🇬🇧 Het Quin
Here in the Rhineland, we have what’s known as the ‘fifth season’, also called Carnival. But in a way, there’s a fifth season for photographers too. This is precisely the time of year when nothing much happens photographically – at least if you live in the west of Germany and don’t have the chance to whisk yourself away to a nicer spot for a few weeks. With the damp, cold gloom and a sky that’s constantly overcast, all you can do is bury your nose in the photo archive and dream of better times.
And that’s the perfect segue to dig out a few old photos – which, of course, you won’t have seen yet, as this website has only been up and running since the start of the year.
Never mind. Inspired by the many beautiful misty photos taken by Guido van de Water, a fellow photographer from the Netherlands, I found myself drawn to the ‘De Maasduinen’ National Park for two years running – or, to be more precise, to a place called ‘Het Quin’. This spot is a small but beautiful heathland just across the German border. What makes this place special is that it lies in a basin, so that ground fog forms and lingers there when the weather conditions are right. As Het Quin is also very easy to reach by car, in late summer you can climb the dune in front of the basin before sunrise and enjoy the perfect view of the rising sun!
Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be late summer to take beautiful photos there. My time is very limited due to work, so it’s obviously not possible for me to be there all the time and in every season, and we’ve learnt that the best photos are usually taken where you can get to quickly and know your way around. So, practically on my doorstep – that’s what you call home advantage, and of course I don’t have that here. But Guido does! Anyone who speaks English can watch Guido’s videos on YouTube and get an idea of what’s possible in this region. In any case, I have a feeling that this won’t be my last visit there.
That is why the following pictures can only give a brief glimpse of what this landscape has to offer.
The morning starts cool…
… and bathes the heath in a violet glow.
The sun breaks through…
… and casts shadow fingers into the mist.
The water glows like liquid gold…
… and in a magnificent finale, the sun unleashes its full power.