A DECADE: 

The idea of making a photo book for yourself has been around for some time. So why this book and wait so long to create it. In the past I have made several photo books from my archive of travel photos. Now the main reason to create a book again was there. This year it was 10 years ago that I switched to the Olympus brand, today due to the acquisition, it is called OM System. Over the years I bought several cameras, ranging from the EM-10 to the EM-1 MARK I, II, III and the latest Olympus OM-1 MARK I with the Pro lenses from M.Zuiko in various zoom lenses. To this day I have not regretted making the move to Micro 4:3. The idea behind the book for me was the 10 years of using this brand. I imposed some restrictions on myself. The total was not to exceed 100 photos. 10 years in 100 photos was one, the second was nature and landscape. That brought up right away number three, travel. The other restriction was no people, animals or birds in these shots. Many think it’s simple, I simply make a photo book, and it’s just pictures I’m looking at. My thinking and perception and feeling will be different, I am proud with the final result. The book has over 200 pages. On the left side is a text block with info, and on the right page is the photo. This was done to give the photo the space it deserves, plus the subjects and colors next to each other don’t match. The book was designed in Booksmart by Blurb, which I personally prefer over Bookwright. In addition, for years I have found the 12 x 12inch or 30 x 30cm to be my favorite size of this Book printer. I always choose the Imagewrap cover. This time I chose the following type of paper: Mohawk proPhoto Pearl (formerly ProLine Pearl Photo), Semi-gloss 140# (190 GSM). This is something I am curious about because it is the heaviest paper Blurb supplies. A word about Blurb book makers, the tools to design the album are very adequate and easy to use. I do think Blurb should pay more attention to the cover design and materials. Some examples that come to mind are linen or leather covers in various colors as well as a pasted photo and embroided text or a spot varnish option. A slipcase will be also welcome in the line-up from Blurb. Are there more projects I can turn into book form in the near future. Yes indeed, for example I am thinking about the next book(s) Birds in the Garden as an option, as well as a travelogue of Kashmir and Ladakh. and from the archive Zoomland. and what the future holds for me. I find it very important to do otherwise it will remain stored on computer hard drives and those same hard drives will eventually give up and books never will. Thus create a book do yourself a favor, you will not regret it, it is your personal memory and witnesses. Indulge yourself you will not regret it.

Bird-watching in the garden is one of the most fun things to do when you have free time. Here in this garden there is no need for a hide, the birds come reasonably close, sometimes staying still. It is a pleasure to see how the behaviour is of some of the birds are. Some are quiet, others are nervous and skittish. Still others again are shy and stay low near the tea bushes and some hide in them. The Red Vented Bulbul is a pushy bird and does not tolerate any other bird around and when these are cranky they harass the other birds and chase them out of the garden. Then the Babbler, this species looks a lot like humans, and is good at making messes and not cleaning up. The Junglefowl the National bird here digs all over the garden in search of food. The migrant the Pita, is the most nervous of the bunch, smelling danger it scurries away into the undergrowth. It is a beautiful species to see and a welcome guest every year. The Minivet is also a popular bird in the garden, always looking for grubs and insects, this bird has a beautiful colouring. The male is orange/black and the ladies are dressed in yellow/black.
The birds in the garden always come in waves, when the Babblers come there are always other species that accompany them , like the aforementioned Red Vented Bulbul, Myna’s and Scimitar Babbler, this species mainly eats larvae, caterpillars and other insects. One of the most beautiful birds to come into garden is the Indian Paradise flycatcher, this is a graceful bird and as the name says always in diving flight grabbing its prey. Watching all this activity, you soon forget about time.
The garden here does not have the four seasons as in Europe, though it is clear that there are two seasons for the trees and certainly the plants. At this time of writing, it is November and you can clearly see that there are fewer flowers in the shrubs and plants, which also means fewer butterflies and insects. The equipment used is the OM-1.1 with the razor sharp M.Zuiko 300mm and sometimes the teleconverter TC 1.4 for the smaller bird species. All hand held without a tripod, so that you are more flexible. 

