What a glory! For the first time since the Covid-19 outbreak, I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot again. And then also a shoot as I prefer to do them, of an owner with her dogs.

A Forever Hero photo shoot!

Why did I have to take a break?

Well, first there was Covid-19, and it was mandatory to stay home as much as possible. All not necessary things had to be cancelled. And a photo shoot is not necessary. It was forbidden to be with three or more people when you didn't live in the same household. And the so-called one and a half meter society was created by the Covid-19 and that is all nice and sweet, but if you work with dogs and people, and as in my case a photo shoot, it often means that I have to touch the people because there is just a collar wrong, for example, or there are hairs of the dogs on the clothes of the owner that you do not want to have in the photo. Hair that does not stay in place, bra straps that should be tucked under clothing. Small things all, but very important for the final photo. That all was impossible due to the virus.

And of course the dogs … yes they really don't leave me alone. They will of course come to get acquainted. And get acquainted as dogs want to do and may also from me. By sniffing at me extensively, sometimes jumping up to me, sometimes by licking my hand. And although it was of course known that we did not have to fear our pets when it comes to transmitting Covid-19… the reverse could indeed be the case. For example, I could infect the owner through the pet.

All this together meant that of course I no longer received requests for photo shoots. And if I already got them, I often had to sell a “No not right now”. Unfortunately!

As the infection curve seems to flatten we decided to change the shoot a bit and go for it!

So last Saturday I went with a fellow photo club member and her two Irish Setters to Castle Heeswijk to do a photo shoot there. First it was meant to shoot her husband and son also, but we changed the plan to only her. The 1.5 meter distance could also be guaranteed by using a telephoto lens for the close up photos. Yes, of course, the dogs still come to meet me, but the risk of contamination has proven to be negligible. So we dared to take the risk to let the shoot take place.

And oh how wonderful it felt to be busy with such a shoot again.

Working with people and dogs and my camera. It paused for a moment, but that did not mean that my love for photography had disappeared. On the contrary! And that this shoot could continue again came at the right time.

New website

My new website Forever Hero also went online earlier this month, (Now only in Dutch but later I want to make it bilingual) … but the portfolio on it is still very limited. This is of course because in recent years I have not focused so much on people, but only with the dogs to photograph.

My most precious photos from Rowan are the ones of the two of us together!

After the death of Lexxieboy in 2018 and Rowan in 2019, I noticed that I have so many photos of both dogs, but only a few photos of me with Rowan! And I don't have a picture of me with Lex at all. The few photos of Rowan and me together turned out to be the most precious photos after his death. And I still mind that I don't have these kind of pictures of Lex.

A name with more meaning then anyone can know.

Because I think that few people realize this, I want to emphasize these kinds of photos and that's how my idea of ​​Forever Hero came about. In addition, Rowan is still my hero after his death, and a source of inspiration for me. So my Forever Hero, and of course ... the name I started blogging with ... Hetty-Rowan. Rowan unfortunately had to leave me, the name Hetty-Rowan is no longer correct in that respect… But will always remain on the blockchains. And if you take the first two letters of Hetty, and the first two letters of Rowan you also get Hero. Right… it always lasts, Forever Hero.

A name with so much meaning, especially born of my love for the hero who unfortunately had to leave me. But this way stays with me forever. My Forever Hero, who gave me inspiration to take a new path in photography.

A road that has only just begun, and I don't know where it will end. But a path I follow with great pleasure and love.

The first shoot is done. On to more!

So guys ... how are you al holding up during this worldwide corona outbreak. What has changed most for you? And please let me know your thoughts about all.

Thank you for reading!