Into the Woods

August 7, 2015 | Anke

I love the woods. Nothing quite beats a stroll among the trees on a cold, foggy morning in December.

A few years ago I stayed a week in the Harz area in Germany for a winter vacation. It’s a lovely region, especially if you’re into nature and outdoor activities.

Moss and mushrooms growing on old dead pieces of wood. There is a lot to be discovered in the forest. I love the different shades of green, and the purple-ish tint of the film.

A tiny tree growing from the stump of an old one. I’m always amazed at how nature recovers (at least in this case).

It’s really rewarding to stray from the beaten path. You might find yourself at a really beautiful place all of a sudden. In this case, a clearing somewhere in the middle of the forest near the town of Braunlage.

The long, winding road up. And not a single soul around.

A view up from the cliff Hahnenkleeklippen, obscured by the thick fog that rose up towards evening.

Happy friday everyone! Enjoy your weekend and thank you for following along! 🙂

Olympus XA

July 22, 2015August 3, 2015 | Anke

A few months ago I was rummaging through some cardboard boxes that usually collect dust on top of my bedroom closet. What I found among old school textbooks and the odd bits and pieces was… CAMERAS! More particularly, an Olympus XA rangefinder, and two Russian Zenit (-E and -ET) single lens reflex cameras.

While I was already familiar with and love the Zenits, I had never felt the urge to try out the Olympus XA. I even considered selling it on Ebay since it was not an SLR but a simple rangefinder. Yup, I’m a snob like that.

Or at least I was until I decided to give it a try – just for the hell of it – and searched for images taken with an Olympus XA on Flickr. Little did I expect to find such awesome pictures as those appearing on the screen. Suddenly I was extremely grateful I did not sell the little beast online. Though that would have served me right for being such an ignorant snob. 😛

After my favourite and go-to choice for a camera, the Canon AE-1, broke down once again, I loaded some film into the XA and took it with me. Though it took some time getting used to it, I can handle it pretty well by now.

I love this camera. It is a light-weight and super small – it easily fits into the pockets of my jackets. As a result, I’m more likely to take the camera with me and actually shoot regularly. With the more heavy SLRs I always think twice about schlepping it somewhere. It’s fun and I also like the results – it’s amazing what a little thing like this can do!

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All my Olympus XA shots in one place.

A gallery of some of my favourite shots taken by other people.