Shoot us mom!

mrt 22, 2019

Never let children pose… let them be themselves!

From the moment Miley was born until she was 4,5 years old we had a big photo studio. She grew up surrounded by camera’s, lights, makeup, fashion, and set styling… She occasionally watched the models getting ready and saw me shooting them in our photo studio. She saw them “pose” naturally and make subtle changes in their pose with fluid movements. changing expressions, taking directions from me and all of that without looking forced or unnatural. And she loved it.

As it comes to photo shooting kids, I like them to be interactive. give them something to do, something to engage with, something to play with. Anything but posing! I don’t like kids posing, because most kids (Really, I mean 99%) look forced and unnatural. That kind of photo’s with kids smiling those fake (almost creepy) smiles makes my hairs stand up. Not cool. Just fake.

So whenever I’m shooting kids (my one or any kids for that matter)… I let them play.
I have a strict NO POSING rule.

But… Tiny baby girls turn in to big baby girls! And then that day came, the day when Miley (8yrs) Came up to me dressed a bit much over the top and  Asked me “Mom? Can you shoot me? I’ve made everything ready!”
I looked over and there was my living room turned in to a complete styled set. With 3 different concepts, she wanted to work on!  I was like “What the….!?!? uuuh… Ok!? I guess?”

So we could proceed in peace. After every Klik, Miley made a tiny adjustment in pose, expression or looking direction. I didn’t have to give her any directions. She was totally in control.  Like she understood exactly what it was she wanted to reflect, express and what story she wanted to tell. I felt a warm proud glow in my heart for her. What a great way to express yourself.  There goes my “NO posing rule” for her… She has got this down.

 

Turned out she had a school project where they had to take their favorite piece of clothing, make a photo of it, and write a little poem about it. She wanted to create a photo she had pictured in her mind. (Creative little creature) So who am I to refuse such a brilliant initiative from my 8-year-old.

I grabbed my camera gear and as she stepped in front of the camera. Wow! She is actually doing a really good job posing! Not one Photo where she looked unnatural or overly posed. I guess she intensively studied the professional models in our studio! My little baby copy-cat. Loving this…

After a few minutes, her little baby sisters decided they wanted attention too, and started to jump on top of Miley… So I had to promise them that I would shoot them too tf they waited their turn. And If they would go and play a bit more I would call them and take their picture.


As for her sisters… The rule still stands. No posing! PLAY! Once I called them for their turn to shoot, I gave them something to keep busy! Singing a song,  playing peekaboo, giving them a ukelele or a watering can to play with. And as usual, that way I had a fun and playful shoot with my two babies. And my no posing strategy still worked out worked perfectly fine with them! Scroll all the way down to see the rest of all the photo’s we took!


How do you take pictures of your kids? I’m thinking of making a series of DIY video’s in photography toppics like “kids photography” .
Would you think that’s something you would like to see? Anny requests on specivic photography toppics!?


Love,
  Jolanda, Michiel,
 Miley Haley & Quinn

Share this blog post

[supsystic-social-sharing id='1']

Shoot us mom!

TAGS:
[st-tag-cloud]

COMMENTS:

You might also like to read:

[related-posts-thumbnails]

Going to Amsterdam

Jan 23, 2019

Let’s go to Amsterdam!

We will go and have a drink at the docs. (at Pllek) I will hold you close until you will feel secure enough to explore a bit.

I will drink my tea, with some honey and we will sit by the fire…
And then you will run through the cafe like you own the place.
Of course, it will be totally exhausting running after you the whole time. but I don’t mind.

Then I will wrap you up high and warm up against me and we will take the ferry to the central station.
We are feeling tiny and light, passing people by left and right through the rushing crowds trying to board the fairy. And well be watching the water and buildings pass as we cuddle all the way there.

Ah Amsterdam
So many intriguing people, all different shapes and sizes, all going different places, living different lives.

