Video: The Old Bookstore, Flateyri, Iceland

The Old Bookstore, "Gamla Bókabúðin" in Icelandic is located in the charming Westfjords village of Flateyri. Eyþór Jóvinsson runs the bookstore, founded by his great-grandparents in 1914. He is the fourth generation to run the family business.

The Old Bookstore has been turned into a museum where the history of the village is displayed. Visitors can also buy second hand books and visit the old merchant’s home.

The owner Eyþór, is a good friend of mine. He also runs the Iceland Comedy Film Festival that I’ve photographed a couple of times before. And a couple of years ago I was the behind the scenes photographer for a shortfilm production Eyþór was working on.

My first visit to Iceland was back in the summer of 2016, and that is where I did meet Eyþór for the first time. In his bookstore. Now after a few years have passed I have been to Iceland for about 8 times. Many of these visits were collaborating and meeting up with my good friend Eyþór. Safe to say that I am very grateful for him working with me. And therefore I thought this video was a nice way and gesture to say “thank you my friend”

There is an Icelandic version from back in 2015 of this video on Youtube, filmed by Visit Westfjords, which you can see here. Behind the scenes photographs by Tom Reinders

The Old Bookstore seen from the harbor. The store is on the right, and on the left is the apartment.

The beautiful town of Flateyri, my all time favorite place in Iceland without a question.

Wehebachtalsperre, Germany

The Wehebachdam in Germany in the municipality of Hurtgenwald is the third largest and probably the most original dam in the northern part of the Eifel. It offers hikers a variety of hiking trails and a spectacular way to experience water. It is easy to reach from the towns. The Wehebach dam has been operated since 1983 and became a building for flooding and drinking and industrial water supplies.

There are strict protection rules. For this reason some area in and around the dam are fenced off, and are not reachable at all. This means that the nature can develop undisturbed.

This is a drone photo looking north, with the water extraction tower in the bottom left.

The reservoir of the Wehebachtalsperre has three arms: in the west the valley of the red Wehebach, in the east the valley of the Wehebach (also called white Wehe) and in west-east axis the valley of the Thönbach

Before getting to the actual reservoir and dam I stumbled upon this little forest stream. Which was beautifully lit with some warm and just gorgeous light. So I did spend some time there shooting some typical long exposure shots and smoothing out the water in the forest stream.

Beautiful forest stream on the way to the reservoir/dam. Well worth a little stop.

For these long exposure photographs I have used Kase Filters. The K9 kit paired with the magnetic CPL, and a ND1000 for longer exposure times in the bright daylight. Find out more about Kase filter by clicking the logo

 
 

So after spending some time at this little stream, and after completing the hike I reached the reservoir.
A view over the barrier and parts of the lake is offered by an elevated vantage point directly at the dam. The only recreational activities allowed are hiking and cycling, as the lake is not open for water sports due to its character as a drinking water reservoir. Due to its location in a densely wooded area, the reservoir offers the opportunity for mainly ornithological nature observations.

Long exposure shot of the reservoir with the water extraction tower in it.

Another long exposure shot of the reservoir. It was quite windy, so the movement in the sky really helped getting this cool effect.

Since October 2011, a through-flow turbine with a nominal output of 0.053 MW has been operated for energy recovery. It is located in the outlet structure of the dam. With a flow rate of 100 to 200 litres per second, the annual consumption of up to 100 households can be covered

Here’s a few extra shots that I took at this beautiful spot. Nice forests surrounding this reservoir.
Again, make sure to click them to see them in their original size, and in a bigger size.

Thanks for checking out my blogpost, hope to see you around for me next one. That will be online in a few days. And is dedicated to a special place in Iceland.

Thank you!

Dalheim, and I am now a Kase Filters Ambassador!

Dalheim

Today I went out for a little trip in Germany. Packed with my camera, some filters and my drone and I headed out to Dalheim. This place is located directly on the German/Dutch border and is beautiful. It has some beautiful forests, marshland, a little lake and a small stream running through the forest. There is also a watermill. The Dalheimer Mühle.

Krebsbach, the lake by the watermill.

