How athletes train: Eelco Sintnicolaas
Eelco Sintnicolaas is a top Dutch decathlon athlete. Recently, I joined Eelco for a day of training, to capture what the life of an athlete is really like.
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30 unique behind the scenes photos of PSV Eindhoven’s title celebrations
During PSV Eindhoven’s title celebrations this year, the club commissioned me to shoot behind the scenes photos. The result is a unique series of images documenting the side of this event you normally don’t get to see.
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What is the value of photography for brands?
Time for some critical reflection: what really is the value of photography for brands? This will not be a promotional piece for my own photography, but more likely some openhearted soul searching.
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Nike’s inspiring Together video starring LeBron James
When LeBron James moved back to Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, his sponsor Nike jumped to create an amazing black and white video. These are my thoughts on this moody spot that emphasises community.
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Inspiration: Pelle Cass’ mind blowing sports events photo series Crowded Fields
Sports is an amazing subject for photography, and I love highlighting the work of other photographers in addition to my own. Pelle Cass recently shot an amazing series, for which he photoshopped hours of sports events into single photos. Check out his mind blowing work!
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Dutch women’s football: Lieke Martens followed for one game
Recently, the Dutch women’s football team played their biggest match yet in my hometown of Eindhoven. The game virtually sold out: over 30,000 spectators enjoyed a 6-0 win over Northern Ireland. I spent the game focusing on FC Barcelona superstar Lieke Martens and shot this short story.
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Lifestyle story: top gymnast Bram Verhofstad training
How do the best athletes in the world train? What does the work they put in when they’re not in the spotlights look like? These are questions I aim to investigate through my photos. For my most recent series, I followed top Dutch gymnast Bram Verhofstad while training.
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The iconic PSV-Ajax game in 30 cinematic images
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to shoot the highly anticipated PSV vs Ajax game. PSV could and did seize the Dutch Eredivisie title agaist their main rival. My personal goal was to shoot a strong series of cinematic images to tell the story of this game.
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Personal reflection: the role of sports in my own life
For this blog I decided to make it personal. Sports have always played a major role in my life, which could explain why I love shooting with athletes. Read all about the insane range of sports I’ve practiced and perhaps I’ll sneak in a little confession or two.
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Beats by Dre’s music video The Game Before the Game
Have you ever wondered what the world’s best athletes do before their games? The Game Before the Game is a 2014 spot by Beats by Dre that shows you just that. This is my analysis of this thrilling five minute sports video by Beats by Dre.
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Hirving Lozano: one game with PSV Eindhoven’s Mexican superstar
Hirving Lozano is PSV Eindhoven’s revelation of the season. The Mexican superstar is well on his way to becoming the Dutch Eredivisie’s top scorer and it seems like a matter of time before he’ll transfer to a major league. I thought it’d be interesting to focus on Lozano for one entire game. These are my thoughts and the resulting images.
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Yusra Mardini’s Under Armour spot
Under Armour has done it again: their 2017 video with Yusra Mardini is spot on. These are my thoughts on why this piece of visual storytelling with a Syrian refugee turned Olympic swimming athlete works so well.
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5 signs you’re hiring the right photographer
Picking the right photographer to shoot your photos must be insanely hard, given the amount of awesome work I see online every day. These are my 5 tips for brands wondering if they’re hiring the right photographer.
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Jupiler’s wonderfully cinematic spot #wearebelgium
This recent video by Belgian brewery Jupiler just had to make it to my visual storytelling series. It is a great example of what I love to see in advertising: putting an ideal center stage.
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What drives me in photography
So by now you’ve gathered that I shoot athletes. But what is it that drives me in photographing them? In this post I’ll attempt to get to my fundamental motivation in photography.
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2017: year in review
Here’s 17 of my favourite shots from 2017, in addition to my thoughts on the past year and some of my goals for 2018. Spoiler: I’m super psyched to have already ticked off some of these!
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Recent work: campaign for Bavaria
Last December, I was involved in shooting a marketing campaign for the major Dutch beer brewery Bavaria. The campaign focused on presenting the brand as the beer of choice for true fans of the PSV football club, one of my other clients.
