Crossing borders

This weekend I had some friends over from Iceland. A friend I’ve met through a photography job in Iceland a couple of years ago. He worked as part of the crew of a film that I was shooting the behind the scenes images for. We have a very good connection, straight away. and a growing friendship. I have stayed at his house in Iceland since that time we worked together. And I will do so again in the future. It is amazing how these things work. You meet so many nice people through work, and by just being yourself, polite and kind you make the best connections and friendships ever. I am so thankful for meeting this dude and call him a good friend by now.

So my friend and his lovely partner were over in The Netherlands for a few days, they decided to come our way. And we got to spend a good day and a half in our area. My wife and I took them out to a place called “Drielandenpunt” The place where 3 country borders meet. The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

For people from Iceland this is something unique and special, the only border they have obviously is the ocean. So they were pumped to see this place, and literally hop borders. So that’s what we did. Jumped in the car, drove for one hour roughly, and hopped the borders a few times. At first we were a little disappointed by the weather, grey, foggy and just a little mehh… But in the end the conditions were actually really nice! Very mystical and moody. With no other camera on me then just my phone I snapped the following shots, what do you think?

Winter in the forest

This image just screams: cold

My friend taking in the moody scenery.

Very dramatic and moody feel!

International handshake? Check!

Bottom line: Friendships are on of the most valuable things you can have. They can be worldwide, and cross all borders. Always.

Maternity Photoshoot

Yesterday I got to photograph my good friends. My friends that are expecting a baby very soon. We just headed out into the "Beegderheide" (nice local area with beautiful nature you have probably seen photographs of on my site before)

The weather looked like it was going to spoil the fun. But in the end we got lucky. Very lucky. The sun peeped through the clouds and made everything look so nice. It was as if it knew we were going to shoot right there right then. 

We ended up with a lot of good photographs that really show how happy these guys are with meeting their new family member very soon. Can't you tell? Just look at them :)

El Peñon de Ifach, Spain

Last year in September we went to Spain with the family (again, haha) just to have a good time together, and enjoying Spain basically. We went to Moraira, a nice and little coastal town that is located on the Costa Blanca strip. Back in 2011 we basically did the same trip, stayed in the same town and accommodation and sort of had a similar holiday. It was that good in 2011 that we decided to do it all over again.

A short drive from Moraira is Calpe, a little bit bigger, more tourism, more high rises and sandy beaches. Just as you would imagine the Spanish coast would be. But also home to a quite known landmark, the El Peñon de Ifach. It basically is a giant rock sitting on the shore next to the town. In the old times the rock was a strategic lookout point for locals providing them with perfect views of the sea and the surrounding towns. 

It is the smallest nature park in Spain, perhaps even in Europe. But when you are standing at its foot it is quite intimidating. It is 332m tall, and it is also home to over 300 species of animals and numerous rare plants. The rock has this awesome hike trail that takes you all the way up to the top. Its quite a heavy and tricky climb to get to the highest point. But the views are amazing. Have a look at these pics below, stunning views right?