New colors

I decided that our living room needed an update. I had hardly noticed that we had started the third month of the year already when my grey, red and brown pillows were still sitting cofortably on our couch. They screamed "Christmas" at me and at some point that just wasn´t funny anymore!
And with the weather being so incredibly lovely and springy (is that even a word? I guess it is now!) I started thinking of what colors I could decorate our living room in.
Now I am a big fan of turquoise and a coolish blue, maybe mixed with green but I decided I wanted to try something new this year (or at least partially new since I threw turquoise and grey in the mix).
I LOVE yellow as a color but could probably never wear it because it would just make me look sick (I unfortunately have that skin tone).
After I had forced let Danny to buy a mustard jacket already I thought I could just as well put some yellow/mustard pillows on our couch (that way he would blend in oh so lovely when he would come home from work. He´d probably be too warm sitting on the couch in his jacket but you gotta do what you gotta do, right!?).


So here´s the result:

Standstill

I stood completely still for a second. I was totally in awe, standing in front of that tiny little person.
She was so small, so fragile and yet so perfectly created.
I hardly dared to breath let alone press down my shutter because I didn´t wanna interrupt her precious sleep.
I was once again reminded, that what I am doing for a living, is actually not "making a living" but to capture memories and moments for others.

Although you might think that I´ve seen and photographed enough babies to get used to it, I never do.
Every.single.time I am reminded of that loving father in heaven, that has such love for us and such hope in humanity to keep creating wonderful, sweet, gentle little babies.
And every time I am thankful, that I am there to witness that love!

Falling in love with a bride

A couple of weeks ago I met with a bride as I usually do to get to know my clients (or better: for them to get to know me) before they book me.
I thought the meeting would take up to 1,5 hours or so and told my husband when I would be home.
But then I met her and we started chatting. I asked her my usual questions like "Where are you getting married?" "Whats the color scheme?" "What does your dress look like?".
(I always wanna be able to paint a picture of the wedding day in my head, as accurately as possible.)
And then the one thing happened, that I always hope will happen with every.single.one of my brides: We started laughing together, finding similarities, making jokes and it got so much more personal!
As she kept on sharing and I kept on asking our whole relationship changed and in the end I didn´t feel like some vendor she wanted to hire to make her day perfect but like a friend she wanted to be at the wedding!
We had talked for over two hours which none of us had noticed (my husband had, he called me shortly after to ask me when I would be home, shreaking kids in the background).

I love it when that happens!

Now brides, if you´re about to book a wedding photographer: Make sure you really LIKE them! Not just their pictures, or their prizes or anything else.
Make sure you click with them on a personal level! The more you will like your photographer, the more relaxed you´ll be on your wedding day.
If you feel comfortable in the presence of your photographer and you can joke around with/him her it will automatically result in beautiful, natural pictures!

Love, Chrissy

Crazy life

Yesterday I felt like I should definitely write a blogpost. After all, it had been a week since I posted something last and I once read somewhere that you should write at least one blogpost a week to keep your audience entertained.
So first: Sorry, for not entertaining you sooner! ;)
But I really couldn´t.
I found myself sitting infront of my computer yesterday and couldn´t form one word in my head.
I had tons of good ideas what to post about, but couldn´t get myself to start.
For some reason I didn´t want to.
And then I noticed that I had to give myself some time to just BE.
Those last two and a half weeks have been crazy and I haven´t shared one word about it on FACEBOOK, TWITTER or this blog because I needed time to get used to the new situation and to verbalize my feelings.
As some of you might know Photography is not what I studied, I actually studied Social Work (way back in the day, when I was waaaay younger... Hahaha).
The vision for my life when I was 19 included renting or buying a big house in South Africa so I could create a home for street children. The house would have had lots of bedrooms, a big kitchen and dining room and a big sort of hall, where there could be school in the morning and homework and playtime in the afternoon.
Although I am sure that God planted this in my heart he led us to stay in Germany and over the years I sort of forgot about the details of that dream I once had.
But one thing I didn´t forget: I wanted to create a home for children that were not my own. Talking to Danny about that didn´t exactly leave me with the result I had in mind as he is more of a thinker and doesn´t usually decide on things spontaneously (something we´re VERY different at!). But after a while he warmed up to the idea of opening our house for other kids and we started the process with the Jugendamt to become short term foster parents (meaning the kids usually stay only up to 4 months). This process took about three months but since the middle of February we have a cute little 18 month old girl staying with us!
Now, we have been prepared for a lot but when it came to putting things into practice it was still a whole lot different than the stories we have heard.
For once I figuered that I have to watch out for my own kids not to get jealous or to feel left out since there is another person just marching right through their territory claimed what isn´t hers.
Now it turned out that the little one is the jealous one throwing tantrums whenever my daughter crawls unto my lap and trying to bite and pinch my son when he wants to play with her.
I totally get where she is coming from and that there is a lot of frustration built up in her and that truly makes me feel sorry for her. But she still has to learn that biting, pushing and pinching doesn´t solve anything.
So for the last two and a half weeks (and probably going on for a while) I was busy protecting my children from the tantrums of an 18 month old that we´re still getting to know and at the same time trying to make them understand her and her understand that this isn´t the way we roll.
So the title of this post really sums it up quite well! :D

I am glad that she is here though, no doubt about that! She definitely opened our bubble of just being the four of us and is teaching us to practice patience and loving your neighbor!

