Here are a few pictures of the event (logically, you can understand that my great interest was de Dutch Navy here ^^).

All of the pictures were taken with my cellphone…my camera ran out of battery..so unlucky!

The Welcome Committee...

HrMs De Tromp Coming into the Picture...

F803 - HrMs De Tromp - Just Back from Somalia...

View from the Office...

Hr. Ms. Walrus - Moored

Hr.Ms De Tromp - Moored and flags held high!

The Swedish Ship...in black!

...and the Italians...

Well people, that was it. During the 4 days of the Sail event…the organisation counted about 1.5 Million visitors…that day (the first one), it was totally unbelievable so many people were present! Just such a pity my camera couldn’t attend this…

The concept of such a Joyride is quite simple:

1. Subscribe on the BMW website
2. Get chosen (difficult part)
3. Pick up the car at a location of your choice
4. Enjoy the car during 3-5 days! (just so you know: you are not allowed to cross the Dutch border)

PART1: Saturday & Sunday

Well, Saturday 24th of July was the day I went to collect the car. The car waiting for me was the following: BMW Series 318 TI! The car was ‘quite’ new (about 11,000kms on it) and got the business edition option package. It was the first time for me to drive a BMW for that long and I must say I was really looking forward for that weekend!

Big nose...somewhat cat-like no?

Angels Eyes...

...and yes, I was driving car #79!

The idea of that weekend (Sat-Sun) was to drive, drive drive and drive! Combining a couple of vouchers and tickets, we managed to get a B&B in Harlingen.

In order to reach our destination, we had to cross some interesting locations…

#79 resting at a parking...

Left: Netherlands | Right: England, USA, etc etc.

Enjoying the Sun...

BMW's ready for the road!

This is a small town in the North of the Netherlands. Here, we had some nice dinner (Mussels, and some ice cream!). While driving to the North, we passed some nice highways (some recommended by BMW) and really got to appreciate the car.

Some shots of Harlingen…

Harlingen, the fishermen town...

After a good rest...ready to hit the road again!

After having spent the night at Harlingen, we went to Leeuwarden. It was the first time for us to go there, and it felt totally different than any Dutch city where we have been in. Once we visited the centre of Leeuwarden, we headed back to the ‘South’ by visiting Den Helder. This city is very ‘maritime’, indeed, the main base of the Dutch Royal Navy is there! This visit was so interesting as it ‘kept’ the dream going!

Watching the sea (and more; read: the Navy) at Den Helder...

Here we saw an interesting seagull scavenging for healthy junk food. That bird was quite amazing as it tried to pick an entire paper bag of it from the trashcan. After this visit to Den Helder, we drove back south and landed in Katwijk aan Zee. Here we walked on the beach and had some seafood.

The beach at Katwijk aan Zee

Part 2: BMW Drive Experience

Tuesday was the day BMW invited us to participate in a morning driving on a closed track and learn (and discover) some safety manoeuvres. This was very interesting and allowed the drivers to gain confidence when the car is gliding and sliding on very slippery surfaces and gain back control. The company providing this training was ‘ProDriving’ and their instructors were very friendly. This all happened at Lelystad Airport.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures on the track. I therefore took some pictures from the outside of it.

Never seen so many BMW's...

We were about 50 cars that day, grouped in different exercice groups.

Exercices at hand:
- Regain control on a slippery roundabout.
- Eland Test at 60km/h
- Emergency Brake test and Evasion at 60 km/h
- ‘Fun’ Laps on the Oval

We finished the exercices by going at 130 km/h on a 45 degree sloping oval track. This was a first for me to do so.  All-in-all, it was a very good experience and many of us learnt a lot that morning. Thanks a lot Michael (Prodrive Training Instructor) for your tips & tricks!

After this event, I decided to head south to Geldrop (near to Eindhoven). This 150 kilometer drive was quite exciting as, together with some other Joyride BMW’s, we headed to a similar destination.

Here is a map of the itinerary that we drove during our JoyRide:

...about 1,000kms in a few days...

We decided to ride on some of the roads that BMW suggested to us from a little booklet that was given when collecting the car. This came to be quite handy, but was given a bit too late as I can imagine people would have planned a weekend road trip.

Part3: the Returning
Well, after having been able to enjoy this car for 4 days, we had to return it next morning. Surprisingly, tuesday evening, I received an sms from BMW reminding me to return the car. Otherwise they would call the police!  Once the car returned, I had to walk back and take a tram…that felt quite different. It is suprising how fast you can get used to owning a dream. For now, let’s keep that dream alive, but this time, with an M before that 3.