• After a long time it was time to visit the Horton Plains National Park. The weather looked good after all. As the crow flies we live about 20 km away from the entrance of the park. To be honest I don’t go there enough, but that’s another story. We drive via Boralanda to Ohiya and there the road climbs up to about 2100m altitude. Clouds get stuck on the mountains that dominate the landscape, we end up in it, it also brings rain. After a steep climb we arrive at the Main Gate and pay the entrance fee. It is drizzling and the clouds hang low so that the view is limited, it gives a spooky atmosphere to the whole. We drive slowly further passing the Staff bungalows, here we are still in a section with trees and large rhododendrons that bloom with red flowers. The question that comes to my mind how do they get here, I can’t tell. Slowly it changes into grassland, these are inhabited by the illustrious Leopard and the Sambar deer. It happens more and more often that you can see the leopard, as long as you come early. A little later we see the sambars grazing in the grasslands. The rain becomes heavier, a little later we arrive at the Park office. There they check the bags and backpacks for plastic bags, which are prohibited in the park. From there we can choose from two walking routes, the circular route of about 8.5 km or to the mountain top Kirigalpotta which is 7 km away from the park office. Please note that the opening hours of the park are 6 am in the morning to 6 pm in the evening. There are also possibilities to camp but that is limited. We choose the classic circular route. We walk anti-clockwise towards Bakers fall in the drizzle we climb the first paved hill and the path becomes a bit narrower and rougher, good walking shoes are required. The hills are mainly covered with grasses and rhododendrons, also various types of ferns and small wild flowers can be admired. Actually the idea today was to photograph birds, but they hide well. The species were limited today to the cinerous tit and pied buschat and jungle fowl, the lizards were also hard to find, eventually we saw the black cheeked lizard and that is endemic to Horton Plains. We descend to Bakers fall, no one to be seen, normally it is quite busy here, not this morning, it is of course because of the drizzle. I like it this way and to be honest the scene today is special. Low hanging clouds give a different atmosphere here than a clear blue sky, it is also a lot more interesting photographically I think, it gives atmosphere. After a little hour we continue the route towards World’s end, it goes downhill and on the view there is something clear here, the drizzle has stopped for a while. We pass some hikers, who ask if it is still far to the waterfall. In the meantime we enjoy the views. It is very quiet, no birds or animals to be seen here, we walk briskly, the drizzle is back unfortunately. We walk over a small bridge with clear water, sometimes you can see trout swimming here. In the distance we see Belihul Oya river making its way through the hilly landscape. Clouds hang against the mountains here. The view is quite limited on this part of the path. We take some pictures of the wild flowers and ferns. A few minutes walk we arrive at World’s end, this part is the most visited place in the park, it is a kind of plateau that ends with a steep wall, with a great view of the surroundings it looks a bit like a field with broccoli. In clear weather you can see the lakes in the Udawalawe national park in the distance and a little closer the water reservoir Samanalawewa near the town of Belihuloya. Beautiful view. From here the tour continues to Little World’s end. The path further that leads towards the Park office, here is a difficult part of the path very slippery over fantastically beautiful colored stones. A pair of Blackbirds are looking for food and the path continues towards a section with more trees to come out again on the overgrown grassy hills a little later. In clear weather you can see Adam’s peak in the distance, unfortunately not today the view is limited with the low hanging clouds. Our walk ends at the park office, there is also a small museum and shop with useful information, you can also ask questions about the flora and fauna to the park officers, who answer them in all friendliness. A little restaurant with some items is also nearby, also ice cream and limited soft drinks are available. On busy days there are some Sambar deers around to for begging food, they get used to this behaviour. 

The gear:

OM System OM-1 

12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

7-14mm f/2.8 Pro

40-150mm f/2.8 Pro

300mm f/4 Pro

Leofoto tripod and Olympus photo bag.