Strobist day workshops and taking some time off…..

October 23rd 2010 was the day of the big Strobist workshop organized by Cameratools and CameraNu.
This was the kind of workshops you always live up to so I did not want to miss this one, although it meant that I arrived home from England and had to be there the next day, but hey I love what I do so let’s go for it…..
so I thought…..

The day itself was wonderful, a large area inside an old factory so lot’s of nice areas to shoot. My spot was in a corner with nice options and an old poweroutlet that I could use as a backdrop. The plan was to teach 6 workshops each taking 45 minutes, 3 before the break and 3 after the break.
They warned it would be cold so I dressed for the occasion.
The first two workshops went fine and we were having loads of fun with the other photographers who also were there, the third workshop I was feeling a bit hot but I decided this was due to the many people heating up the factory, I guess I was wrong….

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During the break after we ate I walked around a bit to talk to the other photographers and our friends of fotoflits, when I returned to our corner I talked a bit with one of the visitors and before I knew it my head began to spin and I saw the floor coming at me, I managed to sit down in a chair and asked for medical attention, I really never felt this way, it was like the whole world was spinning and I had to really fight to stay “awake”. Because there was no medical assistance and the feeling became worse and worse and I kept getting colder they decided to call an ambulance which arrived in a few moments.
The medical team took good care of me and after some examinations (including blood) it seems like everything was 100% fine, all levels indicated I was in 100% health however the reality felt totally different, I still had to fight not to faint. The conclusion was very simple, total exhaustion…. well ok looking back that really was not a big surprise to be honest but I never expected it to hit this hard, I did planned some time off after Italy to get my energy back but I guess my body disagreed with me on this one.

The last few months have been a roller coaster ride, starting actually in March up until now has been filled up with photoshoots, workshops and workshops/seminars abroad we’ve been to New York, Tampa, Coventry, Bristol, Dublin, Germany (3 days photokina), Pro Imaging (3 days exhibition), Belgium, EOS digitaal day and much more, this year has been way too busy, but as I always say I love what I do and I always get so much energy from what I’m doing, where other people are tired after a weeks work I’m always looking forward to the next adventure, I think you know the feeling 😀

However what I obviously forgot is that stress, travel and hardly any sleep for a few weeks (it’s been 8 weeks since we could really take more than 6 hours sleep) will add up to a shut down of your body, and this is exactly what happened Saturday.

It all looked very scary with a heart monitor and the ambulance but trust me there is physically nothing wrong with me as it seems now, at the moment of writing I’m still not feeling 100%, far from that, my head still spins and I’m still shacky when standing up, the feeling should go away in a few days to a week according to the doctor as long as I relax, watch some movies and just do everything at ease. Well to be honest this was the most frightening thing that every happened to me (I really thought I was gone die there) and I will listen to the doctor this time.

For the people in the Netherlands it means that 3 workshops are cancelled that were held this week and some shoots have been cancelled in the coming weeks. I will start the workshops again in November and up until then will do absolutely nothing so it will be a little quiet on this blog, sorry for that.
For the workshops abroad it’s a bit more dramatic, we had planned the Italy workshops for 13-14 November and they will be cancelled, the students are already mailed about this, I’m so sorry for this (I never cancelled workshops abroad before) but in this case I don’t see me traveling to Italy in 2 weeks time that’s way too early. The promoters in Italy will start up the workshops again in 2011 so don’t worry.

I will end this blog post with some images and a video from the Strobist day, it’s not much because we saved the nice dresses for the last three workshops but anyway, it’s something to share…
To the people who have missed the last 3 workshops during the strobist day, I’m very sorry and if you mail me I will give you a big discount on a workshop in Emmeloord.

And the video:

I would also like to thank the people who send me mails, twitter messages etc. it’s heartwarming to see the responses and I really appreciate it.

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