Yesterday evening, my husband and I attended Eowyn Crisfield’s seminar on ‘Raising Bilingual Children: Six Steps to Success’ which was organised by Passionate Parenting. This is a topic we’ve been curious about for a long time and it couldn’t have been more timely for us.

We’ve already been using One Parent One Language (OPOL) since Rebekka was born, but there is so much more to it than that. It was a really enlightening seminar and has certainly put us on the right path to successfully raising Rebekka with more than one language.

Eowyn regularly gives seminars in various locations around The Netherlands, I definitely recommend attending one if you are choosing to raise your children bilingually.

Thank you so much Eowyn and Passionate Parenting for the extremely useful seminar!

pssst. can you tell which books are Rebekka’s favourites? ;-)

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I always knew, before I even started my business, that working with newborns would be a great passion of mine. I’m so grateful to those early clients who entrusted my vision and allowed me to photograph such beautiful moments as you see in the photo above.

I adore the connection you see here between father and daughter; it is one of pride, of love, and wonder.

This is Frøya, just 11 days new.

She just recently turned 5!

And as Frøya celebrates her 5th birthday, I too celebrate.

On this day, 5 years ago, I registered Tigs Creations Photography at the KvK. I was officially in business and I haven’t looked back since.

Working with parents-to-be and witnessing the pure love and adoration they have for their newborn babies is a dream come true.

And then in 2011, I had the opportunity to photograph the birth story of Lola Anne. What an amazing honour it was to be invited to share in such an intimate moment. It was an incredibly moving experience, and one I will always hold dear to my heart.

In documenting Lola’s birth story, I discovered the very core of who I am and I decided to work under my own name, as Natalie Carstens | The Birth Photographer, specialising exclusively in birth story photography.

I’ve since become a mother myself, which in turn brings a whole new meaning to my work.

Each birth I photograph has a unique and special story. To welcome a baby into the world is magical, it’s all-consuming, and powerful. This is what I want to document. These are the stories I want to tell.

I simply can’t imagine having a different career.

This is who I am.

This is where I belong.

This is a life I love.

Thank you for being a part of my journey.

With love,
~Natalie

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More than 150 birth photographers from around the world have submitted incredible images of birth; real moments, real emotions, raw and powerful.

I’m so grateful to my clients for allowing me to submit an image – the one I chose is below, it was taken just moments after baby Zephyrin was placed on his mother’s chest. To me, those eyes tell so much.

An amazing panel of judges will choose a 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and an Honorable Mention winner. But YOU can vote too! Voting is open for the People’s Choice Award, so be sure to stop by and cast your vote. I would love it if your favourite image happened to be mine (it’s #48) :)

Voting closes on Friday 1 February at 23:59 CST (for us in The Netherlands, that’s Saturday 2 February at 06:59 CET).

Thank you so much to everyone who has voted so far!

With love,
~Natalie

The post Voting is open for the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers 2012 Image of the Year Competition appeared first on Natalie Carstens | The Birth Photographer.

It’s exactly nine months since the day you were born. Every day of those nine months is filled with wonderful memories. I want to freeze time; to catch all those moments, and put them into words and images so I can treasure them always, and never ever forget. This is the first of many love letters where I’ll remember and share something special that I want to hold on to.

You are my world. You are Papa’s world too.

I love you. Always.
Mama xx

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After pausing for my maternity leave, we are back, and are delighted to share a preview of images from a beautiful autumnal family photo session with the winners of our Let’s help Japan campaign.

Visit our latest blog post – A moment spent with family – to take a peek and to leave a loving comment for our winning family.

Thank you so much to everyone for supporting our initiative and for your donations. Your generosity and encouragement is so much appreciated!

We are currently accepting submissions for our next project, so if there’s a cause that’s dear to your heart, please let us know. We’d be delighted to hear from you!

With love,
~Natalie

The post Images to Inspire Hope | Giving back through photography appeared first on Natalie Carstens | The Birth Photographer.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since the day you were born!

Sending you, and your Mama, Papa and big sister, lots of love today, and wishing you a wonderful first birthday!

With love,
~Natalie

The post birthday wishes… appeared first on Natalie Carstens | The Birth Photographer.

It was absolutely incredible to have been there to share in his journey to birth. Many congratulations to Eric and Marie – you were both amazing.

With love,
~Natalie

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The post Happy Birth Day, Baby Zephyrin appeared first on Natalie Carstens | The Birth Photographer.

Also coming up, the seventh Feel at Home in The Hague Fair takes place this Sunday 16 September at the City Hall Atrium, from 11:00-17:00. (Re)discover what The Hague has to offer the international community! I’ll be participating once again so come along and find me.

I’ll be giving away a little something special for expectant mothers, so be sure to find me early so you don’t miss out!

Ticket Giveaway!

I have 3 tickets to give away! If you’d like one, simply complete the form below no later than 16:00 on Wednesday 12 September!

See you at the fair!

The post Feel at Home in The Hague Fair – ticket giveaway! appeared first on Natalie Carstens | The Birth Photographer.

It’s hard to believe a year has gone by since the day Lola was born; I feel blessed to have shared such incredibly special moments with her parents, Holly and Dirk, and with Holly’s best friend Lauren, who’d travelled all the way from Australia to be with them for Lola’s birth.

It’s been wonderful watching Lola growing up too… seeing all the little milestones like rolling over, crawling, standing… walking!

Lauren has spent the past year collecting images taken during her Skype sessions with Holly and Lola, to compile this wonderful video documenting Lola’s first year; I’m delighted to share it with you here!

I absolutely ADORE this video! Genius idea, Lauren! What a wonderful collection of images; I loved watching it :-)

Skype (and Apple’s FaceTime too!) is such a fabulous way of connecting family and friends around the world! It’s a wonderful way to watch little ones grow up when the distance between you is great. Simply could not imagine life without it!

To dear sweet little Lola… sending you lots of love today, and wishing you a magical first birthday!!!

With love,
~Natalie

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At six weeks old now, Rebekka has already changed so much. It’s amazing to look back on all the photos we took during her first days. Below are a few of my favourites from her special newborn session when she was just 10 days new :)

Rebekka… you are SO much loved, adored, admired… and your sweet new baby smell *sigh* if only I could bottle that up to keep for always! xx

With love,
~Natalie

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