Fun with HDR...

Veronica has a lot of fun playing around with HDR (high-dynamic-range) imaging. With this technique, she takes three photos of different exposures (one is exposed for the foreground, one for the background and another for the mid ground). She then uses special software to combine the three images which often results in exaggerated colors.

As you can see, an abandoned amusement park lends itself perfectly to HDR imaging.

This playground looks especially spooky in HDR.

The Ferris Wheel...

I wish I could take credit for all of these cool photos, but Veronica took possession of my camera for the day (we broke down and bought her a new camera in January so I won't have to share on future vacations, but I'll likely still end up posting her photos instead of my own).

It was a bit freaky that the ferris wheel creaked and spun in the wind.

Veronica has taken my love of photographing reflections to a whole new level.

Abandoned Tracks...

Spreepark Rides...

Spreepark, next to the River Spree, originally opened in 1969. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the park was greatly expanded. By 2001, it was bankrupt. The entire tour was in German, but we were lucky because the owner's daughter showed up and spent about 20 minutes with us explaining her family's involvement.

Her story sounded completely like a soap opera. Her father and brother brought along six rides with them when they moved to Peru, supposedly to open a park there. She confirmed the rumors on Wikipedia that her father attempted to smuggle cocaine from Peru to Germany in a flying carpet ride. She was very angry that her father walked free after shifting the blame to her brother, who is spending 20 years in a Peruvian prison.

While we might not have been able to understand the tour guide, he clearly didn't mind that we wandered around to take photos. As you can see, there were lots of great spots for photos. A scene in the movie Hanna from 2011 was filmed in the park.

Tour of an Abandoned Amusement Park...

We had heard good things about New Year's Eve in Berlin, so we decided to head east for a few days. Rather than visit historical sites, the girls were determined to visit several urbex sites. Veronica was especially excited when she discovered that there was an abandoned amusement park in the former East Berlin. Rather than having to figure out how to get in while avoiding growling guard dogs, we opted to pay for a guided tour.

As you can see, strange things happen to people who visit this park.

Amsterdam Light Festival...

In the late afternoon, the weather turned wet and nasty. Helen and Lucy headed home, but Ashlynn was willing to stay with me to walk around the Amsterdam Light Festival, which featured a large variety of very different art installations along a two-mile walking trail around the city.

I especially liked this funky exhibit of lamps outside the city hall.

After years of construction, it was lovely to see Amsterdam Centraal finished and lit up for Christmas. We spent a mellow Christmas at home, but couldn't just stay in our PJs as our usual tradition since we had to take Kati for a walk.

Ashlynn Goes to Amsterdam...

Ashlynn and I didn't get to go to Paris, but we did spend a day in Amsterdam with her friend Lucy and her mom Helen, who captured this great photo of us.

The main objective was to visit the Anne Frank House, which neither girl had ever been to (Veronica went with school, but the school has since discontinued that field trip). We arranged to go to a lecture before touring the house, which was very informative.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this warning in front of a hotel. Unlike in London, where there's warnings at every crosswalk to remind folks which way to look for cars, there's not normally warnings to remind tourists to watch for bikes.

Paris Lights...

As soon as school was out for Christmas break, Veronica headed to the train station to meet up with Jimmy and travel to Paris for the weekend. Their goal: to make a cool time-lapse movie. In less than 48 hours, they visited about 10 locations and took over 7,000 photos! Check out the end result in her three-minute video. You have probably never seen Paris like this!

Our Family...

Veronica also had a great photo session with our next door neighbors as part of her first attempt to raise money for her Nepal trip. Afterwards, we asked Kees to take a few shots of our family. Amazingly, he captured this great photo while standing on a step stool. We were all surprised to see that even Kati managed to look at the camera. Veronica put together this photo montage of 2013.

Sisters...

The girls also enjoyed taking some fun sister shots.

Ashlynn and Jimmy...

Ashlynn's lucky because I don't have to cajole her big sister into allowing her to attend any party at our house. She also got into the act of having her photo taken alone and with her daddy.

Another Christmas Party...

For the third year, Veronica hosted a Christmas party for her friends. And for the second time, Jimmy converted our living room into a photo studio to take photos. Once again, the girls enjoyed a SquishPic session and a Chinese Gift Exchange.

Christmas Market in Munster...

For the first time, I finally went on an AWC day trip to a German Christmas Market. This year’s trip was to Munster, which was just a three-hour journey from The Hague. My friend Jane came along and we spent the day exploring together.

The Germans aren’t shy about their love of gluhwein, so it shouldn’t be surprising that Jane and I tried some at a variety of booths around town.

The Christmas market wasn’t hugely impressive, but the historic center of the city itself was lovely.

The highlight of the Munster Cathedral, dating from the 13th century, was the astronomical clock, which is divided into 24 hours.

Since it gets dark so early during the winter, we got to enjoy the market lit up.

Sophie Visits from Down Under...

In August 2008, Ashlynn became friends with Zoe while we were staying in Switzerland. Amazingly, our families became friends and visited each other several times between our house in Holland and theirs in Brussels. We last saw them in late 2009 just before they moved back to Canberra, Australia. I was thrilled when Zoe’s older sister Sophie said she’d be passing through Holland while on a three-month tour of Europe during her gap year before university.

Sophie spent a few nights with us. We went to see the girls in the panto and I showed her around The Hague, Leiden and Utrecht. We visited a special fashion exhibit at Centraal Museum in Utrecht. As these photos show, it was a rather unusual exhibition; many would have made great costumes, but I don’t think that was the intent.

As strange as this bunny outfit is, it seemed rather normal compared to the one behind it featuring a full-size swan.

We also visited the Speelklok Museum, which specializes in self-playing musical instruments. This is one of its most famous calliopes: the Arab. It was built in Italy around 1875 and was eventually rebuilt in the Netherlands in 1948. Had a great time showing Sophie around and wish her the best of luck at university.

The Dress Rehearsal...

As I’ve done in previous years, I photographed the dress rehearsal. This show wasn’t as funny as past pantos since it didn’t have the typical double entendres, but the dance scenes were very entertaining. Ashlynn was in the front row for Time Warp, so she was easy to spot.

I haven’t included photos from Ashlynn’s other dances since she wasn’t in the front, but Ghostbusters was her favorite while Party Rock had the most complicated choreography.

I especially loved Veronica and Saskia’s tap dance.

One of the great things about the panto is that everyone is welcome to join in, so the cast is quite large. Once again, the girls had a great time. And I enjoyed going back another evening to watch the show without seeing it through a view finder.

Frankenstein, the Pantomine...

Once again, Jimmy and the girls were involved in the annual panto. This year, Jimmy was in charge of sound. He took his job very seriously, spending many hours online searching for the perfect sound effects to incorporate into the show. He enjoyed having two helpers.

Technically, Veronica was in the adult chorus, which both sang and danced. In the opening scene, Master of the House from Les Mis, she was a German waitress.

However, she also danced with the teen choir because she really wanted to be in the Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show (apparently we have warped her by exposing her to the movie at a tender young age). She and another girl learned to tap dance for a short duet; we found her this dress in Amsterdam.

Ashlynn was part of the teen chorus, which is a strange name since they don’t sing.

Ashlynn has become good friends with Georgia and Liv, who live in our neighborhood. The three girls shopped together for their costumes.