I spent quite some time wandering the streets and alleys (and canals) of Amsterdam on this evening. It was an interesting experience for sure. So much activity!
I just re-watched this video for some reason and I thought it was pretty good, so I thought I would add it to the blog here along with my favorite photos from The Netherlands!
And here are some favorites!
https://stuckincustoms.smugmug.com/Misc/80Stays/80Stays-Shared/n-58K6Nc/i-4qVxWG8
Today, if you’re a Passport Member, you’ll get to see a new video from me in Amsterdam where I make reference to the TED talk below from Ted Gilbert and how it has related to my life and photography. Enjoy!
Photography can increase the happiness in your life in a number of ways, but here’s a way to add an extra layer into the mix!
This is one of my favorite photo walk highlight videos because of the people in it that are smiling. I think Olya did a great job with the edit of this one. Enjoy!
How cool is Amsterdam? I was walking around across from the red-light district and found this fancy place. Look at all the detail. And yes, I assume you can go inside and get a wide variety of drugs. Many things are legal there… of course pot. And they don’t exactly have “Mushrooms” but they have something else called “Truffles.” They didn’t work on me, but they definitely worked on my friend Rene. He’s already a giggly guy, but this took him 10x the level. We all sat around the hotel room watching comedy specials on Netflix and he was at next-level-Rene!
You can see one of the Mushroom Menus in Instagram on my side-account at @80Stays if you dig down a bit. By now, we are deeper into Japan, and you’ll start to see more #80Stays photos appearing there. Follow along with the adventure if you choose! 🙂
I don’t remember a lot of Amsterdam, except for the photo walk. Luckily, that was on the first day. After that, I went a bit mushroom-nutty. Wow it was fun and I saw some amazing things, but none of them were easy to capture with my camera. Probably none of that makes sense if you have not tried mushrooms. But, yeah, well. One night crossing one of the canals, I saw this beautiful scene at dusk.
Speaking of highlight videos, like the one yesterday, here’s one from our Amsterdam photo walk! 🙂
The red light district goes all day long. It’s great people-watching, as you might expect. I think once you get over the discomfort of looking a woman in a window smiling at you, it can be interesting just to observe and not judge or anything. It’s all legal here and heavily controlled so nothing fishy goes on and the women are kept safe. No photos of course (I didn’t try), but you can take ones that are a bit far away. Fun Fact: If you see a BLUE light inside of one of the windows, then you’re looking at a transvestite.
I’m doing TEN (count ’em 10) free photo walks across Europe… also a few special day-long workshops. Wanna see the list of places? Come check out the new site at 80stays.treyratcliff.com!
See your city? Tell your friends! 🙂
These photo walks are family friendly events and all are welcome. Bring a friend or two! 🙂 Anything from a mobile phone to a DSLR will do swimmingly. I share lots of tips and tricks, do Q&A, and more… even better, we get to roam part of the city taking photos together. Come on out – I can’t wait to meet you! 🙂
I was going through a few old photos and I was not sure if I ever posted this one or not!
I was in Amsterdam for the Reason conference (a gathering of a Libertarian bent). It was really cool because I got to meet Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of Southpark), who were also there at the conference. Towards the end of one day, we all got on a private boat to take us around the canals of Amsterdam. I got a chance to talk for a while with the former prime minister of Estonia when they made the transition to the flat tax. Very interesting to me… economics is one of my hobbies, so it was a kick to hang out with all these think-tank guys and gals.
At some point, I left the conversation to climb on top of the boat to take this photo.
This was shot in Amsterdam an one of their "smaller" churches, not too far from the train station. I remember it being very cold and windy that day, so sneaking into the church to take a break from the weather was a nice break.
