Last week I got angry.. Angry about body shaming and fat hate due to a plus size MANNEQUIN(!) in sportswear. And I wanted to use that anger towards something positive because anger just eats at you. So I organized this photoshoot. I have been organizing, running around, emailing, calling and stressing non stop to put this together. I’m so happy all these gorgeous women, who love to work out and look cute, wanted to work with me on this, and that @womenshealthnl wanted to share our story! Check out the article on their website. (in Dutch)

See all the images from this shoot in the slider below or on my ‘Series’ page.

Key make-up artist @ashleydesignmua
Make-up artists @sylvia_mercera & @muah.myrthe
Models @missearlygrey, @misscurviana, @joannvdherik, @cherellarowena & @lovaeij
Photography and styling @josefienhoekstra

Light @henselnl@hensel_visit
Lens @tamronusa 45mm 1.8 thanks to @transcontinenta

I’ve recently had the pleasure of testing out this great starter kit. I created two videos that you can check out below (don’t forget to subscribe to my youtube channel for more!)

There’s an unboxing video and a first impressions video of my first time trying out his new kit by Hensel. Showing everything that’s in the box and putting the set together, as well as shooting with the awesome Lara Aimée. Some basic setups and some gelled lighting setups.

It’s a great compact, easy to use and complete set for anyone who is just starting out with studio photography. Watch the videos to hear and see all about it!

Check out the gallery below to have a look at the images I shot during my first impressions shoot.

You can get the set here:
https://henselnederland.nl/product/hensel-certo-400-portretkit/
https://hensel-usa.com/products/hensel-certo-portrait-kit-110v

In this video you get a look behind the scenes of one of my recent projects.

Awesome team, awesome location, many flowers, gorgeous clothes, lots of sillyness. That about sums it up!

Huge thanks to the awesome team Model Lara Aimee https://bit.ly/2J95WFI

Make-up Ashley Design Make-up Artistry https://goo.gl/s5gLsY

Hairstylist Julia Lion Hair https://bit.ly/2JayqyM

Assistant Nadine Baumler https://bit.ly/2GUlzf0

Dresses provided by Art Photo Projects https://bit.ly/2IRSZwr

Follow me:

INSTAGRAM https://goo.gl/EZm9FC

FACEBOOK https://goo.gl/UtoQGO

I set a challenge for myself, a 24 hr photo challenge.

The idea was to plan an epic photo shoot using my social media and friends network – all within 24 hours!

Curious to see how it all went? In the video below you get a look behind the scenes.

Huge thanks to the awesome team
Model Daisy van der Wees
Make-up Ashley Design Make-up Artistry
Designer & stylist Jolien Rosanne / Fairytas
Bird handlers SettelsRoofvogels
Assistant & Behind the scenes footage Rohan Nagel

Please like & subscribe! 🙂
My first vlog! Documenting my trip to Erlangen to work for Multiblitz at the Ringfoto Messe with Tinotenda and Marco.
We had a lot of fun and created some awesome images with the new M6 TTL flashes that Multiblitz provided for my workshops.

Multiblitz on Facebook https://goo.gl/paa1c0
More about the M6 here https://goo.gl/EXY8tq

What to watch next:
Withers Avenue – Delay https://goo.gl/BcXb5Y

Follow me:
INSTAGRAM https://goo.gl/EZm9FC
FACEBOOK https://goo.gl/UtoQGO
OFFICIAL SITE https://goo.gl/mn5MIw

Music by Empire Soul

To start the new year off right, I want to start a new series of blogs! In these blogs I will be talking about the things I use in my photography and I’ll show you guys the results these things give and how you can use them in different ways.

The first blog in this series is about a cute and cheap little lens I got for Christmas, the Lensbaby Spark.

Now believe me when I say this lens feels more like a nice toy than a professional tool, but you can get great results with it! It’s a cute little plastic lens that you focus manually by pushing and twisting it. This creates a tilt-shift effect with a small focus point while the majority of the image is out of focus and blurred. My boyfriend got it for me because I mentioned it a couple of times and he knows I like to try new things and experiment with my photography, so this was the perfect gift for me!

To test it,  I invited over my muse Tinotenda to shoot for a few hours and just experiment and have some fun without a plan or any expectations. Sometimes days like that are really good if you’re stuck in a rut or your creativity is a little blocked because you feel like you’re just doing the same thing over and over. (I can’t be the only one who gets like that, right?)

Working with this lens really takes some practice. It’s quite hard to find the right way to focus and manipulate the effect, but once you get the hang of it it’s really a lot of fun.  What’s confusing at first is that you have no idea what aperture you’re shooting at, because the lens doesn’t tell you its aperture and the camera can’t read it either. After looking it up I found that the Aperture is said to be 5.6 and it’s a 50mm lens. This kind of gives you an idea of what you’re working with and can help you figure out what camera settings to use.

I couldn’t shoot with it for too long, because it did kind of mess up my eyes ability to focus and see properly! You can see that not every image is perfectly focused on the model’s face but with the kind of results you get it doesn’t always matter that much. When you’re shooting creative images, the only limit is your own imagination and interpretation. Don’t be afraid to get weird with it!

Check out a few of the setups we did using the Lensbaby Spark! It’s definitely not for every shoot, but you’ll see it really adds a different atmosphere and mood to an image, which makes it a great tool for creative photography.

The Lensbaby Spark is available for Canon and Nikon cameras.

Check out Lensbaby and all they have to offer here (affiliate link)

A new action to add some drama to your images! Check out the previews below.

You can order this action for 3 euros, using the PayPal button below.

Please make sure to mention your email address in the transaction so I can email you the action after payment has gone through.
It’s as simple as that! 🙂

A 24hr photoshoot challenge.

Last week, stylist Liz Scarlet and I decided to give ourselves a little challenge: to completely plan and produce a photoshoot from A-Z within 24 hours. Meaning: finding a shooting team, a location, finding and picking up clothing samples, shooting (hair, makeup, styling, taking photos) and even retouching the final images. I think we totally nailed the challenge by creating ‘Dusk Warrior’, thanks to a great team!

All images were shot with natural light and a reflector. The light wasn’t great, loads of clouds and trees that made it quite dark, but in the end we got what we needed. Next time I’ll hopefully have some equipment to bring along.. for even better results!

I absolutely loved doing this and I’m very happy with the results. I really hope we’ll be able to do more like this in the future, because it really gets the creative juices flowing! Let me know what you think in the comments below or at my Facebook page! 🙂

Photography: Josefien Hoekstra
Styling: Liz Scarlet
Hair: Ilona Pouw
Model: Elsemieke van der Heijden

(click the photos for a better view)

Behind the scenes

Results

A couple of weeks ago I shot with fabulous fetish model Dutch Dame. I have known her for years now, and we have always expressed interest in working together, but somehow it just never really happened. Needless to say, I was really excited when she contacted me about a shoot for Torture Garden Clothing. The outfit was simply too amazing to pass up. To complete the team we got Ashley Wolthers to join us to work some make-up and hair magic.

I used a simple but effective light setup, blue gelled light placed slightly behind the model from both sides and a simple softbox placed in front of the model from the left.

The softbox gives subtle soft shadows so the light isn’t too flat and dull, while the blue gelled lighting gives some blue highlighs and reflections.

For some extra flare and bokeh effects I used a piece of cling film and placed it in front of my lens. The blue light reflects off the cling film and results in some fun effects that really show in the image below.

I hope you enjoyed this little blog post filled with subtle tips & tricks. Let me know if you’re going to try it out for yourself, I’d love to see the results!