Weird Week

It's been such a weird week. Someone who is very dear to me just heard she is terminally ill... She's been fighting cancer for years, had chemo twice and last year she was 'recovered'. I know it's terribly naieve of me, but I really thought she made it: she was going to live happily ever after.. But sometimes life just throws mud at you when you least expect it. What's weird about this is that though I'm having a hard time dealing with it, it has made me appreciate all the wonderful things in life more. I just hope I can give her as much comfort as I possibly can and help her make the most of the time that's left!

This week really has brought me back to the beginning. My love for photography started with my dad. I remember him, hanging upside down from a cliff in Switzerland, to take a picture of a blooming edelweiss, only to find that he forgot to take the lens cap off... Haha, I teased him for years about that!
When my dad suddenly died, now seven years ago, I really started to think hard about what I wanted in life. I made some of the best choices after that. We finally stopped talking about how 'some day' we would go to India and Nepal, we just went. I picked up photography, which turned out to be my greatest passion!
Ok, I made some bad choices too. Somehow wanting to 'prove' myself, I became a high school teacher, worked way too many hours and I just didn't want to see that I am much too soft for a job like that.
I couldn't sleep, I had too much stress, I kept worrying about kids that were being picked on and I just kept saying yes when people asked me to take on another class, until one day I just collapsed and couldn't do anything anymore. Just cry.
Looking back, that was a crucial moment in my life and probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I went to a therapist after that, a lovely lady who helped me embrace my artistic side and helped me block out some of the negative elements in my life. She lived on a farm and while we were talking, sheep were pressing their noses against the window... I loved it there :) Anyway, she helped me accept myself for who I am and finally I dared to do what I always wanted: be an artist. And, even more important, I found the peace that was necessary for me and my husband to choose to expand our little family and we had a beautiful baby boy! He is everything to me!

Wow. There. I've said it. To be honest, I feel much better now. It's good to be able to share things like this once in while :) I just hope you didn't think it's too personal!

Now back to the good stuff!

Chelsea of Loud Waterfall Photography is a wonderful photographer (and fantastic person!) and she was so generous to send her first 10 blog followers a wonderful gift! This awesome photograph is coming my way as we speak! Can't wait to frame this baby and hang it on my wall! Gorgeous, right? You can find Chelsea here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoudWaterfallPhoto, here https://www.facebook.com/LoudWaterfallPhoto and here http://loudwaterfallphoto.blogspot.nl/! Be sure to check out her fabulous photos of Africa too!

And then there's the lovely Keri from ColorWorkStudio! She had a giveaway to celebrate her new blog and I won one of her beautiful photographs! Of course I had to choose the coffee ;) I'm already the proud owner of her lovely Winter in Central Park and I think they'll go wonderfully together! Find Keri here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColorWorkStudio,

here https://www.facebook.com/ColorWorkStudio and here

http://colorworkstudio.blogspot.nl/

Oh, I wish we could all meet up and have a cuppa together! Maybe go on a photo trip afterwards :)

Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday!! Oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway if you haven't already! There's still time! :)

xxx
Danny

Maximonstertje Photography's Fabulous 500 Giveaway!

YES! We hit 500 likes on facebook, so it is time for a GIVEAWAY!!!
First of all: thank you all so much for your neverending kindness and support. Really, if it wasn't for your encouragement, I would probably never have shown my photographs to anyone, let alone start a shop! I'm ever so grateful for helping me crawl out of my shell and face the world as a new and improved version of my old self! :D

But I'll cut the blabla, you want to know what the prizes are! Ok, here they come:
FIRST PRIZE: a 8"x10" photograph of your choice from my shop!
SECOND PRIZE: a 5"x7" photograph of your choice from my shop!

(Instead of an 8x10, you may also choose an 8x8 or 8x12. The same goes with the 5x7, that can also be an 5x5 or 5x8)

I've installed Raflecopter on the bottom of this page. Scroll down to find out how to enter! The winner will be announced on July 1st on this blog (with a link to facebook) and will be chosen by a random number generator! Go have fun! xxx

Some examples of my work:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Life in Pics

Hello everyone! I'm back! It's been a while, I know. I'll have to find a good balance in blogging, I think.
That, and the last two weeks have just been crazy. Lots to do, gorgeous weather and a huge amount of photographs to take. About two weeks ago I also lost the cable of my camera. I took the munchkin to the petting zoo and while trying to take photos of my bouncing child (who loves to hug all the little goats), I lost it somewhere. Maybe a goat ate it, who knows. But anyway, I had to order a new one and couldn't get to the photos in my camera, which was pretty frustrating! However, it did make me see just HOW MANY photos I take! Normally I upload them right after taking them, but since I couldn't, I had hundreds and hundreds of photos to upload after only 10 days! Wow. So I am a freak ;)

Oh well. I'd love to share some pictures with you from the past couple of weeks. We went for endless walks through dreamy landscapes:

Marvelled at the immense beauty of something as simple as light reflecting in the water:

Admired the pretty flowers:

We also went to see the Knight's Tournament at the lovely castle of Hoensbroek. It was so much fun! It's a beautiful location and the tournament is pretty spectacular. I love looking at all the dressed up folks, craftsmen and of course the gorgeous decor of the castle itself!:

Isn't she the cutest?

Too bad this was all fake! It got me hungry!

All this fun stuff and beautiful weather got me in a very summery mood, and I went out to shoot some gorgeous flowers:

And last, but not least: I finally managed to finish my fourth piece in the 'Red Riding Hood' series. This particular one took much more time and effort than the others, as I had to merge three different photographs into one, but I'm happy with how it turned out :) It's called 'The Faceless Knight' and as every piece in this series has a little story about Red Riding Hood (whose on her way through the magical forest to visit her grandma) to it, so does this one:

Red sat down on a knobbly tree trunk and opened her little basket. The long walk had tired her

and she was hungry. Grandma wouldn't miss a cookie or two, she thought.

The smell of her mums cookies filled her nostrils and not long after her belly was full again.

She felt refreshed and was ready to continue her trip. Suddenly she heard a gushing sound.

Wind, she thought at first. But it was too loud for it to be merely the wind.

It appeared to come closer and the sound grew into a soft rythm.

Then, through the golden tree branches, a rider appeared.

He wore a knight's armor and a dark cloak hid his face, but when he rushed past,

Red could feel his soulless eyes on her.

Good night, lovely people. I hope you enjoyed this little trip. Sweet dreams :)