Overhere in the Netherlands we are blessed with the Wadden Sea Islands. No need to travel far or to go abroad to destress and relax. You just have to drive a couple of hours and then take the ferryboat which brings you in just 45 minutes to one of the islands, on our case Ameland. By the way, I can highly recommend the pea soup, served with dark rye bread and bacon, available on the boat…. yummy! Once on the island, life changes. For example. with no car available (we chose to leave it at the shore) we rediscovered the joy of walking and biking. Meaning with ‘we’ my boyfriend Edwin and I. With no other daily obligations and our heads clear nature looked even more better.
And this is where the fun begins. Where other photographers lose themselves on the Wadden Islands completely in landscape photography, we found ourselves pretty fast lying on the ground… taking pictures of toadstools. I know, it sounds crazy, but it is the truth. I never thought to find so many toadstools over here. I even bought a new tele lens because I was convinced Ameland would seduce me to take landscape and wildlife pictures. But no way, I hardly used it. It stayed in my photo bag for most of the time. But no worries, I am sure someday this lens will see the daylight and make itself useful.
As for Ameland, I was extremely happy with the toadstools and my macro lens. Moreover because it felt like catching up a bit with photographing in autumn. As you might know, I have been very busy during the summer with subjects as the Banded Demoiselle and the Banded Darters. In the following autumn however I only had very few opportunities to go out into the woods and enjoy the mushrooms. Maybe this more or less forced confinement was not that bad in the end, because hey the energy level can’t peak all the time . Anyway, this catching up with one of my beloved subjects felt really good.
Apart from all this, I honestly think whether you are a photographer or not, a trip to one of the Wadden Islands is highly recommended.
Below you can see some of my pictures, taken during this trip to Ameland.