For higher resolution pictures, don’t hesitate to check out my studios’ site by clicking here.

- everywhere in the world, groups of photographers meet and go for a walk in their own city.

Interestingly, through my social network, I manage to motivate about 12/13 people to join (from the 50). This was so motivating and cool. I hope they all enjoyed the morning as much as I did.

Anyways,  here are some of the pictures:

The Reflection of Den Hague

The reflection of a photographer...

Mon and Son on a scooter through Den Haag

Flowers on Black...

The Sun peeking through the greens...

Window-in-Window...

The Lens and its reflections...

Run Duckie Run!

A Duckie cleaning itself..

Den Haag on a doorknob... (interesting story, ask!)

Reflection on the doorknob in Black and White..

During that day, I met some cool people who had some amazing techniques. I have learnt these, but it is always about practicing! (will post some trial pictures soon)

Here is the last batch of pictures of the luchtmachtdagen! Enjoy…

Belgian F-16 Flying By...

Belly Pass! (loving the paint job!)

Popping Flares! (was lucky on the shutter )

Flares falling from the skies...

Some more flare-popping moments! (loving how the flares light up the plane and the smoke trails)

Close-up of pilot and the canopy ^^

Coming-in hot! (What is that bird thinking? )

Painting: "Smoke in the Sky"

Painting the skies white!

Crazy Barrel rolling Turkish Aerobatics Pilot!

For those interested in the pilot ^^

Me during the F-16 demo (see how far we were standing?)

Smiling faces during the demonstrations!

Now the pictures of the so amazing Britisch Red Arrows!

Beginning the show with a radial break! (Nice contrast ay?)

Painting the skies blue, red and white!

Breaking left, right and up!

The "Unlimited Formation"

Close Head-on Fly-by at about 500km/h (lucky on the shutter again...)

Double Inner Barrel rolling! (sorry, couldn't be lighter or more contrasty...)

Close Triangle Formation

Then the English said goodbye. Same manoeuvre as they opened the show plus a  battle formation fly-over ( over the audience).

Radial Break

Good bye...

Battle Formation Fly-over

Now the Patrouille de France… due to the weather, they only did the group ‘rigeurs’ and not the dynamic high programme. Quite disappointing, but still very impressive. I guess the French fly better than the play soccer .

The 3x3x2 '18' formation

Blue-Blanc-Rouge...(inverted the dutch one!)

Final Close formation fly-by and starting the landing right-breaks

Well, hope all of these pictures gave you a good impression how the Luchtmachtdagen 2010 were! We will have to wait 2 years for the next event to come. Due to the financial crisis, the Ministry of Defense decided not to host the show next year, but the year after. Already counting down the days and hoping for better weather then!

Should you wish some high-resolution pictures, feel free to contact me…

Mi-24 'Hind' flying by...

Mi-24 'Hind' making a hard turn ^^

Mi-24 'Hind' straight in front! Scaaarryyy... ^^

Mi-24 'Hind' flying by

Saab Gripen at take-off!

Side-shot of the Saab Gripen!

Belly Shot of the Gripen! Look at all these anchor points!

Heat distorsion...

Jordanian Eagles Flying by...

Jordanian Falcons in formatin flying over...

NH-90! Such a cool machine!

Koninklijke Marine Lynx...

Belgian Coastguard Demonstration!

The Turkish Stars started their demonstration...

Turkish Stars - Close Formation fly-by...

Nice!

Filling the skies with smoke!

Break left, right and up!

Solo Fly-by...

The Eurofighter Typhoon slamming through the corners!

After these demos, the main act of the day took place: The RNAF AirPower Demonstration.
It was a very exciting moment, as all the different types of planes and helicopters and their uses were showed off.

There was even a demonstration how 2 Apache Gunships would engage vehicles using their .30 Cal gun.

The Dutch Airpower Demo 'Attack on Gilze Rijen'

The attack on Gilze Rijen - A strike force peaking through the clouds...

The strike group approaching while F-16 are pounding the ground...

KDC-10 for in-air refueling and carrying troops!

After the Airpower Demo, it was time for the F-16 Demo of the RNAF!

Dutch F-16 Demo at Take-off! Show me these after-burners!

Show me that Dutch Lion!

Dutch Demo at landing...

After the Dutch, it was time for the Irish to show their Eurofighter…(once more ^^)

Eurofighter in action...

Can you feel the heat? ^^

Once the jets finished their demo, we were displayed a ‘historic part’ of the programme. As a main act: the spitfire.

Spitfire flying by...

The so typical shape of the spitfire...

