STORY | AMSTELVEEN

A Branding Shoot at Rembrandthoeve on the Amstel

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 28 October 2026

Father and son in red neckerchiefs and plaid shirts smiling in front of wooden clogs, a portrait from their branding shoot

This branding shoot at Rembrandthoeve took me to a cheese and clog farm on the Amstel, just outside Amsterdam. A father and son run the farm, and they wanted photos that show both their craft and their bond.

A family business with a real craft is a perfect subject for branding photos. This session is one of my photoshoots across the Netherlands, just outside Amsterdam in Amstelveen.

A Branding Shoot on the Amstel

Rembrandthoeve sits on the Amsteldijk, the dike road along the river, just south of the city. The Amstel is part of the farm’s story, so I photographed the water too, with farmhouses and trees mirrored in it.

The Amstel on a summer day, a farmhouse and tall trees mirrored in the still water under a blue sky with clouds — The Amstel on a summer day, by the farm

A hand-painted sign with a wooden clog on top welcomes visitors. The father leaned in the green barn doors in a long white apron, laughing. Then father and son stood back to back, arms crossed, in matching red neckerchiefs. That red came back in every room and tied the whole branding shoot at Rembrandthoeve together.

Hand-painted Rembrandt Hoeve sign with a wooden clog on top, framed by green bushes and a tall tree

Farmer in a long white apron leaning in the open green doors of the brick farmhouse, laughing in the sun

Father and son back to back with arms crossed under green trees at Rembrandthoeve, a shed behind them

From the Barn to the Cheese Room

In the barn, the two of them posed among the cows in jeans and wooden clogs. One cow with short horns kept a close eye on us through the fence. In the cheese room, the work was done by hand: fresh curd pressed into a mold, deep in a steel vat of whey.

Father and son laughing in the barn in jeans and clogs, a black and white cow reaching toward them through the fence

Black and white cow with short horns and yellow ear tags looking out through the steel fence of the barn

Hands pressing fresh curd into a cloth-lined mold in a steel vat of whey, a round sieve standing in the milky liquid

I photographed the curd from above, so the round shapes would carry the frame. Then the father posed by the big wooden vat in his clogs, a wedge of cheese in his hands. The room is dark, so I let the warm lamps above him, dressed in red-and-white cloth, light his face. I also kept the frame wide enough to show the whole space.

Farmer in wooden clogs holding a wedge of cheese by the wooden vat and red press during the shoot at Rembrandthoeve — The cheese room, with its wooden vat and red press

On the shelves, wheels of cheese rested in rows, some plain and some speckled with herbs. The warm light made their rinds glow. A calm frame like this sits well next to the portraits.

Rows of cheese wheels on wooden shelves, some plain yellow and some speckled with herbs, glowing in warm low light

Branding Photos Among the Clogs

Clogs are the other half of the farm. In the shop, the son held two small cheeses over his eyes, then a bright yellow clog in front of his face. Playful frames like these give the branding shoot at Rembrandthoeve its warmth.

Son holding two small cheeses over his eyes in the farm shop, clogs on the walls behind him during the branding shoot

Young farmer holding a yellow painted clog in front of half his face, smiling in a red neckerchief on the branding shoot

In the workshop, clogs hang from the ceiling in long rows. The son worked the old clog lathe while wood shavings covered the floor around him. I kept my distance, so he could simply keep working.

Son working an old clog lathe at Rembrandthoeve during the branding shoot, rows of wooden clogs hanging from the ceiling

Nearby, stacks of fresh clogs waited, with lines drawn on the wood. Together they made a pattern of their own, so I filled the whole frame with them.

Stacks of fresh wooden clogs with lines drawn on the pale wood, filling the whole frame in warm workshop light — Fresh clogs stacked in the workshop

A Quiet Moment in the Hay

The last frame in this story is a quiet one. In the barn, the father sat down in the hay next to a black cow, and she leaned in close. For me, it sums up this branding shoot at Rembrandthoeve better than any slogan.

Farmer sitting in the hay beside a black cow that leans in close, a quiet moment from the branding shoot at Rembrandthoeve — The barn on the Amsteldijk

Running a family business with a craft of its own? Discover where my photoshoots across the Netherlands take me.