We will wander around a bit, maybe do some window shopping, and we will be all alone while being surrounded by so many others. Standing still, watching everyone rushes through their daily routine.

So glad to have you so close to me in my arms.
This is the city, my love. Is’nt it magical!?

Love,
  Jolanda, Michiel,
 Miley Haley & Quinn

Click here to Follow our family

Subscribe to our YouTube channel
and be updated on all new uploaded video’s!

Music in this video is by:
Meydän – https://soundcloud.com/meydansound/

Babywrap is from: We are Wovens – Boots are from: H&M – 
Blue fauxfur coat from:  Zara – Big floppy hat from: H&M –  Orange vest: Pull and bear – Flower dress: Pull and bear

Share this blog post

[supsystic-social-sharing id='1']

Going to Amsterdam

TAGS:
[st-tag-cloud]

COMMENTS:

You might also like to read:

[related-posts-thumbnails]

About this Curveball…

dec 30, 2018

Uncertainties are scary yet exciting…

Normally we like to share our highs, but we do hit some low’s along the way, just like everybody else. So let’s get real. So here is one huge bump in the road we are dealing with right now.

The beginning of 2018 brought us stability… Something we haven’t had in quite a while. I didn’t have any pregnancies or newborns this year in our family of 5 (we think our little family is complete now) and we had a stable income through our Wedding photography (If you were wondering… this is what we do). No crazy sh*t happening around us. Just a nice day to day routine and all was good. We finally got into the flow of balancing work and family.

On top of that my Instagram and this blog started to generate some income too! We had some pretty awesome collaborations amazing brands. It’s still not enough to stop doing weddings (not that want to stop doing weddings, weddings are awesome). But it was enough to let all the photo and video editing after we shot the wedding days over to Michiel, so I could focus on investing my time on creating content for this blog, the vlog, and my Instagram!

-“And then came Oktober… Oh my. What a curve ball!”-


The curveball

Things were pretty amazing!
And then came Oktober… Oh my. What a curve ball!
Our stable income was not so stable anymore.
The short version: We don’t have enough weddings in 2019 to keep ourselves afloat! So we need to make some adjustments. We need to push ourselves out of our comfort zone once again.

To fully understand what happened I need to explain it a bit more:
It takes us 2,5 week to process all the photo and video images of just one wedding. We do a maximum of 18 weddings every year. We don’t have room for more. 
The summer month we survive with the income of the weddings, the winter months we survive on the down payments for the upcoming weddings and the orders of wedding albums of the past wedding season.

We reach 90% of our clients through the biggest wedding fair in Holland. We participate two times a year, and then we are fully booked.
No need for online ads, campaigns or another form of advertising.
But this year, the wedding fair of October was a complete fail. Where normally there are on average 5000 visitors, now there were only 1000. We got ZERO bookings from that fair this year. Something that has never happened before in the last 5 years. And on top of that, the fair of March 2019 is canceled. The whole fair stopped. Forever!

-“looking back afterward it always has been exactly the way it should have been. We just didn’t know it yet at the time.”-

So now we have 4 weddings booked for 2019, Wich generates not enough to get us through this winter, or the next summer for that matter. so we need to get familiar with online advertising. But oh’my… its all sooo complicated and time-consuming learning process. And we don’t have the time, we need bookings like yesterday.

 

So Now what!?

I’m positive that we get this online advertising thing down soon, and we’ll get enough bookings for the upcoming summer. But until then, we have a bit of a financial problem. So one of us needs a job somewhere for the upcoming 4 months. On “project base” or for a longer period of time if we like it enough. And with “we”, I mean preferably Michiel. I want to stay focused on creating our content and keep the inspiring Wild&BOHO collabs going! I’m only selectively applying to jobs that I would LOVE to do so much, that I would maybe ditch all other stuff and stay working there forever! And there are not so many vacancies out there that will get my attention. I’ve written 3 so far. Michiel 5 and counting. We’ll see…

-“It’s not a curveball… its a Pusch in the right direction by the universe.”-

I’m stressing a lot about the What If’s.
Our reserves are running dry and something needs to happen soon! The uncertainties are taking its toll. Images of every imaginable scenario are going through my monkey mind. The never-ending chatter of my internal dialogue who sometimes gets stuck in a carousel… Going round and round in circles. Pointless and exhausting. We are doing our best here, there really is nothing more we can do.

