Name: Franka Slothouber
Picture title: Coot
Category: Nature of “De Lage Landen”
Nationality: the Netherlands
Occupation: I’m a professionally working amateur.
Technical information
Camera: Nikon Z6
Lens: Tamron 100-400mm, 100mm
EXIF: 1/200e sec, F13, iso 8000
Accessories: Polarizing filter, no tripod, handheld.
CATEGORY WINNER NATURE OF “DE LAGE LANDEN”
Franka Slothouber | Coot
Name: Franka Slothouber
Picture title: Coot
Category: Nature of “De Lage Landen”
Nationality: the Netherlands
Occupation: I’m a professionally working amateur.
Technical information
Camera: Nikon Z6
Lens: Tamron 100-400mm, 100mm
EXIF: 1/200e sec, F13, iso 8000
Accessories: Polarizing filter, no tripod, handheld.
Franka Slothouber says:
I captured this photo in November 2021 at the end of a photo session in the Amsterdamse Bos (the forest of Amsterdam) that was all about autumn trees. When I was satisfied with the results of that session I started to walk back to my car. But before I reached the parking lot I crossed a small bridge overlooking a pond covered with beautifully colored beech leaves that had fallen off the trees. A coot was swimming towards me, hoping for me to throw some bread in the water. I didn’t have any bread with me, but I noticed the coot left a nice ‘smokey’ swimming trail behind. By turning my circular polarizing filter the water almost turned black, creating a beautiful contrast and making the colors of the beech leaves stand out.
About Franka Slothouber:
the Netherlands
I was born in May 1961 and raised in a family of designers, an environment with more attention to graphic beauty than nature. After finishing my study as a social worker I have to spend about 25 years at the Dutch national press agency ANP, working as a photo editor and managing public relations on several photo projects. I must have edited thousands of professional photos before I picked up the camera myself in 2007. My preference to look for subjects in nature, combined with my upbringing in design stuff and work experience at ANP, resulted in a mix of graphic compositions and attention to subtle details.
At first, I used to be an avid wildlife photographer, gradually specializing in bird photography. But after a decade I felt my aging body was not able to keep on doing the same physically challenging things I had done in the years before. So at the end of 2018, I decided to make a radical change in my photographic routine and began to explore other kinds of nature photography, using creative techniques to depict a wide range of subjects. Nowadays I tend to make a lot of intimate landscapes, but birds will always be very dear to me.