Engagement session on Bethells Beach, New Zealand

Last January, I had the chance to travel through New-Zealand (for those who never been, write it down on your TO DO LIST NOW) to discover its amazing landscape and people as well as to shoot for Soil and Stem's amazing floral workshop. It was such an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many talented florists and see how they create, but I'll tell you more about it in a next post! Today I wanted to share with you this engagement session I had the chance to capture while I was there. I am beyond grateful to have met these two. Theo and Maddie are the sweetest couple and I'm so happy we got to shoot at Bethells beach which is the epitome of the natural beauty of New Zealand, it is not only surrounded by the ocean but also rocks, caves, white sand dunes and freshwater streams - paradise in a nutshell!

Shot on Mamiya 645, Fuji 400h. Dev & Scans by Carmencita Film Lab

Flowers by Horrobin and hodge | Dress  : A la robe | Calligraphy : Nice plume Calligraphies

This session was also published on Style Me Pretty

On experimenting and the creative process

I believe all artists face the same issues when it comes to inspiration and creativity. Sometimes, we beat ourselves up because we found our work deprived of any creativity or inspiration, we tend to stick to what we know how to do well. We can also get stuck in over thinking the creative process, about what we should be creating, what others will think about it, and what they would say about our work (like I've explained HERE)... The truth is, we get so caught up in thinking about others that we don't even create anymore, and the irony is :

"We all spend our twenties and thirties trying so hard to be perfect, because we’re so worried about what people will think of us. Then we get into our forties and fifties, and we finally start to be free, because we decide that we don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of us. But you won’t be completely free until you reach your sixties and seventies, when you finally realize this liberating truth—nobody was ever thinking about you, anyhow.’  They aren’t. They weren’t. They never were…People don’t have time to worry about what you’re doing, or how well you’re doing it, because they’re all caught up in their own dramas. People’s attention may be drawn to you for a moment (if you succeed or fail spectacularly and publicly, for instance), but that attention will soon enough revert right back to where it’s always been—on themselves….You are free, because everyone is too busy fussing over themselves to worry all that much about you.

Go be whomever you want to be, then.

Do whatever you want to do.

Create whatever you want to create—and let it be stupendously imperfect, because it’s exceedingly likely that nobody will even notice.

And that’s awesome”  (Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert)

 Last year, I had the chance the meet Sofia and André from Branco Prata, an amazingly talented duo that taught me how to push myself out of my comfort zone and EXPERIMENT. It was one of the most insightful experiences of my life as an artist. We shot on the top floor of the amazing Galeria de Paris where we had big windows with gorgeous light coming in. It was the perfect conditions, especially when you shoot on film. However, the aim wasn't to shoot gorgeous images, the aim was to experiment. So they closed all the shutters of all the windows! *gasp* and left just one - ajar. I decided to push the experiment even further by shooting mainly in black and white, something I rarely do. (T-Max 400, for the photo geeks out there!).  Ever since this experience, I know that experimenting is key in my creative process and most of the time, it's when we experiment that we come up with our best piece of work. It's the only to expand our limited view as an artist.

Shot during the Carmencita Meets Porto, on Mamiya 645 AFD, Kodak T-Max 400 and Portra 400 | Dev and Scans by Carmencita FIlm Lab

On life and passing

I came back from a photoshoot with a gorgeous bouquet - one of my favorite perks of being a wedding photographer ! -  there were these gorgeous tulips that I couldn't stop staring at for the next few days. I kinda felt upset when they started to fade and lose their petals but I then noticed how beautiful the process actually was. That kind of mystical beauty about breathing their last breath after having fulfilled their purpose of bringing beauty in this world and given the best version of themselves. As I looked at the petals slowly falling one after another, it was like seeing someone saying : I've given everything I could, I've fulfilled my life purpose, now I can leave.

And it kinda pushed me to reflect back on our lives: are we aware of our life purpose? If so, are we developing ourselves to our full potential to serve this purpose, like a bud blooms into a full flower? Being alive is already a miracle (read more HERE), so are we living a life that celebrate this miracle? I believe my life purpose is to be of service, to contribute to make other people's life a happy(ier) one, at my own scale. I really love this quote : "When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me" - Erma Bombeck

