Trip to Amsterdam
I have been a bit terrible at making time for photography at the moment. Usually that makes me a little upset or in a weird way, slightly guilty for having spent money on all the equipment, but not making the effort to go out and make the most of it. However, I have had so many other things I have been enjoying at the moment - picking up road cycling as a hobby, visiting friends and family, going to gigs, watching the Rugby World Cup on weekends and other things I know have been happening but have been so numerous I can’t even think of them. All these plans have meant that I haven’t really gotten that sense of guilt I usually feel when I haven’t been spending time on photography. But when I had a trip booked to Amsterdam with my partner Vicky and our friends Ellie and Owain, I knew that as well as some time with friends and sightseeing, the trip would be a good opportunity to get my camera gear out of the draw and take it on the trip, and hopefully feel a bit inspired again to create some photos in a very picturesque city. I am happy to report that it worked! There’s nothing like being in an unfamiliar setting to trigger some inspiration and on top of this, I also took some new gear (in the form of a GoPro) on the trip to get some interesting videos of the creative process. I’m not embarrassed to admit that almost as fun as being there on the holiday was watching all the videos back on the laptop and editing the final POV photo walk video.
As I am sure you are already aware, Amsterdam is a lovely little city and the capital of the Netherlands. As well as world renowned tourist attractions such as the Anne Frank House and Rijksmuseum, the city’s canals, cobbled streets and leaning townhouses make for a picturesque shooting location. These and the piles upon piles of bicycles and crowds of cyclists drew my attention when out and about taking photos. Not (or very little) photographed were our visits to the Rijksmuseum and Body Worlds Museum (both highly recommended), our canal boat tour and a little Irish pub where we played darts and watched Rugby.
Rather than describe the rest of the trip for you, you can see a video of my trip and of my photo walks in the city on YouTube (embedded below). All in all the holiday was great and I’d recommend Amsterdam to anyone who hasn’t yet been. The trip certainly triggered a bit of inspiration to take more photos and the format of filming POV photo walks while I am out taking photos is something I am keen to do more of in the future.
