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Behind the scenes Dance photoshoot At the Palais des Festivals (Cannes) Do you use Wide-angle lenses in your work? I do, even when I shoot people, and I believe you should too! People sometimes ask me if they can be used outside architecture photography, and my answer is yes! I believe I am not the only one when I scroll my Instagram feed every day. I've been going wide a lot recently using the 24- 70mm regularly on the wide end and the 16- 35mm too... I even borrowed the 11- 24mm L F4 lens from Canon a few weeks ago and I had some time to play with it and you might have seen some of the pictures I made with it in my previous posts: 24h in Cannes from the pontoon of the Carlton Hôtel to the Palais des festivals and a Gymnast inside the EilenRoc Villa. But what is a wide-angle lens anyways and what does it do? A "wide-angle" lens is any lens with a short focal length. The Focal length is basically the distance in millimeters from the optical center of your lens to the film or sensor of your camera when your lens is focused at infinity. The shorter the focal length of the lens, the wider the field of view, and the more you'll be able to fit in your frame. Basically, anything under 35 mm is considered wide-angle. 50 mm and 85mm are commonly used as portrait lenses as they respect the proportions of the human being in front of your lens. 85 mm "compresses" your image and tends to work well on headshots. Telephotos like the 135mm are also great lenses for portraits, and choosing such a lens will lessen the presence of your background depending on your aperture these will give you a thick, creamy "bokeh" allowing a better separation between your subject and your background. A wide lens will give you the opposite. Your background will be pushed further back and the "bokeh" will be somehow "thinner" and you will have much more in focus. Wide-angle lenses provide the appearance of a much deeper amount of focus (more depth of field) in the scene than telephoto zoom lenses. This is one of the reasons landscape and architecture photographers will often have them in their bags. Of course, this is a rough description, to help you understand what a wide-angle lens is you can easily find more in-depth descriptions in other articles and videos on the web. So like a lot of photographers wide-angle lenses were not my first choice when shooting people until recently. Getting close to my subjects has almost become a habit now and I began enjoying it more and more. Let me break it down and share with you a few simple tips and the reasons why I go wide these days. 1/ Making these epic shots! By choosing to go wide, you can include tons of elements in your frame, you can fit (almost) everything in. By getting close, you immerse your viewer to let them be in the heart of the action. The idea is to get the most out of your scene so getting close will be my number one tip for any beginner. My other advice will be: Fill the frame. Unless you are going for a huge amount of negative space, seize the opportunity to create rich images. Virginia & Cesar captured in Toulouse - 16mm Casey Wood inside the Capitole de Toulouse - 24mm 2/ Exaggerating Perspective, use distortion at your advantage An amazing tool to get creative and give that little surreal dimension to your image. Wide angles curve on the sides or deliver serious warping and distortions. This makes shooting with a human being in your scene tricky. Arms, legs, heads, limbs of any kind that flirt with the edges of your frame will be stretched and out of proportion. You can of course, deliberately give inhumanly long body parts to your subject. I personally have my limits I would not go beyond this shot. Made with the 11 24 at 11mm you have to be careful with that tilting. If your camera is not flat and leveled weird stuff will happen. Here, I wanted to have those long legs... A bit more would have been too much to my taste. This is why architecture photographers love these lenses. For the love of capturing so much of your environment and playing with shapes and lines without being afraid of distortions. 11mm shot captured in Nice. 3/ Frames and leading lines are more effective! I use these composition tools all the time in my photography and wide-angle lenses seem to love them! Vanishing point, leading lines telling you where the subject is... This image shot at 16mm has noticeable warping due to the camera "looking up". But it is not distracting and gives that epic, surreal feel and adds to the performance of Jasmin Jai. One common mistake for beginners is to make images with unclear subjects. Although the background and environment are important, you have to make sure your subject is clear. If you are shooting a person the eye still has to be drawn to them. Personally, I use light and guiding lines to make it clear. if you are working with performers like me, you also got to be careful with unclear poses. We have to understand what is going on. Your subject will sometimes take a small portion of your picture. If that is the case, make sure the pose or movement captured is simple to understand. The best solution sometimes is to go for large tall poses and simple shapes. 4/ Shooting in tight spaces, expanding spaces One other common use of the wide lens is for small tight spaces. Everything I mentioned above has to be considered in such a situation, all the elements, everything that surrounds you will end up in your picture. All the elements close to the edge of your frame will be distorted so pay attention to details for a balanced picture. 5/ Shoot low... Not really a reason but a final tip... Most of the pictures in this article were shot down low, laying on the floor. Emphasizing the foreground especially when you have interesting elements. An interesting floor, with patterns, lines like in this picture: Another 11mm picture where the camera was placed low parallel to the ground. The room is really small, so this shot would have been impossible in one take without the 11 - 24 mm lens. Ultra-wide lenses will force you to rethink your photography, it will change your habits and might boost your creativity! My final words on the subject are simple. Work as much as possible with one particular wide lens. Avoid shooting wide for no reason... This will test and educate your eyes and you will quickly understand what you can and cannot do with such a tool. Of course, this is subjective and will depend on your personal tastes. This will change from one photographer to another. So tell me, do you use wide-angle lenses in your work? What is your experience with them? I am curious to see what you guys do with these awesome tools. Huge thanks to Canon France for letting me play with the amazing 11-24mm L f4. A fantastic lens that needs a little time to master but that could give unique images once you understand it.

