Abstract
Category Winner
Mathijs Frenken (1)
Heiloop (Noord-Brabant)
100mm; 1/125s at f/11; ISO 2500
During a day of photographing, I discovered swallowtail caterpillars, including a large specimen. Using an ultra macro lens, I enlarged a small part of its body into an abstract image. This shifts the focus away from the insect itself to structure, colour and rhythm.
Runner-up
Margriet Verkuijlen (2)
Veldhoven (Noord-Brabant)
100mm; 1/180s at f/6.7; ISO 800
On an old garden door in our backyard, snails leave winding trails in a thin layer of algae during their nightly search for food. To highlight these abstract patterns, I chose to convert the image to black and white.
Honourable Mentions
Tonie de Mulder (3)
Horst (Limburg)
101mm; 1/1000s at f/9; ISO 160
Moss grows on the glass of an old greenhouse, leaving traces of moisture. By reversing the image, a new reality appears. Spores become trunks and deposits turn into a forest. An unexpected landscape emerges.
Anja Brouwer (4)
Ameland (Friesland)
8.4mm; 1/160s at f/2.8; ISO 100
Flying above snowy fields with my drone, I searched for strong lines in ditches and plots. What looks like a map are actually tracks of sheep. They start moving when the farmer arrives to feed them.
Catherine Aupetit (5)
Ploegsteert (Belgium)
50mm; 1s at f/8; ISO 100
After waiting patiently with a background of black velvet, I photographed a cabbage white butterfly using a long shutter speed. This makes the flight trail visible, while a flash freezes the movement.
Inge la Rivière (6)
Marker Wadden (Flevoland)
10mm; 1/250s at f/3.5; ISO 800
After an intense year, we took a short holiday. I tested my new camera and captured a pattern of light and shadow in feathers. A small, quiet moment turned into an abstract image.
Maria van Schayk (7)
Karregat (Noord-Brabant)
104mm; 1/125s at f/4.5; ISO 500
During a foggy morning in a nature reserve, I focused on the reflection of a reed clump near a fen. The challenge was to keep everything else out of the frame and let the pattern speak for itself.