Some more information and background about the watermill. The Dalheim mill was mentioned for the first time in a document from 1231 and could therefore be the oldest water mill between the Meuse and the Rhine.

During secularisation in 1802, Napoleon destroyed the monastery. The farm buildings of the monastery were not destroyed. When the monastery was sold around 1806, the mill went to the Schippers and Zardingen families from Dülken. In 1899 it was resold to the Count of Schaesberg-Tannheim.

1999 to the present day: The Willemsen family bought the Dalheimer Mühle after it burned to the ground.After almost ten years of renovation work, the Dalheim Mill was reopened in September 2008. Today the mill offers more than 150 seats on the outside terrace and another 110 seats inside.

Dalheimer Mühle. A beautifull watermill.

There’s some beautiful forest in the area, perfect for a wander and a stroll

There’s some beautiful forest in the area, perfect for a wander and a stroll

Dalheim is just so pretty. The perfect place to wind down, escape your everyday life for a bit. And enjoy nature. The watermill is now a restaurant, so you can enjoy a nice meal at the end of your day. Looking out over this pretty lake. Please watch this video I shot in Dalheim below. It has some nice drone shots, and shows off the area really well.

Kase Filters Benelux - brand Ambassador

It is with great pride and a lot of excitement to announce that I am now a Kase Filter Benelux brand ambassador. I’ve been using Kase filters myself for the past 1,5 year and ever since day one I’ve loved the quality and ease of use of these professional filters. I am very much looking forward to represent this great brand, and work together with all other talented ambassadors.

Kase is a fast growing worldwide filter brand with professional filters that guarantee excellent quality. Especially landscape photographers who are on the road a lot will have a pleasant experience with Kase. The filters are made of High Defenition glass that ensures an unprecedented clear image. Because with the Kase Wolverine filters the glass is also toughened, it can take a beating and you will never suffer from scratches or other damage.

My workshop participants will be able to get a nice discount on any Kase products with a special code that I as Ambassador will hand out.

Click the logo to go to the webstore (in Dutch)

Colours that deviate because you use a filter? Not with Kase. The ND filters give you optimal colour control, so that all colours come into their own in your photos. The Nanotech coating on the Kase filters prevents unwanted reflections and repels water and oil. This way, the filter is easy to keep clean. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Nederpeel - Grave & I have a drone now!

I now have a drone.
I recently bought myself my first drone, something I’ve been sitting on for a few years now. But I could never make the decision which one to get, and was therefore hesitant to spend the money.

It was going to be DJI drone whenever I would go and buy one. Simply because they usually have some quality drones with decent photo and video options. I’ve seen some of my friends fly their drones during my workshops. And I did get to fly with theirs for a bit. So I knew what DJI drones were all about.
DJI launched the Mavic Air 2 in April/May this year, and this drone looked promising, affordable and with a lot of new and just decent specs. So, long story short… I got myself the DJI Mavic Air 2. And I love it.

I’ve been flying the drone quite a lot during the past few weeks, getting to know it, and just having straight up fun basically. In this blogpost I will share some photography and video that I shot with my new drone recently. And there will be loads of drone footage to make its way onto my website from now on.

Nederpeel-Grave
Nederpeel-Grave is a nature reserve west of Heibloem, near the hamlet of Caluna in the Dutch municipality of Leudal. This estate is 75 ha large, of which 55 ha is woodland and the remaining part is grassland. It was a private estate, but the owners sold it in 2002 to Staatsbosbeheer in order to safeguard the natural values for the future. Originally there was peat here, but that has disappeared.

A loam layer at a depth of more than 1 meter provides a moist soil. The forests in the area have therefore largely been constructed on rebates. The Neerpeelbeek flows through this area. It was canalized but has been able to meander again since the first decade of the 21st century. The area is home to trouser woods and poplar plantations. Only in the lowest parts are remnants of the original vegetation to be found.

These include large buttercups. To the west of this area you will find the Kruisvennen nature reserve, in the north the Groote Moost, in the southwest De Zoom.

Check out this gallery below for a set of photographs taken in this area. You can click each photo to see it in a bigger size. Thanks for checking out my blog!