A little further along the path, the landscape changes completely.

After descending the dyke near the Moerputten Bridge, you enter the swamp itself. Thankfully, there is no need to wade through the water. Wooden walkways guide visitors safely above the dark, still waters, weaving through moss-covered trees and dense shrubs.

And fortunately, the walkway is not straight.

Instead it gently twists through the swamp, creating a beautiful composition where the path disappears between the trees before reappearing again. In the soft morning haze, with sunlight struggling to break through the dense canopy, the scene became wonderfully moody.

This wetland landscape is not just beautiful — it is historically significant. The Moerputten area forms part of the low floodplains surrounding ’s-Hertogenbosch, a city whose history has always been closely tied to water. For centuries these marshes were part of a natural defensive system around the city. The wetlands were nearly impossible for armies to cross, turning Den Bosch into one of the most heavily fortified cities in the Netherlands.

The name “Netherlands” itself reflects this relationship with water. It literally means low lands — a country built in river deltas, floodplains, and reclaimed wetlands. Areas like the Moerputten show why water management, wetlands, and engineering have always been essential parts of Dutch history.

From a photographic perspective the winding boardwalk creates perfect leading lines, drawing the viewer deeper into the swamp.

Captured with my Canon EOS 5DS R and Sigma 24–70 Art at 24mm, f/2.6, 1/500 sec, ISO 100.

#Moerputten #DenBosch #DutchHistory #Netherlands #Lowlands #Wetlands #SwampForest #LeadingLines #MoodyNature #NatureReserve
#HistoricLandscape #CanonPhotography #Canon5DSR #Sigma2470Art #NatureAndHistory #NatureWalks #HiddenNature #StoryThroughTheLens #LightAndShadow #WonderingLens #ByMaikeldeBakker #MaikeldeBakkerPhotography #PixelfedPhotography #LightAndLife
#NatureLovers

Sometimes photography begins with a simple detour.

Yesterday morning the trains to Den Bosch were not running, and my son needed to be at school by 8:00. So instead of trains, we took the car. After dropping him off I found myself nearby and thought: why not visit the Moerputten Bridge?

The Moerputten Bridge, located between ’s-Hertogenbosch and Vlijmen, is a remarkable piece of Dutch engineering history. Built in the late 19th century as part of the Halve Zolenlijn railway, this long iron railway bridge once carried work trains across wetlands that regularly flooded. In the past, this area functioned as an “overlaat”—a deliberately lowered section of dyke designed to flood during high water from the Meuse. By allowing controlled overflow, it relieved pressure on other dykes and helped prevent catastrophic breaches. A beautiful example of the Netherlands living with water rather than fighting it.

Yesterday morning a soft haze hung in the air. The sun tried to break through, casting gentle light across the landscape. Above me the pale blue sky gradually deepened in color, while the long yellow railway bridge stretched across the wetlands like a line drawn through time.

From a photographic perspective it immediately caught my eye: leading lines pulling the viewer forward, guiding the eye along the structure into the distance.

Captured with my Canon EOS 5DS R and Sigma 24–70 Art at 24mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO 200.

The first image of a morning walk that would become a small series about leading lines and winding paths.

#MoerputtenBridge #DenBosch #DutchEngineering #WaterManagement
#LivingWithWater #LandscapePhotography #ArchitecturePhotography #LeadingLines #Composition #Canon5DSR #Sigma2470Art #HiddenHistory #Wetlands #NatureAndHistory #OutdoorPhotography #TravelPhotography #Perspective #LinesInNature #PhotoStory #WonderingLens #ByMaikeldeBakker #MaikeldeBakkerPhotography #LightAndLife #NatureObservation

Street photography vs wildlife photography… two worlds that could not be more different. Yet last weekend I found myself switching forests for city streets as the Partij voor de Dieren campaign brought us into the center of Tilburg for the municipal elections.

Normally I walk quietly through places like Kampina or the Oisterwijkse Bossen, listening for birds and watching the movement of wildlife. Patience is everything there. Sometimes you wait half an hour for a bird to land in the right branch.

Street and event photography? That patience becomes speed.

The moment you step into a busy city center everything moves: people, cyclists, conversations, banners in the wind, sunlight bouncing off buildings. You cannot ask anyone to pause the moment. Instead, you react to it. Both cameras were set to around 1/500 second to freeze the movement, while the ISO constantly changed as volunteers stepped from bright sunlight into deep shadow between buildings.

I carried my Canon 5D Mark IV with the Sigma 100–400 and the Canon 5DsR with the Sigma 24–70 Art, switching between telephoto moments and wider street scenes while volunteers talked with people, handed out flyers, and shared conversations about animals, nature, and our shared future.

