With this site I try to combine my 2 great interests in life and share these (hopefully successful) results with anyone who can appreciate them.

These interests – water polo and photography – have always played an important role in our family life: My father was an avid swimmer and water polo-player, and later on very active in the steering committee of our club and as referee for the Royal Dutch Swimming League. And when he saw an opportunity, he took his camera to swimming- and water polo events and spent the rest of the night in the darkroom to develop the photos, in order for everybody to enjoy the event again afterwards.

Therefore Sigmund Freud wouldn’t find it hard to explain where my passion for water polo and photography is grounded…

Sports photography

Important role models for me are professional photographers of the ‘caliber’ Martin Sharott, Robert Vos and especially Soenar Chamid (www.sportfotografie.nl) of whom I had the honor to get some education.
Soenar Chamid is not specifically into water polo, however, the readers of ManMeer! will acknowledge with me that the photos after the return from Beijing of our golden Olympic ladies in ManMeer! had just that little extra glow.

However I would not like to discredit familiar names in the Dutch water polo world as Wim Hollemans and Henk Swinkels, all-round photography professionals in their daily lives, who - with their knowledge and love for the sport - contribute a lot to water polo publicity in the Netherlands. 

Water polo photos

No matter how good they are, I often think that ‘dry’ sport photographers as Soenar Chamid cum suis, are in a comfortable position. Just like every other sports photographer, I strive to find and capture ‘the moment’. Freezing ‘the moment’ in which the player makes his or her ultimate action. In severe concentration, all the muscles tensed ultimately, facial expression that belong to the situation.

Such as this example with Arno Havenga in action in the national play-off finals in 2009. 
But then water polo. Like no other sportsmen, the water polo player knows that concentration, that muscle tension, that grimace, he or she gives everything in the duel with the competitor. But, specifically that what makes this sport so special and fantastic, is the same thing that bothers the water polo-photographer the most.. water.

In general, over 80% of the water polo-player is beneath the surface of the water, as in this picture where in fact there are 2 players battling for the best position to the ball. 

Taking this into account, it is clear that water polo is not a sport where one can easily take beautiful shots in action. Certainly not when when the light in the majority of the indoor swimming pools is dramatically bad for the photographer.

However I do sometimes succeed to capture that ‘one moment’, by freezing both the  sports(wo)man, as well as the water. And when that happens, the results are shots in which the sports(wo)man and the water become a state of art on its own.

…………………………………………. and those are ‘the moments’ I try to find through my lens.

 
About the quality of the photos

For a while I have been trying to improve myself in this hobby by investing in the necessary professional equipment. For the interested among you all: I work with Nikon D700 bodies with MBD10-battery-pack (to be able to reach 8 frames a second) and with 300mm, 70-200mm or 24-70 lenses, all in f/2.8 version. For the processing afterwards I use Adobe’s Lightroom and Photoshop extended with Fotoware’s Fotostation.

The quality of the pictures in my photo collections is strongly dependant on the location. The average indoor-pool in the Netherlands has dramatically bad lights. There are some good exceptions (Sportstad Heerenveen), some mediocre (De Tobbe in Gouda), but also some (for sports photography) almost useless swimming pools as Aquapulca Dordrecht or Arkendonk Oosterhout. Even a hypermodern pool as the Pieter v.d. Hoogenband-swimming stadium (De Tongelreep, Eindhoven) is not necessarily a place to make a bright and detailed shot. Bigger lenses are necessary for the distance, every enlargement makes the light-revenue less and less. I do now understand why men increased the light for a while to show a decent picture on TV at the EC swimming in 2008.

And about this ‘artistic’ or ‘professional’ quality of my photos: this has been improving by time (if I may say), and I became more and more selective on what to publish online. And off course: tastes may differ.
I do believe that, with 35 years of water polo experience, I have enough feeling for the game to be able to ‘read’ the progress of the match and capture the right duels, shooters and actions on the right moment. I strive to report whole matches, both game progress and techniques of the players, which causes some series to be a bit too large.

 
About the tarrifs

I work as a serious hobbyist and my work doesn’t make it to the pro’s (and their tariffs) yet. However the necessary equipment, software and effort that comes with adjusting pictures from badly lighted Dutch swimming pools into a nice photograph is as costly for me as it is for them.

I have started the Dutch website in May 2009 with fairly reasonable tariffs, also because of older material (that I have placed unselected and unrefined), but I hope to continue with presenting better and more valuable photos. By time my tariffs therefore will increase in the direction of the pro’s. I do strive to offer my photos for reasonable prices, mostly because many of my photos are made on youth water polo events.

And for whom may think my prices are too high: have a look at the websites of earlier mentioned sports photographers and you will see that they actually ask the 5-10 fold of my tariffs. Of which.. I cannot say that my work is 5-10 times worse than theirs….

About the products

You can order my pictures in several print forms (or download for those who is looking for a nice desktop background or anyone who likes to experiment with Photoshop himself).
Off course I’m open for specific wishes or ideas. For inspiration, have a look at the gift-ideas.

If you have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact us.