The Incredible World of DARK

Hola everyone.


How are you all doing on this fantastic Friday? I hope so far you’ve had a great week and that you’re all feeling well. Personally, I’ve had a super busy week, juggling free time with my new job at my mum’s company and my also new job as editor-in-chief of our uni magazine LDN (link here), which the team and I have been trying to give a huge makeover and thereby rejuvenate it and turn it into the amazing paper it can and should be. And I know it sounds a tad stressful as a whole, but, actually, I’ve really been enjoying it. I’d rather be busy and happy doing more stuff, than wandering around the house, not knowing what to do with myself. And it kinda makes me enjoy and savor some chill and free time even more, which is actually what I want to talk about today – a very specific, but incredibly amazing TV show that has been ruling most of my free time the past two months. As seen from the title and the cover picture, you can probably guess which show I am talking about. Exactly. DARK. Probably the best show I’ve ever watched in my life. But let me start from the beginning.

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For those of you who don’t know DARK yet – my god you’re missing out -, here’s a short intro: DARK is a German sci-fi thriller series co-created by the great Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese and produced by Netflix. Set in the fictitious German town of Winden, the show starts right during the aftermath of a child’s disappearance, which exposes the secrets of, and hidden connections among four estranged families as they slowly unravel a sinister conspiracy which spans several generations. Throughout the series, DARK explores the existential implications of time and its effects upon human nature.

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I’m purposely not going to reveal any more about the plot, as literally everything is a spoiler and as this is literally one of the best, if not even the best series I have ever seen, I don’t want to spoil this perfection of a show for anyone. What I need to add though is that the show is in German (although it has been dubbed and translated into many other languages), so if you don’t speak German, I would highly highly highly recommend watching the OV version with subtitles. No dubbing can come close to how perfect the voices of the German actors go with the show and with the overall feel of it. Seriously.

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I think what makes this show even more special for me, is that I got to watch it with my best childhood friend Maria, who I usually very rarely get to see as I obviously live in London and she lives and works in Vienna. But – and this is going to sound super insane – thanks to the quarantine (crazy, I told you), we were both forced to stay at home and as we only live minutes apart from each other, we spent most of the quarantine watching movies and tv shows together. And DARK was one of those shows – or more like the one show that ruled our weekly and daily tv marathons. I remember googling which shows to watch on Netflix and DARK immediately seemed like the most promising and interesting one, even before I had watched the trailer, which then sealed the deal. Usually, I am not that attracted to German-produced movies and shows, so I think both Maria and I went into that first episode with a bit of uncertainty.

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But after like the first five minutes, that was more than forgotten. I can’t remember the last time I had such a fantastic, thrilling, and exciting TV/movie experience. We fell in love with the main character Jonas in an instant. And the amount of times this show has made us do multiple facepalms, made us cover our faces in shock, even made us jump off the couch out of utter surprise. It’s truly insane but in the best way possible.

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So far, we’ve seen the first two seasons of the show (I even watched it twice) and as the third and last season has been released last Saturday (happy apocalypse day btw, for all my DARK lovers out there), I couldn’t be more excited to finally get behind all the mad secrets and hidden stories of Winden. But as much excitement I feel towards the prospect of finally getting to see the new season, the thought also gives me this somber, even sad feeling. It’s sad to see this show end. But I know the last season will be a hell of a ride. And I’m more than ready for it.

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I probably don’t have to mention that I HIGHLY recommend watching this show, I think I’ve made it very clear that you all need to watch this show right now. Honestly. You will not regret a single second of it, I promise. And for all of my fellow DARK fans, I’d love to hear what you think about the show – but no spoilers, please – so don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And until then, I wish you all the best weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

A Holiday at Home

Hola everyone.


And welcome back to my blog. And a new Monday. And with that a new week. I hope that you had a lovely weekend and that you’re looking forward to this week. I’m sorry for not posting anything last week, but I’ve got a good excuse – at least partly. Last week, my parents and I went on a little holiday trip to Styria – about a two-hour drive away from us – for their birthday, so I didn’t really have enough time to post on here. But on a positive note, I finally have time today to share all the beautiful snaps with you that I took during the trip, so let’s get right into it. I hope you enjoy them.

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The first stunning place we drove to was what we call here “der grüne See”, which basically translates to the green lake. I know, we Austrians are a very creative folk. But actually, it’s a very fitting name as the lake really is green. Basically, the lake is surrounded by the most amazing, super fake looking mountains, which are usually covered in snow in the winter. But once that ice melts, it naturally flows down the mountains into the lake, which until then is completely dried up and just a huge trough in the landscape. So the whole lake consists of melted glacial ice, which is completely clear, and the flora and fauna that consist in it, which give it its green colour as soon as the sunlight hits the water. Honestly, it’s definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited and I’m not surprised that it was once voted the most beautiful spot in the whole of Austria.