In a way, photographing people in a city is not that different from observing wildlife. Both require awareness, anticipation, and a bit of intuition about behavior. The difference is simply the habitat.

And this weekend, my forest just happened to be made of bricks and bicycles instead of trees.

#StreetPhotography
#EventPhotography
#CampaignPhotography
#Tilburg
#Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen
#PartijvoordeDieren
#DocumentaryPhotography
#UrbanMoments
#Photojournalism
#CanonPhotography
#Canon5DMarkIV
#Canon5DsR
#Sigma100400
#Sigma2470Art
#FastShutter
#StreetMoments
#LightAndShadow
#StreetScenes
#OutdoorPhotography
#WonderingLens
#MaikeldeBakkerPhotography
#ByMaikeldeBakker
#PhotographyStory
#CameraInHand
#LifeThroughTheLens
#Pixelfed

“Sunrise” is a beautiful illusion.

As our small blue world turns, it creates the feeling that the Sun rises above the horizon. But in reality, it is us who are moving — slowly rotating into the light.

And that warm golden glow? The Sun itself isn’t yellow or red. In space, its light is nearly white. The colors we see here are shaped by our atmosphere. As sunlight travels through a thicker layer of air at low angles, shorter blue wavelengths scatter away, while reds and yellows continue their journey. This process — known as Rayleigh scattering — paints the sky in gradients from deep blue to warm amber.

In this moment, captured in the heart of the Kampina, the low Sun pushes through a solitary tree, its light stretching across a field of tall grass. Beams of light scatter, reflect, and soften as they pass through air filled with moisture and particles, turning physics into something that feels almost poetic.

Shot with the Canon 5DsR and Sigma 24–70 Art, handheld — chasing light that changes faster than any setting can keep up with.

Because sometimes, understanding the science doesn’t take away the magic… it reveals just how extraordinary it really is.

#Kampina #DutchLandscape #NatureInTheNetherlands
#Sunrise #MorningLight #GoldenHour
#RayleighScattering #LightPhysics #AtmosphericScience
#NatureScience #ScienceAndNature
#LightBeams #Sunrays #MistyLight
#LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #OutdoorPhotography
#Canon5DsR #Sigma2470Art #HandheldPhotography
#NaturalLight #LightAndShadow
#SkyColors #ColorGradient #EarthFocus
#DiscoverNature #StayAndWander
#Pixelfed #PixelfedPhotography
#WonderingLens #ByMaikeldeBakker
#MoodyLandscape #FieldPhotography #QuietMoments

Tilburg. Home. The place where I was born, and where my children were born.

After many days that felt far too warm and far too grey for this time of year, the sun finally broke through. Blue sky appeared — almost as if the city itself was taking a deep breath. I went out for a short walk in the Spoorpark, close to home. As usual, I didn’t leave without a camera.

While walking, my attention was caught by something easily overlooked: a simple puddle. There was barely any wind, no ripples at all. From just the right angle, the puddle turned into a quiet mirror, reflecting Westpoint against a clear blue sky. A small inversion of reality — sky below, city above — reminding me how perspective can change everything.

Scientifically speaking, it’s nothing more than specular reflection: a smooth surface reflecting light at equal angles. But emotionally, it feels like something else entirely. A moment where chaos pauses, where the city aligns with itself, if only for a second. These moments are fragile — a breeze, a footstep, and they’re gone.

Photographically, this was about being present and reacting quickly. Shot handheld with the Canon 5DsR and the Sigma 24–70mm Art at 29mm, f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO 100. No tricks. Just observation, timing, and letting light do what it naturally does best.

Sometimes home reflects back more than you expect.

Photography, after all, is just another way of studying light and life.

#Tilburg #Spoorpark #Westpoint #ReflectionPhotography #UrbanObservation #EverydayPhysics #LightAndReflection #SeeingDifferently #CityDetails #MinimalMoments #DutchCityscape #UrbanNature #CalmMoments #HandheldPhotography #Canon5DsR #Sigma2470Art #F28 #ISO100 #MirrorWorld #BlueSkyDays #QuietScenes #VisualScience #ObservationOverAction #SlowLooking #PhotographicCuriosity #CityAsLandscape #EverydayWonder #PerspectiveShift #UrbanStories #Pixelfed #ByMaikeldeBakker #MaikeldeBakkerPhotography #ByMaikelPhotography #WonderingLens #wonderinglens

It’s been a while since I shared something new. Not because I haven’t wanted to go out… but because the world outside feels unfamiliar lately. December in the Netherlands, normally a time of frost, quiet forests, and the promise of winter, has instead been hovering around 13°C — for weeks. No snow. No frozen ponds. Just rain and warm winds.

