City trip – Bergen op Zoom in The Netherlands.

We decided to take a little break last Sunday to go on an adventure to the south of the Netherlands. A night at a spa hotel in the middle of the city centre in Bergen op Zoom should do the trick. The city is from 1212 and has a lot of old characteristic buildings. Our goals was simply to explore the city, take some photos and relax.

Water reflection at the beach in Bergen op Zoom

Bergen translates to hills or mountains in dutch and during the 80 year war the city had a remarkable natural defensive site, surrounded as it was by marshes and easily flooded polders. Furthermore, it could receive reinforcements and supplies by sea, if the besieging army did not have a fleet to blockade its port.

Gevangenpoort, the oldest monument in Bergen op Zoom

The weather was shifting as usual, however we were lucky to get a bit of sun and the temperature rose to above 15 degrees celsius for the first time this year.

The spring is finally on its way here in the Netherlands, and we can’t wait for all the colors to pop so we can start create some different photos. We all need a change now and then, and we are looking forward to capture some great photos of spring!

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It feels great to see all the small plants starting to grow again, hear the bugs that slowly starts buzzing around to collect pollen, and listen to the birds singing in the trees.

We stayed at the Fletcher Hotel-Restaurant Stadspark. The hotel has a waterview and is situated in the park in the city centre. It sure was a relaxing couple of days, enjoying the beautiful spa that featured several saunas, a steam room and several whirlpools with color therapy lighting.

A couple of city photography tips:

• Try out the bracketing function on your camera, this function is great for creating high quality HDR images, and can be especially useful when you are on a citytrip and want to capture as much details and colors as possible of the city scape. When you use the bracketing function, your camera takes three photos of the image composition you have selected, and you can merge these photos together in for example Lightroom or Photoshop to get your high quality HDR images. Using a tripod ensures that you get the exact same three images.

The church called Gertrudiskerk is situated in the town square.

• Another tip is to venture out in the city early in the morning. By doing so, you avoid the big crowds, and can get some great images that showcases the city itself, the houses and the different architectural features that you wish to use in your photos.

Early morning in the city centre of Bergen op Zoom.

• To make use of the natural light in the morning can also be a big plus and can help you get a better debt of field in your photos as the sun has not yet fully risen.

Sunrise at the Stadspark in Bergen op Zoom.

 

 

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