One of the Netherlands largest camerastores (yes, and they do carry a good selection of Pentax stuff) organised a Midsummernight in of the 19th century fortresses surrounding Amsterdam. These fortresses became part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam (in Dutch named Stelling van Amsterdam) which is a 135 km long ring of fortifications around Amsterdam, consisting of 42 forts located between 10 to 15 kilometers the centre, and lowlands that can easily be flooded in time of war. The flooding was designed to give a depth of about 30 cm, insufficient for boats to traverse. Any buildings within 1 km of the line had to be made of wood, so that they could be burnt and the obstruction removed.

The Stelling van Amsterdam was constructed between 1880 and 1920. The invention of the aeroplane and tank made the forts obsolete almost as soon as they were finished. Many of the forts now are under the control of the town councils and the nature department, and may be visited.

1. Early on there were not so many visitors yet and the occasional obstructing passer-by has fully disappeared due to exposure times of up to 30 seconds in a 3-bracket tonemapped HDR.



2. A local historic musical ensemble played instruments which I believe to be slightly older than the fortress but this was not meant to be a historically correct happening so I'm not complaining. Don't ever do sepia but in this case I made an exception because it suits the image so well.



3. There are still many authentic places left in the fortress but they are really hard to capture. The 8-16mm and a bracket of 3 shots really brings out the structure in the concrete and the staining that occured over almost a 100 years of neglect.



4. Some oil-lamps in the darker areas of the fortress where no electricity was available poese their own issues. Expose for the flame or for the wall? Here too, a bracket solved the issue and the B/W completes the image IMHO.



5. The society for the protection of nature uses the fortress as a base for its educational walks and was on-site to try and get people to join/donate.

[tessfully]

Very very interesting and arresting series. Loved each shot, but the first and the oil lamp really stand out. I also enjoyed learning about the history of these forts. Amazing stuff and I am so glad you shared your experience and photos!

[jac]

Nice work with excellent narration.

[slowpez]

Really enjoyed taking the tour of this wonderful place. That first shot is really wonderful and the sepia of the instrumentalists is perfect. TFS.