And it shows. Trees dropping their leaves later every year. Flowers blooming earlier. Birds already practicing mating calls they shouldn’t be singing in mid-winter. This isn’t “just the weather.” This is a system signalling distress. And after 35 years of fighting climate change — 25 of them actively through Greenpeace, Fossil Free NL, and the Partij voor de Dieren — it weighs on me. I’m angry. I’m tired. And yes, I’m in a depressive episode.

But even in that darkness, light sometimes breaks through.

About two weeks ago in the Kampina, the sun managed to pierce through the dense trees for a brief moment, sending pale golden rays across the forest path. A rare, fragile moment of beauty in a warming world. I captured it handheld with my Canon 5DsR and the Sigma Art set at 44 mm — f/2.8, 1/500s — in the soft, misty morning light around 09:00.

#wonderinglens #ByMaikeldeBakker #MaikeldeBakkerPhotography #NaturePhotography #ClimateGrief #ClimateChangeIsReal #WarmWinters #ForestLight #Kampina #MorningMist #Canon5DsR #SigmaArt2470 #PhotographyAsObservation #DocumentingChange #ScientificStorytelling #NatureLovers #DutchNature #GlobalWarming #WalkingForClarity #MistyForest #SunRays #LightAndShadow #EarlyMorningLight #HandheldPhotography #ForestsOfTheNetherlands #NatureWalks #EnvironmentalAwareness #ClimateReality #LandscapePhotography #EcoAnxiety #NatureInDecember #UnexpectedWarmth #PhotographyAndScience #ArtAndObservation #ChangingSeasons #ProtectNature #ConservationMatters #ForestPath #EmotionalHonesty #StoryOfTheEarth

Some scenes only reveal their magic when you strip them down to the essentials. I rarely choose black and white — often it feels like an escape hatch when colour fails. But on my latest Arnhem adventure, standing on a hill overlooking a quiet valley west of Park Sonsbeek, colour wasn’t the problem… it was the distraction.

Among the dark reds and browns of late autumn, one bright yellow tree stood defiantly luminous. In colour, it looked beautiful. But in black and white, it transformed completely: its yellow leaves turning almost white, while the surrounding forest dropped into deep shadow. The effect resembled infrared photography — a glowing silhouette breaking through a monochrome world.

Nature doesn’t present these contrasts often, at least not with this kind of precision. It reminded me of the way light interacts with pigments: yellow leaves reflect more of the spectrum, so once converted to monochrome, they soar toward the highlights while other wavelengths sink away. A tiny lesson in physics, hidden inside a valley.

I shot it handheld with my Canon 5DsR and Sigma 24–70 Art at f/2.8, 1/500 sec, ISO 125. The late-afternoon sky was blue with a soft feather-cloud drifting across it — the last warmth of a day that felt oddly mild for the season (yay climate change… said with all the sarcasm required).

Sometimes, simplicity reveals the loudest truth.

#wonderinglens #ByMaikeldeBakker #BlackAndWhitePhotography #InfraredLook #Arnhem #Sonsbeek #NaturePhotography #TreeScenery #MonochromeMagic #FineArtNature #Canon5DsR #Sigma2470Art #HandheldPhotography #ObservationalPhotography #ForestValley #DutchNature #LandscapeFrame #NaturalContrast #AutumnLeaves #LightAndShadow #MoodyLandscape #PhysicsOfLight #InfraredEffect #CreativeMonochrome #PhotoStorytelling #NatureDetails #DutchLandscape #MinimalistNature #PhotographyIsScience #ArtOfObservation #OutdoorAdventures #ForestPhotography #TreePortrait #QuietNature #ValleyView #FramedByNature #WonderingLensPhotography

Tiny Lanterns on a Mossy Wall

It seems the forest wasn’t finished surprising me that day. After finding the tiny Mycena adscendens carrying that oversized droplet, we stumbled across another colony — same species, same walk, different tree. Only this time they were a little larger (a whole 2–3 mm!) and lined up in a perfect vertical row along a mossy trunk, like miniature lamps climbing their way toward daylight.

The challenge? Light. Or rather the lack of it. The forest was still wrapped in that wet, grey, sleepy atmosphere. Since my MP-E 65mm was already pushed to its limits earlier, I switched things up and used the Sigma 24–70mm Art on the Canon 5DsR. Shooting at f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 3200, I had to rely on every bit of available light — and a steady hand — to keep those microscopic caps sharp while letting the background melt into soft mossy texture.

What I love about mushrooms like Mycena adscendens is how easily they’re overlooked. People step over them every day without ever noticing the tiny worlds unfolding at their feet. But get close enough — really close — and you discover small universes: droplets clinging like glass ornaments, translucent stems glowing against dark bark.

