I usually am drawn to locations with wide open area’s where you can see the horizon. You do not have to go very far in the Netherlands to get this. Almost every direction you leave the city you enter what’s called the polder. A rural area with meadows and fields and your occasional windmill. And because the Netherlands is as flat as a pancake you can see the horizon from anywhere. So this has been my subject most of the time. 

Lately I have developed a fascination for my hometown Leiden. I pass through its old city centre almost every day on my way to work. And in this time of year that corresponds to the sunrise and sunset hours. Every now and then I bring my camera along and take a small detour. The conditions and the light usually are my guides, I have no plan I just go where I think is best with the conditions that are at hand. This has proven to be a good strategy because I am able to capture boring everyday views in beautiful and special conditions. Every now and then I even find hidden gems and places I have not photographed before. This was also a very productive period for me, as you can see by my instagram stream, the collection of cityscapes has been growing rapidly lately. It is great to be able to post new and recently taken content and I can see by the reactions people really enjoy it too. 

Time to update the website. it was running behind a little so it was time to put some new work out there!

Here’s what I’ve been up to the past weeks.. enjoy!

(I’ll be uploading some of these shots to my shop in the near future)

Morning over the Windmill museum and city mill ‘Molen de Valk’ in Leiden, the Netherlands.
I lost my Polarizing filter while taking this shot. I took it off because I liked the hazy conditions and accidentally dropped it.
Later that day (after work) during sunset I went and visited that spot again and guess what I found? That and the awesome sunset conditions really made my day!
(c)2018 martijnvandernat.nl all rights reserved

Twilight over one of the most beautiful canals in the #city of #Leiden, the Netherlands. In the back you can see the St Josephchurch looking out over the city.
(c)2018 martijnvandernat.nl all rights reserved

The best way to view the lovely city of #leiden is with a boat.
This is one of the most beautiful canals in the city of Leiden. And I must say I’m quite surprised that I have never photographed it before…
(c)2018 www.martijnvandernat.nl

This morning sunrise over #Leiden was awesome, the sky was lit up by beautiful stormclouds and everytime you looked up it was different. I could not help myself and took some images on my way over to work.
(c)2018 martijnvandernat.nl all rights reserved

Autumn is almost over now, but last Friday there was just one big grand finale with lots of mist and awesome #autumn color! So I took out my long lense and tested out my awesomely sturdy new #Benro #tripod.
(c)2018 martijnvandernat.nl all rights reservedLeiden, city, cityscape

If you are interested in buying prints or canvas of my series of Leiden you can check them out here