Find beauty in the imperfections

Friday morning, I wake up early. Craving for something nice for breakfast, and lucky me, I have the best bakery round the corner (that makes me REAL happy, my weight scale, not so much …). I go for a “feuilleté aux framboises”, basically raspberries folded in heavenly buttery pastry. Got home, put that on my new favorite plate, top that with fresh raspberries, brew some coffee and I was finally ready to devour that. Except that my plate was so pretty that I wanted to show it off and that’s when the endless photo snapping started. Shall I add some flowers to make it pretty-er, a fork, a knife maybe ? - while I know I’ll probably end up eating with my hands… - shall the coffee be on the right, on the left, in the middle ?? Snap, snap, snap, this angle, no, that angle, straighten the fork, the knife...15 photos later… I ended up with a feeling of frustration because these snaps were “not good enough”. But then I caught myself thinking why am I even allowing myself to get frustrated for such a small matter. No one cares about this plate of raspberries and my coffee, like I remembered writing in this post. I don’t need to show a “perfect” breakfast to anyone. I suddenly remembered about this article and the “dream life” of instagrammers. So I just grabbed my half cold coffee and devoured that feuilleté aux framboises - with my hands. It was yummy, and it was messy, crumbs all over the place. And the more I was eating, the messier it was, the more empty my plate got, the more beauty I found in there, and THERE it hit me. It was imperfectly perfect. I snapped. And I loved it. I loved the beauty of the unplanned mess. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be pretty. It shouldn’t be. Because REAL life is not perfect. And I feel that my call is to reflect authenticity in my work so why should I pretend that my life is perfect.

Imperfections are perfectly beautiful. I love them and I want to photograph them. I want to be me, the imperfect girl who eats with her hands, who’s not a size zero, and who loves butter, cheese, chocolate, and everything my bakery has to offer, in real life AND in the so call "social media life" . So to all of you out there, I want us to embrace our imperfections, those who make us who we are. I want to meet you and your imperfections and capture them and show the world how beautiful they are. Are we meeting soon?

Here are the snaps of this morning imperfectly perfect breakfast including the hundreds snaps that got my coffee cold: 

The carefree bride in Provence - Domaine des Grillons

Provence is probably one of the most beautiful and one of my favorite regions. I love how being a wedding photographer in France helps me discover little gems. Not only in terms of location but also in terms of persons. I've met Morgane of  Big Day Events and  Violette Tannenbaum few months ago as we worked together for the Love Etc. wedding fair. We clicked instantaneously. I love how Morgane is able to turn a vision into reality, how she is able to reflect elegance and simplicity, raw and authenticity into her styling. And I'm in love with Violette's dresses, soft, delicate, modern and romantic at the same time. After we met, we knew we wanted to work together on some projects. When Morgane told me about this gorgeous location at Domaine des grillons, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Surrounded by fields of poppies, olive trees, woods, and hills, it was the perfect place for this bridal inspiration. Actually Provence might just be the perfect place for a wedding in France to my opinion...

When I saw the poppy fields, it reminded me of Monet's painting : Coquelicots. 

We wanted to create something romantic but quite wild at the same time as the location entices you to do. An elegant bride but carefree at the same time, you know. Here is how we turned our vision into reality. Would love to hear your thoughts about it folks !

Styling and flower arrangement : Big Day Events | Lace robe and dress : Violette Tannenbaum | Make up : Diamond Heart Make Up | Hair : Agnès Caneri | Silk ribbons and table runner : Orchidée de Soie | Calligraphy : Nice Plume | Chain Ring : Myrtille Beck

Location : Domaine des grillons | Film Lab : Carmencita Film Lab |

About luck

"You’re so lucky, you’re living a dream life and you get to travel all the time !" I get that really often. So let’s get clear here. Being a wedding and destination photographer has nothing to do with luck. I’m not lucky, I show up, I hussle and I make things happen. However, some part of my life can be called “lucky”. I am lucky to be born in such a beautiful country as France and a pretty city like Paris. I am lucky to have the freedom to be who I want to be, to say what I want to say, to make choices...when in a lot of countries, it’s not the case for most women. So I get slightly puzzled when people are telling me how lucky I am to be where I am at now, as if it was a magical thing, as if it didn’t require any efforts from me. Because just as a reminded dear friend, this is what Luck is :

LUCK : (noun) : “the force that causes things, especially good things, to happen to you by chance and not as a result of your own efforts or abilities”.

So for instance : seeing wild dolphins while cruising Milford Sound, THAT was lucky.

Anyways, what I wanted to share here is that YOU can live the life that you dream of, EVERYONE can. Sounds stupidly easy? Well, believe me it’s not. Living the life you dream of requires actions, it requires commitment, it requires becoming comfortable with uncertainty, it requires fighting against yourself sometimes, because you have fears, because you procrastinate. Basically, it requires personal growth, and growth is painful. BUT the pure joy of being able to decide how you want your life to be, the freedom that comes with it, and feeling that you serve your life purpose,  is totally worth every single painful steps. It’s like losing weight, you can’t expect to be fit and healthy without taking actions, and sit on your couch, complaining how fat you are and binging on Häagen-Dazs (me, last Saturday night. PS: my favorite flavor is Pralines&Cream, what’s yours??).

