around the corner

I don’t get out enough, a realization that always hits me whenever I do go somewhere and immediately feel refreshed and inspired by new sights and sounds and smells.
The good kind of inspiration, not the Pinterest kind of inspiration that has you in awe and whispers ‘you could never make anything this awesome’.




Last Sunday afternoon I needed a walk, a breath of fresh air and a change of scenery. It had been raining all day and I had been working away in front of my computer. Late afternoon, the rain stopped and it started looking friendlier.
J and I drove out to a nearby village and went exploring, walking in the woods, admiring the old streets and generally soaking it all up.



Sleepy German villages can be utterly charming and I fell in love with the place immediately. The streets and gardens were lovingly decorated with flowers and there was beauty around every corner.




Remind me to get out more.

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stolen moments

Every year I am amazed at how beautiful autumn is.



A few stolen moments, here and there, on my lunch break, on one of the rare occasions I bring my camera to work. I try to walk around a bit every day after lunch, taking a few deep breaths of fresh air and stretching my legs before sitting down again at the desk for the rest of the day. Even when it’s raining, even when I don’t feel like it. I feel better for it every time.



It gets dark so early now in the evenings that I’m trying to soak up the light at midday.
I’ve a busy weekend ahead of me (if you want to know what I’m always so busy with, check out my Facebook Page) but I’ll try to fit in taking a few pictures.
I’ve sewn not one, but two wearable items in the last few days! I think my sewing vibe and I are on the up again, hurrah 🙂

(back) in business

I’ve hinted at this so many times and now I am finally ready to tell: I just founded my own photography business.
I offer portrait, family and animal sessions for now and you can find me on Facebook. In the coming months I will be launching a blog to share photoshoots, a website and a small online shop selling my most requested images as prints.

I am very excited! Juggling a full time office job, a photography business and my personal life will be challenging (in fact, it already is), so I am taking things slowly. In the past months I have done a lot of research, talked to my accountant and learned about taxes and the whole business side of it. I am doing everything in this myself (including the website), so the new pages will be up one at a time.

The idea is to build this business slowly but steadily over the next few years.

I’m happy to be finally doing this and excited to see what 2012 will bring!

travel diary: marburg

I seem to be doing a lot of spontaneous travelling at the moment. No doubt this is about to change as we go apartment hunting and planning our new place and packing up our old. Not that we’ve come any further since my last post. We’re still weighing options and deciding where to start looking!
Last weekend we visited friends in the beautiful city of Marburg. The whole city centre consists of century old crooked half-timbered houses.


There’s also a castle that dates back to the 11th century and is just beautiful to walk around.



We strolled around, shopped a little, had a bite to eat and some nice cold cocktails to cool us down on the very hot day.


Our friends have two very sweet kitties as well.

I love little day trips like these. They really make you get out of the day to day routine and spend some quality time with friends you see way to little.
I guess that’s the big advantage of living in the centre of Europe. Within only 2 hours, or 3 or 4, you can be in a completely different environment, different country even.

happy new year!

Here’s to a wonderful 2011!

We’re having a foggy start to the new year here, but the signs are pointing to sunny skies I do believe 🙂

I already did some reflection on the year in my birthday post in September, so I’ll try to keep this sweet and short.
For 2010 my new year’s resolutions were:
1. embracing the changes that are to come
2. be more deserving of the great life I have and the wonderful family and friends (both national and international, both human and furry) that fill it
3. be more patient and less grumpy

Number 1, I definitely think I’ve done that. Sadly, most of the changes weren’t what I’d hoped they’d be: My dad had a heart attack and underwent surgery repeatedly throughout the year. My first job turned out to be really crappy. I didn’t get as far with my photography as I would have liked to.
Come to think of it though, out of all that bad stuff came pretty good stuff: My dad, though not perfectly well again, is finally taking it down a notch, working less, smoking way less, and getting there.
Practically hitting a wall with my first job made me more sure of myself, of who I am and who I am not and now my second job is so much better and so much more fun and I can appreciate it more than if I would have without the crappy experience first.
As for photography, I’ve got my goals but I think I’ll be taking it more slowly next year and see what happens.
Number 2, I don’t know if I am more deserving, but I am definitely even more thankful and grateful. Nobody could be richer in kind and supportive family and friends than I am and I am reminded of that every day.
Number 3, big fail on that one. I feel I got more impatient and grumpier, not good. That one stays on the list for 2011.

New resolutions for 2011:
::: Eat healthier and more local, which will include growing as much stuff as possible ourselves
::: Educate myself further in photography, gardening and sustainable living
::: Simplify and declutter. A big revelation this year was that less is more in consuming. Less stuff = more happiness. The realization came easy, living by it is going to be harder.

city life

Street photography is one of the most fascinating fields in photography for me. Gritty, black and white city images always get me, and I don’t even like the city much! Even though I live in one of the biggest cities in Germany I am not too keen on a city lifestyle. I prefer the country.
I don’t often make a trip to the city center, because it inevitably makes me spend money I don’t have (as a compulsory online fabric buyer I spend too much as it is) and the whole athmosphere of ‘I know this dress is hideous, but it’s expensive Brand XY, so look at me and admire how rich and chic I am’ feels alien to me.
I went to do some window-shopping (aka market research) last week with the boss of the italian shoe company I work for and this was my shot of the day:

It almost looks like Paris, doesn’t it? I love the trees and their shadows and the girl in the middle, alone in a crowd.