"What I particularly like about this picture is its "filmic" quality (as though it was taken on film)...Maybe if you look long enough, you can also feel the warmth of that afternoon sun, hear the seagulls and take a break before you continue on with your day!
I have just added this new picture to my gallery of The Hague and decided that it should be the latest photo story to tell you on my blog! In these challenging times, getting out and about is difficult or near impossible for most of us (depending on where we live), and this is a photo I was unexpectedly pleased to capture during a late afternoon walk.
In this era of working from home, I love to get out and walk at the end of the day if the weather is good enough and, at the moment at least, I am lucky enough to live near to Scheveningen Harbour in The Hague. Usually, I plug in my earphones and walk past the small yachts and fishing boats on my way to the promenade that runs along the beach. On this day, I decided I'd take my camera as well, just in case - maybe it was the sight of a cloud-scattered sky that gave me some hope that I might catch an interesting sky scene during my walk. Sometimes the best photos show up when you least expect them to.
The harbour is a lovely place to go in the summer - it has several restaurants looking out over the boats with many different cuisines (Italian, Peruvian, Greek, Turkish, Thai and a couple of highly-acclaimed fish restaurants). All closed right now of course. It was wonderful just to get outside at last and walk after a day inside.
The Tall Ship Minerva (a pleasure boat) is often moored in the harbour. Sometimes it can be seen out to sea (and I'm yet to capture a photo of it on a sunsetting horizon, where it looks incredible!) I went up to the boat to try a few pictures, but nothing I was particularly happy with. Oh well. I continued on my walk, just happy to breathe some fresh air, get some sun on my face and refocus my eyes on anything but the laptop. And not every landscape has to be seen through the camera, right? Seagulls circled around and several other people also out for refreshing walks passed me along the way.
On the way back home, I glanced across the harbour and stopped to admire the clouds and scene of the tall ship. I had a sudden idea to capture the boat in the distance with a starburst sun, as it was just peeping around the clouds. I took several shots and then carried on walking home, intrigued to see the results on the big screen the following day. I didn't expect much, as that's always a sure way to be disappointed, but I am always optimistic when I manage to achieve the starburst effect!
What I particularly like about this picture is its "filmic" quality (as though it was taken on film) and the fact that is takes a fairly typical view of the harbour and highlights its special qualities (not least the clouds and low sun on that afternoon). And just to think that I almost did not bother to carry my heavy camera that day.
I hope you enjoy the picture and moment of "escape" that it provides from these unusual times. Maybe if you look long enough, you can also feel the warmth of that afternoon sun, hear the gulls and take a break before you continue on with your day!
If you like this picture, take a look at it in my gallery, where you can also buy digital, print and other products of this image. And of you are interested in following me, you can sign up to my newsletter (when you do, you'll get a download link to my e-book containing 9 more stories about some of my favourite photos).
Do you want to know anything more about this photo? Leave me comments and questions! And please share this post if you think others might enjoy it too! 😊