This is the last homework I had to give back to Nicephore for the first chapter. The aim was to use multiple sources of light and the other instruction was that it had to be colourful. I used led lights and filters for the first time in my life and it wasn't easy! Follow the story of Lily searching for some clouds (and of course there might be some outtakes in the end:
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And another black and white photography post!
Here is another work I did for Nicephore school of Photography that I'm quite happy with. Only seven photos to give back so it was a very very hard selection as I experimented a lot! (this one above wasn't even in the ones I gave back! Let me tell you more about it here:
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A bit of black and white photography
One of my homework for Nicéphore, the photo school I talked to you about here, was to do portraits (above waist) black on black, white on white, black on white etc. you get the gist. The challenge was that each time, it needed to be with different lights (strong, moody etc.). I wanted to show it to you because it's not what I usually photograph and because I'm quite happy with how it came out:
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Bath attempt number 3 with Lily
Remember when I tried my first and my second bath attempt? Well, I did it again! This time it was in the frame of my photo school exercise. The exercise was about taking photos with black on black, white on black, white on white etc. without burning the whites or hiding the blacks. But I also took pics in colour knowing I would want to put my bath pictures here:
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The Year 2019 in in pictures and posts
In the end, I decided to do a year in review like I did last year and the year before, just to have an overview, a little round up and start fresh for 2020. Good way to share memories and see how quickly time goes. Also a nice way to see that when I think I haven't done much, it's maybe not so true.
Another year full of recipes, tips, inspiration and portraits. It's also the year I started working with my new camera for the first time, can you see the difference in style?:
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Inspiration and tips for a festive table
In case you are lacking of inspiration to decorate your table in the upcoming festive season (Christmas or any festive table you might need), I thought I would show you what's my take on it this year:
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Lily portrait bath attempt
Lily's flower (heart) bath - attempt number 2
Remember attempt number one? well, one might say it was a while ago. It was exactly a year! A few weeks ago, around Valentine, Instagram had it's week-end hashtag theme on love. And I created these bath photos for it. And I posted one there then!
I thought it was interesting to see them all in a blog post. And now, I'm still contemplating doing a proper flower one soon. But maybe not with Lily! Meanwhile, here are the ones with the two sets of hearts I took that day:
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flowers, winter, house, happy
Flowers to fight winter gloom
When there are gloomy days, I find nothing more cheering and comforting than having flowers around me. It brings me straight to brighter and more colourful days. And definitely uplift my mood. In a quick post, I'm just going to tell you how I make a flower bouquet last a little longer. So that your home stays joyful a little more and so can your happiness:
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The year 2018 in posts and pics
photographie, Nicéphore, black and white, noir et blanc, ecole
Sortir de sa zone de confort grace à Nicéphore
English will follow Voici une série de photos assez inhabituelle de ma part (en tous cas pour ceux qui me connaissent) : du noir et blanc et de la photographie de rue. Grace à ma formation de photo chez Nicéphore, une école de photographie à distance, je sors régulièrement de ma zone de confort, de mes sentiers habituels. Et j'adore ! J'apprends tellement de cette manière. Beaucoup plus qu'en restant dans ce que j'aime normalement faire (portraits d'enfants, styling de recettes etc.) :
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Lily's flower bath - attempt number one
Sometimes ideas are flowing. And when it happens I get a little crazy with my camera. I rush around to get the props. I have thousands of pictures in my head of how it's going to be. But then reality hits. The props aren't how I pictured them when laid flat. Or the model, the light, the setting aren't as I imagined.I often have I wanted to take Lily in a flower bath. And also try a milk bath. Do you want to know how it went?
