A touch of Marie Antoinette

A historical shoot is always fun, but when you do it with these two ladies, it goes EPIC. I wanted to create a historical character shoot for stock purposes, set in the Rococo period, using Madame Déficit herself as our inspiration. The first order of business was to research the dress styles of the period,...

Know when you’re the tail, and when you are actually the dog

So it has taken me more than a year to write my newest blog post. Mostly because I fell pregnant, had a very complicated pregnancy with a super premature little baby girl, and it has taken me a long time to adjust to all these events. I can happily state that my whole family and...

Ballerina Project: Urban Ballerina

As a photographer, I feel very strongly that it is so easy to fall into a comfort zone. One where you know exactly what to do to get your shots. I like to challenge myself constantly. Not only does it keep photography interesting for me, but it also forces one to master all aspects of...

Aspirin, Red Bull and Safety Pins – Gear for wedding photographers

It being a Friday, most people are relaxing and easing in to the weekend. Us photographers, on the other hand, are gearing up for the busiest time of the week for us. While I was getting ready and packing my equipment for another wedding, I realized that I had developed my own strategy of getting...

Wedding Photography Woes – Creative differences between bride and photographer

The world has been a strange place to me lately, and for the first time ever, I have had a bride who told me that she was not satisfied with my work after her wedding. Now I always believe in starting with yourself whenever criticism on your work arises, to see whether there is room...

Matrimonial Mayhem – surviving a wedding, for brides from a photographer

Let's start off the new year by getting into some kind of a retro- and introspective mood. As a wedding industry service provider, I often get asked for tips when people are organizing The Biggest Day of their Lives. Now, although I have developed several definite opinions on a vast number of wedding related subjects,...

Urban Cinderella: A Story in Pictures

I've decided to let my pictures do the talking with this post, and will keep my text to a minimum. For a long time I've toyed with the idea of doing a couture fashion shoot at night in the city. I loved the opposing femininity of the dresses shot against a stark, architectural background. The...

There’s a Lady in my Lake!

Often when I look at work by other photographers, I get so inspired by where they seem to be shooting. I make the same mistake that most viewers of their work do, thinking that there are 'perfect' locations for themed fashion shoots.The truth often is much less glamorous than magazine spreads would have us believe....

How to survive wedding photography

The silly season seems to be grinding to a halt, and now I finally have the opportunity to get back to my blog. As promised, today's post will be about the insanity that is wedding photography.As with family shoots, one either loves wedding photography, or go to severe lengths to avoid it. I love the...

Fun family photography

We may have survived the wedding season, but chaos is still ruling here at Salome Hoogendijk Photography. Luckily, that is when magic happens!Since my last blog, I've done several family shoots and have decided to dedicate this blog to my experiences and tips regarding a very challenging, but also uniquely rewarding type of photography Most...