to 1848, is an excellent location to capture the famed Dutch skies over the Zaan river.
Click on the image for a larger view, more information and related subjects.
Are you planning a trip to the Netherlands, looking for no-budget private lodging and happy to have your own home looked after by a total stranger? As a photographer, I am always interested in temporarily exchanging homes with people in faraway places. Send an email for more information.
Starting July 1, Ilse Valkoog shows a selection of her work at Physiotherapy Elisabeth in Alkmaar. Visit the online exhibit for an impression.'For this exhibition I selected eight color images of some of the most stunning landscapes of North-America. I captured them while traveling through California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado in 2002 en 2003. Common denominator in these images is an almost impressionistic dreamlike atmosphere, which makes you wonder whether you are looking at a photograph or a painting. Surreal landscapes, vivid colors and impressive skies inspired to immortalization of that moment'.
Chapter and verse on history, geology and the photographer's considerations on the subject, are given with each image.
Start the virtual tour here. The exhibit in Alkmaar runs from July 1 through October 31. You are most welcome from Monday through Friday between 8 am and 6 pm. Admission is free.
Searching for more images on the same subject? Similar photographs will be published in the coming months! Questions, comments or more information? Contact me through email.