Rules make for symmetry-breaking behavior. Bicycles traveling above 30 kph in the Netherlands require the rider to have a helmet. This means that bikes are either clearly much slower or, once they’re fast enough to demand a helmet, a lot faster.
Tag: travel
The Man Relaxing in an Amsterdam House Boat
Amid the historic architecture, the riot of midsummer greenery, and the chaos of boats on the canals of Amsterdam, I appreciated the stillness and calm of the man relaxing in the window.
Lunch on an Amsterdam Canal
I was semi-impressed to see the pigeons waiting patiently far away from this lunch-enjoyer in Amsterdam, but then I saw the green writing as his feet. While I’m sure that simple graffiti or utility markings are the true meaning of the lines, I like to imagine instead that they represent some kind of arcane invocation that protects his sandwich from avian interference.
Winning the Puissance
This winning moment from CSI Ommen’s Saturday-night puissance (jumping an increasingly tall wall of hollow blocks) is impressive to me for two reasons. The most obvious is the incredible height this horse is successfully clearing. Just as amazing to this American is the huge turnout of spectators present in both the foreground and background—far beyond what is seen at most US events.
Ommen Morning
Utopian mornings begin with a friendly boat trip into town.
Blue Hour Windmill
Windmill, bicycle paths, boats… This is an extremely Dutch picture.
Sunset Behind a Schiphol Control Tower
The dramatic slashes of clouds and scattered sunlight behind the control tower of Schiphol Airport make a dramatic cap above the mundane concrete and steel.
Feeding the Giraffes
The looks of excitement and joy on the faces of visitors to the Living Desert as they feed lettuce to the giraffes is pretty infectious.
Colors from the Samuel Beckett Bridge
Bridges over the River Liffey shift from the historical to the more modern in pace with the architecture.
Night on the Streets of Dublin
In comparison with landscape and sports photography, I’m far less experienced with the world of street photography. On this particular November evening on the streets of Dublin, I thought it might be fun to push my technical limits a bit.
Stills of Pearse Lyons
Pearse Lyons Distillery was constructed in a long-disused church in Dublin. The full renovation of the space included replacing the original (and long-damaged) stained glass with whiskey-focused glass. (Check out the glass still in the window behind the copper stills!)
Scope of the Gaol
Another view of the interior of Kilmainham Gaol further emphasizes the enormous enclosed volume—and the number of lives enclosed therein.
Inside Kilmainham
In the corridors of Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, the specter of day (and freedom) seems to wash in around every corner.
Still, the array of colors found in the drab, gray walls. Would that have given any comfort to the people imprisoned here?
Roof of St. Canice’s
Views high above beautiful countrysides are more commonly the results of a drone in 2024, but I captured this shot of Kilkenny, Ireland the old-fashioned way: climbing the worn ladders of an old round tower to reach its windy pinnacle.
Skies Over Kilkenny
A big sky and a tiny village make for a borderline-cliché Irish setting.
Decaseconds 