I went on holiday with my wife for a week in the Dutch province of Overijssel, and of course, we brought our cameras along. We rented a lovely house in the woods, and during our stay, my camera trap recorded deer, foxes, badgers, hares, mice, and birds of prey right in our garden. Unfortunately, we experienced many cloudy days, but one day and night the sky was quite clear, allowing me to plan some early morning landscape shots by the small Regge River in an otherwise agricultural area.
Since the morning would start with a chill in the air, I hoped to capture some mist rising over the meadows and the water, and I was not disappointed. The sight of cattle with their heads just above the fog looked very picturesque. However, I struggled to find a decent background due to the presence of many high-voltage power lines. When I turned my attention to the river, I found most spots were quite dark, with trees and bushes on both sides lacking sufficient contrast.
As the sun rose, conditions looked more promising, and I settled on the riverbank to capture a view of an S-bend in the river with the sun behind me. Some trees were already illuminated, and while I was adjusting my settings, a family of swans unexpectedly swam close to me. I didn’t notice them until they had already passed by. The male swan kept looking at me, almost urging his family downstream. When his head moved into a small patch of sunlight, I realised that my landscape photo had just improved significantly.
