The Best View in Paris

View of the Eiffel Tower from Montmartre.

This week my friend took me to Montmartre. It's a city on a hill in the 18th district in Paris that lets you see the whole city from the top. I definitely got my workout that day. Walking almost a mile on an incline, but in the end it was all worth it. On the way up, there were dozens of street artists creating and selling their work in the squares. There were restaurants around every corner and walking past just made me more hunger each time. I did give in eventually and get a crepe, with Nutella and bananas of course.

People looking out at the view of Montmartre.

The walk seemed never ending as we turn each corner and there is more hill to climb. The most important thing I've found about Europe is to have good tennis shoes, best decision I've made yet! We finally arrive at our destination and the view from up top there was absolutely stunning. There are buildings as far as the eye can see and of course I went when it was warm and sunny out, so it was packed with people. Some people were having picnics on the stairs, some were playing music in the grass, and some, of course, were being touristy and taking photos, like me. Everywhere I looked was an interesting photo. From the people hanging out to the great scenery. So glad I brought my camera that day.

That is one thing I find difficult about being a photographer. I always want to capture the moments I experience and forget to simply enjoy it sometimes. There's always a battle within on whether to go as a photographer or as a participant. I've tried going as both and it just doesn't work out as well. I don't fully enjoy it because I don't want to break my camera and the photos are always rushed. Most of the time I choose to go as a photographer because I want me and all my friends to have photos of the great times together.

Great photo of the people looking out at the view, captured by my friend, Lina.

I think I will always have that struggle when I go out and do things, but I'm ok with it. Just remember all those photos you see of people having fun, there's somebody behind the camera deciding to be a photographer that day. I hope you all have a great week and see you next time!

Paris Fashion Week with Nathanaelle Couture

Sorry for not posting last week. It has been a very hectic and exciting time. I had the pleasure of working with Nathanaelle Couture during Paris Fashion Week. They had a fashion show at VIP Room in Paris and then we did a location shoot at their amazing house.

One thing I miss about being a hairdresser is doing fashion shows and all the chaos that is included with them. We had 12 models, a full team of make-up artists, hairdressers, designers, and photographers all crammed into the back room. At first, everybody was taking their time and getting their things set up as usual. Then it's like somebody turned on the light switch and it ramped up to 88mph. Before I knew it there was mere minutes before the show started. Models were getting into their assigned order, hair and make-up were doing final touches to make sure everything was perfect, Nathanaelle looked over everybody to make sure everything was in order, and I headed upstairs to get ready for the show.

I hadn't been up there since we arrived when it was empty. I go through the door and there were loads of people sitting up there waiting for the show. Making my way through the crowd I finally get to my spot, ready for the show. It opens with Karin Soiref walking up to the catwalk and singing a live performance as the models came out one by one around her. Flashes were going off like strobe lights, music was fantastic, and the outfits were magnificent. It was really an honor to be there and experience this, especially seeing all the backstage work that goes into it. 

The next two days, we meet everybody at the house to start the location shots. It was really amazing how many cool shots we could get in the house. Nathanaelle has an incredible talent with styling scenes for the shots and adding little touches to the looks. It was a joy working with her and the incredible models. A huge shout out to the three models that worked with us over the next two days. They were troopers and incredible to shoot, they even endured the cold in dresses and didn't complain once. I'm excited to work with the models more while I'm here in Paris and working with Nathanaelle when I visit America. 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out Nathanaelle at nathanaellecouture.com

Models:

@samanthakellyofficial

@aliciadevoucoux

@ambre2504

MUA:

@mila_delaporte

 

20,000 Steps Through Versailles

Oleksii along the pond behind the Palace of Versailles.

This week has been quite an adventure, especially today. The reason this post is coming out later than normal is because I had spent all day with my good friends, Will and Rohan, in Versailles. Will is a fantastic editorial photographer with a unique classic style. He had a shoot today with two great models, Virgil and Oleksii, and invited me along. The trip itself is extremely affordable, only €7. 

I woke up early this morning and we all met at Will's place, then headed off to Notre Dame to catch the train to Versailles. We chatted during the hour or so the train took and the models were really amazing guys. Virgil is studying geology at university to one day study a form of astro science and Oleksii is a communication designer and hobbyist photographer.  We finally arrive at our destination and begin to soon-to-be trek around the Palace of Versailles and Gardens of Versailles. We reach the first location after walking a few miles to behind the palace to this open field with a giant pond and swans swimming about.

