Just a little bit about myself; my name is Matthijs van Wageningen and I live in Holland, the Netherlands. That is a small country in Western Europe, next to Germany and Belgium. On the photo above you can see me in front of the coat of arms of my native town "Westzaan". Westzaan is a small ribbon village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, situated northwest of Amsterdam. Westzaan has the only wind powered paper mill in the world, called the "De Schoolmeester" (The Schoolmaster). To see more photos of myself, visit the Events - In the Picture gallery or just click on the photo above.

There are also two other places I like a lot, these are "Dublin" (Ireland) and "Vienna" (Austria). I worked and lived for over a year in Dublin, Ireland. Have to say, I miss that place a lot. The Irish are very friendly and kind. In Dublin, and also where I worked, there are a lot of people from all over the world. I made a lot of friends there and still visit Ireland as much as I can. The countryside is amazingly beautiful and some parts look like New Zealand (or the other way around), lots of green sites, small roads and very kind people. It's the country of "Guinness" (Irish beer), though I like "Smithwicks" better (a pity you can only find it in Ireland, as far as I know) and I love the Irish pubs. Not only because it's the place to meet other people but also because it's nicely decorated and there is no loud music. And if you are lucky, you will find musicians playing typical Irish music. Vienna is another story. I think this is the most beautiful city in Europe. I love the story about "Sissi" (Empress Elisabeth of Austria) living in Vienna at the imperial palace Schloß Schönbrunn. Lots of historical buildings and places can be found in Vienna. And, of course, there is the beautiful Danube (Donau) river. From the hills around Vienna you can have a great view on the city. And I do love to drink "Sturm" when I'm in Vienna. Sturm is made from fermenting grapes and is only available in early autumn (kind of young wine). I hope one day I will live in Vienna ... (who knows). I also like to practice my German language.

What else can I tell about myself? I really like photography as you may have noticed. This website is all about the pictures I took. I like everything about aviation and like to visit air shows. Not only in the Netherlands but also abroad. But sometimes you can also find my along the runway of "Schiphol" (Amsterdam Airport). I'm also an animal lover. My parents always had a cat at home and I love to take photos of them. But it can be a real challenge to take photos as they never sit still or listen. I also love to visit the Zoo, like Artis Royal Zoo in Amsterdam. It's the oldest Zoo in the Netherlands and also one of the oldest zoos of mainland Europe. I also have a great interest in genealogy and did some research about my family name. So far I know it goes back to around 1660 in Amerongen (a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht), the Netherlands. You can find my family tree at this website (note, it's possible you will not see all details due to privacy restriction). But if you are in any way connected to the "van Wageningen" family, please do contact me.

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I'm using the following equipment:
Canon EOS 7D Mark II 20.2MP Digital SLR Camera (with GPS)
Canon EOS 30D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera (backup)
with either these lenses;
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS Type II Lens
Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM Lens
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens

Some old "retired" equipment;
Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens (broken after 8 years)
Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom 4MP Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia C-1400L 1.4MP Digital Camera (my first digital camera!)

[ Last updated; Sunday, 26 March 2023 ]