I know, it has been a while since I left you a message. No worries though, I am still alive! But genuinely I have to admit that this winter has taken a very very long time. Early spring with its related photo subjects such as the Orange Tip did not really attract me. Most probably because I spent so much time and effort in this tiny and beautiful butterfly last year. With a lack of new ideas and still very cold temperatures outside I decided to stay home instead and prolong my cocooning time in my comfortable warm nest called home.. 

And then there was this great news from the German Glanzlichter Photo Contest: I won an award this year! Yeah, so happy! So I am delighted to inform you that my below picture of a laurel forest, taken back in the summer of 2013 on the high plains ‘Fanal’ on the Portuguese island Madeira, has won a highlight in the category Magnificent Wilderness. Although it is not a macro shot, this picture has a special place in my heart. Words can not describe this magical place. You definitely have to visit this place at least once in your life. That is… if you like silence in nature, if you like serenity and very old moist trees and mosses. Edwin  has described  Fanal in one of his books, check it out! (‘Handboek natuurfotografie op reis‘, in Dutch language, to be bought here or with Edwin himself)