Meet your Photographer, Natalie Carstens

Hi, thanks for stopping by my website. I'm Natalie Carstens, the owner and photographer at Tigs Creations Photography. I'm a custom portrait photographer and I absolutely love to capture the true personalities of the people I photograph, in a fun and relaxed way. I specialise in pregnancy, newborn, children and family portraiture; these are images that you will treasure for many years to come.

What does "Tigs" mean?

Ahh.. this is a question I am asked many times. The answer is very simple. Tigs has been my nickname for a long long time; it's an abbreviation of "Tiger", my favourite animal - they are such beautiful creatures, so majestic, and I'm very fortunate to be able to say that I've seen them in the wild!

What do you mean by custom photography?

Custom photography is all about choice and the experience. I give you devoted 1:1 attention without the worry of the 'next in line' or the feeling of a busy portrait studio. From each photography session I provide an extensive gallery showing only the best images from your session. Once you have made your selection for purchase, each image is carefully processed to bring out their full beauty. A session with me can take place at your home, or at a location of your choice. Whether you choose to have a studio session at home or an outdoor session in your local park, at the beach, or even in the city centre, our time together will be fun and relaxed. Please take a look at Your Portrait Session for more detailed session information.

Discovering my passion for photography

I have always loved photography, but it wasn't until I travelled to South Africa in the summer of 2003 that I started to 'create' images instead of just take snapshots. I was studying field guiding for six weeks; learning about African wildlife, identifying birds, even identifying trees and grasses (in South Africa's winter season!!) I learned about first aid, weapon handling, survival skills, geology, astronomy, and many other topics. I led walks into the bushveld, and drove 'guests' (the other students) around the reserve. It was an incredible experience. I was there to learn, I wasn't there as a photographer; however, it was during this amazing trip that I discovered just how much I enjoyed trying to 'capture the moment'. When I returned back home to the UK, I wanted a 'real' camera - I wanted an SLR with a telephoto lens, and I wanted to go back to Africa!

Shortly after this trip, my work brought me to the Netherlands where I joined IMAGES International Photography Club, an English speaking photography club based in The Hague. I joined the club even before I owned that much-wanted SLR! However, it wasn't long after that I became the proud owner of a Canon dSLR and I was about to embark on a major learning curve!

After being a member of the club for just a few short months, I was asked to join the Committee to work on the club's website. I then spent three and a half enjoyable years filling the roles of Website Editor, Publicity Officer and Chairman during that time. By being part of this community my photography has gone from strength to strength and the enjoyment has only grown.

Quite unexpectedly, I had discovered something I loved with my heart and soul. I thought long and hard about pursuing photography as a career, and the decision to leave behind a successful career in IT Security was not an easy decision to make; but I was certain that if I was going to do this, to follow my dream, I was going to go for it 100%.

Since July 2008, I am very happy to be living my dream as a full-time photographer. I've photographed so many wonderful clients, and met so many beautiful families, and I look forward to meeting many more. I'm also an approved photographer for the Littlest Heroes Project, which you can read about on Giving Back. I feel so lucky to be doing something that I love so much.

I would love to hear from you!

Should you wish to book a portrait session, purchase any of my images or are simply looking for a photographer for a project of your own, then please send me a message via the contact form.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my website, I hope you enjoy your visit and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,