107 | Selling prints.

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Six years ago I was making my own frames for the photos I took and printed. It is a great way of slowing down and I enjoy working with my hands and wood, the lack of the right tools made sure there was always a personal touch. At the moment I’m in-between places and unfortunately not able to make the frames but I still sell my photos in prints and over the last couple of years added so many more digital frozen moments the collection. The prints are printed on fine art paper, gallery quality. Note: Consider where you want to hang the print, I recommend not to hang it in direct sunlight, this will deteriorate the print. Visit my online shop and have a look through a selection of beautiful moments I froze with my camera. For those who have one or more of my images hanging on their walls, thank you so much for the support. 

104 | New client, ANWB.

This was a big one, a new client in the middle of the Covid pandemic, a new crew and to make it even more, interesting we received so much rain. ANWB, is a travellers' association in the Netherlands, supporting all ways of travel and everything else that comes with it, from insurance, clothing, and travel hardware. Jump!Ratail Amsterdam asked me to help out with their mission to change and focus on a younger audience for ANWB's clothing line Human Nature. Of course, I would help out. Currently, 4,5 million members ANWB has and they have been around for ages, which put a significant amount of pressure on the job.

On the first shoot day, I got to meet the 5 models, and pretty much during the introduction it started raining, and I’m not talking about a light drizzle of rain no, it started raining like it hadn’t been raining for years. So what does one do when the models are ready all dressed up in their outdoor outfits? Pausing the shoot was simply not an option and we had to keep rolling. Shooting with a weather-sealed camera like my Canon 1D that I'm using helps and the EF lenses can take a beating too so the camera can handle this type of weather for a while. My main challenge was to keep the glass of the lens dry, when there are drops on the lens you simply can't use the images as the client is after crips commercial shots. For me the rain felt like a blessing in the sky, I love that stuff because in moments like this everyone wants to help out and get together to make it work as a team and this is how the models get into the mission when you put them to work. A great way to capture ‘real’ outdoor moments which is what we were after. With this shoot, we are ‘rejuvenate’ the brand and getting wet during your adventures part of it. I think they should change the name of the sun cap to the rain cap, this is what they should call it cause it kept mostly my 50mm dry and saved the day so remember to always bring them. When it all got a little too wet I found myself hiding under the bounce board, little fact is when it gets soaked and heavy you can perfectly balance the bounce board on your head while shooting, even standing on a ladder amazing! After this rainy mission, everyone got to know each other very well and bonded over the adventure. The days after were easy and fun. It didn’t feel like work but more like a trip with a bunch of mates, we even forgot about the would being suppressed by Covid.

102 | The unknown part2.

Thinking back I'm surprised I was still able to do a job at the start of March. I mean, China had been struggling with containing the Covid-19 virus and Italy was the first country to take the beating in Europe. Myself in the meantime, was working on the other side of the world in Sydney, Australia. On the way back the airplanes were already empty and panicked buying had started in Oz. This is when people started buying the essentials things to survive whatever is coming and funny enough in Australia that happened to be toilet paper. The airports felt eerie, empty, and we got the experience the first temperature checks. It felt so bizarre to be at Hong Kong airport and there was only a hand full of people walking around, who would have thought this all would happen! When I was back in The Netherlands where we lived in that moment of time we knew what was coming, the next day after our 24 hour flight we did our groceries and were happy to see that the toilet paper, flour etc was untouched, the day after this is when the panic buying also started on this side of the world.

A couple of days later I was meant to fly to Spain for Brooks Running US, I was part of a big important shoot and President Trump had already closed the borders which ment that the Client, who already in Europe had to fly back. We told the client that we could still get the job done for them as we have been working with them for years. The client agreed and as we were packing our bags Spain announced that they were potentially going into a lockdown. Looking back at it is easy to understand what is going on but at the time no one knew what was happening. Do we fly tomorrow or don’t we? We decided not to go and the production team had to cancel the accommodation, flights for the models, client, production, photographers, styling, etc, etc. It was a big call to make, a lot of money was lost. I remember thinking “that’s great, a lockdown, streets will be empty and we can shoot at all of the dream locations without people in the background”. It was obviously that I was new to the pandemic game, and I think everyone was unless you lived through the Spanish Flew in 1918-1920.

So, there I was, ‘social distancing’ at home working in the home office and no idea what was coming as a self-employed creative man trying to keep his business afloat. Luckily I don’t get bored easily. Their is always lots to do, to create, new techniques to explore. I must admit that I enjoyed the silence and not having to travel constantly felt great. Having a rhythm at home, go for a couple of runs every week, and see spring change the landscape.