I've recently read the book "The Miracle Morning" and I have to admit that it kinda changed my lifestyle ever since. And combined with the recent horrible events that happened in Paris, Brussels and around the world, I now wake up every day knowing that my life can stop anytime therefore I can't settle for less than the best version of myself, starting from the very moment I wake up. I mean, don't you want to leave this world feeling you've achieved the best that you could, that you've given everything you've been created for - just like the tulips ?  (more about why I'm a photographer, HERE) “Those who overcome the temptations of mediocrity and achieve everything they want in life have an extraordinarily compelling why that drives them. They have defined a clear life purpose that is more powerful than the collective sum of their petty problems and the countless obstacles they will inevitably face, and they wake up each day and work towards their purpose.” 
― Hal Elrod

I'd love for each one of us to wake up everyday with this thought in mind:

"Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its yesterday." - Bahá’u’lláh

Gluten free chocolate lava cake

Those who know me well know that I'm in love with food and cooking, probably as much as Kanye loves Kanye. Being born in France, I certainly had no other choice but to get addicted to cheese, butter and fresh baguettes. I believe that if I didn't fall for photography, I probably would have opened a bakery. Baking is breathing to me... I just wished that chocolate was as healthy as fresh air.

And although you probably came across my blog because you were looking for wedding photos, I wanted to share with you this other part of my life. Today, I'm sharing with you one of my all-time favorite recipes. It's the easiest, fastest, yummiest, chocolate molten cake recipe everrrr AND it's gluten free ! Ha! What more could you ask for ?! You can whip this cake in less that 20 minutes and blow away your guests' taste buds at the very first spoon. Try at your next dinner party and let me know how it went !

RECIPE :

Ingredients :

• 4 organic fresh eggs
• 125g of organic butter - I use a salted butter but some might not like salty/sweet combination
• 300g of dark chocolate (70% cacao) + optional : 1 tablespoon of raw cacao powder for those who like intense chocolaty taste
• 2 tablespoon of rice or corn flour - I usually use a French corn flour brand called Maizena
• 2 tablespoon of brown sugar

How to (the easiest instructions on earth! 3 steps only!) :

1. Whisk eggs and sugar together until a slight foam forms, add the flour and the cacao powder
2. Melt your butter and chocolate in a saucepan on a low heat. Add to mixture n°1
3. Fill in individual muffin baking tins. Bake at 210°c (410°F) for 10 MINUTES ! no more, no less. Take out of the oven, let it cool down before serving (10 min if you like it hot like Marilyn). Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for those who will start diet tomorrow.

BONUS TIPS : You can even fill in your individual muffin tins and freeze them ! Pull them out on your Sunday night dinner when you didn't think of desserts and all shops are closed! You're welcome ...  (Bake a little longer, 15 mins)

BON APPÉTIT ! :)

C x

The Secret of a happy(ier) life : RESILIENCE

Last January, I've traveled through Australia and visited the amazing  Blue Mountains. The slate-blue haze that gives the mountains their name comes from a fine mist of oil exuded by the huge Eucalyptus trees that form a dense canopy across the landscape.
What I've learned is that Eucalyptus are one of the most resilient trees as it can grow back leaves only within 48 hours after being completely burnt! Isn't amazing? 48 hours !
I remember telling myself that one of my 2016 resolutions would be to learn to become as resilient as an Eucalyptus! Little did I know that it is scientifically proven that our human body actually stores emotions -  physiologically speaking - for only 90 seconds. Yep, you read well, 90 seconds. Now, I do hear you say : "well, when I get angry, it surely lasts more than 90 seconds!"... Sorry to say that if it does last longer than 90 seconds, it's because you choose to. It is actually our brain and the choice we make once the emotional trigger hits that will determine how we feel. We can either decide to let our thoughts escalate to a more frenzied state or down talk ourselves into a calm state. Honestly, I was blown away when I read about it. You can read more about this in Jill Bolte Taylor's book on how she discovered the brain's functioning after she suffered a stroke. She's talking about it with Oprah, here. Here's what she discovered:

"When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90 second chemical process that happens in the body; after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop. Something happens in the external world and chemicals are flushed through your body which puts it on full alert. For those chemicals to totally flush out of the body it takes less than 90 seconds.

This means that for 90 seconds you can watch the process happening, you can feel it happening, and then you can watch it go away.

After that, if you continue to feel fear, anger, and so on, you need to look at the thoughts that you’re thinking that are re-stimulating the circuitry that is resulting in you having this physiological response over and over again."

NOW, isn't this a-ma-zing ? So here's a secret to a happier life : 90 seconds of ...patience! #2016goals

Spring is just around the corner, I think it is a great opportunity for us to do a little "spring cleaning" in our mind. As a baha'i, I will also celebrate Naw-Ruz, the beginning of a New Year with new resolutions!

Film photos are shot on Mamiya 645 AFD with Portra 400 | Dev and Scans by Carmencita Film Lab