Here´s a picture that Danny took last year of my daughter Noa and me and that I recently discovered!
Awww, she is so cute man! :D

EDIT:
For reasons of data protection I can´t post pictures of our foster child online, but just so you´re getting an idea I found one where she´s hiding behind the curtain. :p

Engagement Shooting Claudia and Haris

Our internet was either completely down or veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slow for more than a week now so I´m quite a bit behind on my blogging.

These photos I´ve been dying to share with you! Claudia and Haris booked me for their wedding in August and (as part of my VALENTINES SPECIAL) they got their engagement photoshoot for free.
We didn´t have the best of luck with the weather (as you can see in some of those pictures below) but Claudia and Haris made up for that with their sparkly personalities! Those two lovebirds were so easy and relaxed in front of my camera I was completely stunned!
I loved taking their pictures and couldn´t help but laugh with them from behind the cam!
I am sooo looking forward to that wedding in August I´m sure it will be legendary!

3 Tips on establishing a healthy work routine

Within those past months I have heard of so many people having had a burnout, being in the middle of one or on the verge of having one that I started wondering whether the feeling of being overwhelmed by one´s job and/or life is due to pressure that either our society or the individuals put on themselves or whether it is due to a lack of ideas how to healthily balance out your (work-)life.
When my husband then felt like HE was on the verge of a burnout (and those people knowing him know that he can take A LOT) and took a few days off of work for us to go on a holiday, I had the idea to write a blogpost about burnout.

Especially as freelancers you can easily get overworked because you don´t have a boss telling you to work appropriate hours and take a holiday every now and then.
It´s so easy to get carried away and wanting to edit "just a few pictures" for me often ended in editing a whole session for hours.
So I´ve come up with a few things you may install in your workflow and weekly schedule to make sure that your health stays stable.



1. If you haven´t yet, install a weekly schedule. This may seem ridiculous but it´s very good for one thing: Getting appropriate times of breaks in between which you need to work more effectively!
It is so easy once your "in the flow" to keep editing pictures until your eyes hurt (I know the feeling...) but why not install special hours for editing pictures and - if you need something to keep you on track set an alarm clock - then take a ten minute coffee break and browse through your favorite magazine.
Making time for breaks also gives me a huge boost of motivation. When I don´t feel like starting something cause I know it will take endless hours, I limit the time to work on it to two hours. That way the time frame is limited and to me that makes it easier to find the motivation to start and work through those two hours to get the "reward" (coffee, tea, a short walk, a piece of chocolate, ...) after.

2. Do something completely unrelated to photography. Go running. Go horse-back riding. Go swimming. Find a TV show you enjoy. Learn a new language. Really the possibilities are endless!
And purposely leave your camera at home (especially when you go swimming and don´t have any of those fancy under-water-cameras...). Take some time to get your head free and open for new inspiration in order to come back to your workspace and work more efficiently!

3. Set a certain time that you close your computer. For the rest of the day. Now I know that there will be days when that´s not possible, when you´ve numerous weddings and/or portrait shoots in the cue waiting to be edited.
But make it a rule to not work until late at night. You can always bend it when necessary, but make giving yourself time to relax the rule.



So, maybe this wasn´t something new to you but maybe you needed to hear that once more. I know I also have to keep reminding myself of thes things.

Are you looking for a wedding photographer?

Those of you following me on my facebook page have probably seen that status update I posted about having news for you!

Now here goes:

So this basically means that as of today you can book me for your wedding and you will automatically get your Engagement Session for free! How cool is that!?

Now I´ve been asked before what an Engagement Session is useful for and why it makes sense to actually book one.

On your wedding day there will be a lot going on. The day you´ve been waiting for for so long will finally have arrived and everything will be exciting and new and you might even be a little bit nervous.

Now, if at all possible we will meet in person (or if not possible via skype) before you book me so we can get to know each other. But wouldn´t it be even cooler if you knew already how I worked? If you knew already before your big day how it feels to stand infront of a camera, to be directed, to pose and to get comfortable with me and the camera!?

To have such a photoshooting BEFORE the big photoshooting on your wedding day often leads to you being more relaxed infront of the camera cause you know what´s coming.

So this is why an Engagement Session is absolutely useful plus you get to use the pictures for your wedding invites if you like!

So, read the Terms and Conditions below and give me a shout if this sounds interesting to you!

Love, Chrissy

** TERMS and CONDITIONS **

~ The Valentines Special starts on Feb 10 and ends on March 10. Booking must be made before March 10.

~ A booking is considered complete when the 50% deposit has been made.

~ Wedding day coverage must be at least 8 hours or longer.