Work was dead for months. No new jobs, and the jobs I had scheduled were cancelled. Roughly two months later work started coming back to me, step by step with only small budgets and we had to find a way to work with that awkward 1,5m distance. At the start of July, the bigger jobs started to come in with a full crew. Some of the borders in Europe opened, stoked we could do photoshoots again the way we used to and it was the start of summer. Absolutely loved working again, to be able to be outside and work outside with the crew and models and embrace that freedom. After the ‘Intelligent lockdown we ‘had in The Netherlands, literally all my clients had figured out what this pandemic meant for their company and luckily they all found ways to work with and around it. July and August were fully booked and even got to roam and shoot around and empty streets of Paris for a couple of days which, who would have thought, empty streets in Paris! Pre Corona I used to have 2 months that were very busy with all of the brands wanting to shoot at the same time and then 2 months where things were slow and I could be in one place for a while. Now a slower period has stared we all know that the 2nd peak has arrived. What will this fall and winter be like? I hope everyone finds a way whether you're working in a big company or you are self-employed. Find a way, and keep in mind that the world is sick, we have to look after her.

Check out blog post 086 | The unknown. part1.

096 | Shooting without a plan.

.With a bunch of trendy kids, we stayed in the woods for the weekend. Even though we all looked like we were on a holiday we were actually working, believe it or not. Our mission was to shoot the Twisted Yarn collection for Alfredo Gonzales. The plan was not to have a plan and roam the woods, go for walks and staying warm in our Alfredo’s. I enjoy working on those photo shoots where there isn’t really a plan, its not something that stresses me out. Simply get to know each other and create content together. 

Below are some snaps of the weekend, the ones I can share. Alfredo Gonzales “The first lifestyle sock brand in the world”, they still are and will always be.

091 | Backups.

People often ask me how I manage and protect the footage I’ve shot when I’m constantly traveling and moving from shoot to shoot. Back in life before Corona the first thing I would do when I got home from a shoot was dump my bags and get the backups going. I can’t relax until that’s up and running. Traveling with content after a shoot still makes me nervous, even after all these years. What if I lose the content? What if something happens to the memory cards? What if we get robbed and my gear gets nicked? These questions are always in the back of my mind when I’ve got a bag full of fresh photos, because it takes a lot more than just me and my camera to create the content for a shoot. A standard crew usually consists of two people doing production, at least one person for styling/makeup, an art director (sometimes), a videographer, a second photographer (sometimes), models, and of course, the client. It is the collective efforts of all of these people who make a shoot possible. And then when it’s done, all of the work we’ve created becomes my responsibility, something that even as a seasoned photographer still freaks me out. Over the years I’ve developed a system that works for me. Nowadays my camera has two separate memory cards, so every photo I take gets backed-up straight away, and if for some reason one of the memory cards decides to take a day off I know I have an alternative. 

Coming home to find my computer working on a back up calms me. By the time I’m on my second cup of coffee and the second copy is underway I’m all zen. As the internet gets faster and more reliable I’m guessing updates straight to the cloud will become the new normal, but I don’t trust it yet, not completely. The gigabytes pile up pretty quickly when you shoot over multiple days, and dodgy internet connections and constantly switching locations and being on the move makes it hard to manage all of your content and get all of your files synced. So until our friend 'The Internet' becomes more reliable worldwide I’ll stick to my old routine of keeping copies on multiple harddrives, while I keep the originals separate from the harddrives, which I usually stash somewhere sneaky and/or give one to a crew member for safe keeping. It might seem like a complicated system, but it’s my job to make sure that the content so many people worked so hard on doesn’t disappear somewhere between the shoot and its final destination. So my advice is BACK IT UP! And find a system that works for you, that you know you can trust, no matter what happens. 

086 | The unknown part1.

It’s all a little different for us right now, it’s a weird time. While being in isolation I find my self being fascinated, observing the world go on pause. Who would have thought that this would be possible while our earth was spinning faster than ever before? It feels like we have all been sent to our rooms to think about our actions and the world we have created. For me personally a lot changed. For those that know me, they know that I am traveling most of the year. I am on the road mainly for my clients and I absolutely love it. Seeing places, become part of another culture for some time, eat their food and execute creative ideas with friends or people that become friends while working together. I always have, and now even more so the feeling of being blessed to have experienced this and I hope this all will come back, the freedom and new friendships to be made and the places to explore. That was life as I knew it, and that's done, for now, I hope, but what if not and what will the future look like? Questions that keep my mind busy but also can let it all go. No one knows. We’ll see and we keep fighting to maintain my work as a self-employed creative with the freedom I have always known.

