Just A Perfect Day

"Just a perfect day
drink Sangria in the park
And then later
when it gets dark, we go home"
Lou Reed - Perfect Day

Sometimes it's just the little things that make me happy. 
Finding little lost treasures when cleaning the house. 
Seeing my two year olds eyes go wide with anticipation 
when he realizes he can have those hand puppets that 
have been lying in a closet for ages. Hearing a big 
'Weeeee!' when he bounces around the room, happy 
with his new toys. Playing endlessly with them, me - 
holding a french looking police man puppet - exclaiming ridiculous half-french sentences and 'parbleu!' and 
'affreux!', while he - holding a puppet of an old lady - 
giggles like a school girl. Simple moments, but oh, 
so precious...

Later that day I took my camera for a walk (I have a feeling it may become unhappy if I don't take it out regularly, or maybe that would be me) and that's when I found this. A little place of magic. 

I've passed that place so many times and it never occurred to me before to walk downhill a little, to check what's down there, closer to the stream. Now I'm glad I did. I felt like being in the Cambodian jungle again, only this time in my own back yard (not that I actually have a back yard, but it wasn't far and it sounds pretty good, don't you think?)

Some days are better for magic than others. This was a perfect day, finding treasures everywhere I looked. Imagining the end result, the way the photograph will be once I've sprinkled my own, personal magic over it. But isn't that what life is? A treasure for us all to see and experience in our own way? 

What makes you happy? Where or when do you find your magic? I'd love to hear from you!

Farewell, for now. Keep dreaming. xxx

Awakening

Last week it seemed that Spring was on the verge of a breakthrough. We actually went for long walks in the forest again, left our coats unbuttoned and built castles in the sand. We even had ice cream! Every year I'm excited to see the world awakening again. To see little flowers pop up everywhere, to feed the ducks now their river isn't frozen anymore and to enjoy life at its prettiest. Especially now we have our little boy, who sees everything for the first time.  

But just a few days ago, Winter came back and turned our world into a large, white canvas again. 

And even though it looks pretty as well, I can't say I'm too happy about it. It's very windy and oh so cold!

I went to one of my favourite spots to take photographs and nearly froze my toes off, my car got stuck in the snow (of course I left my phone at home) and I almost broke my camera lens (luckily the filter protected the actual lens!). Maybe I just need to find some nice spots that aren't so far off ;) 

But despite all that, I love to be in the great wide open, with only the occasional farm in sight. Wouldn't you just love living in a house like this? I know I would!

And after a few weeks of us all having the flu and not being able to get much work done, I finally got my creative spark back. I've been working on new ideas, learned new techniques and best of all, had lots of fun! Having a chaotic mind can be a plus sometimes, especially when it comes to ideas and creating. But it can be a burden too! I have so many ideas and so many photographs still untouched, some still from Morocco (I haven't nearly finished going through all of them!), some I've been working on - on and off - for weeks, sometimes even months. And every now and then I just forget about them and find them again when rummaging through my files, leaving me puzzled why I didn't finish them in the first place. But I love doing this and I'm so very grateful to be able to go with my chaotic mind and create whatever I'm in the mood for!

Tomorrow we'll take our little munchkin for (hopefully) one of the last sledding adventures of this winter :) After that: LET SPRING BEGIN!!!
Stay warm and happy and I'll see you soon! xxx

Little Family Photo Shoot

It might be a bit late for an introduction, but I've been doing some photo shoots lately and thought it would be fun to make one of our own little family! Yesterday was a gorgeous day, so we went to a nearby park and had some fun! It seems to me it happens all too often that I take photographs of everything I find interesting, of our little boy, but never of us as a family (and then there's that thing that I hate to be in front of the camera ;), so here you go: it's us!

Just the two of us (our munchkin kept running away to play, can't blame him!) I couldn't help the bunny ears, I have a very geeky sense of humor.

  We caught him eventually! It didn't last long...

Our sweet little boy standing perfectly still for a minute :) Love him to bits!



See you soon and have a wonderful weekend! xxx

Take a walk with me...

Why, hello there! Do you fancy taking a walk? I'd love it if you would join me. I'd like to tell you something while we stroll along...
You know... I love photography. Quite obvious, yes, but I really do, for a lot of different reasons. It is about capturing the moment: that one perfect smile, that stunning view at sunset, especially when there's a huge chance you'll never get to capture it again! There is so much beauty around us and the art of photography helps me see and experience it every moment of every day. Places I used to walk past without noticing the beautiful flowers, the charm of a rusty old door, the magic of a spiderweb in a keyhole. I am so grateful for that, it really feels as a gift. 

  

  

It's about waiting, holding back and being patient. I like taking portraits when people don't notice me. It's when they're pure and at ease that I like them best. In Asia I usually asked people if it would be ok to take a photograph, then I took a few, but the shots I loved the most were those taken after, when they had forgotten about me and went on with their lives. 

It's about creating a world of my own. When I'm back home after a shoot and I sit behind my computer (with a considerate amount of coffee), I go through the photos and check them for a lot of things: sharpness, composition, lighting, but most of all I check them for a certain 'feel'. It can be anything really. I love to add a little magic to my images. It's just the way I like to see the world! I did a series based on Red Riding Hoods trip through the magic forest on her way to grandma, where I could really let myself go to create magic! I loved that!

But most of all I love it because photographs are tangible memories. I thrive on memories and dreams. So many wonderful moments, such fantastic travels and amazing places that we've seen and so many that still have to come... I can hardly wait! When I look back at the many, many photographs (thousands!) I've taken over the years, I feel so lucky.  

   

The photographs I shared in this post were all taken over the past few weeks and all in the south of Holland, most even within a one mile radius from our home. It's so easy to forget sometimes, but we are all surrounded by beauty. Nature is magical in itself! I love how our son likes to hug trees...

I cherish the wonderful moments we share with good friends and lovely food.

And keep trying to find magic in everyday life.



Where do you find magic? Where do you dream about? And do you stop to smell the roses often enough? Please let me know. I'd love to hear from you :)

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 :)