That Chick in Amsterdam

That Chick in Amsterdam is a new community for international girls that just want to have fun, meet other girls that want to go out and hangout. It grew to 1500 people over night and it’s very active online. Me and my colleague photographer Teresa Hulst, hosted a photo shoot for this group. We wanted to meet-up with some of the cool chicks we have been chatting with online. It was super fun!

Teresa did the behind the scenes photography and styling and I did the portrait shooting. Check more of the behind the scenes photos on her website, Californiagirl.


Behind the scenes photography: Teresa Hulst

 

Portrait Photography: Cristina Stoian

Portrait Photography: Cristina Stoian

Portrait Photography: Cristina Stoian

Portrait Photography: Cristina Stoian

Portrait Photography: Cristina Stoian

Have a girls day out with a photo shoot and makeover.

Photoshoot Party

Let's chat

 

 

Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you. Misty Copeland

I believe

Not long after I made my mood board I found my studio! Literally, after I saved the collage to Evernote, within the hour I found this place online and within the week I had the keys of the studio.

It is an amazing space. It has big windows, wooden floor, it’s white and it’s facing SW. Most importantly it’s 10 minutes away from my house. I felt so blessed to find this place. I really think it was Godsent. I am busy now cleaning it up and refreshing it for you. I will be able to welcome you in my new space as early as February!

So now that I have this new big space, let the games begin! I can finally welcome more of you at once to have fun.

 

This space will allow me to do more of this:

1 Couples portraits session

2 Mother Daughter session, Mother Son Portrait Session

3 Family Portraits, 3 Generations

4 Dancer, ballerinas

5 Girls Day Out session

 

 

Time to be seen

Have a makeover and shoot

Contact me

 

 

Inspiration for the New Year

For these entire 2 years since I started with my new photography business, I have followed this extraordinary woman online: she’s a fantastic photographer and a talented educator. Her name is Sue Bryce and she really created a portrait revolution across the globe. She is very motivational but also so very skilled. I really enjoy attending her classes online and learning the craft from her.

She’s my new mentor in photography. (see my previous mentor one here).
After following her online for 3 years now, she came to Europe, to London to teach a workshop within the Portrait Society Convention in London. I could not skip this opportunity and so I have boarded a plane and – off I went to see her.

I thought it would bring me some inspiration and motivation for the beginning of the year and also, I wanted to give her a hug and thank her for all that she does for photography and for us, portrait photographers. She is really changing the industry and we will see a big portrait comeback in the near future thanks to her.

 

Here she is! So wonderful to finally meet my educator and she’s lovelyIKJY9221 copy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couple of take-aways from her 6 hours workshop:

  • We are breaking new ground every day with our craft – we are certainly not the first to create portraits, but we are the ones to bring this beautiful craft back into our communitySue Bryce Portrait Photographer
  • It is our duty to Educate, Entertain, Engage, Entice, Elevate
    Sue Bryce
  • The rule of 33:34:33 in business, 33 for taxes, 34 for back into the business, and 33 for ourselves.
  • What we do for people is creating a legacy which timeless and the value of it is priceless
     DSCF1063
    DSCF1067
    “I have a deep fascination for portraits.
    Everything you experience I want to photograph.

    I have a deep desire to photograph every woman for every year of her life, until she is an old woman and every year she’s gonna see herself age and mature and grow up and she’s gonna fall in love with herself every year with the changes when you get older, when you get curvier, as you get wrinklier, as you age and build a family, as you build a career, as you build a life, I want to document that and show it back to you. ”

    Sue Bryce

What are your questions about it?

Have a makeover and shoot

Contact me

Mentors

paul-butterfield

Paul Butterfield is a photographer from Seattle I met while he was visiting Amsterdam, in 2009. Him and his wife Melody Biringer are owners of the CRAVE Company, empowering women in business.

Following them and their passion for Amsterdam, little by little I got to experience their lush lifestyle and get to crave it.

There was no surprise that at the end of their holidays, I accepted their bold invitation to start a version of their company in Amsterdam as a project manager and photographer and ultimately partner.

This is how I started my Portrait Photography career, connecting with women entrepreneurs, featuring them in a book, having fun getting to know many great women and pursuing my dream as a photographer.