Will photographing Virgil and Oleksii.

Will assigned the garments to the models and they got changed while we looked for shots in the area. Will's style of clothing is literally of a different century and it's fantastic to see and shoot such a unique style. We start shooting, while getting attacked by nettles, and the sun is absolutely perfect. It's the first week in over a month the sun has been out and we were so lucky today it decided to come out for us. We keep a pretty fast pace as we shoot for several frames/poses in a location and then move about 100 feet along our route. As we head towards an archway Rohan spots a red armchair just in the middle of the woods to our left. Sometimes everything just works in your favor because it was an amazing scene with the most random chair. Honestly, I salute the person who lugged that chair out there because it weighed a good 100 lbs. 

Virgil on the chair in the woods.

After that magnificent discover we shoot there for a bit then head over to the archway, then the long walk to the gardens. As we enter the gardens there's a endless path with trees as far as the eye can see in a perfect line down each side. It was an absolute perfect day for this walk as we tread down the path passing families with their children and tourists taking photos. We find a secluded location in the vast lawn of grass so we can photograph without having people in our shot. We take a few dozen shots and our friend, the sun, decides he's done for the day. All in all we got all the shots we needed behind the palace and the gardens were icing on the cake because we could only shoot in the estate. We all have a brief talk and decide that after 20,000 steps we're all happy with the shots and all of us are famished. We head back to the train station and stop by a pub on the way to grab a drink and some food. It was an incredible day and hope you all had a fantastic week! See you next time.

 

William Waterworth: @willwaterworth

Rohan Harnal: @roahaar

Oleksii Neliubov: @oleksiineliubov

Exploring the Bois de Vincennes

Today Austin and I met some of his highlining friends at Bois de Vincennes, the largest public park in Paris. The park is so incredible, I have never seen anything so enormous. It has four lakes, a zoo, botanical garden, horse racing track, velodrome, and the campus of the French national institute for sports and physical education. Just needs a Starbucks and it's all set, please no I'm kidding. Walking around it was just so beautiful, though, with the lakes covered in ice and the vast amount of greenery and various birds flying about.

One of Austin's friends highlining in Bois de Vincennes, using the harsh back light in my favor.

After a good trek around one of the lakes, we finally meet up with Austin's friends. They already have one longline and a slackline set up and are working on setting up a second longline. I help finish tightening the longline and take out my camera. It was a little hard shooting at mid afternoon, but it made for some great silhouettes. I love my 24-105mm for my everyday lens because it gives me the option of a wide shot for landscape or to capture more of the background and then I can also zoom in and get tighter for portraits and capturing emotion.

The photograph that everybody was taking, but I got a little lower to get some of that grass in the foreground and to be able to see more of the landscape.

As I wait for the guys to get warmed up, I go and shoot some photos of this terrific park. There's a few dozen ducks and swans right at shore and there are several people huddled around taking photographs for their Instagram and Facebook. Whenever I see a situation like that I like to go where everybody isn't. Sure you can get the photo that everybody else is getting, and that's great to have. However, the ones that stand out are the photos that nobody else has, so go to where nobody else is or look in a different direction then everybody else. 

At this point I head back over to the group and see they already have some bystanders watching them as they walk across a one inch line that's 200 feet long and ten feet off the ground. Yes, in the photos they aren't that high off the ground, but that's their body weight pushing down on the line. I get several compositions of the shoot in my head and then look for different angles that might work out just as good or better. When taking a photo, always try different angles because that is what will set you apart from everybody else taking photos from eye level. Don't be afraid to get down low or find a vantage point up high. This isn't just for if you're using an expensive DSLR either, do this with your iPhone and your photos will be far better!

Looking the other way and getting the photo that nobody else was taking.

After photographing for a while, I try the slackline and I will say it is much much harder than it looks. Just getting up on the line requires technique so you don't wobble back and forth, let alone balancing well enough to walk across it. A few hours pass and we do head out after I reach my goal of walking five steps! Hope everybody had a great week and check back next Sunday for my next post!