It started in 2015 with Gautier Fayolle and I had to actually wait more than 2 years to work with a freestyle football player (if that's how you call them). Women are not well represented in that sport... No sorry, they are not well represented in a ton of sports, so I was really happy to meet Alice Fougeray aka Alice Freestyle for this unique photoshoot. Summer is far behind us now, but the weather was nice in "Nice" (France, no play on words here). So we decided to make this outdoors, in the old city. I've only been to Nice twice before so we basically improvised for locations. We stopped every time we found something interesting. We started early in the morning, the goal was to finish before 10 am, because of the light and especially because of the crowd. Bars and restaurants open between 9h30 and 10 am and the tourists arrive just after. I love empty streets, empty spaces so we had to work and move fast. Marlène was there to film, I only used one Broncolor Siros L (800ws) with the beauty box 65 on it in order to make our shoot simple and efficient. I decided to kill much of the ambient light on a lot of the shots to have this contrasty dark look I love. We worked in both speed and HS mode depending on the amount of ambient light, hope you like the results as much as we do! Down below is a little info on 2 of my favorite shots with the before and after slide. 5D Mark III with Broncolor Siros L placed camera left slightly tilted. 5D Mark III with Broncolor Siros L placed camera left. ISO 250 - 16mm - f6.3 - 1/200s

Salon de la photo 2017 Hi there, and before you point it out, yes I look really tired in this week's video. We just got back from the Salon de la photo and while on the train, during our return home I thought I would give a little feedback about the event, and share with you a few ideas on how in 2017 as a photographer, you can make some extra cash with your work! Every time I talk photography with people outside the business, I get asked the same question: "What do you do besides just pressing that button?". Most of them ignore all the hard work behind some of my pictures. The preparation, all the paperwork for eventual authorizations, the team, and of course way ahead of that, selling yourself and reaching out to new clients. So what do I actually do when I am not testing new ideas, new props, and accessories when I am not out scouting for new locations and not learning new editing techniques or simply just retouching my work? As a photographer, I believe you have to be up to date with the technology that is out there. New accessories that can help you work faster on the field from the latest tripods and camera straps, to the latest bags that are lighter, stronger, and that will protect your precious gear and help you carry it everywhere. That's why being present at these types of events is necessary. An event like the Salon de la photo is great to learn more about the industry. I was lucky to learn about new printing techniques and actually, touch and see new printing papers, and printed a few pictures. I am now questioning whether I should still send my files to the lab or print my photos myself! Wedding photographers, portrait, lifestyle photographers can actually meet a few brands at the salon to see the latest trends. Some offer huge discounts, so why not make deals with them? This leads me to my first tip: Sell your pictures! Selling physical, real pictures is still a thing. The experience is still unique and a lot of people are complaining about storing their images on a hard drive to never see them again. We still enjoy having a real image in our hands and judging by the number of people present at the Salon de la photo, there are a few bucks to make there. I am actually thinking about my next exhibition ( The follow-up to my first big one last year ) and I am still looking for a way to give my audience the best experience possible. My tip number 2 is for starters... the other great thing about the Salon de la photo are conferences, talks, and open workshops given during the entire event. Experienced photographers and videographers share their experience from the business perspective to the artistic one. Some big brands invite their ambassadors that share their lighting and retouching technics! So why don't you do the same? Give your own Workshops! This is really something that people are asking for on and off-line. Tutorials, mentorship, learning from another experienced photographer is something I highly recommend. If you have the skills, if you are patient and feel you have the ability to share your knowledge, you should definitely consider giving workshops. Doesn't have to be huge, could be one on one and online or you can do it locally with amateurs from your city. I've spotted a few local YouTubers at the salon de la photo and this will be my third trip, on how to make a little bit more money. Create a gear-related YouTube channel! Making gear reviews is still growing. I discover dozens of new channels each week reviewing new