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

Every ugly has a pretty.

That thought crossed my mind while waiting for my camera buddy at the Tilburg Central Station. In front of me stood one of the newest buildings in town — and arguably one of the ugliest. It looms over the Burgemeester Stekelenburgplein, even blocking the view of our beautiful library.

But as I stood there with my Canon 5DsR and the Sigma Art 24–70, I started to look differently. Lines, angles, contrast — they all began to form something unexpected. The vertical structures reached upward, cutting through the morning sky like strokes of graphite on paper. Suddenly, it wasn’t an eyesore anymore, but a study of geometry and tone.

Photography, after all, teaches us to see — even in the places we’d rather look away from.

#BlackAndWhitePhotography #ArchitecturePhotography #UrbanLines #Canon5DsR #SigmaArt2470 #GeometryInNature #CityPhotography #Tilburg #TilburgCity #ModernArchitecture #FindingBeauty #LightAndShadow #PhotographyStudy #EveryUglyHasAPretty #CompositionMatters #MonochromeMagic #ArtThroughTheLens #StreetComposition #BuildingDesign #ByMaikelPhotography

Spoorpark by Night

Around 20:30, the park was almost empty, the air still, and the city quietly humming in the background. The scene was too dim for handheld photography — the light levels had dropped well below what 1/250 could handle. So, I set my Canon 5D Mark IV on the ground, attached the Sigma 24–70mm Art, and switched to a 6-second exposure at ISO 3200. A 10-second timer prevented any vibration from the shutter press.

In that brief span, photons from dozens of small light sources — streetlamps, strings of decorative bulbs, reflections off distant buildings — converged on the sensor, translating an invisible trickle of light into structured data.

Photography, in essence, is the science of collecting light, one moment at a time. This image is what those six seconds of light looked like, seen through the calm of Spoorpark at night.

#Spoorpark #TilburgByNight #LongExposurePhotography #NightPhotography #Canon5DMarkIV #SigmaArt2470 #UrbanLight #CityAtNight #PhotographyScience #LightAndData #LowLightPhotography #DocumentaryPhotography #PhysicsOfLight #UrbanLandscape #DutchPhotography #TilburgCity #FineArtPhotography #CreativeProcess #VisualStorytelling #ByMaikelPhotography

Sometimes the most interesting places are the ones most people pass by without noticing. This narrow alley in the center of Tilburg caught my attention during a small street photography adventure with a friend.

Normally, I work in color, but this time I decided to embrace black and white — something I rarely do. Without color, the eye is drawn to form, texture, and contrast. Every brick, every reflection of light becomes part of the composition.

Shot with the Canon 5D Mark IV and the Sigma 24–70mm Art lens, this scene challenged me to balance light and shadow in an environment where every photon counts. Street photography, after all, is about seeing — truly seeing — and waiting for the light to tell its story.

#StreetPhotography #BlackAndWhite #UrbanGeometry #Tilburg #PhotographyJourney #SigmaArt2470 #Canon5DMarkIV #LowLightPhotography #VisualStorytelling #CityMood #TexturesAndLight #CompositionMatters #StreetScenes #MonochromeMood #DutchStreets #EveryPhotonCounts #ExploringTilburg #UrbanObservation #ArtOfSeeing #ByMaikeldeBakker

Experimenting with Double Filters

Yesterday morning I woke up at 5 a.m. It was dark, cold, and quiet — the kind of silence that makes you wonder if you should just crawl back into bed. But the sky was clear with some clouds forming near the horizon, and experience told me this could become one of those fiery sunrises worth losing sleep over.

So I packed my Canon 5DsR with the Sigma Art 24–70 mm and headed to the Loonse en Drunense Duinen. Besides chasing light, I had something else in mind — a little experiment. I wanted to see what would happen if I combined a polarizing filter with a transparent plastic petri dish (from Corning).

If you’ve ever looked at a car’s rear window through polarized sunglasses and seen those oily rainbow patterns — that’s birefringence at work. When two polarizing surfaces interact with certain plastics, they reveal hidden stress patterns in vivid colors.

So I rotated both filters until the sky exploded into gradients of purple, turquoise, and gold. No Photoshop tricks here — just light, plastic, and curiosity playing together.

Sometimes, science and art meet right in front of your lens.

#ExperimentalPhotography #CreativeFilters #PolarizerEffect #OpticalPhenomena #Birefringence #PetriDishExperiment #ScienceInArt #NatureAndLight #SkyPhotography #ColorPlay #OpticsInNature #PhotographyExperiment #LandscapePhotography #AtmosphericLight #SkyMagic #MorningGlow #NaturalLight #PhotographyArt #ExploringLight #CreativeProcess #FieldExperiment #AbstractNature #PhysicsOfLight #Canon5DsR #SigmaArt2470 #DutchLandscape #LoonseEnDrunenseDuinen #NaturePhotography #VisualExploration #CuriousMind #ArtOfSeeing #PhotographyIsScience #ChasingLight #SkyWatcher #ExperimentalArt #BehindTheLens #ColorInspiration #LightAndShadow #OpticalArt #ByMaikelPhotography

A walk through Huis ter Heide & Bosrijk

A few days ago, my wife Christel and I wandered through the northern part of Huis ter Heide, bordering the Efteling Bosrijk. The air was calm, soft clouds drifted by, and sunlight occasionally broke through — just enough to paint the forest in warm tones.

