So, it has been quiet for a while for a good reason. That reason is Tom! He was born end of May and is doing fine! The big brother is proud, see Sam in the last photo.

The Isle of Skye was on my wish list for a few years, however I never really explored the means to get there or the costs. I thought the only way to get there was by boat from The Netherlands to Scotland and then drive, to save costs and go with my own car. Still I thought this was a costly trip and therefor it did not materialise. So why now?

Brachter Wald is a nature reserve in Noordrijn-Westfalen, west of Bracht, on the high planes of the Maas. Elevation of this area varies up till 60 meters. Not that difficult but with perfect walking trails a nice family hiking area.

Since my previous post, Evenings in the Ardèche, I have been going through some previous shot Fujifilm photos. As my post processing and workflow are now adjusted to Fujifilm files together with much better Lightroom support, I'm rediscovering photos that I discarded earlier. 

After 5 days in San Francisco it was time to pack and head towards Yosemite National Park. The drive it self was quite boring, but when entering the park and especially Yosemite Valley we were amazed. The grand wild river, the landscape and the mighty El Capitan. That huge monolith rock formation is just amazing!

After the road trip to Santa Cruz the weather changed and the sun was replaced by mist and rain. A perfect time to visit the nearby Redwood Regional Park. We hiked along a nice trail and in the forest forgot about the not so great weather.

What to do with a week of vacation? That was our question, go to a city here in Europe, because time is limited or just something else. Well even though the long journey we decided to go to San Francisco and Yosemite National Park. 

My photography teacher once said “If you want to advance in photography and find your own style, go and create series”. I think he used the word “create” specifically as series do not simply appear (sometimes they do), but in general it takes effort, work and insights to form a real series.