About Erik Schimmel Photography
that's me...
It all started when…
I found a very simple plastic camera in a pack of Corn Flakes. As a small boy growing up in Ethiopia, I was fascinated with my new toy.
My father was an avid amateur photographer and I was intrigued with the cameras, lenses and other gear he had.
As a kid I had many other interests, but despite that, the 'camera thing' kept coming back. I started reading my dad’s photo books and wanted to know absolutely everything there was to know about photography.
In my teenage time, our family moved back to the Netherlands and that was a huge change for me. Photography had temporarily been put on the back burner and High school was much more important at that point.
My career choice wasn’t that hard, although I didn’t have a clue what being a professional photographer really meant. After four years of studying photography it still wasn't clear, but then I did my internship at KLM airlines and was overwhelmed by the new experiences.
The most important thing I learned in this period was: Regardless what you’re photographing, there are always people involved.
At the end of my internship I got a job offer at a well known photography studio: Wow, my first real job!!
The next thing I knew I was photographing the Royal Family, flying in old WW2 planes, traveling all over the world while expanding my skills and passion.
Several years later I was asked to become a business partner in a studio near my hometown The Hague: Great, I had my own business!!
Our studio was very successful, large corporate accounts approached us and I could do my portraiture exactly my way. Soon we added in house large format printing, design and prepress to our services. We were pioneering the forefront of digital photography.
A lot changed in that time on the positive side and digital photography added so many tools and possibilities to create new images, working more efficiently and having superior control.
The darkroom and the Sinar view cameras were laid to rest, computers took over. I embraced the new challenge.
Unfortunately after 16 years the partnership sadly ended.
Starting over wasn’t easy at that time. Everywhere budgets were cut down due to the crises, no money for pictures due to iphones and small digital cameras, photography had lost its sparkle.
So there I was on the flip side of the success coin. The fun was literally gone.
Taking a sabbatical proved beneficial.
Today, I am happy to announce to the whole world: the passion is back in full force and I'm ready to beautifully capture all your memorable moments and events to share with your friends, family and businesses.
This not in a small part thanks to my wonderful partner and wife Patricia.
This proves: it’s always about people.