If you weren’t smiling before.. surely you’re smiling right now :-)

Just tooooooo cute!! :-)

Hope you enjoyed the peek!

Best wishes,
~Natalie

Now if only these images came with the wonderful scents these flowers gave…

Arriving at the entrance to the Japanese Garden…

It’s beautiful in here…

Lilly of the Valley, so tiny, and so pretty…

*smile* Here’s Karola and I:

Are you curious about the Japanese sign that Karola is holding? Visit Images to Inspire Hope to discover it’s meaning :-)

Usually there is a Buddha statue which sits on top of this red platform. Buddha was ‘sleeping’ today, and will be on display another time.

The Japanese Garden is an extra special place to visit. It’s only open for a short time so that it’s beauty can be preserved. Make a note in your calendar to visit before 12 June 2011, it’s a long wait till next year!

Hope you enjoyed these images as much as I enjoyed taking them :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Best wishes,
~Natalie

I’m so happy he’s one of my Baby’s First Year clients, especially after seeing his mama posting beautiful photos of him growing up on Facebook. I really couldn’t wait to photograph him again!

Now he’s 7 months old… sitting up… and being as cute and adorable as can be! :-)

I loved how happy and excited he was when one of his favourite toys made an appearance :-)

…and then he found the tag and I just adored the look of concentration on his face (and those gorgeous long eyelashes!)

Adrian loved giving his mama open mouth baby kisses too, so sweet :-)

A quick outfit change and one last sneak peek..

Are you smiling? I sure am! Hope you enjoyed the peek! :-)

Best wishes,
~Natalie

I couldn’t wait to meet Alena, one of my newest clients. She was just 9 days new when I travelled to Amsterdam to photograph her and her beautiful family.

Isn’t she just GORGEOUS!

and those teeny tiny toes… *love*

Once we had her sleeping, she slept sooooo soundly :)

She’s so beautiful… *ahhh* :)

Let me share a couple of her big sister too, meet Sophie.

Sophie was all smiles when she was inside one of my baskets…also known as “the boat”. She loved it when Daddy spun her around in it ;)

And just one more of Alena, because I can’t resist ;)

Hope you enjoyed the peek!

Best wishes
~Natalie

:-)

and underneath the wrapping…

I lifted the lid….and WOW – I was hit smack in the face with the most delicious smells!!! absolutely mouth-watering!

Oooooh which one to try first… they all look so good! and I am *loving* their names! :-)

mmm Gingerbread Sweet & Spicy.. mmm Pumpkin Holy Moly… mmm Avocado Blimey… mmm Strawberry Shortbread….

Nearly 100% organic and all incredibly delicious, I found two unexpected favourites… the Cranberry Orange WTF and the Lemon Lekkerding – so packed full of flavour! YUM!

My husband is going to have to fight me for the rest! Though, truth be told…he already told me he’s expecting an empty box by the time he comes home from work… I’m trying to save him a Chewy Chocolate Whoa-Baby, and maybe a Chocolate Chip OMG too… maybe… ;-)

I.am.in.food.heaven.

Thank you, Katie!!

Visit Katie’s Cookies and order some for yourself or for a friend! I assure you, you will certainly not be disappointed!! They are DELICIOUS!

Along with fears of radiation; food, water and fuel are in short supply. The death toll has passed 10,000. More than 17,440 people are missing. Hundreds of thousands of people have been made homeless.

It’s heartbreaking.

Vinita and I are back! This time as a team filled with loads of ideas for an exciting new initiative!

Do you remember last year when we took part in Helping hearts for Haiti?

We’ve decided to go bigger and better, and are therefore, launching our own initiative so that we can help raise funds for Japan, and for future projects too.

Introducing… Images to Inspire Hope

We’ve got our mojo on! We have a brand new website (www.imagestoinspirehope.org), a logo and a big plan!!

But this plan cannot succeed until we have your cooperation or help.

