The relation was well again, but I still lived in a sort of isolation.

As I told you in my previous post, the relationship between me and my partner came back well again last year. So those worries fell away like a brick. And not only from me, but also from him. Because of course it also had a big impact on him. But despite the fact that the relationship had turned out well again, it naturally remained that the situation had not changed that much. And that I still lived far too much in a sort of isolation. We both thought that there should be a change ...

And so it happened that my partner asked if I would like to join a club. That way I could get away from home and get to know other people again. I only came to do the shopping among the people, because of the situation in recent years and the lack of good transport I had lost all my 'friends' over time. And although I can usually enjoy myself, it is nice to have some other social contacts alongside your partner and the dogs.

The Photo Club came into my life.

I started looking and soon came across that there is a fairly active photo club here in the village. And of course I liked that. Everyone who knows me knows that photography is an important part of my life. And although I have been photographing for years, that does not mean that I can no longer learn anything. For inspiration and motivation it is also good to share your hobby with other people because in this way you learn from others, you get inspired by others and the motivation remains higher to experiment.

The last five years I have almost always photographed alone, and because my world had become so small I also mainly only photographed nature and my dogs. Of course, dogs are fun, nature is fun ... but if you are not that far from home, that is also limited because after 5 years you have seen the same places and you want something different. And that was just very difficult.

But that was about to change. Because when I told my partner that I would like to look at the photo club, we checked if it would be possible to pay, and that was possible. I happy, and my partner happy because I was happy. I quickly registered myself and there I went. September 2019 I had my first evening at the photo club.

A new chapter.

Strange but true, I was even nervous about it. After all, it was a long time ago for me to have stepped in somewhere ... and as a highly sensitive person, something like that can have a major impact on you. But I had nerves for nothing because I was very warmly welcomed within the photo club. And it turned out that my intuition was right. Because of the common interest I was also able to make contact easily and that first evening was also very pleasant, but also very inspiring. Coincidentally, there was just another lecture by another photographer, and seeing her work inspired me a lot.

In the meantime I was also busy solving the biggest obstacle for my photography. A failing camera that was about to be replaced. That also gave me a huge boost to go on with good spirits. And when the camera was replaced, and I was the proud owner of a brand new Nikon D750, I was very proud, but also very happy that I would now get other subjects for photography by the photo club. Immediately on my first evening there was already the first challenge. We had to draw lots for the Sinterklaas celebration of that year and the theme with which you had to take your photo was the favorite song of the person from whom you drew the note. I wrote a post about this and finally came up with the following photo ...

After that it was quiet with regard to the photo club because we only had the end-of-year presentation on the big screen. And before that you were allowed to place 'free work' on a usb stick which would then be presented on a large screen. For this I crawled back into my comfort zone and presented some of my dog ​​photos.

2020 the fresh start.

But it started again in the beginning of this year. And the first assignment I received immediately pulled me out of my comfort zone. Because I have been photographing animals for years, but today's assignment was "A human portrait with artificial light". That was not so easy to come up with. Because WHO I had to photograph. Yes, of course, I live here day in and day out with my partner. But let him just be someone who absolutely does NOT want to be on a photo. So that wasn't going to be. I don't have many friends like I said before. So it started with thinking, WHO I was going to photograph. Just stepping towards strangers to ask if I can take a picture of that person, that does not suit me at all.

Find old friends back again.

Eventually I decided to talk to one of the few friends I still have if I could photograph her. Coincidentally, she also is a photographer herself, AND she has her own photo studio at home. That would immediately double. Besides that I would have carried out my assignment, it would also be very nice. Because she has a busy job and also often has photography assignments, or a day in a birdhouse for photography ... she also doesn't live very close, and I can't drive up and down that fast, we don't see each other very often.

Spend a fun day with my friend.

It would be a great opportunity to get away from it all for a while, and that was exactly what I also wanted to do now. So a few weeks ago I went to see her. And we spent the afternoon together in her studio. Very nice, and I am also proud of the result of that afternoon.

Quite out of my comfort zone for me.

But a successful assignment, a successful afternoon and that's what it all started with. That I would leave home more, and thereby start building up a social life again.

I do feel much much better now, and that benefits the home situation.

And the latter seems to be going well, because as far as I can see now I have to make at least one assignment for the photo club every month. And every time with a different theme. In addition, we have the club evenings, also 'do-evenings', and we are offered various workshops. In short, my photography motivation and inspiration has been given a boost and with that my social life too ... which makes me feel better again.

And that ultimately also benefits the home situation!