Today I want to feature a wonderful photo session in Limburg. It is usually the parents who initiate a family photo session with the kids. This time it were the children, students, who wanted to give a special present to their parents for a special date. My old client Maaike and her brother Cas knew a photo session is a kind of gift to combine memorable photos and fun family time together. And it worked out awesome!
In my previous post I have shared a beautiful Christening ceremony of little Nicky Jr. in Nijmegen. As promised, I will now share with you a few photos from the family party afterwards. After the baptism service, the family and friends gathered at a party center in Wijchen to celebrate this special day. And what a dazzling party it was! Happy and stylish grownups enjoyed dancing and had a lot of fun. And the children had such great time playing, dancing, painting, getting their faces painted, eating cotton candy, and more.
I love photographing baptisms and was happy to travel to Nijmegen to record this special day for the little Nicky Jr. The christening took place at the St. Anthony Abbot church in Nijmegen, and there was a big gathering of family and friends to celebrate this wonderful moment together. It was a delight to see Nicky with his happy and proud father Nicky Sr. and gorgeous mother Diana. There is so much love in this family, and the eyes of the baby Nicky are full of trust to the world.
Nicky’s godparents were my regular clients, as were some guests, and it was a pleasure for me to see so many familiar faces during the event. The ceremony was beautiful and there was this wonderful atmosphere, both warm and solemn.
Christenings are such wonderful events to photograph and I was happy to hear from Mariesa who wanted me to document her little son’s baptism in the beautiful Our Lady church in Apeldoorn.
We started our event reportage in the morning photographing baby Nicky at home with all the family that gathered there on his special day. It was a pleasant summer day, and the garden behind the house was large enough for any group portraits. I love all the photos of the charming little guy Nicky with his parents, grandparents and godparents, and everybody else: they show the love in the family and the fun of being together.
Just look at the little Nicky with that happy smile! It was also very special to capture Nicky together with his elder brother Alain. Alain is very caring about his baby brother and likes to play with him. He was very excited about Nicky’s day. I really love their portraits together: so pure and timeless, capturing the boys as they are now and showing their character and their special band. I am also very happy with the portraits of Alain together with his daddy and gorgeous mother.
Today I want to share some photos from a lovely reportage in Apeldoorn.
I first met Bethany when she was four years old, and now she had a big day: her first communion.
We started the reportage with Bethany getting ready for the ceremony at home: the moments most girls of any age enjoy so much. Bethany is such a pretty and radiant little lady: it won’t surprise you she looked like a princess in her amazing dress.
One of my biggest pleasures as a family photographer is to see my clients back, observe the children grow and meet the new family members. I was excited to hear from Eva and Gerben, a lovely family from Rotterdam, that they were expecting a second baby and then to plan a photo session with their two little boys!
Aline was looking for a special birthday present for her husband. She thought a professional family photo session is a very personal, unique gift that means both fun time and a lasting memory in the form of wall art afterwards. I could not agree more and was happy to set up the details of the surprise photo session with Aline. The children, Tom and Erin were also involved in the plan. They shared their ideas with the mother and kept them secret from the father!
Astrid wanted to give her husband Niels a special present for his birthday. Something very personal, unique and lasting on behalf of herself and their son Fabian. What, then, could be more personal than several custom-made portraits? Astrid thought even bigger than this: Niels should receive not just a couple of prints, but a whole gift album with a fun photo story to surprise him! Of course, surprise also means it had to be kept secret…
Today I want to share with you a story about the baptism ceremony of the little precious Milly.
Baptism of a baby is a special and emotional event for the parents. Milly’s lovely mother Sylvana wanted to share these beautiful moments with family and friends, but also to capture the day in a unique photo reportage, so that they – and Milly herself when she will get older – could relive and enjoy it again and again in the years to come. It was an honour and a pleasure for me to capture the ceremony and the feast.
The ceremony took place at the Our Lady church in Apeldoorn, a Neo-Gothic church not far from the family’s home. It was a big day with many family members and guests attending the celebration, and the atmosphere was wonderful and full of joy. The ceremony itself was a beautiful sequence of emotionally loaded moments. And what made it even more special: not only was it solemn but the family and the children were actively involved in the ceremony.
It is amazing how baby Milly seemed to feel the importance of the moment and took it quietly and seriously.
