The lake at Montreux, right when the rain started again
It's been a while. Not only since I last blogged, but also since I last did some photography. My mental struggles have an effect on a lot of things, one being losing the joy in photography.
The past few (6) weeks, I have been on an Interrail journey through Europe, visiting multiple cities. I love to travel by train and Interrail had a massive 50% discount last year, so I bought a 2 month pass and in April it was time to take my ticket (and ass) on the road!!
My goal? Snapping out of whatever I was in this winter with the forever-rain in the Netherlands. Secondary goal? I was kinda hoping I would get inspired along the way (without any pressure) to pick up my camera again...
A small garden in Basel
I packed my bag as lightly as possible (since going in and out trains all the time isn't fun with heavy bags), but still wanted to bring both my regular camera and my full spectrum one.
Both my camera's stayed in my bag for a very long time. The rain decided to follow me on my trip so I didn't feel very inspired. But as soon as I arrived on my longer stay location in Italy (more about that in future blogs), the many coloured houses just yelled "GRAB YOUR CAMERA OR FOREVER REGRET IT!!" to me.
And so I did... Reluctantly. I haven't looked at those photos yet and they may all be shite. We'll see.
And then I arrived in Switzerland, and it was time for infrared. There was so much greenery everywhere! While walking around the multiple towns with my infrared camera, I had no clue what to expect of the photos that I took. All the images looked very pink/purple on my camera, but I noticed that it worked since the plants lit up very nicely.
On my boat excursion, I got mansplained by a photographer that I was doing it all wrong since I wasn't using my lens hood. I nearly punched this man in the face, but decided to just mention something complicated about infrared. It worked... he walked away with his tail between his legs, mumbling something about infrared. I started questioning myself again.
Why do some male photographers always feel the need to talk down on female photographers?
Do people in Basel get funding to add plants to their houses?
Anyway... maybe I WAS doing it all wrong. But a lens hood wouldn't have saved me (it also didn't fit anyway because of my filter). In hindsight, the 850nm filter may not have been the best choice to be left with more playroom in post production, but I wonder if the lack of blue skies those days would have ruined the alternative anyway. Something to figure out for next time then!
So far, I enjoy the odd look that they have. And I can only hope that I can improve this to make it even more surreal!
On the lake's edge in Montreux
I went on a 6 week journey and ended up enjoying my most experimental camera that I brought. I got inspired and thought that, in the future, I can turn this into a series to show how concrete/green the cities in Europe are. My IR photos aren't perfectly to my liking yet, but this summer may be the perfect time to experiment with different filters and improve my skills. Regardless of any of those future plans, this trip resulted in a mini victory for my mental health! And a small return of the joy of photography!