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Interesting read: 10 ways to use history in marketing a brand
Recently, I stumbled across an interesting article on ways to use history to connect nostalgia to a brand for marketing purposes. Though I’m not quite sure yet how to use this for my photography, I feel that there’s some great inspiration to be found here.
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Two interesting trends in sports marketing
A recent article on the Dutch website Sportnext – one of my favorite sites on sports marketing – identified 11 trends in digital sports marketing. Some of these take-aways really resonated with me, so I thought I’d highlight them here.
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Should clients give photographers artistic freedom or direction?
As a photographer, working for a client can be a vastly different experience than shooting personal work where you have total creative freedom. Giving their photographers direction can be essential to making sure a client sees his vision realised in photos. At the same time, allowing photographers some freedom may help improve results. These are my thoughts on walking the line between artistic freedom and creative direction as a client.
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Visual storytelling done right: Reebok – Hands
For this entry of my ongoing series on inspiring visual storytelling sports videos, I take a look at Reebok’s video Hands. A short, sweet, inspiring and authentic spot.
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Jacky Godoffe – 15 photos of a session with a French climbing legend
As I’ve mentioned quite a few times before, I’ve made it a habit to regularly shoot personal work. A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to spend the better part of a day with Jacky Godoffe, a legend in the climbing world, to shoot a short series of this master working his craft.
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Monthly digest: Red Bull, top climbers and a special tournament in the famous Feyenoord stadium
Time for a periodical update of my recent work! In this update I’ll share some of the first shoots I did for Red Bull this summer, show some personal work with top climbers and finish with a special photo from the Feyenoord Kuip stadium.
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Visual storytelling done right: David Fitzgerald on ‘Voyager’
Time for a new entry in my ongoing series on visual storytelling. In this series, I analyse a video that I feel is strong in visual storytelling. For this entry, let’s consider a slightly different genre that is close to my heart: a climbing film!
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Checklist for clients and photographers drafting an agreement
During the years I’ve spent shooting assignments for clients as a photographer, I’ve learned quite a bit about clear communication and setting terms when drafting an agreement. This post is part checklist for my own use, and part educational for brands reading along.
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Visual storytelling done right: Free by Machines for Freedom
Time for some more visual storytelling goodness! Next up is the women’s cycling apparel brand Machines for Freedom from the US, with their inspirational short clip Free.
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On sports apparel brands using celebrities instead of true athletes
A couple of months ago, I stumbled upon this article on using female models in sports apparel campaigns. It resonated with my on a deep level, here’s how I feel about some of the points brought up in the piece.
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Shooting an alpinism course in the Alps
This summer, I took part in an alpinism course in the French Alps organised by Mountain Network, and photographed our days in the mountains at the same time. Combining my roles as a student and a photographer was a challenging but inspiring and rewarding experience.
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Visual storytelling done right: Casio G-Shock with KNRM
Continuing my visual storytelling done right series, today’s entry is Casio’s video for their G-Shock watch with the Dutch KNRM sea rescue team. This is a video sporting gorgeous visuals, but just lacking in depth and it makes some genuine storytelling mistakes.
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Monthly digest: Rotterdam marathon, Red Bull racing athlete and crossfit
After having written about some projects by other creatives, I figured it was time to shed some light on my own work again. Here’s some series I’ve worked on for the past few months, both on assignment and as personal projects. These include covering the Rotterdam marathon, shooting with a young and talented racing driver sponsored by Red Bull, and shooting some crossfit for my portfolio.
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Visual storytelling done right: NZINGHA
Recently, I’ve been in love with exploring the visual storytelling some brands and other creatives are doing. In this ongoing series, I’d like to shed some light on why I feel some of the best pieces of content excel at storytelling. In this post I discuss a stunning video featuring the African-American fencing athlete Nzingha.
