Who would’ve guessed that the first two weeks of November would be the high point of autumn? In the four years of my living in Belgium, I don’t think I ever saw an autumn comparable to this year’s one. And I don’t think I’m idealizing the season when I say I witnessed the most radiant colors of autumn this year. Autumn arrived rather late but it certainly made up for it by being unforgettable. The month started off with a Sunday trip to Eijsden castle, about which I wrote in more detail here. And then the surge of the most brilliant autumn colors came!
Because the very pinnacle of autumn seemed to have happened within the space of one week, I can’t begin to tell you how many things I crammed into that one week. Thankfully enough, this coincided with Grégory’s days off for our wedding anniversary so that meant we got to enjoy it all together. We drove through so many places nearby just to marvel at the beautiful November woods. Our unofficial wedding anniversary tradition of assembling LEGO sets continued this year as well. This time in the form of the LEGO Hogwarts Express set. In fact, I prepared the whole thing as a surprise for Grégory!
The temperatures were mild for this time of the year so we were outside every single day. I even took an 8km walk through the village the following Monday because I knew the leaves would disappear by the time weekend came. Toward the end of my walk, it started to rain but I was glad I forced myself to go out. The photos certainly proved it was worth the effort. I went to all the places that we usually drive past because it’s hard to park the car in such random places. I always love taking solitary walks during autumn through this little village. It never feels more like home than when draped in these vibrant hues.
One day I even set off to a nearby forest for some autumnal self-portraits. With the help of a tripod and a remote, I took dozens of photos in our beautiful neighborhood forest. But I was also reminded why I prefer if Grégory is with me for these shoots. It literally doesn’t exceed 20 minutes with him while on my own, it takes up to an hour. I constantly need to run back to the camera to see if it focused on the right thing or if I’m in the right position. It’s a bit tedious, to be honest, especially if the temperatures are lower. I did take Grégory out plenty of times that week for a few photo shoots! I felt like the window for amazing autumnal photos was rather short and I was right.
Since the height of autumn seemed to be slipping away too fast, I hurried over to Brussels the following Tuesday. Back when I first moved to the city, autumn was the reason why I loved it. November in Brussels won over my heart. I used to spend every waking moment outside that first autumn in the city. Because of that, Brussels in its autumnal attire was always on my mind years after leaving it. This year’s visit just confirmed that the Belgian capital looks most appealing during autumn.
This November marked our first visit to the Philharmonic Hall in Liège. We attended a concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège performing the music of Ennio Morricone. Needless to say, I thought it was brilliant and overall, we spent a lovely evening together. And it’s always nice to do new things together as a couple, to break the inevitable evening routine. Not that I mind the evenings buried in books though! The following rainy Saturday included a visit to the Abbey of Stavelot for a Magnum Contact Sheets exhibition which was riveting! Seeing famous photographs taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Inge Morath, and others was humbling and inspiring. Not to mention how interesting it was to see their film rolls and their pursuit of the perfect photo.
Concerning the blog, the most exciting news has to be our purchase of a Sony α7 II. All the photos I ever uploaded here on the blog were taken with Grégory’s old Canon 500D. And while I was satisfied with them once I found my own editing style, I still had complaints. The occasional blurry photo and mostly horrible results in low lighting which limited me when it came to interior shots. Now all of that has come to an end and I can’t wait to learn how to use it. I suppose as of next week, you’ll be seeing photos taken with the new camera!
