A few weeks ago I visited the ‘Eye’ film-museum in Amsterdam for the first time. They started off with an impressive exhibition on Stanley Kubrick, the movie director famous for films as A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. As those are all films that have had their influence on me somewhere in my youth, I had to see this.
Stanley Kubrick exhibition at the Eye museum
Light painting on the frozen canals of Amsterdam
Ever since I discovered light painting photographers via CFYE, I’ve been inspired to try out light painting for myself. As temperatures at night have been hitting minus 10 degrees celcius and the canals are frozen solid, unique opportunities arise! Light painting on the frozen over canals of Amsterdam is something you can only do once in about 15 years! Together with a few friends we went out on the ice to create some unique shots! Tim van Vliet aka Reyone handled most of the light tools which we received from Twin Cities brigthest (TCB): Dana Maltby – who deserves the most credits for the amazing job he did on the lights.
Of course, I had to do a few normal long exposure shots as well! By the way, if you like this you might also like the shots I’ve done on the ice earlier this week.
Ice skating on the canals of Amsterdam
It’s been freezing in Europe for the last week, and it’s no exception in Amsterdam! The canals are fully frozen, an event that hasn’t occured since 1997. People are ice skating over the Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht and everyone is having major fun with it. For me and hundreds of other photographers, it’s a unique chance to capture the city of Amsterdam for a different angle. Check out all the pictures after the jump.
Real winter in Amsterdam
Appearantly there’s a real winter going on outside! The whole of Europe has been suffering / enjoying the winter weather. In Amsterdam people have been ice skating on the canals for the first time in at least a decade. I haven’t had much time to take pictures of Winter Paradise Amsterdam yet, but seeing I live closeby to the ‘Amsterdamse Bos’, I had a walk over the Bosbaan. The bosbaan is a two kilometers long, dead-end canal created for rowing games in the summertime. Right now it’s completely frozen over and perfect for ice skating, or a walk if you prefer.
Panorama Alexanderplein
I absolutely love the Alexanderplein in Amsterdam. This small square / crossing in the east part of Amsterdam holds the Muiderpoort (one of the old entrances to the city) at one side, the Artis zoo at the other. Even though it’s in quite a traffic-heavy area, it always seems to be peacefull. I shot this panorama from a bridge looking over the ‘Plantage muidergracht’. See how it looks on Google Maps right here.
Oranje-Nassau
Some pretty light in the early morning – Sarphatistraat, Amsterdam