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Content marketing for photographers
Recently, I’ve been focussing my writing on my blog on content marketing and visual storytelling. Many of my recent posts have revolved around brands using these techniques in an awesome way, and included some of my thoughts on how to best go about applying content marketing and storytelling. This led me to a somewhat delayed epiphany: these are techniques I could and should employ myself as well in marketing my photography.
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Interview by Amber Dubach, a sports communications student
Recently I was approached by Amber Dubach, a young student. She’s a student of a sport communications bachelor in Tilburg, and was interested in doing a short interview about my photography. The interview mainly centers on how I got to where I am, and the role sports play in my life.
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Visual storytelling done right: Dark Side of the Lens
Dark Side of the Lens is a short video I’ve always found extremely inspiring. Through my recent interest in visual storytelling, I’ve studied this video again and would like to explain how amazingly brilliant this video is – and how it could have worked as a content marketing piece.
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Visual storytelling done right: Nike Equality campaign
In light of my renewed focus on writing about visual storytelling I’ll also be highlighting some campaigns by the big brands I hugely appreciate in this new series: Visual storytelling done right. The first entry in the series is the Equality campaign by the swoosh brand, Nike.
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Why video won’t replace still photography any time soon
On a recent shoot for Klean Kanteen, I noticed my stills were insanely similar to the shots my friend captured for the video he was shooting. This made me wonder: will video replace still photography at some point and make my job obsolete?
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Product placement in visual storytelling: keeping it subtle
Product placement is a tool often used when brands employ visual storytelling in their marketing. I personally feel it’s vital to keep this placement subtle.
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New study confirms: storytelling is key in marketing
As as photographer I’ve always loved adding a storytelling element in my series of images. A recent study by Kantar Millward Brown yet again confirms the value of storytelling in marketing and provides five tips for developing strong creative.
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Monthly digest: climbing in Sheffield, work for PSV and product launch for Jaybird
It’s been some time since I last posted a written update on my projects – time for some fresh work! In this digest you’ll find some work I shot for PSV Eindhoven and a product launch for the US brand Jaybird where I shot alongside my buddy Maurice. In addition, of course I shot some climbing and you’ll find some personal work where I shot a running athlete and portraits of some friends.
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How Mr. Robot inspired my photography
In my photography I draw a huge amount of inspiration from film and tv series. One of my favourite recent series has been Mr. Robot. This is how this series proved to have a profound effect on the way I compose my photos.
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Why Under Armour’s Michael Phelps video is my favourite sports spot ever
The spot Under Armour created with their sponsored athlete Michael Phelps is quite probably one of the best sports commercials ever made. It has motivated and inspired me both in my own athletic pursuits and in my photography, so writing an ode seems like the right thing to do.
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My 2016 shoots in 50 photos
2017 is upon us, and what better time to reflect on the past year than now. Here’s my 2016 year of photoshoots, captured in exactly 50 shots.
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Five tips for brands working with photographers
When working with photographers there are a few easy things you as a client can do to make sure you’re on the same page and produce the best work you possibly can together. Here’s five tips you can keep in mind when working with photographers.
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Documenting PSV Eindhoven’s youth squads
PSV Eindhoven has been one of my favourite clients for some time now. In an ongoing project for the club’s magazine, I’m documenting the youth squads at their academy. Here’s some of my favourite images from the series, along with some of my experiences shooting these future superstars and my dream of shooting similar images with the world’s best athletes for brands.
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Monthly digest: PSV youth squads and an Olympic archer
In this digest I’ll show you some of the shoots I’ve been working on. These past few weeks I’ve shot quite a few personal projects to further develop as a photographer and add to my portfolio. My goal here is to be able to show potential clients what I’m best at shooting, and most passionate about.
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Drawing inspiration from the portraiture masters
Ever since I started shooting photos I’ve always tried my very best to be continually inspired by the work of other photographers. It’s always humbling and at the same time massively motivating to see the work of the masters of photography. Recently I’ve been hugely inspired by Peter Lindbergh and Anton Corbijn, compelling me to start my own project.
