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Kleinkunst

Photo blog from 2020

On this photo blog small series of photos will be added regularly. It are mostly nature, landscape, macro and night photos. I'm fascinated by the wildlife on our nature reserves and in our own garden, the beautiful details of insects, stunning sunrises, blooming heather at the end of the summer, the beautiful colors of autumn, local monuments, wonderful starry skies, ...

Photo series of my distant travels and recent family vacations in Europe can be found on the left. You can also follow me at Instagram or Facebook

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Spring bloomers ()
A small series of landscape and macro images of the beautiful spring bloomers in our nature; wood anemones in Bertembos, wild garlic in Bois de Laurensart, rapeseed in Kaggevinne and some orchids in Sint-Pieters-Rode.
Northern lights at Maiden's Tower ()
A historic geomagnetic storm resulted in a magical night with a stunning aurora borealis that was even very visible in our country Belgium. I visited my favorite spot at the Maiden’s Tower in my hometown of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem. With two camera I was able to take a lot of photos and make a time-lapse of the stunning northern lights.
Bearded readlings ()
The bearded reedling can only be found in reed fields, they are quite social and are usually seen in groups of up to several dozen birds. The adult male has characteristic black 'moustache'.
Glowing mushrooms ()
When I went out in the evening in the forests of Averbode I discovered some beautiful glowing mushrooms; an ingenious trick from mother nature, gnomes who leave their lights on or just a creative photographer, ...;-)
Mushrooms ()
This autumn many beautiful mushrooms and fungi appear again in our forests and gardens
Kingfishers ()
Some of my best images from recent years of one of the most beautiful birds in our country; the kingfisher. The common kingfisher is a fish-eater with a bright blue orange plumage of about 16cm long. Males are distinguished by their pitch-black lower mandible while females have a dark red spot.
Hageland by night ()
After my first photoseries in 2018 this is a second series of photos of well-known and lesser-known monuments in the Hageland region (Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Diest, Holsbeek, Tielt-Winge, Aarschot, ...) that I have photographed in recent years during the blue hour or at night. Often there was a beautiful starry sky, a full moon or the comet NEOWISE passed by. I usually use multiple lights and flashes to illuminate the subject and create some atmosphere.
Butterflies ()
Some images of the many butterflies in our garden in Scherpenheuvel. For a few years now I have been busy planting more diverse shrubs and flowers in our garden in the hope of attracting more wildlife and insects. Last summer the results were spectacular because we saw many colorful butterflies.
Little owls ()
In the spring I was able to photograph little owls several times. They were not shy and I was therefore able to make a lot of varied images. The little owl is one of the smallest owls (21 to 27cm) in the Lowlands. The little owl is mainly nocturnal and can be found in a wide range of habitats including farmland, woodland, heathland, ...
Garden birds ()
This spring I photographed a lot of birds on our lawn in our garden in Scherpenheuvel. Hereby a small selection of images of garden birds taken the past few weeks, but also last winter and summer. Regular visitors to our garden are sparrows, blackbirds, robins, blue tits, great tits, starlings, wagtails, wood pigeons, ... and the occasional black redstart, greenfinch or blackcap.
Crocuses ()
Spring is finally here. The first crocuses appear in our garden in Scherpenheuvel...
Buzzards ()
The buzzard is by far the most common and most striking bird of prey in our country. I was able to make some nice images of buzzards from a small hide in my home region.
Autumn ()
Autumn is one of the most beautiful seasons in nature. Hereby a small varied series of autumn photos of mushrooms and beautiful colors of trees in Scherpenheuvel and Holsbeek.
Water birds ()
A small series of images from recent years of beautiful water birds in the Low Countries such as grebes, coots, avocets, ducks, terns, ... These images were made from hides, from a small boat or simply from the water's edge.
Jumping squirrels ()
A small series of images of jumping squirrels. It wasn't that easy to get these action shots, but they do show the incredible power of these cute animals to even jump up to 6m.
Extreme close-ups of insects ()
This year I focused on micro photography, the superlative of macro photography. I develop my own automated macro rail with which I can make 30 to 60 images in steps of 100 to 300 microns (thousandth of a millimeter) and then merge them. This way I can make razor-sharp images of insects that want to sit still for a few minutes. Obviously, the latter is not and technically it is always quite a challenge. These are my best images of extreme close-ups of insects.
Nocturnal animals in our garden ()
The wildcam in our garden often registers all kinds of mammals at night, such as stone martens, hedgehogs and various types of mice. It seemed to me an exciting challenge to make some beautiful images of these nocturnal animals with my Nikon cameras. Not an easy task, however. With a laser trigger and a few flashes, with all kinds of setups and after many attempts, I managed to make a few but varied images of the stone marten and hedgehog.
Racoon ()
During one of the nights that I stayed in the observation cabin in the Ardennes, I was able to photograph the raccoon. The little bears with Zorro mask and ringed tail look cute and cuddly, but they are not. The raccoon is an invasive exotic species that has been introduced in Germany since WWII and has since spread to neighboring countries. There are probably more than a thousand in the Belgian Ardennes. Raccoons are mainly active at night and are therefore rarely seen.
Wild boars ()
This summer I went three times to the Belgian Ardennes to an observation hut on the Plateau des Tailles to photograph wild animals. I was able to take a varied series of images of the wild boars. A small group of young pigs often showed up before sunset. The big family with heavy boars and sows and also young squeakers only came at dusk or when it was already dark.