He is the second one (after my husband) that recognised my talent in photography and pushed me to do it as a profession.

 

In 2010, Paul, gave me a present. He printed and matted 20 of my iPhone photos. Right then I realised that a photo is so much more than an image on a screen.

And now I do these Portraits for People and they treasure them and they will stay in their family forever. I am so proud to do that!

 

“What we vividly imagine, most ardently desire, enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass” ~ Collin P. Sisson

Studio Space

It’s been fun welcoming you into my home and creating portraits in my living room. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my space with you. But sometimes it feels a bit small and photographing families is a bit more difficult in the space.

This is why, this year, one of my goals is to find a studio for my portrait photography.
I have created a moodboard to visualise my dream space and what sort of atmosphere I want to create in it. So, tag me, or let me know, if you see anything like this popping up in your way/timeline.

 

cris-mood-board_web

Resolutions 2017

 Here are some of my intentions for 2017 for myself and my photography.
  1. Put more meaning and emotion into my photographs.
  2. Take less photographs to achieve the right one.
  3. Make photographs more like paintings.
  4. Move to new studio.
  5. Remember the purpose of my photographs every day.
  6. Define my style as a photographer.
  7. Set new professional goals.
  8. Create a 24 photo story once a week on my new camera.
  9. Blog twice a month.
  10. Photograph a ballerina.
  11. Shoot more flowers, flower crown, flower wall.
  12. Shoot a red dress portrait, experiment with the black sash, white sheet.
  13. Paint my own backdrop.
  14. Shoot outside the studio.
  15. Laugh more.
  16. Save money for vacations.
  17. Do more portfolio work.
  18. Create Cinemagraphs and Videos for my work.
  19. Do more physical activity.
  20. Add romanticism in my work.

Embrace Your True Power

This summer I have photographed a truly inspiring woman, Zelda Hall.  I’ve met her through CRAVE Amsterdam, 7 years ago(!) and we kept in touch via social media. I’ve always admired her as a wise woman of our community as she talks about such important issues in our life.

She’s a psychologist and therapist in Amsterdam. She also gives lectures and workshops internationally.

Her belief is that the task of a therapist is to provide guidance which helps heal the wounds from the past and confirms our own ability to meet the challenges with which life presents us. She offers a safe space to explore with curiosity and compassion that which restricts your freedom to be truly yourself and to lead a joyful and meaningful life.

This November, she and some of her other colleagues will give a workshop in her series: ‘She Who Dares’, series for all women. I invite you to join them, as I think they are few of the authentic, original ‘guides of life’ throughout the city.

Zelda and her colleagues Jane Ridder-Patrick and Faye Blake will be guiding you to gain clarity on:

  • Where did I come from? How has my early life shaped me?
  • What am I aiming for in life?
  • And how are these two things linked? How does my past affect where I am heading in life?

Find info here.

Faye will look at directions in life. What are your desired goals? And how can an understanding of your background help you plot a course to enable you to reach them? Astrological symbolism can help you discover and enhance your reputation. What do you wish to be known for? What will be your legacy? But what happens when you change country? We will also investigate how a change of location can give the opportunity to redirect and refocus your life – especially when it comes to your career.

 

The emotional soil that we were rooted in as children has a profound impact on almost every area of our lives. Were your longings nourished or frustrated? What was encouraged and what was frowned upon? What was most emphasised or suppressed – feelings, ideas, identity or security? We each draw on long tangled threads of our forebears’ experiences and in this session we will explore the tap-root of our ancestral trees to discover the wellspring of our motivations, challenges and approach to the world of achievement.
The world needs women who are unafraid to embrace their true power.

 

Caught between the expectations in our upbringing and the norms of the outside world, staying grounded in our authenticity/integrity can take some doing.

 

As women we may find that simply having a female body leaves us open to all sorts of criticism and demands, and sometimes even traumatic violations.

We may find ourselves abandoning the feminine aspect of our nature to ‘get ahead’.  Whether it is ‘power dressing’ in a pinstripe suit, having voice training to sound more masculine (think Margaret Thatcher) or being cold and heartless to avoid the accusation of being overemotional.

In her workshop, Zelda will look at how to draw strength from our pasts and find the courage to create our futures as we negotiate the world as women while staying fully grounded in our bodies.