Welcome Dutch travel and nature photographer Patrick Koster welcomes you on the PaKos Photography website. Be inspired by the many pictures of nature’s finest moments. Eclipse Many times I looked at National Geographic magazine’s impressive photographs and wondered what an adventure it must be photographing volcanoes and other forces of nature. After capturing the solar eclipse with borrowed equipment I bought my own SLR. I then tried photographing other rare phenomena like lunar eclipses, lightning and auroras in the Netherlands. Lava Junky Vacations to Nysiros (Greece) and Spain's volcanic Canary Islands reminded me of those impressive NG magazines and sparked a renewed interest and fascination for volcanoes. Experiencing and shooting pictures from erupting Stromboli was so impressive that it made me a photographing lava junkie for ever. Volcanoes The Stromboli adventure resulted in trips, vacations, expeditions and even a honeymoon to Ol Doinyo Lengai (Tanzania), several of the Canary Islands (Spain), Stromboli and Etna (Italy) and a range of USA volcanoes like Yellowstone Supervolcano, Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier and many more of the other Cascade range volcanoes. Meanwhile I read too many volcano books, have seen to many volcano documentaries, got to know other lava junkies and volcanologists and even got a membership with the IAVCEI. Challenges Capturing a moment of raw nature is both exciting and many times a big struggle with the elements. You put yourself at risk due to the volcanic risks of bombs, toxic gasses, and suffocating ash. Volcanoes wreck expensive camera’s and lenses in many ways so an empty wallet is just another risk. But if all these challenges result in some extraordinary pictures I had a good time. Other subjects Apart from volcanoes I try to capture lightning and auroras in the Netherlands. These are rather rare but with some perseverance it can be done. And there is the travel and adventure photography with the more normal range of subjects. More to come Although I recently visited active volcanoes in Ethiopia, Hawaii and Iceland, I still have a lengthy volcano wish list. One day I would like to visit sites in Indonesia, New Zealand and the Galapagos. Keep a close eye on my website. There will definitely be more in the future. Equipment EOS 5DmkII EOS 50D EOS 3 EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS EF 2x II extender TC-80N3 remote control, wireless remote control LEE filter set Speedlite 380EX, 580EX II flashes Velbon carbon NeoCarMagne 630 tripod Acratech GV2 ball head 2x 8MB SanDisk Extreme UDMA 60 MB/s 2x external mobile harddrive Nextodi NextoUltra ND2525 and this all fits in a Tamrac Expedition 8 Digital Darkroom My digital darkroom consists of a Windows based PC with 12 GB memory, a SSD and two 1TB hard drives, a calibrated EIZO S2431w 24" TFT. I use a calibrated Minolta Dimage Elite 5400 slide scanner. For backing up my digital files on the road I use 2 mobile harddisks in a Nextodi casing and separate external HD's and DVD's at home.