Same forest, same species, same walk… and yet a completely different story.
That’s the magic of photography: the world doesn’t repeat itself unless you ask it kindly.

#MycenaAdscendens #PorcelainBonnet #Micromushrooms #ForestMicrocosmos #FungiFriday #TinyWorlds #MacroPhotography #CloseUpNature #Mycophilia #MushroomMagic #Canon5DsR #Sigma2470Art #LowLightPhotography #HandheldMacro #DarkForestMood #MossAndFungi #DutchNature #Kampina #Oisterwijk #ScientificCuriosity #FieldNotes #NatureDetails #SmallWonders #NaturalTextures #ForestWalks #FungiOfTheDay #MacroLife #MacroVision #NaturePhotography #PhotographyStorytelling #DepthOfField #BokehLove #ISO3200 #F28 #Shutter400 #ForestCreatures #NatureIsArt #ObservationIsKey #MindfulPhotography #ByMaikeldeBakker

A 1mm mushroom carrying an almost-as-big droplet

Sometimes nature hides its most extraordinary scenes in places most people never look. While walking through the Kampina near Oisterwijk with my wife Christel and my sister-in-law Hanneke — a birthday walk and lunch gift from last October — I noticed something no taller than a grain of rice. There, growing out of the lush green moss on a tree trunk, stood a tiny Mycena adscendens. Barely 1 mm tall, delicate as a whisper… and balancing a raindrop almost as large as its cap.

Photographing something that small is always a technical puzzle. Tripods were impossible on the tree bark, the light was miserable — wet, grey, and sleepy — and the mushroom itself looked like shiny plastic thanks to the moisture. So I relied on my Canon 5DsR paired with the MP-E 65mm, shooting handheld with a flashlight as an improvised lightsource.
1/250s, ISO 3200, and the fixed aperture of the MP-E — a setup that pushes both the photographer and the camera to their limits. At this magnification even your own heartbeat becomes camera shake.

But somehow, everything aligned. The droplet clung to the cap with perfect surface tension, turning the whole scene into a tiny physics lesson: cohesion, adhesion, and gravity negotiating their delicate balance on a 1 mm stage.

Moments like this remind me why I love macro photography — you don’t just take a picture; you discover a world that was already there, quietly waiting.

#MacroPhotography #MicroNature #TinyMushrooms #MycenaAdscendens #FungiFriday #FungusAmongUs #NatureCloseUp #ExtremeMacro #MacroWorld #MacroMagic #Canon5DsR #CanonMacro #MPE65mm #HandheldMacro #NatureIsArt #ForestFinds #DutchNature #Kampina #Oisterwijk #MossAndMushrooms #RaindropArt #WaterDroplet #SurfaceTension #MicroWildlife #NatureWalks #PhotographyJourney #StoryBehindTheShot #NaturalWonder #TinyLifeBigWorld #ForestMagic #NatureLovers #ScienceInNature #PhotographersOfPixelfed #MacroCommunity #HiddenWorlds #ByMaikeldeBakker

Circles of Light and Stone

Some buildings stop being places of worship and become places of wonder. The Eusebius Church in Arnhem — now the Stichting Eusebius Arnhem, a museum celebrating the city’s history — is one of them.

When I stepped inside, the calm air carried a sense of timeless geometry. My eyes were immediately drawn upward to the large golden light rings suspended from the high arched ceiling. Perfectly stacked, they seemed to hover between heaven and history — a bridge between sacred architecture and modern design.

I stood directly beneath them, camera in hand — the Canon 5DsR paired with the Sigma 24–70mm Art — and aligned the frame so that every circle, every rib of the arch, fell into balance. Light as a subject. Symmetry as a teacher.

Photography, after all, is a study of how light defines form — and sometimes, in places like this, both feel eternal.

#ArchitecturePhotography #EusebiusArnhem #StichtingEusebius #Arnhem #ArchitecturalSymmetry #ChurchInterior #PhotographyOfLight #DutchArchitecture #Canon5DsR #Sigma2470Art #LightAndShadow #GoldenLight #GeometricComposition #SymmetryInDesign #PerspectiveStudy #ArchitecturalDetails #ModernLighting #HistoricArchitecture #VisualBalance #LightPatterns #SacredGeometry #UrbanExploration #ArchitecturalInspiration #DesignAndLight #ObservationalPhotography #NetherlandsPhotography #ArchedCeiling #ArtInArchitecture #VisualObservation #ComposedByLight #PhotoStudy #PhotographyLovers #ArchitectureAndArt #StoryInLight #ArchitecturalPhotography #LightAndForm #CreativeComposition #CulturalHeritage #DocumentaryPhotography #PhotographyAsStudy #ByMaikeldeBakker #MaikeldeBakkerPhotography