~ The value of the Engagement Session can´t be transfered to any other products of Ayoba Photography.

10 things you probably didn´t know about me

1. I can´t sleep without a blanket. Not.ever.
Not even when it´s 30°C outside. I still need a sheet or something that I can roll myself up in like a burrito.

2. I love music. I played the trumpet for 10 years, then started singing in my church´s band. Music was my main subject in school and when it comes to classical music I absolutely adore Bach, he´s my favorite classical composer, hands down.

3. I wanna seem like I have it all together but I really sometimes don´t. Especially with my photography I have to constantly remind myself that it´s a learning curve and that I am getting there!

4. I don´t think I have ever said no to a piece of chocolate, a chocolate muffin or a chocolate cake. If so, I must have been sick. I love, love, LOVE chocolate in all it´s forms. And Nutella... Hmmm....

5. I hate beer. There, I said it. That probably makes me a very bad German. But to me it tastes like - I wanna say vomit but that may be too harsh. It´s true though.

6. My kids make me laugh. They say the funniest things. Like when Josiah told us that his friend had pushed him until he fell on his bum. My husband replied that that wasn´t nice and Josiah says: "Yes, maybe he was stressed!?"
Or when I said to Noa" Mama is a woman, Daddy is a man, Josiah is a boy and Noa is ..." and she goes "A PRINCESS!" My heart want´s to melt!

7. I have a very weird humor that only certain people understand (sometimes not even my husband).

8. They took my appendix out when I was 4 years old.

9. Until I was 13 I had straight hair. Then it kind of exploded and I looked like a white african with a big afro (no joke!). After two pregancies the afro is gone again and I´m left with some fuzzy-frizzy-not-curls-not-straight-hair-hairstyle. I should actually show you pictures. When I find them I will.

10. This post was originally called "20 things you probably didn´t know about me". I don´t know why I wrote such a high number. There might be a "Part two" some time. :p

My definition of friendship

A couple of months ago my husband asked me who my best friend is. (Apart from him, obviously.)
I thought about it for a while but I couldn´t say. I thought about it for days, then weeks and realized that I couldn´t even tell what my definition of friendship looked like.
I mean of course we all have friends that we like, that we feel comfortable with and that we wanna be with because they enrich our lives and sometimes because they are a bit like the person we wanna become. I have many of those friends and I treasure them dearly and don´t wanna miss any of them in my life.
But what distinguishes your good friends from your BEST friend? Is your best friend the one that knows the most about you? Or is it the one friend that you´re spending most time with? Or is your best friend the friend you share a hobby with?
None of these characteristics of friendship lead me to any conclusion about my BEST friend.
Until I knew.
For me, my best friend must ALWAYS have an open ear. I need to have the feeling that my thoughts, feelings and problems count. That my friend wants to listen and that I could call WHENEVER and he/she would be there. And vice versa. That there is a connection of hearts.
Now from a spiritual perspective that to me is Jesus, no question.
But here, in this world, my best friend is my Mom. As much as we´ve argued and as many tears as she probably shed when I was a teenager going through all of THIS she has always been there for me. Even in the darkest of times I knew I could ALWYAYS call her and always count on her.
I talk to her when I have exciting news, and also when I doubt myself or feel down.
I appreciate everything she has done in my life and I am deeply thankful for who she is.
I think it´s safe to say that without her I wouldn´t be where I am today, because she invested in me from when I was a little girl and she always believed in me! <3

Danke, Mama!

10 fingers and 10 toes...

The other day I went to this family that I knew from church to take pictures of their newborn son, Noah.
His Mom, Aleksandra, originally is from Poland and she has a knack for old furniture. She has various pieces of antique furniture in her home that she restored herself and gave them a nice new modern-ish look by painting them in bright colours.
If you love old furniture as much as I do you would have loved that house! 
Plus, they speak polish at home which sounded like music to me ears!
And Noah is just the sweetest baby. He slept almost the entire photoshoot and he´s just perfect with those tiny fingers and tiny toes and that cute little bubble nose... 

There were supposed to be two...

When Sophie´s parents Julia and Daniel found out that she was pregnant with twins, they were just a little bit shocked but extremely thrilled about the double blessing.
Julia experienced a very uncomplicated pregnancy and there was no indication of anything not going "according to plan".
When she was 29 weeks pregnant she went to the doctor for a routine check and found out that her sons heart had stopped beating.
No one who hasn´t lived through something like this will understand the unbelievable strength it takes to know in advance that when the day comes, there will be only one baby in her arms.
Despite the unbearable pain, Julia still remains an optimist, knowing that by God´s grace alone she was able to carry Sophie through to her 34th week of pregnancy.
And by God´s grace alone Sophie was strong enough to breath and drink by herself and leave the hospital after only a week.
Capturing these moments made me really emotional and editing them as a "normal" newborn photoshoot while I had prepared for a twin photoshoot made me realize that something was truly missing from these pictures.
Sophie´s brother, whom they call "Little Star".