A short break

Yes, there's a reason I haven't blogged nearly enough these past few months: The Renovation.

I've been working on renovating our house for several years now. And although there's still a lot of work to be done, I've thankfully reached a point where I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel, and I really hope to find a better balance between DIY and relaxation soon.

As a preview, I dusted off my camera last week and took a break. Spending a few days in nature in Groningen and Drenthe is always a nice thing. And yes, even though it's obviously vacation time now, there are still some quiet spots to be found in this overpopulated little country.

Fortunately, nature offered me a nice variety of subjects, which I gratefully focused my camera on.

A young bearded tit in the reeds. Of course, the colors aren't as beautiful as those of an adult male, but it's still a fantastic sighting, and luckily, it stayed put on that one stem just long enough.

Hunebed D21 forms a beautiful duo with that fantastic beech tree next to it.

On a narrow country lane there was just enough space to pull over and capture this yellow wagtail.

The photo below was taken from a bird hide. Not particularly noteworthy, but it was already getting dark and it was also the first time I'd photographed a fox, so I'm not complaining.

I've been following Simon Booth's YouTube channel for a while now, a British landscape and nature photographer. He's truly an expert at capturing "intimate landscapes," or close-ups of small subjects he encounters in nature. Just watch one of his videos. It all looks so easy, but I can assure you, finding such interesting compositions isn't easy. Below are the results of three attempts I made in Gieten-Borger forestry.