Greetings friend,
I just got a Schengen visa for 2 years and have no more double pages in my passport. Living the dream, hey… the passport is 4 years old and I have no more space left. But at least I can go to Iceland for the next 2 years at any time and maybe I will.
The story of today is how I like to go against the flow.
Fun School Times
When I was at school, I chose as my best friend the person who didn’t fit in any possible frames, but that’s what I liked about her. She had a tattoo done when she was 16 years old, coloured her hair pink and wore a bra as a statement piece just to shock old ladies in the streets. She also decided to sleep with girls just to be different, and as I found out later, was in love with me, but I try to avoid drama in my life, which means -> stay away from girls.
So basically at times, we had to fight with bullies at school because they didn’t like people who were different. My looks weren’t as provocative as those of my friend, but I had to take part in those fights to prove my point that anyone was free to do whatever they want.
The bully now has two kids, a boring life and a rich husband. I have a tattoo and an idea of a new lens in my head.
Ah, yes, Iceland…
Gatklettur
Beautiful sunny weather and we stopped at this location which is called Gatklettur or Kissing Rock, and there was also an old (perhaps abandoned) port a bit further away. Our tour guide proposed that we divide into two groups: some go photograph the rock, and some go photograph the port. In the end, everybody went to the rock and only Siggi and I went to the port. And maybe the rock is fascinating and somehow iconic, but the port was cool too and I am the only one who has the photos from there.
The blue days in winter Iceland are beautiful and I absolutely love the contrast between the sun and the skies, but since the sun doesn’t go very high, the shadows are deep and long. It is quite a challenge to photograph anything with a wide-angle lens when the sun is behind you because you always see your shadow. Or someone else’s, if you are in a group.
I just had a look at this photo and I thought I over-darkened the skies in post-processing, but in fact, it is the polarizer effect, not me. I love the grass wrapping around the frozen pond, and the lonely house in the background… and don’t you just want to know the story of those guys who live there? Can you get tired of this view?
100 Days Of Table Mountain That Never Happened
When I lived in Cape Town I wanted to do a project called 100 days of Table Mountain since I lived in a place called Table View which had a nice view of the mountain…. but I didn’t have a good camera or a good boyfriend who would let me go take photos of what I want.
Thankfully I have grown out from those days when people would tell me what to do. I am the only one responsible for my own happiness that is why I make decisions for myself, not to make someone happy (and some people are impossible to make happy, so why waste time?).
The moral of the story is – do what you want, not what others are doing. It is easy to say “I didn’t come to the science class because everyone skipped”… but do you really want to live the life of everyone else?
Much love,
Anna
Playing with the Light 