Bas Meelker Landscape Photography

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It’s the last day of the year and I’m getting sentimental. Looking back, the start of 2011 gave us an epic winter with great light, a lot of snow and some fairytale landscapes. Spring brought us to Marrakesh in Morocco. The narrow streets of the souks in the old city forced me to work in a completely new and different way. Very challenging and great fun. It was definitely one of the highlights of the year for me.

Shelf ice on the Wadden sea - The Netherlands

Summer brought me back to the roots with some classical Tuscan landscapes and gorgeous late afternoon light. Or perhaps doing landscape work with a 500mm super tele lens isn’t that classical after all...

Street life in Marrakesh - Morocco

Finally, autumn in the Mosel region turned out to be a game of patience. With days of bad light it all came down to the very last day. And what a day it was with a spectacular misty sunrise over the hills and valleys. Other highlights have to be my first book being published and the sold out seminars and talks at Foto Konijnenberg en the ZOOM Campus 2011. 2011 also saw record image sales. 

Fields of gold - Tuscany, Italy

So, what’s up for 2012? Well, first of all, 2012 will be my 10-year anniversary as a photographer so we have some special things planned. We start off with a completely new workshop program. With new workshops, new locations and smaller groups. I’m very happy with the new set-up and by the looks of it, you are too. The ‘Winter special’ workshop sold out in a week and reservations for the other workshops are coming in on a daily basis. Great! We already have several new trips planned to great locations. As for seminars and talks, we start off on February 11, when I will be one of the guest speakers at the 6th NVN International Nature Photo Festival in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

Village on fire - Wolf an der Mosel, germany

But in the end, it all comes down to the images and the fun of taking them. And I am stepping into 2012 full of fresh and new ideas which will challenge me artistically in new and different ways I hope to share with you. Happy New Year and have a great 2012!

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Well, I am back from a short trip to the Mosel region. Two days of travel, three days of location scouting, sunsets, sunrises, relaxation and wine. It could be worse. Autumn is really picking up it's pace now and the colors were great. So was the wine. On such a short trip, luck plays an important part in getting the right shots. Re-shoots and waiting for better light are mostly out of the question. You have to deal with what's given to you. And on the second day, I thought my luck had run out. The first two days gave us overcast conditions with dull light and colorless sunsets and sunrises. Bring on more wine. But you just have to keep on trying and so on day three there was another early rise to catch the sunrise. 

Village on fire - Wolf, Mosel region, Germany - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L at 200mm. F8, 1/800 sec., ISO 100, handheld with -2ev exposure compensation.

This time, luck was on my side with a beautiful fog hanging over the Mosel Valley, and the sun slowly burning it away. The constantly changing scenery was breathtaking. New compositions turned up again and again with the fog clearing and returning, giving us short glimpses of the landscape beneath. For me, this one single morning was worth the entire trip. Yes, I would have liked better light and more shooting opportunities on the first two days, but that's all in the game. As landscape photographers, we just can't set up our lights and scenery. The earth is our studio and the sun and the moon are our lights. In the end mother nature always decides and that's fine by me!

The Climpse - Wolf, Mosel region, Germany - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L at 195mm. F8, 1/60 sec., ISO 100, Tripod, remote, +2/3ev exposure compensation.

One more thing. I don't normally talk about equipment a lot but I would like to make an exception this time. I've recently started using Páramo clothing for my outdoors shooting and I must say I'm impressed! For me as a landscape photographer they have nailed it right on the head! It's 100% waterproof, very comfortable and extremely 'breathable'. And best of all, it's very light. You hardly notice it when you're wearing it. We all know that being cold, wet or too warm will affect our shooting. So having the right outdoor gear is important. And now, it's also available in the Netherlands. Check it out! It's got my vote.

The Mosel Valley - Mosel region, Germany - Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L at 200mm. F8, 1/800 sec., ISO 100, handheld with +2/3ev exposure compensation. 

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