Denni / Photo by Amy Cornelius

084 | Morning glory.

With my morning drink in my left hand, which is most of the time / always coffee, I peeked through the thick palm tree forest that's almost annoyingly blocking what I want to be looking at. It's 6 am and I see a rastaman smiling while maneuvering his 9'4" longboard over little waves. Not complaining, just smiling and just loving it all, and why not? There is so much beauty out here in Sri Lanka, pelicans, warm water and waves and even palm trees decorated with bright colored male peacocks. After my coffee, I decided to swim out with my camera to meet the rastaman.

082 | Soho with Alfredo Gonzales.

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A new collection demands new content. With a fresh sock collection made in Italy, Alfredo Gonzales takes us to the UK. This time we decide to shoot this collection in the streets of London, the streets also provided the changerooms. We were happy Nancy, our styling queen joined us once again with two suitcases full of clothing and magic. Rainy London is what we wanted and that what we got, luckily we brought umbrellas along printed with the same prints as the new sock collection which provided all you need in the streets of Soho and Notting Hill. It was great to see all the skills come together and finding the Good Life vibe in the capital of pre-Brexit England.

080 | Just shorts.

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Two guys with a dream to develop the perfect short in all of the stylish colours of the rainbow. Mr. Marvis, they named it after they found out Mr. Goodlife was taken. With not much of a plan, they approach me and asked if I could help them out to create and find a feel for their brand on the go. Who doesn’t like a challenge? Honoured to be chosen together with a bunch of kids we set off for Spain and took it day by day directing and photographing the coloured shorts. It’s always interesting where you end up if the plan is freestyling on the go, lots of driving and of course seeking spots you’re not always allowed to be. For example, the place with the pink walls is called la Muralla Roja, a postmodern apartment complex in Calpe build in 1968. This place is wicked and well known by people that love architecture like Ricardo Bofill Visions, but only accessible for the people living the apartment complex. We didn’t have anything plend let alone a permet to shoot there so getting the shot took a lot of sneaking around, hiding and climbing fences. Below you can get an impression of what I found when I shot for them a few years back.

078 | Working in Africa.

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Nine photoshoots per year Perry (Sports) used to do, nine! That's a whole lot. Think about it, organising it all for separate shoots, locations, samples, models, crew, transport, food, post production etc. Definitely double if it is a fulltime job with no other distractions. When Perry approached me and told me about 'the nine', the first thing that came to my mind was “how can I get these nine separate shoots bundled into 3 or 4. It is quite a challenge to set up every shoot, especially for production, but apart from that, there is also a lot more possible if you manage to stick 3 shoot days together instead of 3 separate ones. For example, you can bundle the travel time and go to a different location with a better chance for the right weather conditions, the production team can also get a better offer, we stay longer and bring a big group which is often where businesses can help out with a discount. It is also great for the energy of the group. With the models, in particular, I like to learn who they are, understand where they find themselves in life and see how I can make them spark in a natural way. This takes a bit of time, it takes time to get to know each other. Just as everyone is used to one another and comfortable, you hear "it is a wrap", I often wish we could keep going after the workday and add a couple of days like to get to know the people I'm taking photos of and the crew I work with. Together with Perry’s marketing manager and CJ Laros (production), we reshaped the 9 photoshoots to 3/4 a year and it has been great. At the start, we could only shoot in the Netherland and now, more than 2 years later, we did a four-day shoot in South Africa. One of the biggest challenges is to get the samples on time and once again it wasn't on time. One important item wasn't there and had to be sent from the Nike HQ in the United States via Amsterdam to arrive in Cape Town on the last shoot day. A cliff hanger but we got it!

It all starts with scouting locations, spots that fit the concept but also not too far from where we stay. Perry sells a lot of the main brands like the North face, Fila, Nike, Vans, Adidas, etc. Every brand needs another location and the models have to be diverse in many ways. They have to look good in a bikini, but also know how to run / workout or have a good look/vibe during a lifestyle shoot and most importantly being a great value as a travel buddy. As soon as all the crew and models had landed production finished the plan and the four days shoot started meaning early mornings and late nights and lots of coffee.

076 | Location scouting in the Azores.

