About Me

The Heart Behind Ada Photography

A little story about me, motherhood, and the memories I believe are worth keeping forever.

Hi, I’m Damla, the photographer and founder behind Ada Photography, specialising in newborn, maternity and family photography in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

Photography has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was always the one holding the camera at family celebrations, birthdays, weddings and New Year’s gatherings. I loved capturing the people I cared about and preserving the little moments that made our family memories special.

In 2011, when I was accepted into the Graphic Design and Photography programme at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University in Turkey, my mother gave me my first camera. I still have it today. It reminds me where my journey began and how a childhood passion grew into something much more meaningful.

Photography was never just a hobby to me. It was something I wanted to learn, understand and dedicate myself to.

How Motherhood Changed My Perspective

Before Ada Photography, I had already taken my first steps into professional baby photography in Turkey, where I co-founded a small photography business with my university classmate, Selen. After moving to the Netherlands with my family, I decided to begin that journey again in Haarlem, building a new life around something I had loved since childhood.

But becoming a mother changed the way I saw photographs.

I experienced my own newborn photoshoot with Ada, and some of those images have stayed especially close to my heart. I treasure the photographs of my husband and me holding our daughter, the moments shared with our mothers, and a simple image of our hands gently holding Ada’s tiny feet.

Those photographs mean so much more to me than how they look. They take me back to a time in our lives that we can never experience in quite the same way again.

That experience helped me understand what newborn photography truly means to a family. It is not simply about capturing how tiny a baby looks, but about preserving the feelings, connections and little details of a time that passes far too quickly.

Today, as a newborn photographer in Haarlem, I want to give other families the opportunity to keep those precious memories close, just as I do with my own.

Why Ada Photography?

Choosing a name for my business was a very personal decision. I chose my daughter’s name because Ada is at the heart of this story. She made me a mother, inspired me in a new way, and helped me see the beauty of life’s first moments through different eyes.

Ada loves babies and has a creative little spirit of her own. Perhaps one day, if that is what she wishes, we will share this journey together.

For now, Ada Photography brings together my love for photography, my experience as a mother and my creative vision. Every newborn portrait, maternity session and family photoshoot is a small part of the story I am building, one memory at a time.

My Approach to Newborn and Family Photography

I believe beautiful photographs can be carefully created without losing what makes us real.

My style is warm, soft and timeless, inspired by natural tones, delicate textures and an understated boho aesthetic. I love creating thoughtful scenes for my newborn photography sessions, carefully choosing the fabrics, backdrops and little details that bring each image together.

But beyond the styling and the final photograph, what matters most to me is the experience itself.

I approach every baby with patience and care, and every family with kindness and attention to their wishes. I want parents to feel welcomed, respected and comfortable throughout their newborn photoshoot.

I also believe mothers deserve to see themselves in their photographs and recognise their own beauty. You do not have to look a certain way or fit a particular idea of perfection to deserve beautiful portraits with your baby. Your connection, your tenderness and the love you share are already enough.

Whether you are looking for natural newborn photography, maternity portraits or timeless family photography in Haarlem, my aim is to create images that feel beautiful, personal and meaningful to you.

Photographs Made to Be Held

I have always loved printed photographs. I still print my own memories and keep them close, rather than leaving every special moment hidden away on a screen.

That is why printed photographs and newborn photo albums are such an important part of my work. I love the thought of a family opening their package, holding their photographs for the first time and finding a special place for them in their home.

Perhaps one day, those photographs will hang on a wall that a child walks past every morning. Years later, that same child might look at them with their own children and say, “This was me when I was little.”

That thought makes me smile every time.

We cannot stop time, and we cannot return to those first days. But we can preserve a little piece of them. A photograph can bring back the tenderness of holding your newborn, the exhaustion and joy of early parenthood, and the love that filled your home before you even realised how quickly everything was changing.

This is what photography means to me. I want to create photographs that continue to bring happiness long after the session is over — images that become part of your family’s story and are treasured for generations.

Your Story Deserves to Be Remembered

Through Ada Photography, I offer newborn photography, maternity photography and family photoshoots in Haarlem and the surrounding areas. Every family has its own story, and I feel privileged whenever someone chooses me to preserve a part of theirs.

Whether you are preparing to welcome your baby, celebrating those first precious days as a new family, or documenting the beautiful stages of growing together, I would love to help you preserve these moments.

I hope the photographs we create together will become more than images you love today. I hope they will be the photographs you return to years from now, the ones that bring a smile to your face and warmth to your heart, and the memories you will one day share with the next generation.

Because the little moments we live today can become the memories we treasure forever.

With love,

Damla
Photographer & Founder of Ada Photography
Newborn, Maternity & Family Photography in Haarlem, the Netherlands