There is a new type of a photo session that I’m offering and would love to announce: A Day in the Life reportage.
The underlying idea is story-telling, documenting the typical and therefore precious moments of a family, kids or a couple. It is about their lifestyle, their connection and interaction in their preferred environment on a relaxed or active day together. Such extended photo session would typically last some 4 hours. During that time life goes on its natural way. There is no posing and the photographer can be unobtrusive, capturing special moments and expressions in a semi-candid, often journalistic, style.
Sandra and her brother Frank wanted to make a special gift for their father’s anniversary: a wall portrait of Sandra with her husband Chris and Frank with his wife Fabienne. The two couples together but not in a traditional group photo with “say cheese” smiles. It had to be an unconventional group portrait with character. Great attitude, I thought at once.
Let me share with you some images from a recent photo session with Eva, Gerben and their little son Noah. The photo reportage was a gift from Eva’s father for Noah’s birth. Now Noah is half a year old: he is so precious and so dearly loved!
Eva and her brother Michiel were looking for a special gift for their parents. Eva, who is an enthusiast photographer herself, had thought of a family photo reportage as the perfect present. What is more special than having a good time together and then beautiful wall portraits and a photo book to enjoy these wonderful moments over and over again?
Eva also had a picturesque location in mind: the Westhove castle park at Domburg, not far from her parents’ house in sunny Zeeland. We walked past a historic castle, a park with a romantic stone bridge. Then we went through a forest to the dunes and the sea. The sun broke through and gave us some summer moments – these were the last summer days.
My previous story about a photo session with Jules, Barbara and Truus in Amsterdam was a colourful reportage: fresh, fun, romantic. But have you noticed that there were no black and white photos in it? Why not? Well, not without a reason. I just thought that black and white images from this reportage would make a special series.
Amsterdam is great both in color and in timeless black and white. So here are our Amsterdam moments in black and white: classic or vintage-like, stylish and nostalgic.
I love this photo of the couple: an unexpected moment when different realities cross. Doesn’t it seem as though the guys on the truck are looking at the gorgeous blonde from the future right in front of them?
And here is more: Jules, Barbara and Truus with canals, bridges and bicycles, and that unique Amsterdam flavor.
Jules was looking for a special photo session together with his girlfriend Barbara and mother Truus. Jules and Barbara are expecting their first child, and Truus almost had her anniversary. A photo reportage is a perfect way to mark an important milestone in life and to create special birthday gifts!
Jules wanted something unique: not a traditional studio portrait but an outdoor photo session that would be a fun experience in itself. Jules and Barbara live in the heart of Amsterdam, so we immediately had the fantastic location for our fun photo walk!
Eline wanted to give a special present to her husband Pieter and thought of a photo session together with their children as a unique and perfect gift.
Eline, Pieter and their three children Christophe, Leonoor and Mathieu are a happy family. They love going out and doing things together. That’s why we held our photo session at the Euromast park in Rotterdam.
Dymphna wanted to give a special present to her parents: a portrait of herself and her sister Leontien together with their families. I find this a wonderful idea: time passes by, children grow, but family photos on the walls are signs of love that remain in time.
Dymphna liked their family photo session to be really personal and had chosen to hold it at her parents’ house on the dike of the river Rotte. It lies not so far from Rotterdam and The Hague but is surrounded by a serene Dutch landscape: fields, water, and windmills. Our photo session had become a small family reunion: a piece of cake together, then having fun in the garden and a small walk on a dike.
Such a photo shoot is about the connection and warmth within the family, and I believe it shows in the photographs.
Special family party deserves a photo session, thought brothers Edwin and Remco when their mother had her 60-years old young anniversary. They have decided to have a photo walk at the Lage Bergse Bos, a beautiful forest with a lake. The day was extremely hot, and the forest was a perfect retreat. We have walked through the forest, little Mats and David played with their parents and grandparents and it was a lot of fun. A day to remember! Here is just a couple of images.
Wim and Agaath are married for twenty five years, and that deserves a celebration! The family came together to have a party in Rhoon. It turned out a really hot weekend, but the garden offered enough shadow to enjoy the day.
I liked photographing this beautiful family. Just look at the loving and romantic couples, the children, the family together. There is even a group photo of the four generations of ladies in the family, isn’t it special?
Here are a couple of images:
