Lens Playing Part Two...

I've finally been playing with my camera extension tubes and have been incredibly happy with the results. At one point, I might want to splurge for a decent macro lens but for the time being, I am super happy with my tubes* :-)

• doesn't this thorn look like a bird?! •

*all photos have had a slight color boost in photoshop but nothing else...

Blossoming

“An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.”

- J.D. Salinger

Cotton Candy Clouds

We've finally gotten a break from the winter rain to end up with cotton candy clouds...I do love this time of year!

Signs of Spring

It's been a constant downpour for the past week with the occasional moments of blue sky but it's nice that when those moments occur, to see subtle signs of spring approaching...

Rainy day...

"A new camera will not make you a better photographer. Only YOU can do that. And it's not done by reading the rants and raves on every new piece of gear that comes out each week. So shut down that MacBook, grab your camera and get out there and make some magic happen!"

-Jeff Lynch

I would have shut down the MacBook, grabbed my camera and went outside to enjoy the day to take pictures but unfortunately, the rain decided to foul the plans. So instead, it was a baking day.

We've gone the yuppie route and own a bread maker and are determined to bake every recipe in the book. There are still a lot of bumps and hurdles that we have gone through and have yet to find the perfect recipe but we'll keep trying. Today's delight was the standard French Bread. We would have had bread first thing this morning due to the wonderful timer but we accidentally made it with "white whole wheat" flour. That was not a good idea since the loaf came out like a brick. So instead we had lunch bread with the correct "white bread flour" and had a nice, warm loaf for lunch. One draw back with all the breads we've made is the tough crust...it's great when freshly out of the machine but a few hours later, not so much.

I'm looking forward to making some beer bread...that should be next on the list :)

• baked bread smell is intoxicating •

Wintery Landscape

As much as I didn't enjoy the cold weather of the Netherlands and made me contemplate whether I would ever be able to live in the Netherlands, seeing the country with barren trees and snow covering it's landscape, I did fall more in love with it. The jury is still out if I'll ever be able to survive a rainy autumn or snowy winter though :)

• winter landscape • 

• snowy horses • 

Cliché Goals

A new year tends to leads towards the cliche New Year Resolutions or the "look back and reflect" moments. As always, I intend to stay healthy: physically and mentally. Professionally, I aim to build my freelancing career and my client list without over stretching myself. But my main goal is to really start working on feeling comfortable calling myself a photographer. It has been a hobby for quite awhile now and love the challenge with finding my strengths and weaknesses. I don't ever intend for it to become a career but it's just something that I love doing  (I do wish that I had more of a formal education on it rather than being all self taught). So my main photography goals this year are:

• take more photos: i always carry around a camera: dSLR, point n' shoot or camera phone but i want to start taking photos every day. of what? who knows

• print more photos: i love making blurb books but need to start making it a regular habit instead of letting photos live on the hard drive

• work on my weakness: i need to learn how to take better people pictures

• limit equipment to what is truly needed: still looking for a nice wide angle lens

• keep learning photoshop: i used to have a phobia of photoshop and post-processing but i've been teaching myself the subtleties of photoshop and finally starting to love it 
• at least i'm sure that these goals will not be broken come march :-)

• setting sun in amsterdam • 

Fancy-Schmancy Travelin' Books

I stumbled across these books at the in-laws and love them so! These books are made on very thin paper (think Bible) but not too thin so you could see through the other side and the font size is standard so you don't strain your eyes. I love how compact and light these books are which make them perfect for traveling! I'm always traveling for long periods of time and the added weight of books can be annoyingly restrictive. I am also not too convinced by the Kindle (pro: great for traveling. con: it's digital) but if I start seeing books like this in the States, than I would prefer these books for traveling instead! I haven't seen these books in the States but I haven't really looked for them but looks like I will now!

• perfect traveling size •

• text size is quite nice •

• this book is over 500 pages! •

Spontaneity: Bust

The husband and I have a few different "loose" rules when it comes to traveling and enjoying life:

• take the road less travelled: side roads, left, right, or straight without maps, makes it more fun to see more of the country side.

• never back track: on any hikes, driving or biking, we never go back the way we came. Sure, sometimes we go the long distance or go around in a circle but we never travel back.

• flip a coin: if we're not sure which way to go, flipping a coin makes the journey a little more interesting.

Our rules have taken us through some great journeys whether its in another country or just in our own neighborhoods. We've stuck by these rules for quite awhile and they have yet to fail us although this past weekend, we hit the trifecta of bad luck with these three rules.

• We randomly decided on a Saturday night to drive into Southern Belgium so we can do some snow hiking and castle touring.

• We randomly ended up in a small town called Bastogne to sleep for the night (we had no GPS or maps so we had to cross our fingers that we found a hotel)

• We woke up Sunday morning to the whole town covered in snow (and looking beautiful)

• We got into the car and randomly chose a small mountain road heading for La Roche, Belgium

• We drove into a small town called Bertogne and going down a small hill that involved a corner turn, the car decided to lose traction and wrap itself around a small brick wall...oops.

What made this even more "exciting" was the town: Bertogne where no one speaks English or Dutch...only French. Since we were in the middle of nowhere, we had to wait over six hours for the tow truck from the Netherlands to come. The weather was also -3 degrees Celsius (with snow intermittently)! We had to sit in the back of the car with the windows open to allow the airbag stink to get out.

On the plus side, we met an incredible woman (whose house was next to the crash) who welcomed us into her home for coffee and for us to use her bathroom. She kept coming out to check on us and would bring us warm waffles. Of course, we couldn't communicate with each other but she was so friendly and warm that we were really happy to have come across her path.

We also stumbled across a small pub (that opens at 2pm) where everyone helps themselves to their drinks and cash register, it was the honor system in a pub! Although we were the only guests that were not allowed to partake in this honor system but then again, I'm sure this town of fifty did not get too many tourists in their pubs!

It was a long day of sitting in the back of the car, watching everyone drive by and stop to ask us if we were OK (all in French, of course) but it ended up being a decent day. We were both safe (Marijn actually was totally fine while I ended up with all the bumps and bruises that will heal) and we both had the chance to really appreciate the kindness in strangers in a small village in Belgium.

I just think that on our next ventures, we might have to revise our traveling rules a bit :-)

• snow flowers - wanted a happy picture instead of a crash picture :)