gear, and the Salon de la photo is the unmissable Rendez-vous if unfortunately, you didn't get to have your hands on Sony's latest A7rIII or Canon's 6d Mark II. Here are 3 YouTubers that I follow that are worth the watch: KAI W PHILIP BLOOM THE CAMERA STORE TV Maybe these fellows will inspire you to make your own youtube channel! My 4th tip is a simple word: Contests! Photo contests can be great for exposure! Brands, printing companies, and magazines were displaying some of their winners at the salon de la photo. Depending on the reputation of the contest this can go beyond a simple exposure. You can win gear, be published, and even money! Some of these contests are free, and of course, others need you to pay a fee to participate... It is all up to you and your work and on the money you can actually invest in this. You even had the possibility to get a few pieces of advice from professionals to help you choose which pictures to use to increase your chances of winning. My final tip is an easy and obvious one. Going to this type of event is an opportunity to meet new future clients. Always have a business card with you and if possible your portfolio. I printed a book and the effect and impact on people are always way better than showing them my work on a tablet or phone. All these brands might be your future clients! Who knows. Some have their CEO there ( usually present at the opening) so be sure to have a portfolio with you just in case. They need us photographers to sell more tripods, accessories, cameras, and this person could be you. Inform yourself before, to have the names and faces of the big boss in mind and be ready to show your work. Don't get your hopes too high though as you'll not be the only one to do this... Finally and this is also a tip that will help you save rather than earn. I had my camera sensor cleaned there for free! Most of the brands present there offered special discounts so if you were interested in buying something but you were still hesitating, you can test compare and buy it with a discount! How great is that? I was there to check a few new camera bodies and lenses because my Canon 5D Mark III is showing signs of fatigue. I also hooked up with the French Broncolor Family and we had a few discussions on future projects we might develop together in the future. For example, If you are still thinking about switching from Sony to Canon, you have the possibility to test multiple camera bodies and lenses and bring image samples home. Just bring an sd card and compact flash and show up early if you don't want to wait hours, put your card in and fire away! Overall it was a pleasant event, worth visiting, and also got to discover a few talented photographers during the weekend. It's apparently not really hard to get an invitation each year so if you happen to be around Paris next year during this period, it is worth a visit! The weather was horrible while I was there, I was supposed to make a few photoshoots outdoors but had to cancel all of them... except one! But this will be developed into another post, so be patient! So I might be there again next year... Do you want to see me again there next year? Wish this video was more technology, camera-related? Something more in-depth? Let me know!

Personal projects are vital to me. I think I've said this before and I haven't changed my mind since and don't think I will anytime soon. Building projects for you, with no one to justify to. Having no boundaries and being able to create whatever is on your mind... Sounds great huh? Well, in theory, this is possible. But in the real world, in this industry, it's not that simple. Creating, setting up a shoot requires a minimum of financial support, especially when you are a full-time photographer. Having time to set them up is also tricky when you know you won't be earning any money with them. But like I said earlier it is vital for me. Shooting for others, with tight deadlines, over and over again, makes the job too mechanical, and the joy and desire of making photos slowly die with time. So that is is the main reason why I still try to find some time to make these projects happen. The perfect opportunity, when I have the right crew, the perfect location to learn, and try new things. I often try new techniques new props and take higher risks, ones I would never take with clients in order to step my game up on future paid shoots. In this, behind the scenes, you can actually see what goes on, the fun, the failures. I must admit that I am lucky to do these creative test shoots in such amazing locations! Like most of my projects, I started this new series in Strasbourg. In the video we are in the Hôtel de ville de Strasbourg with performer Virginia Danh. I was surrounded by an amazing crew composed of Marilyne, Nadia, Maïté, Marlène, and Martial. Huge thanks to my hometown Strasbourg and the entire staff at the city hall. So what is your opinion on this? Do you do test shoots? I will try to step it up a notch on my next test shoot... Hope it will happen soon!