Once this done, it was time to introduce the logistical aspects of defense. Therefore, a C-17 Globemaster was invited to fly a couple of rounds and diplaying its extremely short take-off and landing runway! Totally amazing!

C-17 Globemaster in flight...

Big, Slow and so impressive! While performing a slow-pass, it almost felt that it was hovering in the skies. What a difference from the jets!

During the show, the police did several fly-bys too in order to take some pictures of the crowd…I am wondering how that picture would look like!

Say Cheese!

Well people, this is the first part of the Luchtmachtdagen 2010. Keep tuned for some more pictures (covering the Red Arrows, the Patrouille de France, etc.)!

I hope you have seen how gray, cloudy, rainy, windy, bad the weather was…

On the day of the pick-up, it appeared that the lens wasn’t performing as it was meant to (someone broke the IS!) , so I was given the 300mm L 2.8 IS USM lens! yay! This was quite different from what I expected, so I decided to take it for a test drive in order to get acquainted with its operation.

Big or what? ^^ (and yes, this picture was taken at the Luchtmachtdagen)

Here are a few shots taken with that lens…

Quizz Question: how far was I standing to take this picture?

Focusje

You gotta love reflections!

Summer Foilage

Barbed Wire..

Getting Close with a bird...

Flying Over...(and no, the bird isn't "photoshopped" in the blue sky..)

Even birds don't like cheaters!

Birds messing with each other

A lost cabine next to the highway...

I must say that this lens is totally amazing (sharpness, speed, aperture, color, etc.)…although I can already feel some limits (especially when it comes to aerobatic-photography (in terms of composition of the picture). Well, I will have 2 days to fully experience this lens and the luchtmachtdagen! I am feeling that that will be a quite painful moment when I will have to return the lens to its owner…

If you want to know more about my experience with this lens, feel free to contact me.

In the next few days, I will be uploading pictures (and blogging about my experience) of the luchtmachtdagen 2010!

Just a couple of fast snaps and video of how we at Philips prepare for the WorldCup and celebrate Dutch goals!

Even products were supporting the Dutch!

Orange Candles...

A soccer sanctuary...

Waiting (impatiently) for the first goal...

Cheers!

Hey all,

This morning, I was about to enter the office when I noticed a group of people ready to jump into the cold and murky  water of Amsterdam. As I was carrying my camera with me…I decided to join and take some pictures of this quite interesting and cold event.

Here are a few of the shots:

The group - ready for the jump

The group - entering the water

The Group - In Flight

Just one more for the cause!

Well..hope these guys don’t get sick!

Weeks ago I was in France and I decided to take some pictures there as the weather was nice and I never actually took pictures there (in the fields I mean)…

Here are some of the shots of the fields around Autouillet…

Puffy

Confused Depth of Field?

Welcome to the Jungle

An inhabitant open for photography!

A Profile Shot for this small animal?

Klein maar fijn

These were just a few of the snaps I took that day. Hope you like them…

Now, for those interested in taking action shots:
I am planning to go to the Luchtmachtdagen the 18/19th of June.Don’t know what to expect that day? Check out a previous post with some pictures on that topic (here). Want to come with? Drop me a line…

Don’t look at the small thumbnails as Blogspot and WordPress had some communication issues when moving hosts…

Yesterday a few of us went to a photography workshop organized by Foam and RedBull. This time, it was all about what Amsterdam could give us as “Small Things”. Here, the aim was to find objects, situations, symbols, etc. which carry light, amusement, interest and remembrance. The key is to find items that you cannot find in a tourist book (which are listed as big things)…

You can find a few of the pictures here:

You may have noticed that I brought some highly reflective glass marbles…sometimes you need to bring some of your own stuff in photography. Just click on the picture to enlarge it! Lesson from last time! +1

Pigeons greeted us in Amsterdam....

Found some taped quotes...

Little Lost and Lonely Ant

For Tourists from Tourists...

When small things turn large...

From Small to Big...

A Red Bull for the contest

Nice Lens Flare ay?

Marbles! Can you see Amsterdam? ^^

Where is Amsterdam?

Flowers...

Again some Marbles!

Flowers in the Sun!

The Ant!

The Ant on Lomo!

The two and a long road ahead...

Lens!

Lili being too curious ^^

Angry RoboPigeon!

Some Action shots...

Some more Action!

Group picture moment...who gets all the other cameras?

Analogue for everyone?

Termi-Nikon-ator? ^^

Desert Amsterdam Shot...

After having walked a while…we had lunch and headed to the “refuel point”. Once arrived there, and entered the building, we noticed a cool floor lightshow. You can have a look at it on the movie below…

See you around!