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Paris Climbing World Championships – the most awesome comp ever
Last september, the Climbing World Championships were held in Paris. I’ve been to a number of competitions, but in my experience these championships were quite probably the best competition ever. In this post I aim to give you a quick look at what I produced in Paris. Check inside for more pictures than you can digest!
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Monthly Digest #3: August and September 2016
Over the past months I’ve worked on a number of campaigns. Read on for some results, behind the scenes photos and the stories behind these shoots!
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Monthly Digest #2: July 2016
Time for another digest series! We have some catching up to do so bear with me as I treat you to some of the photoshoots I’ve done in the past couple of weeks.
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The power of visual stories about athletes in marketing
Brands are spending boatloads of money on sponsoring athletes, but even more on advertising. I feel that using these sponsored athletes to represent the brand in a genuine way by telling visual stories about them can be the best form of advertising. This is my plea for more visual storytelling with athletes.
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Monthly Digest #1 – June 2016
Starting a new series on this blog: Monthly Digest! Delivering you a quick recap of my photoshoots in the past month. Not too much text, just a boatload of images for you to scroll through. For this first edition of the monthly digest I also wanted to highlight some special work from May. I did two major photoshoots with some top athletes that month.
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Brand new: photography showreel
After a week of hard work and obsessing over little details I’m proud to announce the release of my photography showreel! View the highlights of my portfolio in just over two minutes.
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Shooting a campaign for PSV Eindhoven
Last summer I was approached by PSV Eindhoven to shoot a marketing campaign promoting their seasonal passes for all home games. These are my experiences during this project.
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Watch me and my buddy Chris König in a photography talkshow
Recently I was invited to be a guest in a Dutch talkshow on photography called Cafe Obscura. We talk about a bunch of subjects like finding your own style, working on personal projects and making it in the photography business through honest marketing and focusing on a niche.
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Big Thinkers for Eindhoven University of Technology
Recently I was asked to shoot a series of portraits of some proud scientists for Eindhoven University of Technology. My alma mater celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, and invited some of its foremost researchers to give a TED style talk highlighting their work. I was tasked with shooting a portrait of each scientist that would capture their proudness and determination.
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My 5 top tips for shooting better climbing photos
Every climber has tried shooting some climbing photos of his mates going up the wall. A fair share of these photos could easily be improved if the aspiring photographer takes a couple of simple tips into account. Let’s take it from buttshot to beautiful!
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Adidas gig: shooting top climbers at Rockstars
At the recent Adidas Rockstars climbing competition, I completed a special multi day project where I shot portraits of all top competitors. Here’s what went on behind the scenes for this unique project!
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Fontainebleau climbing lifestyle shot on an analog camera
When I’m shooting commercial projects I tend to capture huge volumes of photos to make sure I get the perfect shot. It can sometimes be nice to slow down though, which is exactly what I did when I took only my analog Nikon FE camera on a climbing trip to Fontainebleau with friends.
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Shooting Adam Ondra, the best climber in the world
Quick heads-up: this will probably turn out to be a rather lengthy story. Bear with me though as I’ll be sharing a truely unique story about Adam Ondra, often regarded as the world’s best climber. In 2013, I photographed Adam at his local climbing crag near Brno in Czech Republic. The story and image of him climbing an 8b route wearing a blindfold made its way around the online climbing community.
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Winterberg: my favourite photo of all time
Possibly one of my favorite photos of all time and the one most people seem to remember is the one you see below. In fact it means so much to me that I’ve got it hanging blown up on canvas in my bedroom, it’s the first thing I see every morning. Allow me to share the story behind this image shot in Winterberg!
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Sao Miguel
While on a family holiday to the Portugese Acores island group in the middle of the Atlantic ocean I stumbled upon this perfect little beach. I realized the sun would be hitting the beach near Sao Miguel at a perfect angle later in the afternoon. While the rest of my family retreated to our rental house, I drove back later that day to capture some images I knew would find a place in my portfolio.
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This is not a blog
All new starts are hard, and starting a new blog is infamous within the overpopulated world of hard new starts. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve tried this, so therefore let’s do a bit of reframing: this is not a blog!
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