Behind the scenes Karate Photoshoot Feat. Jessica Hugues "Should I buy the 5d mark IV or get a used 5D Mark III with a new lens?" This is a question someone asked me recently. I usually never answer with a question but my response was: "Will Buying the latest gear out there help you make pictures better?" In other words, is the mark IV worth the money compared to a used Mark III? I personally do not think so. Don't get me wrong, the Mark IV is a fantastic camera, but the difference with the Mark III will be barely noticed by most of us out there. So no, your clients won't see the difference between a 4/5-year-old camera and its latest update. It all comes down to your knowledge and your experience and how you can get the most how of the tools you own. If you know your tools, it's strength, and limitations you will be able to get amazing results. I was supposed to update my cameras when the Mark IV came out and guess what, I am still using my mark III bought 5 years ago. I even sometimes use the 6D Mark I. and no one ever complained about the quality of my work. I guess Sir Chase Jarvis was right: "The Best Camera Is The One That's With You". I made a video a while back with 10 personal tips to improve your photography. Learning your craft has to remain a priority over gear lust. You have to stop focusing on the gear you don't have and concentrate on the knowledge and experience you lack. This new behind-the-scenes is the only photoshoot I made in Paris a few weeks back. I rarely go to Paris and this time I was there for the Salon de la photo . It was cold, windy, the light was awful during our stay and the rain made me cancel a few shoots except one! No Strobes this time, only my Mark III, my beaten up 24-70mm mark II L lens, and the cheap 85 mm I.8. Sometimes we just got to do with what we have!

This week we are talking dramatic lighting! An approach I love and use a lot in my work. And since I am in a good mood, I will also share 5 easy lighting setups that I rely on every time I have to work fast for a client. First things first, a few words on how to actually achieve the dark contrasted look that now has become a part of my style, a technique I used very early in my career with Speedlites: Marlo Fisken was captured in 2013 with a 5D Mark III and a single Canon 600ex-rt + deep silver umbrella. All the following pictures were shot with a 5D Mark III and the Broncolor 1200l move and Para 88: I really hope I will meet Vanesa Garcia again somewhere somehow! This was captured in Montreal back in 2015 and you can still see the complete gallery and story here: My first shoot in Montreal . My wife and I met fantastic artists in Montreal... Eva Kolarova is one of them! Check out the full gallery and complete story here: A ballerina on top of Montréal. You can achieve the look with a wide variety of lights. I made a few of these dramatic shots when I had my hands on the ELB400 by Elinchrom. The picture below was created with Fanny George in Strasbourg back in 2015. The ELB400 was used with The Rotalux deep 70. Full gallery and story here: Testing the Skyport HS and the ELB400. And if you follow me on Social media you probably know that I've been working with 2 800ws Broncolor Siros L since early 2016. There is nothing revolutionary here, a lot of photographers have made this a key element of their style and it's not really hard to achieve. The idea basically is to increase the difference of exposure between your background and your main subject. I personally discovered I liked this look by accident when I first used off-camera flash. The sun was setting, it was getting dark I fired a shot with my speed light on and I was struck by the way it turned out. With a single Speedlite, the look is achievable under certain conditions. If your scene is already dark (not completely) your flash just needs to fire enough light to expose your subject. If you are making a portrait, get close enough to your model and a single Speedlite will work. With a single Speedlite you can make amazing things indoors: Another Picture of Fanny George, shot with my 5D Mark III but this time with Canon's 600ex-Rt inside the Beautybox 65. Check out the complete gallery: Goodbye Strasbourg! A single Speedlite won't let you achieve the same look on a bright sunny day! To Kill the ambient light during the day, you will have to use a high F Stop which limits your possibilities or sync your flash beyond the 1/250th limit in HSS, HS, or Hyper Sync. I am going to ask for help for the following because some fellow photographers explain what Hypersync is and the difference between HS, HSS, and Hypersync better than me! Understanding Flash Sync Speeds with Karl Taylor: HyperSync explained in detail: PART I / PART II A few words on the subject from the Guys at ELINCHROM: HS / HyperSync and Hi Sync Differences: If you had to remember one simple thing it's the following: ISO controls the exposure of your subject and shutter speeds of the ambient light. So raise that shutter speed to darken your background and expose your main subject correctly. I can formulate this differently, Underexpose your background by at least a full stop first, then bring your flash and expose your subject as desired. In a lot of the next examples, a single Speedlite would not be enough. Lyria Van Moera Captured in Cannes, Behind the scenes and Gallery here: 24h in Cannes . So to have much more creative freedom you have 2 options: 1/ spend a few bucks on a couple of Speedlites and you lose the advantage of having a small flash easy to set up and carry. 