I often feel privileged. Over the past decade, I’ve been able to make my profession out of my biggest passion: Photography. It allows me to see and do so many wonderful things. It even allows me to travel. For all of those things, I am deeply grateful. But one of the things I love best is working with people, in all shapes and sizes. In the end, that’s my favorite part of the job. Every now and then, I feel the urge to pinch myself to see if all of this is actually real.

A little while ago, there was another one of those pinching-moments. During a nice sushi-dinner with my girlfriend, I received a message from a colleague, stating that I had won a Fearless award. In case that doesn’t ring a bell, a Fearless award is one of the most prestigious and hard to win international wedding photography awards. Out of many thousands of submissions, only a few are awarded. It was one of my goals for 2016 to win a Fearless award, and just when this amazing year was coming to an end, this goal was fulfilled. I couldn’t be happier, and I’m still very happy with this lovely photograph.

But that’s not all. The weekend was barely over, and there was even more amazing news. Next to winning a Fearless awards, I got the news that I had won not one but two Masters of Dutch Wedding Photography Awards. ‘The Masters’ – in short – represent the absolute best of the Dutch wedding photography branche. It’s an enormous honor to be awarded in this contest, judged by an international jury of the world’s finest photographers.

The two winning photos are among my favorite images of the 2016 season. The first photograph represents family love in the purest form. An intimate embrace between Pablo and his mother when Pablo is being ‘given away’, while his brother gets emotional in the background.

The second photograph is equally special. Have you ever seen such a photogenic pigeon?

What a perfect way to end a perfect year!
To view the other awards I’ve won during the past years, look here.