While walking, I noticed a flawless Imleria badia — known as the Bay Bolete or “Kastanjeboleet” in Dutch. It stood proud among fallen leaves, its chestnut-brown cap glistening slightly from the forest’s moisture. This species plays an essential role in the ecosystem, forming symbiotic mycorrhizal bonds with trees like pines and beeches, exchanging nutrients that keep forests thriving.

Later, Christel spotted a red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), poised on a wooden fence, turning its head just as she clicked the shutter on our Canon 5D Mark IV with the Sigma 100–400mm. That curious glance over its shoulder made the shot come alive — pure serendipity.

We ended our walk at Klaas Vaak Lake, where the houses of Efteling Bosrijk mirrored perfectly in the still water. The reflections of reds, greens, and browns looked like a painter’s palette — a calm, storybook ending to a wonderful day outdoors.

#ByMaikelPhotography #MaikeldeBakkerPhotography #Canon5DsR #Canon5DMarkIV #SigmaArt2470 #Sigma100400 #EurasianRedSquirrel #SciurusVulgaris #BayBolete #ImleriaBadia #Kastanjeboleet #MacroPhotography #WildlifePhotography #NaturePhotography #ForestWalk #DutchNature #NatureLovers #Mycorrhiza #Symbiosis #FungiFriday #FungusAmongUs #EftelingBosrijk #HuisTerHeide #NoordBrabant #ReflectionShot #WoodlandCreatures #MushroomMagic #AutumnVibes #NaturePerfection #CanonPhotography #ForestFloor #EcoWonder #WildlifeMoments #NaturalBalance #EarthFocus #BokehLovers #InTheWoods #LensLove #PhotographyStory #ByMaikeldeBakker

A patch of green and splashes of red and white.

Taken with my Canon 5DsR and Sigma Art 24–70 in Surea, between Gilze and Oosterhout — a gray day, yet the forest was alive with colour and quiet stories. On a bed of moss and fallen leaves stood a single Amanita muscaria — the fly agaric — but not as we usually know it. Its brilliant red cap was covered in a delicate white layer that resembled a dusting of snow. Only later did I realize: this wasn’t weather, but another fungus growing upon it. A fungus infecting a fungus — a rare and fascinating encounter.

In mycology, such infections occur when parasitic species like Hypomyces invade the fruiting body of another mushroom, spreading their hyphae through its tissues. They slowly consume the host’s nutrients, altering its colour, texture, and even shape. This quiet struggle plays out unseen, yet it’s part of the forest’s endless cycle of decay and renewal — nothing in nature is truly wasted.

I crouched low in the moss to capture it, trying to show not just a mushroom, but a story of resilience, interdependence, and the hidden wars of the microscopic world.

#AmanitaMuscaria #MacroPhotography #NaturePhotography #FungalInfection #FungiOnFungi #Canon5DsR #SigmaArt2470 #Surea #BrabantNature #NatureReserve #ForestFloor #MossLovers #Mycology #WildNetherlands #Ecology #MicroEcosystem #DutchNature #AutumnForest #ForestMagic #Biodiversity #MacroWorld #PhotographyAndScience #CloseUpNature #NaturalWonder #InterspeciesConnection #RareFind #FungalDiversity #InTheField #NatureStories #Mycophile #HiddenWorlds #MushroomLovers #FlyAgaric #ForestResearch #NatureEducation #StoryInLight #MacroLife #ForestDetails #EcoBalance #ByMaikelPhotography

Into the Distance

The raw power of the last storm left its mark on the coastline in ways that words alone can’t capture. One wave barrier along the beach had been half-buried in sand, transforming the landscape into something entirely new. Behind the sand, seawater was trapped, forming a wide temporary lagoon. It’s a reminder of how coastlines are constantly reshaped—new land created in mere hours by natural forces that would take humans days of heavy labor to replicate. And just as quickly as it appears, nature can undo her own work with the next storm.

Standing at the far end of the wave breakers, I was struck by the illusion of infinity. The long row of wooden posts stretched out toward the horizon, now divided by the sudden dune as if the sea itself had been cut in two. It felt both surreal and epic, a fleeting sculpture carved by wind, waves, and time.

Scenes like these remind us that the shore is alive—never fixed, always shifting. Every tide, every storm, every grain of sand tells a part of the story. We are just lucky enough to be there to witness it.

Taken with my Canon 5DsR (51 megapixels) and Sigma ART 24/70mm lens.

#IntoTheDistance #BeachPhotography #StormImpact #CoastalChange #NaturePower #SandDunes #WaveBreakers #Seascape #CanonPhotography #SigmaArt2470 #Canon5DsR #CoastalGeology #ShiftingSands #DynamicCoastline #NaturalForces #StormScars #SeashoreMagic #OceanView #CoastalProcess #LandFormation #BeachVibes #LandscapePhotography #EpicNature #ChangingEarth #EarthScience #CoastalErosion #SandAndSea #NatureIsArt #SeascapePhotography #SeaAndSky #OceanPhotography #ClimateAndCoast #Geoscience #CoastalEcosystem #StormySea #TideAndTime #BeachWalk #CoastalBeauty #NaturePowerful #MotherNature