Reason for Hope, chatting with Jane Goodall

moment of the week 

Today I write not about art, but certainly about divine inspiration.

Do you remember that lady that lived with chimpanzees, back in the ’60’s?
I feel humbled and blessed to have been able to spend an evening with her, one of my
all-time heroines, a woman that I wanted to be when I was a young girl. A woman who changed the world… and is still doing so today.  Jane’s life story and mission have special appeal for young people. They respond not only to her passion for and curiosity about animals, but to her courage and steadfast hope for a better world.
A hope that I also have and hold.

Reaching out to young people is a high priority for Jane, and conservation education is a critical part of her work. As she says: leaders of tomorrow are created through her global youth program. Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots nurtures values of civic responsibility, environmental stewardship, and peace.
I want to help Jane reach young children in the Netherlands and ALL over the world. All children can join and partake in this global movement and start to make the world a better place. As can we all!

http://www.janegoodall.org  |   http://www.rootsandshoots.org

Another day… another show!

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during the opening with Niek Meijer, the mayor of Zandvoort

In the quaint ‘Zandvoorts Museum’  we have a group exhibit by photographers, and the theme is… Zandvoort!  Our very own quaint beachside village!

Along side our work, there is a very unique exhibit of photographs of Anne Frank and her family during their pre-war visits to the beach. Very touching to see.  Zandvoorts Museum, Swaluëstraat 1, Zandvoort.  Running until June 8th.  Open Wednesday to Sunday 13:00 – 17:00.  Anne Frank is running until the end of 2014.

‘Adam’ wild horse in the dunes by Patricia Ramaer

Showtime!

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What an honor to be able to exhibit in the AmstelArt Gallery!

It’s always nice to see an overview of one’s own ‘hard labour’, the latest works, all in one space! Heemsteedse Kunstbeurs (ArtFair) did an amazing job organizing, that was obvious from the hundreds of guests that dropped by. Beautiful weather and interesting visitors… Grateful to get positive feedback from so many art lovers.

Trailer Trash Beauties part Two

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Working on the pictures I couldn’t help but want to post a few more… there were some great portrait poses!
Here some of my favorites.  Even though it got cold and late, you ladies did a fabulous job Sandra & Babs!!
“Stoere chickies!”.

Trailer Trash Beauties!

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The summer holidays are officially over, sigh!
I hope that all your summers have been as good as ours.

Of course I was out and about doing countless shoots and can’t wait to share some new work with you.  Beginning with this fun and interesting shoot with my nieces Babs and Sandra.  It was a blast being out on the NDSM shipyard grounds, the beauty of the industrial however could hardly compete with the beauty of my nieces!
It got dark just a little too quickly for my liking, luckily we were prepared with some on location lighting.
Thanks to Babs and Sandra for being such tigers. And many thanks to Melanie Foëh for the great make-up, help with styling and assisting.  We made a great team!

Wedding Walks

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The perfect wedding walk moment!

a child’s perspective

Rolls Royce Reflections

I am thrilled to share a few of my favorite shots from Viola and Wichert’s wedding day. As thrilled as I was to be able to shoot a wedding just the way I most love to take photographs; with available light only, completely journalistic [no posing whatsoever] and in black and white. I just love the wedding walk, I saw this shot coming into being and had to make a dash for it to be in the right position and remain unseen, sneaky paparazzi! It reminds me of the famous Beatles shot, I couldn’t have set the scene more perfectly if I had tried.  The icing on the cake was that it was a relaxed wedding day filled with deep love, emotion and true affection. What a joy.  Congratulations Viola and Wichert for tying the knot.

Rhodes tests her wings

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What a beautiful day to test one’s wings! (And one’s new lens!) Rhodes is very proud and honoured to be ambassador for ‘Project Speak Now’, a foundation that is passionate about allowing abused children to have a voice and speak up. Rhodes has written a song called ‘Little Butterfly’ that will be out later this year.  This evening she and the president of the foundation, Marianne Kimmel, will be on Dutch television.  (21:15 Nederland 2).  This was actually literally a test shoot to see how the wings would work in the wind. We were both so happy with the shots that we decided to use them. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Country estate wedding

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“Only moments away”  by Patricia

‘Who’s next?!”

Wedding moments with available light,  a beautiful couple and some very bouquet-hungry ladies, always great subject matter at a wedding!

Honeymoon Girls

Mareike & Chrissy at sunset lake

This lovely freshly wed German couple did me the honors of letting me do a honeymoon photo shoot with them.  Luckily we picked a dry evening, few and far between at the moment and certainly not warm! However Marieke and Chrissy warmed up the outdoor set with their presence and tangible love for each other.  This for me is the winning shot, this time I cheated and used my portable lighting set for a bit of extra pop.  I hope the ladies will be as happy with the shots as I am!

Divine farewell

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Obdam Catholic Church (by Onno van Middelkoop)

The last farewell always is very emotional. In this ritual the pastor is blessing the departed with incense. While the ceremony is in progress, the sun blasts through the stained glass windows of the church, creating this ethereal atmosphere. This moment will always be remembered as a divine experience by those present, it certainly will be for me. It was an honour to capture this as a photographer.