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The second location we visited – one that came with a lot more exhaustion and time consumption – was the “Bärenschützklamm”, which I have no idea what that translates to. Basically, a “Klamm” is a gorge in the middle of one or two mountains, filled with trees, waterfalls, lakes, and anything else you could dream of. About 100 years ago, the Grazer Alpenclub made the gorge accessible with suspended ladders, which has become one of the most beautiful, thrilling, and most well-known hiking trails since then. Overall, the trail consists of 164 ladders and I think about 4000 steps and from beginning to the end takes about 90 minutes to go through. I’m not going to lie, it was definitely one of most exhausting hikes I’ve ever been on, but also one of the most beautiful because once you reach the “Klamm”, there’s literally nothing else but nature. I mean, once you’re in there, you don’t even have reception anymore, so it really feels like you’re turning off the rest of the world and going to a place that has never seen anything industrial. Even the ladders are made from wood. I truly truly truly loved it and regardless of how done I was after it, I’d totally do it again.

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There you go my lovelies, those are the two highlights of our holiday trip. To put it short, I really really really loved everything we saw and did during the trip and if there’s one good thing to come out of this whole quarantine, “you’re not supposed to leave the country”-thing, then it’s definitely getting reunited with my own home country and being reminded of how truly beautiful it is. In the past, I never really got to appreciate its beauty, so I’m glad I do now.

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Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics just as much as me. If you’re ever in Austria or even live here, I’d highly recommend visiting both of these amazing sights. They truly are worth the drive. Also, if you do go there, don’t forget to take your cameras with you, because if you’ve ever needed them, it will be there. And until then I once again hope you enjoyed this post. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And I wish you all a lovely week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

Look what quarantine made me do

Hola everyone.


And welcome back to my blog. How are you all doing, my lovelies? All doing good? I hope you all had a lovely week and that you’re looking forward to the weekend. Today, I thought it would be nice to share another few short stories of and insights on life during quarantine. Thankfully, that horrific time has come to an end here at home in Austria a long time ago (should be over a month now), but whenever I slow down and reflect on those strange one and a half months of lockdowns, anonymity, unfamiliarity and distance, I notice that I was a different person before compared to who I am now. But let me explain.

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To put it short, I did some things during quarantine and during the past three months that I probably would have never ever done if life was still normal. If I was still in London, if gigs were still happening and if our local cinema wasn’t singularly playing dumb, boring movies. Humans are a very adaptive and creative species, which I noticed by my own actions. Even my mum was surprised by most of the stuff I did. That’s how strange I was acting. And I know this must sound super dubious and weird, but actually it’s anything but, as most of the things I did happened in the kitchen. Not strange, but very very delicious.

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I mean, as probably everyone stuck at home, I’ve been cooking a lot. And that’s saying a lot too, as I usually already cook about twice or even three times per week. But because of quarantine and because I needed to find a way to let my creative spirit run free and do something I’ve never done before and something that would keep me engaged and interested, I’ve been cooking even more. I just needed a bit of a challenge. Also, somehow I finally got to make and cook all the stuff I had been planning on for years, so that’s quite cool too.

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My very first project was stinging nettle spinach. You’re probably thinking ‘what the hell is that’. Well, it’s that interesting green plant you can usually find on roadsides and in the woods in late spring. Oh, and the ‘fun’ part, once you touch it it stings like hell. You probably know what I mean by now. Here in Austria it’s pretty common to go into the woods and harvest some of it to cook with it – make spinach, tea, soup, whatever. And when I was still very young, I remember my mum once made me pureed spinach from nettles and I’ve been wanting to recreate that ever since. And thanks to quarantine, I finally got the chance. The stuff you do when you’ve reached another level of boredom. But actually, it was pretty cool to make and tasted amazing as well. I highly recommend it – here’s a recipe for you to try.

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And speaking of staying local and being one with nature – the next thing I made was elderflower syrup, another long-planned project of mine. The amazing thing is, when we bought the property for our house, this big patch of land, it already included a few trees and a huge elderflower bush. So the syrup I made wasn’t just homemade but also homegrown. And yes, I’m pretty proud of that. Anyway, the process of making the syrup was super fun as well and oh my god the taste. It tastes so freaking good. I mean, I usually like building myself up and being my own biggest fan, but this time literally everyone I had try the syrup agreed that it is absolutely stunning. And with some frozen berries and a few mint leafs it makes for the perfect summer drink. You should definitely try it – here’s a recipe.

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To stay with the summery theme, the last thing I recently made is perfect for anyone who loves frozen yoghurt and fruit, but doesn’t have a frozen yoghurt place in town (like me) – a yoghurt bark. Inspired by the amazing Jenna Joseph (thanks Jenna), I made the probably easiest icecream on earth. It really is just spreading out greek yoghurt and mixing and topping it with literally anything you like – chocolate, fruit, nuts, anything. There are no limits whatsoever. And once it’s frozen and you can break it all apart and enjoy it in the sun, it’s just the best thing ever – here’s a recipe for you.

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And last but not least, the quarantine has also given my green thumb an intense push. I mean, I’ve always had a green thumb – my room is literally filled with plants, I currently own 17 – but before the quarantine, it was limited to indoor plants. But all of a sudden I’ve been helping my mum with the garden, repotting plants, checking on them on a daily basis. I think that’s actually what surprised my mum the most. And the cherry on top of all of this is definitely that I recently planted my very own lemon trees. I know, lemons and me, what a coincidence (ha). But, seriously, they are just the cutest and I call them my lemon babies and have been looking after them all day and all night. I know that the journey together with them will be a long one and that it’ll take years for them to grow tall and strong, but that’s what I’m here for. Also, I think they’re just so beautiful and elegant once they’re bigger, so it’s definitely worth the wait. They’ll hopefully be with me my whole life. For any of you who would like to plant their own lemon tree, here’s how.

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And with that, we’ve already reached the end of today’s post and the stories of all the stuff I did during quarantine and the past three months. Overall, I think that quarantine was one of the hardest periods of time I and most people had to go through, but looking at what good came out of it, I’d say that it didn’t just have bad sides, but some positive ones as well. Speaking of that, I’d absolutely love to hear about all the cool you stuff did during quarantine to keep yourself busy – even if it’s creating the most beautiful island on Animal Crossing (I envy you) – so please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and opinions down below. And apart from that I hope reading about my stories brought you a bit of inspiration and happiness. And yeah, as always, I wish you all a lovely weekend and thanks for reading. x

thatlemonlife presents: LEMON – the magazine

Hola everyone.


How are all my lovely readers doing? Oh my god, it feels like I haven’t been on here and talked to you for ages. I’m so incredibly sorry for the long long silence. You can probably guess why I couldn’t find the time to really post anything… yes, you’re right, good old uni work, innit? But as of Tuesday last week, I am finally free again and also done with my second year at BIMM. Which still sounds so insane to me. I can’t believe I’m already done with my second year and only have one year left to go. Time just flew by, my god.

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But actually, now that I’m finally back, uni stopping me from posting anything on here is more fun than anything, as it is also the reason for me coming back and for today’s post. Because as most of you have probably seen from the title of this post, I want to present you with something today that is probably one of the most special and most meaningful projects of mine that I ever got to share with you guys. And it’s all thanks to uni. Never thought I’d ever say that, but here we are. Thanks, BIMM. But let’s not spend more time talking around it, but let’s get right to it. I proudly present to you – my very first own music, arts and lifestyle magazine LEMON. Can you hear me screaming in excitement?

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Okay, I know, this is super exciting, and, please believe me, I’m more than on the edge of my seat now that I finally get to share it with you. But first, let me tell you how we got here. As I already mentioned, this is all thanks to my university, which made me fall in love with design and specifically magazine design and now for my end project of our ‘Making Magazines’ course had me design and write a complete 16-pages magazine. I know you’re probably thinking what a crazy and difficult task, but out of all my courses, this was one was definitely the one that I enjoyed the most.

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And actually, the whole idea for LEMON began right here, on this very blog. Because in a nutshell, the magazine is a paper version of this very blog – without the sometimes way too personal oversharing and babbling around. From the start, my goal was to translate the feel of this blog, its ambiance, its style, and its fun and passionated character to the magazine and create a paper that is just as sweet, creative, and interesting. Obviously, the look was also just as important and, for me as a perfectionist, also the part I worked on the most and hardest. I think in total I worked on it for about three months, which made it possible for me to create a magazine that I couldn’t be any more proud of. And I even got to include my obsession and love for Twenty One Pilots (I just had to, sorry not sorry). And yes, I’m probably prouder of that than I should be, but I got to put Brad Heaton, the ultimate photographic genius, into the spotlight and my favourite band at the same time and even put Ty on the cover, so I can only see this as the biggest achievement ever.

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Overall, creating this mag has probably been one of the most fun things I’ve ever done and I couldn’t be happier to share it with you, so without further ado, here it is. My magazine LEMON. I hope you enjoy it. Or even love it.

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Omg, this is just so exciting. I honestly hope you enjoy/enjoyed my magazine. As already mentioned, all the design was done by me and all the articles and pieces you can find on the pages were also written by myself. Unfortunately, Brad wasn’t available for an interview, so I had to use some quotes from past interviews and his reddit q&a for my feature on him, but I don’t think that lessened the quality of the piece in any way. His pictures with their magic and striking beauty are the highlights anyway.

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Again, I truly hope you enjoy the mag just as much as I do. This is my first attempt at creating my own magazine and now that I can literally hold it in my hands, it feels like another path for me has opened itself up. It has definitely become a project for me that I want to come back to in the future. Maybe, one day, LEMON will be a real magazine one day and waiting for you to pick it up from the store. How crazy does that sound? Even just the thought makes my tummy fill with butterflies. But until then, here’s the very first version of this super special paper. I’d love to hear your opinions and thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to leave them down below. And, of course, I hope you’re all doing great and feeling well and I wish you all the loveliest week. And as always, thanks for reading. x

New Music Friday

Hola everyone.


How are you all doing today? All enjoying the beautiful weather we’ve been blessed with the past days? Because I definitely have. Actually, I’ve caught myself thinking I’m already on my summer break more than once, which just shows how 1. long I’ve been at home already and 2. how good the weather has been. And I’m not sure whether I like that or not, because, you know, climate change and all that. I guess all of us staying at home is probably the best thing that could’ve happened to the environment right now. I hope once this virus crisis is finally over, everyone’s going to try and fight climate change just as aggressively as we’re all currently fighting this asshat Corona. Our beautiful planet deserves it.

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I know, I just made a huge detour and got completely off-topic. I haven’t even presented today’s post and what it’s going to be all about yet. But I guess you all saw the title of the post, so here’s the probably weirdest way of announcing another fantastic edition of “New Music Friday”. In a nutshell, all of these songs have been with me during this hell of a crazy time and have kept me on the bright side of things. They’ve pulled me up when I was feeling down on another “what festival got canceled today”-day. They put a smile on my face when it seemed like everything was going more than wrong. And they gave a normal, plain day that little extra to become a highlight. So I’m more than excited to share all of these with you. I hope you love them just as much as me. Please enjoy.

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OK – Wallows

Well, who would’ve thought I’d ever get this addicted to this band and get to call them one of my favourite bands right now? Definitely not me when I first heard ‘Pictures Of Girls’ two years ago. But here I am now, deep down in an intense obsession with Wallow’s newest track called ‘OK’, which couldn’t be any more perfect to listen to while the world outside is literally getting turned on its head – which has basically been happening the past two months. So, in a nutshell, it’s definitely the most perfect song for quarantine and if you haven’t listened to it yet, you should definitely check it out ASAP. Also, Dylan’s blue hair looks amazing and I’m kinda jealous that he can actually pull it off.

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Feels So Nice – The Wrecks

I mean, I’ve already dedicated a whole post to the new album of this super amazing indie-rock group from the US, but here we are again because sharing The Wrecks’ new stuff with you all once just isn’t enough (see the first post here). ‘Feels So Nice’ right here has been an absolute favourite of mine ever since it got released and so far I haven’t been able to get it out of my head, so here you have it too, so we’re all in this boat together. Please give it a listen, it’s phenomenal.

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Level Of Concern – Twenty One Pilots

I think you and me both know that I don’t really have to introduce this band nor to explain why their newest hit ‘Level of Concern’ is part of this list (see the original post about the song right here). My boys went and created the number one song for quarantine and nobody can tell me otherwise. Also, Ro is in the video, so it can’t really be beaten by any other music video out there. And, because I only just heard the news today – huge congrats to Josh and Debby for getting married when we all knew they did. I’m honestly super happy for them. If you give the video a shot, try to spot Josh’s ring. Another huge giveaway.

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The Key to Life on Earth – Declan McKenna

I’m going to be honest, whenever I put this song on at home, my parents look at me as if I had just started to play some cringy Austrian folk music or something on that level of crappy. And, to be real, I still don’t get how they’re not overly in love with this song. Declan has always been an important part of my ‘favourite songs’-playlist and I’m super happy to share this new record with all of you. Not only because the track is more than great, but also because the video can only be described as art in itself – I mean, just look at it. Go on.