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People who have been part of a photoshoot know how much pressure comes down to those few days of the photoshoot. If you realise that the entire crew meets at a certain place somewhere on earth to unroll the concept for the client. It has to be done according to the deal we all agreed on. It all comes down to that moment; the models with the right size are ready, camera gear has empty memory cards, clean lenses and full batteries and then we pray for great light and weather. I always photograph with natural light, my clients choose me for this way of working so the weather is an important feature but it also brings stressful moments to the happening that you just can't control and it comes down to waiting and see what mother nature throws at us. But, we will always find away. Once I had to shoot two days of swimwear, male and female for a summer beachwear collection during a serious storm, it was bucketing down and a Mediterranean cave gave us shelter and the solution. Anyway, we want to check as many elements as possible to have as few surprises as possible on the shooting days and locations scouting is an importing part of the preparation.

The client Brooks Running (HQ Europe) sent us of the scout new locations for the campaign, Hugo Happel (11AM) picked a place we hadn't been to before that we thought would be perfect for what that client is looking for and so we went to Portugal. With a camera, some reading material, and mainly digital maps we were about to discover one of Portugals archipelago's, a new place I had never been to. The Azores, it is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean 1500km west of the country's mainland. Sao Miguel nicknamed "The Green Island" (Ilha Verde) is the island we were focusing on to find mainly good spots for trail and road running besides we had to see what accommodation was available for a group of twelve and see if the food is any good. We were surprised about how busy the island’s main attractions were, they were packed with tourist in the west around the craters of the island Sao Miguel. We covered more than 400km driving around the island to break free from the busy areas which we were not so excited about. Luckily the West surprised us, steep tropical green walls covered in moss and ferns overshadowed by big trees. You could see the competition of all the flora battling for every inch of light. We hiked all of the trails that we found during our research and Hugo did little test runs as the ‘Running Man’ (ft. as Highlight) and we loved it Ilha Verde, beautiful and so lush. But not the right place for the upcoming photoshoot.

073 | Storm, sharks, camera and waves.

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From the top deck of the boat, we could see the double overhead waves started rolling in, the forecast was right. A perfect moment to test out my brand new custom water housing for my Canon 1D m2 made by Salty Surf Housing in Australia. Together with a bunch of good friends we had been floating around, sleeping on a boat in the warm Indian Ocean chasing the good wave in the Maldives. This evening was the moment to leave my surfboard behind and capture the surf session. Never an easy decision to make; surf or swim and take photos, a struggle only a ‘water photographer’ that loves surfing knows. It turned out to be a heavy swim battling the current and diving under the four meter faces of water. Lots of wipeouts, holding on the volcanic reef helped to do the most powerful part of the wave. The waves weren’t breaking in one spot which allowed me to play around with framing the images. After two hours of using my flippers witnessing beautiful clouds closing in during sunset with lots of rain, it was too dark to keep using my ISO and we slowly swam back to the boat. All smiles, we told each other what we had seen and felt that session with Mother Nature and then Hugo and I saw the same thing, “did you see that too?” I quickly took a photo underwater to see what swam one foot next to me. A reef shark having a sniff and telling us it was time to go.

069 | African scenes for Brooks Running.

I was asked to help shoot the Brooks Running Europe campaign. A happy man and with a long way to travel to meet the crew. The destination this time was in sunny South Africa, from The Netherlands there is no time difference but I had to come for the east. Perth the be more detailed in West Australia. The jetlag was a tough one but, I did have a couple of days to adjust, great slowly get in the African rhythm and clean my lenses and empty the memory cards while hiding from the 40+ knots of winds under a crystal blue sky which I recognise form the Mystic days. We had an beautiful house in Camps Bay to call home during the shoot but on arrival we unfortunately didn’t end up getting the place. It was a scam. Locations scouting was meant to be done by the art director and production but because of the house situation, there was a lot of stress to find a house for 14 people with the pressure of the shoot coming up and we. Well I guess everything happens for a reason and it did, Booking.com helped us out and we ended up with an even more beautiful place.
The strong winds finally settled and so the shoot could start. As always we had lots of shoes and apparel to shoot the coming days and not having the locations sorted doesn't help. These days their are so many film crew working in Cape Town and we’re all battling for the same locations and to be allowed to shoot you have to have permits for pretty much every pavement in the city. So, another challenges for the production crew and challenges for Ivo de Bruijn (second photographer) and I. Luckily we were working with a crew we know very well and the Athletes helps to create those great images we grasveld down for. The only thing we struggle with was the more urban locations, Brooks wished we had found more urban settings which is hard when the country has so much beauty on offer and the struggle with the permits. Besides at two locations we had to have a gunman to protect us next to us. Welcome, Cape Town. We’ve always felt safe and I understand that the proportion needed to be taken. The days after the shoot we treated ourselves with wines for the Franschhoek wine region and a beautiful pealing left header at Elands Bay where we surf for two days in the mist, hiding for the African sun. Perfect.