Our chosen charity is Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund (Save the Children). As family and children photographers, this is our way of using photography to give back.

And this is how you can help…

You and your children could win a wonderful family photo session on-location in the heart of Den Haag, Gouda or Utrecht!

• This session will be photographed by myself AND Vinita and will be held on Saturday 02 July 2011. Celebrate the start of the Summer holidays! This gives you plenty of time to shop for new outfits too, if need be ;-) If you are not available on this date, don’t worry, we can make alternative plans!
• Session is for up to 5 members of the same immediate family and will last between 1-2 hours.
• Winner will also receive all their proof images in medium resolution on CD. Print to your heart’s content!
• Valued at €675!!

How to win:

• Make a MINIMUM donation of $10 to the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund
• For every donation of $10 you will be entered into the prize draw. Increase your chance of winning; donate $30 and you’ll receive 3 entries!
• Forward a copy of your donation confirmation email to help@imagestoinspirehope.org.
• All entries must be RECEIVED by midnight (GMT+1) on Tuesday 31 May 2011.
• Winner will be drawn at random and announced on Wednesday 01 June 2011.
• You can enter as many times as you’d like, but each entry must be the minimum $10 donation.

Other details:

• Session participants must sign a model release. This allows us to showcase our favourite images from your session on our blogs and on the Images to Inspire Hope website.
• Session must be held in Den Haag, Gouda or Utrecht.
• If the winner does not claim his/her prize by Friday 10 June 2011 or cannot claim the prize, then another winner will be drawn.
• This program is not sponsored or promoted by Save the Children and we are not receiving anything in return for this effort.

But wait! There’s more!

Please feel free to blog, tweet or share the link to this blog post and the Images to Inspire Hope website! Together we can help those in need.

Thank you SO much!!

Best wishes,
~ Natalie and Vinita

I just spent two amazing days with Zach and Jody Gray from Gray Photography – and these guys are just incredible, they’re so inspiring and such great fun to be around. I’m absolutely elated that they brought their IN-CAMERA: Light and their Business and Marketing: Executing the Dream workshops to The Hague and was able to attend. Huge thanks to Anouschka and Ray from Lifestyle Fotografie for making it all happen!! I had an absolute blast, and loved meeting all the other photographers too, many of whom I knew from Twitter and Facebook – it was so great to connect in person.

As a result of the workshop, and especially the shoot in The Hague, I now see in a completely different way and I’m totally excited to put all these new tricks into practice. It was so great to work with a high-powered strobe outdoors and it’s definitely something I’d like to do more of. I’m totally inspired! I’m totally giddy too! ;-)

Let me share some of the photos I took… enjoy!

Here’s a before (natural light only):

And the rest are after (natural daylight + one high-powered studio strobe = awesome!)

The models, Stephanie and Angela were fabulous to work with! Thanks girls! :)

Be sure to head over to Zach and Jody’s blog to check out a couple of my behind-the-scenes photos and some of their awesome photos from Tuesday’s lighting shoot!

Best wishes
~ Natalie

Here’s wishing you a fabulously Happy New Year celebration tonight. See you in 2011, may it be a bright and prosperous New Year for you all!!

With love and best wishes,
~Natalie

Having endured several days of stormy winds, there weren’t so many leaves left on the trees, but the floor was a sea of gold. So beautiful!

Finding shelter from the rain…

They were an absolute delight to photograph!

:-)

And when we were done, it was (finally!) time to climb trees… ;-)

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Best wishes,

~Natalie

Welcome to the world Dexter! :)

A wonderfully adorable little brother for a delightful big sister!

I just want to *kiss* those gorgeous cheeks of his! Sweet dreams little one..

It was lovely to receive his birth announcement in the post too! :-)

Designed by Jolette of Mamamila with photography by Tigs Creations! We just recently started working together. Her designs and cards are simply gorgeous and I’m so happy to offer her services to my clients!

Hope you enjoyed the peek…

Best wishes,

~Natalie