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The year 2017 in pictures and posts
Just a little round up of last year. Just to see how many great things we did, how many moments we had. And also potentially how my photography has evolved. A little reminder how time flies too:
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doors blue Lily ivy
In the mood for blue doors
vendée doors blue
blue doors photography kids
If you have been following me on instagram for a while, you know I have this little obsession for blue doors. I even created a hashtag this summer when I was in Vendée (one of the kingdom of blue doors!): #inthemoodforbluedoors! And I promised that when it would reach 200 entries, I would make a blog post with some blue doors I took. And some of my favourite entries in bonus: So that's Vendée. Where my father has a summer house and where the kids learn how to surf. Full of blue doors and making me want to make my kids pose in front of them all the time (and oups, actually they did):And then I found out that the place where my mum has a summer house, Morvan, also has them aplenty:How fun was it to have something to fall back to when creativity is lacking? I wanted to create a hashtag that was easy to use and would give you something to look for. Yet making you go out with your camera and go for a hunt. Maybe a way for me (and for you) to regain inspiration and an eye open on the world around!Brussels, Paris, London, Sweden... There are blue doors everywhere!And it worked! People have fed my hashtag with their discoveries and creativities. More than 200 posts overall! And I promised to share some of the ones I love the most here. It will maybe make you discover some new persons to follow on instagram if you are there:One of my favourite entry is from Gemma of @blossoms.and.wren who adds a lot of amazing pictures of blue doors to the tag!@blossoms.and.wren And then of course, my friend Úna of @MissOuna, if you don't know her account, you should definitely go and follow her: @missOunaAn amazing account to see is also Benedicte from @wanderwonders with so many beautiful traveling tips and photos:@wanderwondersThe one who made the tag reach 200 was another IG friend Louise @Louise_thomasonwho lives far up north in the Shetlands, definitely check her out too:Two other persons I really like contribute very often to the hashtag with some cool pictures:@minalulu@it's_me_zazieAnd some more I liked too:@theloopfactory@styledcanvasfrom my favourite video teacher@xanthebI wish I could share much more of the talented contributions here but this would be a too long post (Maybe already too long? ). So please go and check out the hashtag itself! and now go and find blue doors, and be curious!Maybe next I'll start a hashtag with blue houses? what do you say?
Our traditional advent activities
If you are stuck with ideas on what to do during advent time, I thought it would be a good idea to share what we traditionally do around Christmas time. it might give you some inspiration:
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Autumn vibes and crafts ideas with kids
Fancy some ideas to make some crafts with your kids on colder, greyer days of fall? I always do seasonal activities with mine and fall is one of the best times to use colours and nature at hands. Plus if you like Halloween, but not so much orange overload, I have some ideas for you. So you will find the recipes for DIYs of what we did this year at the end of this post. It might give you some inspiration:
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Last picnic in Lidingö in a nature reserve
We have to leave our lovely house in Lidingö so we are trying to enjoy all the good things from the island as much as possible. We discovered this natural protected area and decided to stop there for a picnic (and of course take a few pics along the way):Fields with dandelions, cow parsley and buttercups. Say no more. We got the perfect place to enjoy the beautiful nature of the island...I always make more or less the same things when I go on picnics. It's often sandwiches, salads, cooked eggs, fruits, sometimes I make a pie... and I always bring tea! I would love to hear about your ideas for a picnic too to broaden my choices!We love these family times in the nature, it's so so good!And a really cute forest to wander in around the field, what else?They have a little cafe not too far. One of these typical Swedish red house, selling gorgeous cakes and a lot of coffee: If you are ever setting your foot on Lidingö, and it's not winter (because then I recommend skating on a lake): go there! Give me some more picnic meal ideas, I would love to hear them!
