This here’s a bit of an abstract image of a hill in the south of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands and was taken some 20 km from where I was born. Since I’ve moved a grand total of 21 times, including to exotic places like Lagos, Nigeria and Paris, France, only to find myself within an hour’s drive of my home country. So much for being a world citizen…

Last weekend we spent a few hours at the southernmost stretch of coast of the Netherlands. Arriving back at our car the first splats of rain started dropping and mere minutes later visibility was down to 10 meters. The torrential rain and accompanying storm that has flooded big parts of the UK had finally arrived on the mainland.

Another still from the same wedding proves the title of this post. Well, at least as far as weather is concerned. And, okay, there are certain limits too. Lightning striking the photographer would be one and others that come to mind are the groom being swept away in an avalanche or the bride flying off in a hurricane. Oh, and I do hate getting wet. But for everything else: the badder, the better. As long as it isn’t too cold, that is.

It’s been a while since I shot a wedding, but last Thursday it was time again to pack some 10 kg of gear and head to Amsterdam. This shot here was taken in the beautiful garden of Museum van Loon on the Keizersgracht. It’s one of my favorites of the day. Udo & Femke, have a great honeymoon; it was a joy working with you!

Or does it? Look at the tranquility of the scene above. Wonderful, isn’t it, with the gentle waves rolling onto a mostly deserted stretch of beach at Scheveningen. Then click here. The same beach, the same sunny day and only 50 meters away: a shovel lying in the sand amidst tracks of heavy vehicles, preparing the beach for the onslaught of tourism and a butt-ugly pier in the background. So, yes: a photo never lies… but it doesn’t necessarily tell the whole truth either.

If you weren’t entirely convinced by the previous entry, which I can understand even though it seriously felt like spring, I present you with evidence number two: blooming crocus (croci?) on the Lange Voorhout in the Dutch city of The Hague, where I spent a few days idling around town.

Perhaps I should explain what I was doing on a speedboat in Rotterdam: Ford introduced its brand new nifty little Ka to its dealer network and chose me to photograph things again. Same disclaimer: I still drive Volvo; as it’s built on a Ford platform and sports a Peugeot diesel engine I figure I can do all events of most major car manufacturers.

Imagine sitting on a speedboat, racing across the waters of the port of Rotterdam at more than 80 km/h (for the American readers: more than 50 mph), camera in hand, not strapped in, boat jumping up, down, left and right when you hit the waves, terribly hung-over, taking images of another boat. Got the picture? That’s what I call fun. And a “quickie”.

Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, named for prime minister not that long ago, in front of the Institut du Monde Arabe where I got to spend an afternoon with him while I accompanied a journalist I’ve befriended for Dutch daily Het Parool, and after sipping champagne and having a coupious lunch at another event I had to shoot. It’s a tough job indeed.

I know what I wrote about autumn but as of 13:17 hours today I officially hate it. Right at the moment Dutch prime minister Balkenende drove through the gates of the Elysee to meet Sarkozy, heaven decided to unleash a torrent of rain and hail onto us, poor photographers, with all the might it could muster. Naturally the sun is shining merilly as I write this.