Ever since I quit my day job which I’ve been working at for 8 years, I made a commitment to myself that I wanted to work on myself everyday to become the person I need to be to create and live the life I dream of and to be of service and selflessly add value to the life of people who will cross my path, be it through my Faith activities or through my work as a photographer. People think that success - whether we talk about business, money, love or health- comes to those who were born in the right network, whose parents had the useful connections, to those who are more beautiful, have the right genes, etc. Sorry to say, but these are just excuses we use to avoid taking actions to build our own success. It’s all about the MINDSET : “ You are just as worthy, deserving, and capable of creating and sustaining extraordinary health, wealth, happiness, love, and success in your life, as any other person on earth. It is absolutely crucial - not only for the quality of your life, but for the impact you make on your family, friends, clients, co-workers, children, community, and anyone whose life you touch - that you start living in alignment with that truth” (Hal Elrod - The Miracle Morning )- PS : READ THAT BOOK, it’s life changing.

From a young age, I refused to believe that because I was a daughter of immigrants who don’t have much education, I was not entitled to have a higher education, that because I lived in a neighborhood where drug dealer was a dream career for some, I was doomed to a not so bright future, that because I was a girl, I was worth a lesser pay than my male peers… Of course, oftentimes I have doubts, I have fears, I compare myself to others, but I am aware that this is not the right path that will lead me where I want to be. So I fight, I fight against myself, against my ego, I stop asking the wrong questions like : “why am I not as successful as X” ? but instead : “What can I learn from X’s success and how do I become better to achieve it?”. The only person we should compare ourselves to, is the person we were yesterday, and the day before, and one month ago, a year ago, five years ago. And surely, if you take actions and commit, you will see how a better person you’ve become. “Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become” (Jim Rohn). So it starts with YOU and it starts NOW.

Keep me posted on how you are taking actions, I’d love to hear and be inspired ! (remember, it always starts somewhere, even with baby steps ;) you GOT THIS !

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With love and gratitude,
Celine xx

Governor's Bay Engagement Session - New Zealand

New Zealand is THE most amazing country I've got to see so far. I've traveled quite a lot, having worked for the airline industry, I've seen most of the countries in Asia and Pacific, but New-Zealand really had my heart. The landscape, the people, the good vibes, the Maori culture, everything adds up on my "why" list for "why should you visit New Zealand?" . One city in particular touched me, not because it's the prettiest but because of its people. That city is Christchurch, which was hit by a massive earthquake in 2011, destroying most of the city. The first time I visited Christchurch was in 2014 and the city was still rebuilding itself; I was struck by the resilience shown by its people, the positive mindset, the energy put into making the city beautiful again... And that was the spirit that I felt throughout my trip within the North and South Islands, Kiwis are one of the most welcoming and warm people I've got to meet, I think, we as -French, especially Parisians- have A LOT to learn about. Now, enough about the blabbering, I'm sharing with you this engagement session with Nooshin and Judah, a lovely couple who was getting married the week after this session. We chose Governor's Bay as a location for this shoot because... well just look at it:

Shot on Mamiya 645 AFD; Film Lab : Carmencita Film Lab

Love is light

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

- Martin Luther King

This quote has run through my mind on and off for a while now, especially after the horrific attacks in Paris, Brussels and around the world. I've quite pondered about how my work, how my passion for love stories and for the beauty of life in general could, in some ways, bring light in others' lives, or a breath of life to the lifeless minds who are driven by hate. Tough question, I know right ? To date, I don't have a clear answer to it. But the project I wanted to share with you today was a sort of revelation to me, a sort of glimpse of how light, love and art can do when they're put together. A few weeks ago, my friend Nick from Greece showed me some pictures of an amazing place called Tatoi, I booked my flights straight away because I knew I wanted to shoot there. It used to be a Royal Palace (you can read more about it here and see some pictures of how it used to be here). But it's now completely abandoned and what used to be a magnificent Palace is now turning into ruins. It's quite an amazing experience to walk through these abandoned buildings and imagined how life was back then...Some buildings still have some furniture, old cars and wine barrels are still left there. The fate of this Royal estate is both sad and mesmerizing at the same time. I couldn't help but compare it to Versailles, imagine how it would be to see it abandoned and turn to ruins ?! 

So our aim was to kind of bring back to life this lifeless place. To bring the light of love within this complete chaos of ruins. To see life and motion where you think it wouldn't be anymore. Here are the pictures:

White dress : Violette Tannenbaum | Lilac Dress : Shopgossamer | MUHA : Frantzeska Koukoula | Headpiece and Silk runner & ribbons : Orchidée de Soie | Calligraphy : Nice Plume Calligraphies | Bespoke rings : Myrtille Beck | Film Lab : Carmencita Film Lab