Zoom Academy met Harmen Piekema @ De Rat

In this blog series, I take you along with the film days for the Zoom Academy course: “Landscapes in the Netherlands”. Together with camerawoman Michelle Ruwen, I’ve made an extensive series of videos in two days at various beautiful locations. In this part we are at the awesome windmill “De Rat” during sunrise.

Superb circumstances; smooth water (except for a few ducks), soft clouds and beautiful light. Great way to start your day.

It is so early…

After a much too short night, the alarm goes at 4.00 am. The goal is to film a part of the course in Friesland today, starting with the beautiful wood sawing mill “de Rat” in IJlst. When I arrive at the boat where Michelle is staying at 4.30 am, it is still completely dark. My suspicion is confirmed after a short phone call; Michelle overslept 😀 😀 (She’s forgiven after such a short night and busy day). Despite this small delay, we are on location with plenty of time to spare.

After our arrival we first walk around the area for a while. A beautiful “spinnenkop” is surrounded by a blanket of mist.

The location

Before we start, we walk around to scout some extra photo opportunities. Behind this mill is a beautiful spinnenkop mill, and the millershouse also offer beautiful photographic opportunities. There are no clouds in the sky, but there is a beautiful blanket of mist hanging over the meadows.

It is still quite dark but the sky is very bright already; therefore I need a NiSi medium gradual ND filter.

Far from perfect

The plan is to start on the shadow side of the mill first, and then move to the other side as soon as the sun rises. It’s a pretty dull sky, unfortunately, and there’s an additional problem. A car and a bus are parked in front of the mill. It is impossible to leave them out of the composition, so I ultimately choose to make a panorama. Doing this allows me to take in more of the environment, making these two objects only a small part of the photo. This makes them less noticeable, but unfortunately it is not optimal.

To solve the problem with the cars, I opt for a panorama consisting of 3 images. This makes the cars less noticeable. Apart from that, the sky and light are very boring.

The effect of light!

After making this shot (purely for illustration because the conditions are far from optimal), we quickly go to the other side of the mill. The sun is almost rising and from the jetty you have a beautiful view across the mill and the miller’s house. While Michelle is filming some nice b-roll, I prepare my gear. Thanks to the rising sun, the whole landscape is bathed in a deep orange light; a huge difference with 10 minutes earlier.

This location offers the perfect opportunity to explain more about the polarization filter and find the polarization plane.

A polarizer: yes or no?

The light is really beautiful and there are even some clouds. In addition, the water is mirror-smooth and the reflection is therefore very beautiful. This offers the perfect opportunity to explain something about the polarization filter, finding the polarization plane and also about any unwanted effects when photographing reflections. The polarization filter is really an indispensable filter in my opinion, but there are times when the effects are not entirely desired. That aspect is also fully addressed in this part of the course.

The course video shows in a very clear way what happens when you turn the polarization filter.

Slowly but surely, the world around awakens. Because it is summer, the sun rises faster and steeper than in winter, effectively making the golden hour only last a few minutes. Fortunately, some beautiful clouds have entered the composition, filling the empty space in the sky and in the reflection. Therefore, I don’t wait any longer and take the picture. For me this is a perfect start to a beautiful day.

Thanks to the clouds, the empty space in the sky is filled. Something that certainly benefits the photo.

Thanks for reading

Thanks for reading the third part of this series! In the next part we will be talking about different filters so don’t forget to tune in again next week! In case you missed last weeks blog & free video, click here.

If you like my photography, please follow me on Instagram @harmenpiekema and Facebook. Check out my YouTube channel to see behind the scene vlogs, learn how to use certain gear and follow me on my adventures. If you want you can check out my webshop. Your support means a lot!

 

 

 

 

 

 



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