Skating Rink Spеctators - a photo on Flickriver

            ► █░▓    Christmas skating rink has been constructed around the Wilhelmina fountain (up left), the heart of old town's most popular square. It is affordable for both children and parents alike and is run by the volunteers. Skating is one of the most popular sports in Holland, but the last winters are too mild to make skating possible outside such rinks.
I love this. Have myself learned to skate on such a rink, with skates hired on a daily tariff. Music tops the fun. The ice is well maintained. No other cafe visit in the town can equal the glühwein in a tent like this, after an hour of healthy skating.
I've been to skating rinks in several countries and it is funny to see how people's mentality reflects in the atmosphere on the ice. I'd say, in Holland it is second to none. A real skating nation in heart and soul. A small town Holland skating rink is a social place where coziness ("gezelligheid") and tolerance are paramount. Enthusiasm of the skaters is courteous, accompanied by mutual respect, but the participants are not standoffish.

My photographing attention was naturally and by default drawn to the ice, the kids and skaters. However the light is too low for a standard mft and fast moving subjects. I also found the spectators assuming the position in this image strange and funny, less ordinary and likely to be the target of other photographers. 
Plus: everybody knows that it is not the same to skate in an empty rink, and in a rink with audience. So, they deserve the merits too!
   

Taken on: January 4, 2020

Tags:

Nederland

the Netherlands

Holland

Holandija

Холандија

Низоземска

Nizozemska

Lage Landen

Хоркам

Gorcum

Gorkum

Arkelstad

Zuid-Holland Zuid

people

humans

persons

individuals

spectators

ice

skating

rink

skating rink

schaatsbaan

ijsbaan

tent

Christmas

sport

watchers

Gorinchem

fountain

Wilhelmina

stadhuis

town hall

city hall

square

plein

family

winter

schaatsen

skate

клизање

sličuganje

клизалиште

фонтана

трг

град

породица

посматрачи

спорт

људи

деца

Božić

Божић

Kerst

Kerstmarkt

Xmas

Рождество

гледаоци

gledatelji « less

Sets appears in: • Arkelstad • Lowlands

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Camera: Panasonic DMC-G80, f/5.6, 1/60 sec, 17mm (=34mm), ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-G80
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length:	17mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	+0.66 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Cloudy
Gain Control:	High gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Ver.1.2
Show full info

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