067 | Take Two concept and execution.

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Chasing and photographing lifestyle/fashion vibes by documenting what I see and feel is what I love doing, to let things just happen and see what comes out of it. Shooting models, athletes or other people who don’t have any experience in modeling and shoot them the way they are with a commercial eye. I also enjoy brainstorms and coming up with a suitable concept like this one for example for Perry (started in 1866). They wanted something different, something grand in the shopping windows in their 40+ stores that they have in The Lowlands. A sale deal that had to breath exploring and nature but wasn't allowed to feel cheap. Together with Summer Salt Creative we started the brainstorm, sketches and made mood boards. I won’t bother you with all the details. Eventually, we came up with the campaign ’Take Two’. Buy a Nike or The North Face item and get another one product for free, the proposal was received. Great preparation is key so we got the props ready, scouted the locations, checked the forecast for the right light, Cj Laros is always a great help with that and bam we got the images. Post Production, in the gallery you see one of the photos being worked on in Photoshop, I had to be photograph on a rainy day, all the conditions changed at the very end so we had to work with what we had. In post-production, I added a lot of scenery and rocks around the men with the flags so the images could have been used properly in big windows and fit their social campaigns.

065 | Work adventure with Keen.

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After a 3 hour flight North from Lisbon over the AtlanticbI was picked up by a friendly man called Ally who was at that point still a stranger. We got to know each other fairly well during the two-hour drive in the dark from Glasgow airport to Fort William in the North West of Scotland. A cute village where many hikers take off to enjoy the amazing surroundings on and around the mountain Ben Nevis. I was told that often mountaineers train in this area and ice climbing is popular when the waterfalls freeze in Winter. I came here to shoot the new Karraig (hiking shoe) campaign for KEEN Europe and they decided to work the next couple of days with ‘models’ that have outdoor experience, the KEEN ambassadors, perfect. They arrived in the hotel a day later after we scouted locations guided by 72 years young Allen who wonders the steep hills like he is still in his 30s. We scouted all day and afterward, we joined for dinner in the lobby. I got to sit next to an amazing conversation, I mean sitting next to someone always makes you wonder if you make the right decision but to filmmaker Leon McCarron. I could listen forever to his stories full of adventure and challenges with a fluent Irish accent easy to follow. Together with the other ambassador Colin who was a local man who knows the area like the back of his hand it took us two days to beat the rains and capture what KEEN was looking for. We actually had so much, so much we actually could test how well the KEEN booths cope with the rain. An for the photos we every-now and then got lucky and the sun would show. If you ever have a chance go and meet Ben Nevis, so raw and pretty.

Crew: Danny Griffiths, Tim Padmos, Perry Laukens. Colin, Leon McCarron.
Location: Fort William, Scotland

063 | Greenhouses and sunsets.

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Narwal Creative is a design agency that specializes in visual identity invited me on a mission for Royal Brinkman, the queen of new modern solutions and applications for the growers. They set off making a movie, documenting the world of growers mainly in the Spain and the Netherlands and with they I mean of course Justin van der Velden, Roderik Patijn and Mister Visual Heroes Jelmer Scheffer in the lead we are very much up to date now on the latest specialized growers techniques, designed to feed us all on this crowded globe and while getting smarter we captured it all.

Crew: Roderik Patijn (DOP) Justin van der Velden, Jelmer Scheffer.
Location: Westland Netherlands, Almería Spain.

062 | 6 years with Stocksy.

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Stocksy is a revolutionary new take on stock photography and is exactly what the world of stock photography needed. It's raising the industry standard with its co-op structure and better-priced images. The images you find on Stocksy are images that are authentic, intelligent, beautiful, realistic and are inherently useful for designers. My style of photography apparently fits their view on what real (stock) photography should look like so the Canadian based company invited me as one of the first to become part of this great initiative, and I didn't hesitate for one second. It fuelled my enthusiasm again to go out there and photograph. You can see (and buy) his photos on his profile page on Stocksy.