One of my goals for 2019 is to just let the universe do its thing.
I’m going to do the best job I can, work my but off, and then I’m going to let it go. No stress. Trusting everything will be fine. Because looking back afterward it always has been exactly the way it should have been. We just didn’t know it yet at the time. This is a chance to grow, evolve, move forward instead of getting stuck in the same pattern over and over again. It’s not a curveball… its a Pusch in the right direction by the universe.

Our glass is half full. We have love, we have each other, we have our creativity, we have a nice home. We’ll pull through. 

-“Because of you this blog and our Instagram has started to become a way to support our family”-

So if you reached all the way to this point in the blog, I want to thank you for reading!
You are here not only for our best moments but apparently also here for our struggles.
Thank you for being there for us, for following our blogs, watching our video’s, checking out our Instagram posts and by leaving a comment now and then. Because of you this blog and our Instagram has started to become a way to support our family a bit! Maybe one day we can fully focus on creating art and cool content full time! We appreciate your support so much. So Thank you Thank you Thank you!

Have a Wonderful New year’s eve! We love you guys!

Love,
Jolanda, Michiel
Miley, Haley & Quinn

 

Blog post: Jolanda Marti
Photography: Michiel Fook

Share this blog post

[supsystic-social-sharing id='1']

About this Curveball…

TAGS:
[st-tag-cloud]

COMMENTS:

You might also like to read:

[related-posts-thumbnails]

Opinions… Choose: Frozen canals or blazing hot sunshine!?

dec 7, 2018

Opinions matter…and everyone is always having theirs.

 

What’s your opinion on that? What would you choose? What do you think? What would you prefer? Who do you support? 

I’m always inclined to prefer extremes be passionate about really outspoken things and have really clear opinions. I Love SUPER sweet, or SUPER salty… I LOVE the blazing hot summers or the really cold freezing and snowing winter days. I root for the underdog, I think this planet and animals should be protected more, I feel like the first world complains way too much, and I think this world has way too much injustice.

When I love something I tend to go completely overboard. I can get lost in following a series and don’t want to watch anything else for 7 seasons 15 episodes each. When I love a drink or some food I will just drink or eat that thing until I can’t stand in anymore. I LOVE certain trends or fashion, or I think it’s absolutely hideous. I Really Really REEEALLYYY love plants in my home. And everything with natural materials and textures!

“I am an open book… yes you may know my thoughts. But ask me again tomorrow, and I don’t know if the answer will still be the same.”

I know that some of these things are just a matter of taste or opinion, and some a matter of “right or wrong” and some a matter of perspective, knowledge or information.
I am an open book… yes you may know my thoughts. But ask me again tomorrow, and I don’t know if the answer will still be the same.

I can switch my opinions and preferences or how I feel about something just like that. Because a preference or opinion isn’t like a birthmark… you aren’t born with opinions or preferences. Nothing is set in stone, once you’ve developed an opinion about something, It’s not a lifelong decision. I’m allowed to change my opinions or preferences.

It feels like some people make us feel like your opinion is supposed to be cour identity. The essence of who we truly are. Making it shameful, weak or event tradeful to change our opinions, to change our minds, to evolve. But most of the time those preferences and opinions are dependent on your knowledge. So if you are a stubborn person who clenches on to his opinion or preferences despite new information that might prove you otherwise… well that isn’t a very wise thing to do, isn’t it!? I feel that that is just bitter, stubborn, proud, and short-sided. Maybe even a lack of intelligence maybe!? I’m not sure… but It feels wrong to me.

