Another Shoot in Amsterdam...

Ashlynn had one other test shoot in January, this time with Dutch photographer Yorick Nube in Amsterdam. I always research each proposed photographer. This time I found something I didn’t like: a blog of young models in provocative poses.

I agreed that Yorick could photograph Ashlynn as long as I stayed for the entire shoot and none of her photos were to ever be placed on his blog. He agreed and took some nice, simple shots of her without make-up and using only the natural light in his apartment.

Ashlynn in B&W...

One day after school, Ashlynn and I headed down to Rotterdam to meet with photography student Demi van der Starre for a B&W shoot as part of her senior project. For the first time, Ashlynn wore a few individual fake eyelashes. I didn’t think to ask Demi to take a few shots without the heavy make-up which was unfortunate as Marjolein of Dune Agency said she couldn’t use these photos for Ashlynn’s portfolio because they aren’t natural.

I’m starting to see that it’s not just models that struggle in the fashion industry due to the high amount of competition. I have no idea how young photographers, stylists or make-up artists can actually make the jump from doing free work to being able to make a steady income considering schools are always cranking out another batch of new photographers, stylists and make-up artists.

Veronica's Photos...

Veronica took some amazing self portraits in the woods during the winter.

It wasn’t until after we saw the photos that it dawned on us that perhaps this wasn’t the safest way for a young girl to spend a Sunday afternoon.

She took this cool nighttime shot on the canal in front of our house. If you look closely, you’ll see Orion in the top right corner, and Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, in the center.

Here’s a great shot that Veronica captured of the school. She liked it so much that she had this printed on thank you cards for her favorite teachers.

Burns' Night Hash...

Our celebration of Rabbie Burns continued the next day with the Burns’ Hash in The Hague. A lot of Amsterdam hashers came along for the first time on this unusually warm and sunny Sunday in January .

Scotsman Five Pack is always entertaining.

Abbie and Derek made homemade vegetarian haggis which was quite delicious. After dinner, the tables were cleared out and Anton’s basement was turned into a disco. Boghole did a great job with the tunes...

...but is showing his age that he needed his reading glasses to read his songlist.

Burns' Night Dance...

For Burns’ Night this year, we both wore our new kilts from Edinburgh.

As always, we had a great time dancing...

...and hanging out with our friends. We were thrilled that Carlin and Kent joined us for the first time.

Dune Agency at iNDiViDUALS...

This composition shows Ashlynn with Michelle and Deirdre, Dune’s three models that walked this show.

Afterwards, the girls posed with Marjolein, the owner of Dune, and Nicky, a fashion photographer who also works as a booker at Dune. A few days later, Ashlynn and I went to watch the Dennis Diem show at the Westergasfabriek, a former gasworks built in 1902. Everything about the show was very impressive: interesting pre-show videos, a singer hanging above the audience sitting in a half moon, cool lighting and beautiful clothes. Ashlynn will really need to practice in her high heels if she ever wants to walk in a show like that.

First Fashion Show...

Just before Christmas, Ashlynn had her first “casting” (an audition for a modeling job) for a fashion show as part of Amsterdam Fashion Week. She had to try on an outfit and walk for the designers. Although she wasn’t chosen for that show, she was chosen for the iNDiViDUALS show of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. I got a sneak peak at the runway when I dropped her off in Amsterdam at 9 a.m. It was clearly going to be a long day since the show wasn’t until 6 p.m.

While I spent the day visiting museums, Ashlynn was in hair and make-up and rehearsing. She already knew a few of the other models from Model Camp and met two girls from Dune Agency. She wasn’t paid, but was at least well fed. The show wasn’t actually open to the public, but parents of the models were allowed to sit behind the fashion bloggers and magazine editors. We had a great view of Ashlynn crossing the overhead bridge (we could just see her from the side--this photo was taken by an official photographer)...

...and going down the escalator, which I thought were very cool features to incorporate into the show. In an effort not to embarrass her, I left my Nikon at home--will never do that again!

She was relieved to be in flats, especially since it was a very long runway.

Overall she felt confident, but was a little worried that she wouldn’t know where to turn around. 

The floor looked pretty cool in the professional shot; in actuality, it was merely water splashed across the tiles. Luckily none of the girls went sliding.

It was nice that there’s even a shot of Ashlynn as she exited the show. If you have the patience, you can watch the video; Ashlynn first appears at 2:17 and is on screen several times for the next 1.5 minutes and then comes back out at 13:55 for the finale.