De Horsten

Minolta Dynax 7

Park De Horsten near Voorschoten in the Netherlands. I'm not certain when exactly the image was shot, but it must be around the turn of the century. At that time, this little part of the park was one of my favourite places in this tiny busy country. It was a very narrow path with this lovely bridge and two very old gnarled trees seeming to stand guard over it. I visited often in the period around the time I shot this image, but stopped going there after a while because I got rather busy with other things. Then, years later, I visited again because I wanted to experience the feeling of peace I always found there, but what I found was exactly the opposite: the trees had been cut down and the bridge was partially renewed in a much more modern and much less beautiful way. It was an extremely sad sight and I never went back since...

So this is an old one, but while I'm working on a new website I came across it. I've always liked it, but was curious to see what Tony Kuyper's luminosity masks could do for the image. I was amazed at how much detail could be brought out of the shadows. Before this treatment, it was mostly just dark with only some fuzzy detail, while now it jumps out much more. Thanks Tony!