A lot of the times an opinion is also a judgment on someone’s address… like I just did back there:
“I feel that that is just bitter, stubborn, proud, and short-sided. Maybe even a lack of intelligence maybe!? I’m not sure… but It feels wrong to me.” That’s not a nice thing to hear if you feel it applies to you. But it is the truth about what I was thinking while typing this.
So should you always share your opinions!? Probably only if someone is asking you directly or if you think it’s really important to share it because it is something people just NEED to hear. Even if they maybe won’t like it. And you never know, if you might even hear some new information or gain a new perspective that will change your mind if you are open to it and flexible enough.

“I prefer to say “I don’t know” Because I just don’t know how I feel about it.”

In some cases on some topics, I prefer to say “I don’t know” Because I just don’t know how I feel about it. Because I don’t have enough Information or I need more time to process the incoming data. Knot knowing is ok too. It’s a nice place to stay and just observe.
Mostly on things like a new song or new fruit gets me confused, and I need to taste or hear it more times to “get to know” all the different details in texture and rhythms and flavors happening. Of some things that are happening in the world… sometimes I just decide, I don’t know what is true or false anymore, I Just don’t know what to think or feel. and it all will make me feel powerless angry and depressed. I don’t have to save the world. Let’s make it a better place one little bit of the time.

So I never feel guilty about changing opinions or preferences. Next step is to not feeling guilty sometimes about being happy and privileged to be living somewhere where my kids can be safe and grow up being happy, while others in the world are not! I Just wish Everyone in this world would be safe. And that’s something I Find hard to accept.

“I will be shouting on the top of my lungs:  “THIS IS MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR”.”

So I’m going to enjoy the winter days and hoping for snow and frozen lakes and channels. If my prayers get answered I’m going to shout on the top of my lungs:  “THIS IS MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR”
And a few months later I will be hoping for hot sunshiney days and when it comes I will be shouting on the top of my lungs:  “THIS IS MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR”.

And it all will be the truth because I will mean it every single time!

Blog by: Jolanda Marti
Photography: Michiel Fook

Share this blog post

[supsystic-social-sharing id='1']

Opinions… Choose: Frozen canals or blazing hot sunshine!?

TAGS:
[st-tag-cloud]

COMMENTS:

You might also like to read:

[related-posts-thumbnails]

Thank you for a beautiful summer

nov 1, 2018

Summers like these is is where memories are made.
Moments we will treasure forever.
Days like this one.
Sunshine, friends, and family… all we need!
We gathered together to celebrate the summer and our friendships, to chill, talk, eat, laugh and be happy!

True friendships to us don’t mean we have t meet every week, or even every month or year. It doesn’t mean we talk over phone on a daily basis. We have a busy life, and our friends are busy too. But when it comes down to it, they will be there to share the important moments with us and if you need them you know you can call them anytime. And they know they can call us whenever they need us!

We loved to share the first harvest of our veggie garden with our friends in a beautifully styled BBQ garden party! The hot summer weather asked for ice cold beverages so we teamed up with the delicious brand’s  Roestig Blond Beer, Lemonaid+ & Charry tea to keep our guests fresh and hydrated!

We hope you love our homage video to our friendships and the summer!
Do you like these kinds of video’s!?
We also get together in a new-year dinner, would you like to see that one in a winter edition video!? Let me know in my insta post or in the comments below!

Thank you to Roestig blond, Lemonaid & Charry tea for sponsoring this post. As usual, all thoughts & opinions in this post are sincere and 100% our own.

Beautiful and inspiring Music in this video is by the amazing
Shanin Blake: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbxxfWYFYyk_laYo_ofsHOg

Videography: Wild and Boho

Share this blog post

[supsystic-social-sharing id='1']

Thank you for a beautiful summer

TAGS:
[st-tag-cloud]

COMMENTS:

You might also like to read:

[related-posts-thumbnails]