Submitter's name:	Hans van Veluwen
Title:	Dutch Storm / How strong is the lonely bicyclist
Equipment used:	Olympus OM-4Ti, Zuiko 18mm/F3.5, Manfrotto monopod
Aperture:	Not recorded, probably F5.6 or F8
Shutter speed:	Not recorded, probably about 1/125s
Technical information:	Auto mode
Film used:	Kodak E100VS
Location:	Zaanse Schans, The Netherlands
Remarks:	Dutch landscapes don't come any Dutchier than this one: water, clouded skies, flat meadows, windmills and bicycles. Ok, I could have included some tulips and a lost tourist on wooden shoes smoking marihuana. The title "How strong is the lonely biker" is a translation of a famous song by Boudewijn de Groot, "Hoe sterk is de eenzame fietser". The other title "Dutch Storm" refers to the weather: you see the beginning of a heavy storm; I was almost blown into the water and when I drove home I was nearly blown from my moped. De Zaanse Schans (north of Amsterdam) is world famous for its cluster of eight windmills - shown here are "De Kat", "De Gekroonde Poelburg" and "De Huisman" in case anyone cares.
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

O.k., I've got to get nostalgic here, as this picture was taken in my birthplace! Not only was this picture taken in my birthplace, but also I have found myself often in this situation: ploughing in against the strong wind. Very nice!

Comment left by: C.H.Ling (chling@glink.net.hk)

Looks fine, but all the components were putting on the right, a little feel of unbalance. Better to have the windmill sitting at left and facing the right.

Comment left by: Ken N. (no e-mail specified)

Disagree. By loading the right-hand side of the photo it creates this mass of "white space". Usually you want your subjects to look into the frame, not out of the frame, but the subject matter isn't the bicycle, nor the windmills--it's the wind. Wind being an "invisible" entity is alluded to in this photograph. Great shot.

Comment left by: Eric Pederson (epederso@darkwing.uoregon.edu)

It's certainly more interesting than my photos at the same spot. Dutch landscapes are easy to paint than photograph! I can see the argument for having more space for the bicyclist to be struggling into since it isn't a photo about the wind for me as the wind is mostly prominent in the title, not the image. On the other hand, the cloud formations are much more interesting on the left and create lines running into the center windmill. I guess the obvious solution would be to use something wider than an 18mm lens!!! :-) (And to get in a bit closer to the "fietser".

Comment left by: Chris Barker (imagopus@threeshoes.co.uk)

I love this. Nice use of the weather (and brave) with a wonderful subject.

Comment left by: siddiq (no e-mail specified)

nice "watercolour" effect. nice place for a ride too, it would seem

Comment left by: Wayne Harridge (no e-mail specified)

The water really enhances this shot

Comment left by: bbbean (bbbean@beancotton.com)

if one of the primary functions of a landscape is to give a sense of place, this one does an admirable job. Composition wise, there are nots to pick, but nothing major.

Comment left by: Walt Wayman (hiwayman@mynra.com)

Nearly perfect. I only wish the cyclist had been a little further back in the frame, though, like maybe just past the center windmill. Much further back and I think the image would be too small.

Comment left by: Joel Wilcox (no e-mail specified)

Swirls of cloud texture fit the theme of the place nicely.

Comment left by: John A. Lind (no e-mail specified)

Minor nit: Looks as if the horizon line is very slightly sloped. However, achieving a dead level one using the 18mm as you did with a monopod in the wind is exceedingly difficult, and it doesn't look off by very much. You can level it with a very slight rotation of the digital scan. If you have a large print made, it's more than close enough to level if it's matted when framed (I've done this before). I don't find it uncomfortably imbalanced. To my eye, the road and canal balance the windmills. They pull the eye around toward the left enough to compensate for the windmills on the right, in addition to the wind Ken N. mentions (also pushes the bicyclist back into the image). I like the pastel sky color that matches the soft contrast from the overcast diffused lighting. Also a surprisingly moderate saturation from E100VS which usually super-saturates everything. Nicely done and I can feel the pressure of the wind just looking at it.

Comment left by: Moose (dreammoose@attbi.com)

When I look at this picture, I feel there must be another in that line of windmills just behind my left shoulder. These big features make the superwide perspective really work. I like the composition. The 'Suggestion of Thirds' wouldn't work for me on this scene, either making the windmills too small or losing the sense of expansiveness on the left.

Comment left by: Hans van Veluwen (the photographer) (hcvanveluwen@chello.nl)

I'm not a Dutch landscape painter from the 17th century trying to create a perfect composition - I tried to capture both the essence of this landscape and the weather. The landscape is not just dominated by the windmills; the mere essence of the surrounding landscape is the combination of land and water. Hence the name of the region: Waterland. Large parts of Waterland exist of a network of hundreds of miniature islands, on some of which cows are kept in the summer, surrounded by ditches. Maybe I'll go back there for my next TOPE submission on the water theme... I shot a full roll of film at this scene and picked this one because the bicyclist adds something extra. Yes I overlooked the unleveled horizon; otherwise I probably would have corrected it with the built-in tools of PhotoImpact. But as it is, it really also expresses the storm I had to fight against keeping my camera level on a monopod.... By the way, here's a link for all you windmill-loving tourists - it shows the windmills from the other side with sun shining on them. This image also shows the essence of the character of the E100VS...

Comment left by: Jez Cunningham (no e-mail specified)

Nice one, but crop the left 20% to lose that bit of water, and turn the cyclist to be entering the picture bottom right to balance the right-looking windmills - and to have a more uniform background behind him.

Comment left by: Jacob Cooper (jcooper19@yahoo.com)

Nice, evocative portrait of a land! The only thing I'd suggest is to add more sky - the lines of the clouds start taking me up to another nice "white space" as some have described it, and I'd get a better sense of the overpowering weather.

Comment left by: Mickey Trageser (no e-mail specified)

Maybe you could have asked the cyclist to pull a 'wheelie' to enhance the apparent effect of the wind! ;-) I would have like to see some motion blur on the windmill blades. I like the composition just fine.

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