Birthday week-end when Lily turned 9
Lily turned 9 not that long ago. As she didn't have many friends in her class, we decided to avoid trying to have a birthday party. But instead we would have a family week-end full of adventures: I was a bit heartbroken at first that she wouldn't have the usual friends big party. But then, this family/adventure week-end grew on us. And it was actually the greatest idea. She will probably remember it better than all of her previous parties!It started with a little trip to the sea before hitting the road. The water was much chillier than expected (especially because it was so hot in the air that day!)Then we went to our family in Örebro. It's a place I mentionned before because they have a great open art exhibition every two years. But it's also where Pelle's family lives and it was really good this year to be able to have more reunions with them!I ended up doing the Nigella's olive oil gluten free chocolate cake I was advised to do on instagram and it was quite nice with mascarpone and raspberries on top!Lily got a Ukulélé for her birthday as requested, played right away with it. Such happiness!It was such a beautiful week-end too!We drove to near Gothenburg from there to an amazingly beautiful hotel. Just a bit weird that it's in the middle of a golf course. But if you ignore that fact, you are in paradise! The rooms have a scandinavian style. With woodland and white design. And big window bays giving you a view to the forest:I'm pretty sure the woods have fairies there!The real birthday day was Sunday. We got a little cake and a candle for her and gave her some more presents:This includes that Bellerose dress she really liked!The aim of the trip was to go to Universum, a huge science center in Gothenburg that Lily really wanted to visit. On our way, there was a dandelion field and I had to stop to take some pics of course:Kids had a great time at Universum. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend it!And when we were on our way back to Stockholm, I got totally obsessed with Colza (Rapeseed) fields and thankfully we could stop at one of them so I could take pictures!Great end to a great birthday week-end! Overall, she was very happy about everything. And I'm sure she'll have much more memories of it. I think planning trips is one of the best present you can have. What do you think?
Little summer feel in May
Just a little interlude because May in Sweden has been somewhat surprising. To say the least. One minute it was almost summer. Shorts and sandals were in order. And the next: it snowed for three days in a row! Alternating with hailing and rain. Plus, it was also below 6 degrees with minus temperatures during the night.I mean, in May! What happened here? Anyway, spring seems to be making it's way back and I can't be happier. Meanwhile, a few pics to make me remember that it can also be warm and sunny here sometimes:It was so nice we decided to have a little picnic outside and Lily of course brought her drawing gear with her.We had a lovely apéro there until quite late (before it became a bit too chilly):The day after we went into a beautiful protected area on the island and picked up some spring white flowers (more photos to come in a later post). It was less warm but still: Can you imagine that two days after that we had snow and it was 6°C outside? Well at least in between I had a nice time out with my daughter in one of my Stockholm's favorite's cafés: Fabrique stenugsbageri in Gamla Stan:Well, even if it was short, at least I will remember with this post, the glimpses of summer in an otherwise wintery early May:
June memories
June memories
It's November and I'm posting the little film for the June memories! I have had so many project in the meantime but I'm really trying to catch up to be able to do all the monthly films before the end of the year (and make space on my computer!). Maybe I was reluctant because it wasn't a very good month. It felt that it was dark, cold and rainy. And I had broken my camera! It's also when we took the decision to go to Sweden. An emotional roller coaster! But I found pockets of light in those footage. We had memories and they are worth keeping. So if you click on the read more sign you'll see it!All our usual Brussels habits can be spotted. And the end of school party (the last one!), piano and dance shows. Otherwise there was always "scenes from the week-end" you can watch here . Hopefully, I'll see you soon for the summer memories!
May memories
May memories (the beauty of a second)
It took me some time to edit the May memories time capsules. I posted the April ones mid-May. Then life took over. Last minute decision to move, things to organise and weather not really on our side.In the month of May, I filmed every day. This was a challenge I took from Xanthe Berkeley after finishing the make films course. As you can imagine, there was a lot of footage and I got a bit scared of dealing with the editing. I also decided to take on another challenge: each clips are only one second long, this is when you see "the beauty of a second" in a movie.It's funny how I first had a feeling that May and June hadn't been that good. But looking at the footages and making that movie made me realise that it wasn't so bad at all! Fun week-ends in London and the blue forest, Lily's birthday...If you want to check more videos for that month, I also made my weekly "Scenes from the week-end" movies that you can watch every week if you follow me on Instagram or on my vimeo account in particular here. I'll try to be quicker with editing June and July movies to catch up and be on time with August! See you soon.