After such a great experience with Stéphane on our previous shoot, the master came to capture another one of our projects.

I have to say my fondest memory from this day was scarfing down the amazing butter croissants in the middle of the outfit changes. Michele will always be Michele.

For the October issue of Oxygen, Jonathan and I had the bright idea of shooting in the Paris metro. We weren’t sure how it would turn out shooting in such a public place with a shot amount of time. And where could the model change? It was a wild ride changing through many different stations while following my exact plan to make sure we didn’t loose time.

What kind of shoot would it be if there wasn’t anything crazy along the way? Boring.

It was also my first time working with video extraordinaire  Stéphane Carcopino-Tusoli. He blew my mind away with the amazing video he made of our shoot, behind the scenes kind of stuff. Take a look at it and see for yourself. Makes you wish you were there!

And course the final photos.

Woohoo!

I went to visit some friends in the area and it was the perfect time to head there as it was the start of summer. It was sunny everyday, beaches, boats, lots of tanning, you get the idea. Never having been there before, I was not sure what to expect. Everybody told me it’s always really sunny and that was about it.

They were right.

So I started off my trip at ANTIBES, a small old town just next to Cannes. It reminded me a bit of Aix-en-Provence, very quaint, picturesque and not as commercial as some of the other nearby cities. It is also a very big yacht port and I saw many small boats and also monster yachts with multiple levels, helicopters on it, a hot tub and some speed boats all on ONE BIG BOAT. It was like a rap video come true.

Boats, boats, boats!

Trying to cool off with a BIG smoothie.

Then we head off to NICE! Ironically, people are not as nice over there for some reason. You would think that in a place with good weather, beaches, culture, blah blah blah, people would be… merrier. But no, I think the heat is making them crazy. The old city is quite pretty and very different from other parts of France but that was about it for the place. I found it a bit too touristy sometimes.

The view of Nice from the château on the hill.

Looks almost like Italy?

Old streets in the old town.

Next we go to MONACO! As the prince is (finally) getting married, there were posters all around the city advertising it. I guess it was almost like the whole Kate and William circus. I sort of expected to see a lot more flashy sports car since it seems to be the only thing people ever talk about when anyone mentions the place but in fact, they were only parked outside the casinos and fancy hotels but the whole city itself was pretty… normal. KABLAAM, iconic image smashed to bits!

More boats!

In about 50 years, this place will start looking like Hong Kong.

Finally some fancy cars.

And me in a touristy photo with fancy cars!

I did see two porn-star looking actresses driving an orange Lamborghini… Maybe that’s saying something?

And of course how can we end the trip before going to CANNES? I guess the city is much more alive during the film festival but I did like the stretch of road with boardwalk, luxury hotels and all the designer stores. You could say it’s a bit like Rodeo Drive meets Miami Beach? (never been to either of these places but I’m just assuming from what I see on TV!). I’ve been told that people actually rent out their apartment balconies to the paparazzi between 200-600€ PER HOUR when the celebrities are in town just for the best view!!!!!

I told you there were a lot of boats!

There were lots more fancy places which I did not bother taking photos of because you would’ve probably seen them already so I’m trying to show you the not-so-famous parts.

So yea that was my trip. Basically lots of sun, boats, sun, boats, sun, and oh wait more boats! Now off to work on my tan….

Ahh….. The only thing missing is a Pina Colada.

…the sea…

The beach at Seignosse.

…the mountains…

Looking out over the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

…saw the animals…

Aren’t they just too adorable???

Couldn’t resist taking a photo with the cows behind me.

…and of course ate very, very well!

Bring it on, baby.

Now that’s what I call a vacation!

Very big ferris wheel which we eventually decided to get on.

2 weeks ago, I embraced my inner child and explored the fun fair in town though my main motive was actually to get cotton candy.

Definitely very happy with my long awaited cotton candy.

I tried to go to the fair when it just opened but the first two weeks were packed with massive crowds and school kids on vacation so I decided to wait a little while. Few weeks later it was almost completely empty, like a set of a zombie movie! Unfortunately that also meant that not everything was opened. Booo.

I really wanted to go on this roller-coaster but it was closed!

Instead, someone decided to go on the big ferris wheel because it was the tamest ride with a view. A bit lame but who cares, it’s value for money!

Now you know where I live.

There was also another roller coaster ride (the whole track was barbie pink if you can imagine it) and lots junk food in my stomach… duh. Most of the rides were quite expensive though, ranging between 4€-8€ for probably 5 minutes or less. There were also lots of prize-winning games which I could never understand how to play (throw stuff and win an iPhone? Yea right).

So yeah, it wasn’t the best but at least they had food stands that looked like this:

Isn’t it just the cutest?????

And of course how can we end the day without a beer break?

Just needed and excuse to post this photo because I look nice in it

Some sparklers to add a little ‘magic’ to the night.

I guess you can tell which country we represented.

Food and drinks were aplenty but when midnight was approaching, we weren’t sure what to do. Some wanted to go to a club but many of us weren’t really all for being treated like crap and suffering among the throngs of people in overpriced, claustrophobic, dark and loud spaces (if we can even get in, that is). The other option was to go to the Eiffel Tower to see fireworks but according to what happened last year (tear gas and NO fireworks, what a ripoff!) that was out of the option as well.

So we decided to bring some bottles and go to one of the bridges by the Seine. Great thing I live right by it! Oh how I love this place.

Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes within 12 seconds before midnight.

Oh yeah….. almost there!

It’s the new year! Sparklers!!!

The result of extremely insisting people who wanted a full group photo.

Well, the new year makes me wonder what’s going to happen for my work and personal life, it’s all so nerve-wrecking! I guess I should update my list of goals to achieve this year. I was quite happy with what I’ve done in the past 2 years but for some reason, I feel like 2011 is so indefinite. Oh and if you’re wondering what my new year’s resolution is, I have none.

View of the park from Romain’s living room

Snow outside my window

Fortunately one day it snowed a lot and I took the opportunity to make my long awaited snowman with my housemate Susanne. It was quite exciting and the results looked really good! We even had a small audience watching us in the park and many people took photos of it and even with it.

Curious crowd wondering what we were up to

Susanne making the finishing touches

After one hour in the freezing snow, we present to you…

Voila, our snowman Monsieur Jean-Romain! (hehe)

p.s Susanne went back the next day to check on Monsieur Jean-Romain but apparently he had turned into a pile of icy mush on the ground and even lost his banana nose that we left there too!

I wasn’t there but I heard from sources that his collection received rave reviews and I’m definitely not surprised. He did say that during the actual show, the wrong music was played and the hairstyles that were given for the models did not go with the looks at all but I guess that still didn’t stop the audience from loving it. You can view the video coverage of his runway collection here.

Obviously I can’t wait till he gets here next year because we will be housemates!!

Hair and makeup: Chris Arai & Chichi Saito
Model: Hanne-Loore Pajusoo @ StudioKLRP

It was perfect because we really enjoyed working with each other during our shoot the last time. I was a bit concerned that I couldn’t deliver the standard of images she was expecting because I had not photographed weddings for a long time, and especially not one where I was the main photographer.

Luckily, everything was as close to perfect as I could’ve asked for. The weather was nice and sunny although incredibly windy, the settings were gorgeous, everybody looked fantastic. It was a simple ceremony but Nataliya and Bastien’s style is nothing short of class so same went for the whole day. Basically it was the ideal wedding anybody could’ve photographed. We were all really happy with the photos and who knows maybe I might photograph a few more weddings next summer (although breaking my rule of trying to stay away from them!).