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Black Licorice – Peach Pit

Do you know those days when you just feel like everything’s going all wrong and you’re just not meant to be in a certain place? Moments when you feel like you’re not really wanted or needed? A bit like black licorice? Well, if yes, then this song right here is perfect for you, because it’s about those exact moments, but instead of pulling you down, it’s a beautiful piece of music that can be enjoyed not just when you feel a bit down, but also when you feel like anything but black licorice. That’s how magnificent the song is right here. I applaud you, Peach Pit.

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Is Everybody Going Crazy? – Nothing But Thieves

I’m not going to lie, I couldn’t describe the past two months in any better words than the title of this song does even if I wanted to. Because that’s just how it’s been and somehow Nothing But Thieves managed to write a song way way way before the actual crisis which couldn’t fit it any better. Imagine that? You write a song a year before an event that makes it seem like you just wrote that same song for that exact moment. And then on top of that, the song turns out to be freaking awesome. How cool is that?

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I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again – Mura Masa ft. Clairo

I think every good music playlist needs a nice EDM-ish song in the midst of it, so here is mine for this month. This time, happily presented to you by the amazing Mura Masa featuring Clairo. To cut it short, the track is incredibly fun to listen to and always manages to pull me up and get me hyped whenever I need it the most and I hope it does the same for you.

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Cinnamon – Hayley Williams

Last but certainly not least, here’s is once again my favourite female singer, the one and only Hayley Williams with my favourite song of her recently released solo album ‘Petals for Armor’. This song is literally the coolest womanhood anthem I’ve ever heard and it makes me feel at peace with myself and connected to my feminity in such a cool way that my appreciation for this track hasn’t found its end yet. Also, the music video for it is absolutely baffling and I still have a lot of questions. Well freaking done, Hayley.

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And there it is, guys, this is it for this month’s ‘New Music Friday’. I hope you enjoyed/enjoy listening to the songs as much as I enjoy sharing them with you. I’d really love to hear your opinions and thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to leave them down below in the comment section. And until then, I wish you all a super lovely weekend, hope you’re doing well and, as always, thanks for reading. x

There’s Nothing Like Film

Hola everyone.


Welcome back to my blog. I’m so sorry for being gone for so long, but I’ve buried myself in uni work the past two weeks and only just now had a chance to finally peek my head out a bit again. How are you guys doing? I hope you’ve had a great two weeks and are feeling well, despite this way too real horror scenario we’re still stuck in. I’m going to be honest, I’m still locked into my shitty emotional rollercoaster. One day I’m feeling super happy and calm and truly believe that everything’s going to be perfectly fine again, and the next day I feel like a piece of my soul got ripped apart and all I want to do is throw myself off a cliff. I know, this might sound a bit dramatic, but I’ve always lived in extremes and this quarantine has only enforced that even more.

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Anyways, thanks to various new hobbies, I’ve been able to stick to the better, more fun side of the rollercoaster for most of the time. And one of those hobbies is something I’ve been wanting to get into for a pretty long time – film photography. I mean, you all know how deeply in love I am with photography in general, whether with my phone or my camera. So getting obsessed with film photography was just a natural consequence. And finally, for my birthday this year, I gave myself the greatest gift ever to give in to the obsession – a film camera, to be exact, an Olympus XA2, that I got from Depop.

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So far, I’ve used up one roll of film, which I recently got developed and am super happy to share with you today. Obviously, not all the pictures are worthy enough to be hung up on a wall for everyone to see, but some of them are and to be honest, I’m really proud of that. Especially for my first try. Thankfully, actually photographing with the camera is just as much fun as seeing the results. I know that some people don’t like film, because opposed to digital cameras, you aren’t able to see the photo straight after taking it. You can’t check whether the lighting is nice or everything is in focus. Every single picture is a surprise. And yes, it might make it all a bit more stressful, because the chance of some of the pics being throwaways is pretty high, but it is also way more exciting that way. I love how you capture moments and then they’re locked into the camera until you finally get to see them weeks afterward. I think that’s actually what gives the pictures their certain nostalgic and romantic touch. I really really really love it. And so, without further ado, here are some of my favourite pictures that I took during the past weeks while being stuck in quarantine. If any of you are curious, I took all of them on a Kodak Gold film with an ISO of 200. I hope you like them just as much as I do. So, please enjoy.

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And there you go guys, this is it for today’s post. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and are excited for more to come. I’ve already ordered six more rolls of film – 3x Kodak Color Plus 200 and 3x Fujicolor C200 – and I can’t wait to shoot them all and fill them with fantastic memories and beautiful moments. And then to share them with all of you. And until then, I hope you like these here. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And also recommendations and tips for the camera. I’m just at the start of the film photography learning curve and would be grateful for every tip. Besides that, I wish you all a lovely week and hope you’re doing well. And, of course, thanks for reading. x