Me and my brother drove over to the south of the country to visit our grandparents. We had a lovely day. We mostly talked, showed some photo’s on our iPads and went out for a walk at the lake. They’re the sweetest people in the whole world and I’m so grateful to spend time with them.
Here are some impressions of the day.
The first location we went to was an abandoned leather factory. It looked pretty boarded up, but we found a hole in the fence. After a walk through the woods and many insect bites later, we got to the factory. We were lucky that the sun was shining brightly at that time so I took some pretty awesome shots.
The next location used to be a brewery. Just when I was considering climbing through the high window, I noticed the lock on the gates was a stretchable bike lock, 2 meters long. Not very smart, but an easy access for us!
Due to vandalism and a lot of fires there wasn’t many original items to be found. I did manage to capture a few shots.
These and other Urbex photo’s can be seen in my flickr gallery. The bigger versions are better.
Always looking for fellow explorers!
I made this video of a very lazy Viktor today. The cats don’t like the heat any more than I do. I only leave the house out of necessity and am quite glad this apartment keeps most of the heat out. Even the garden isn’t too warm since it’s in the shade for 80% of the day. So I will survive.
I designed these business cards a week ago and they arrived today. I think they’re great!
My mum came over today to help me to restyle our living room. I had grand plans and was not able to do it alone. It looks so much better right now! I ordered a light grey rug which will arrive soon and after that it’s complete! Let me know what you think.
(since I sold my wide angle lens and the new one hasn’t arrived yet, I’m only able to show you a part)
We also put an old type case ($0,50 thrift find) to new use!
Day 1
An early start. My train departed at 7:30 AM and arrived in Berlin on 15:30 PM. The train ride was long and white, I can’t believe how much snow there was in Germany. When arriving my chauffeur was waiting for me at the train station and brought me to the hotel. I had a lovely modern bedroom with a big bed all for me. I did a bit of sightseeing until it started raining. In the evening me and the Olympus people had dinner at restaurant Luchs, where I had the best starter ever. Buffalo Mozarella with aubergine. Yum!
I returned to the hotel late and after some German Family Guy (weird) I went to sleep.
Day 2
I was waked by roomservice who brought me scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, orange juice and freshly baked buns. After a quick shower I was picked up by the taxi which took me to the photo studio. After a briefing and the designers showing me the ideas for the new Olympus Pen campaign (which is awesome!) I was put through styling and makeup and ready to be photographed. Ready is a big word, since the whole shoot was weird and nervewrecking. The photographer was great, but my low self esteem and being in the spotlights wasn’t the best experience. After 2 hours and 270 shots it was over and I could go back to hanging with the crew and testing the new Olympus Pen.
Everyone was so nice! I got along with everyone so amazingly. I loved every single person there.
After the studio I returned to the hotel to pack my gear and I went for a walk around the city. I had two hours left before dark and I saw loads of amazing architecture.
After the sun set I did some shopping (Lush & Dunkin’ Donuts!) and joined the crew at dinner at restaurant Alpenstuck, a German and Austrian speciality restaurant. It was really good, I even drank some wine on recomendation. The Apfelstrudel was bad though, too much cinnamon which made it too spicy. At 11 I called it a night and went back to the hotel to Skype with Koen, who I had a lot to tell obviously!
(obviously I was talking, I don’t normally make faces like that)
Day 3
This was a boring day since it was mainly sitting on the train back. I watched Constantine on my PSP and read a horrible book which I finished anyway.
I’m happy to be home with Koen and my cats, but I feel sad that the whole experience is over and I will miss everyone terribly. It’s been a long time since I felt so appreciated and people were genuinly interested in me and my work. Also Berlin was an amazing city. I love all the huge buildings and the whole atmosphere there. I hope to go back soon!
This trip made me realise I’m a fun person to be around, my English is good and I really deserve to have a job I love with people I enjoy to be around.