2/ Invest in a more powerful mobile strobe. I chose the 2nd option and worked with a variety of Strobes during the past 3 years. You will recognize the ELB400 here in this Kickboxing Muay Thai Photoshoot. If you dig inside my archive, or simply look for my early videos on my youtube channel, you will often see the bulky but powerful Broncolor 1200L move. The advantage of having such powerful lights on location is that you have full control of your scene and you can work at any time of the day. With my Siros L, I can balance my exposure at will, play with my aperture in speed mode (syncing at max 1/200sec) enabling the flash to freeze the action. In this mode, you can only darken your scene by choosing a high F stop. When Broncolor introduced the HS mode, they unlocked the 1/200sec limit allowing the SirosL to sync with higher shutter speeds revealing its full potential. At this moment, I knew I had the perfect tool for my work! So once you have your settings dialed in what can we do? Here are 5 quick setups you can use on your work! 1/ Crosslighting / Splitlight bring those shadows for more drama! Placing your light slightly above your subject at a 45 degrees angle and even to a complete split is really effective. Kayoko Everhart in Madrid (2016) 5D Mark III / Broncolor Siros L with Beautybox 65 in Speed mode 70mm 1/200sec at F3.2 ISO 200 2/ /Backlight your subject Maeva Cotton in Antibes (2017) 5D Mark III / Broncolor Siros L with Beautybox 65 in HS 55mm 1/160sec at F5 ISO 250 3/ Shoot at sunrise or sunset! Why? Because the drama is already there... Anjara Ballesteros (2017) 5Dmark III / Broncolor Siros L with Beautybox 65 in HS 24mm 1/1000sec at F4 ISO 100 Alizée Agier in Antibes (2017) 5Dmark III / Broncolor Siros L with Beautybox 65 in HS 42mm 1/2500sec at F10 ISO 500 4/ Shoot against the sun Gillian Leopold in Antibes (2017) 5D Mark III / Broncolor Siros L with Beautybox 65 in HS 24mm 1/1000sec at F8 ISO 160 5/ Day tonight with 2 lights! Mixing previous setups, one light in the back and another one camera right. Gillian Leopold at the Villa EIlenRoc in Cap d'Antibes (2017) 5D Mark III / Broncolor Siros L with Beautybox 65 in Speed mode 11mm 1/1250sec at F4.5 ISO 160 These 5 setups are easy to master, even the one with 2 lights. Of course, you will not face the exact same lighting situations especially outdoors so you will have to test and try things on your own and use these tips as a starting point. Hope this article got you inspired, let me know if you try it in your own work!

I try to learn and improve constantly and it's not simple. But it's necessary if you want to stay fresh and continue to produce great imagery. I've gained a bit of experience throughout the years, and thought you might want to know how I learn new skills and how I try to master them as fast as I can. Tip number one: Set simple goals! Looking at all these photographers you admire and thinking about how you can acquire the skills to produce the same type of imagery on a technical level can quickly feel overwhelming. The amount of work can be daunting and the amount of time necessary to reach your goal may seem out of reach. Most of us abandon quickly, especially for those of you who are lacking patience. The key to avoiding this feeling is to break down the task into multiple small goals. Small goals are easier and faster to reach and you will increase your chances of success and it will encourage you to continue and not give up. Small steps, small goals, and before you realize it you will reach the top of your mountain! Looking back on what you have accomplished will boost your confidence and push you to want more! My second tip will be to set some restrictions! It's a part of the first piece of advice I just gave you. Imagine you want to learn how to play with reflections. Their effect and the type of Lens that works best. Natural light or Flash? What kind of poses works best and so on... This is already too much information. You must break this down, take your camera and attach whatever lens you have near you to it. Call a friend, go out, and find a reflective window, wall, or door. And try all the options that come to your mind. Do it once, twice, multiple times, on different sessions, and during a few weeks. And have the same restrictions during a certain period. Change only one element when you feel you have done all you can and when you feel "too comfortable". My third tip will be to Stick to one skill! Fast doesn't mean rushed. Rushing things will actually make you lose time. If you thought you would master a new skill in less than 24h you are wrong. But then again if it takes you years to understand how to creatively play with reflections, there's a problem. This is why you got to stick to one simple thing for a while. Your eye, every muscle of your body, the way it feels has to be 2nd nature. Trying it once or twice won't work, you will quickly forget without constant practice and will have to think it over again the next time. For example, I just started playing with smoke and colored smoke Grenades, and I am trying to make new pictures and test new ideas with smoke every 2 weeks. Maybe in a few months, I will feel comfortable with the process and make original epic pictures! My Fourth advice would be to make mistakes... Yes, don't be afraid to make them! Making mistakes is a part of the process. It helps you understand why you should and shouldn't do certain things faster. When you are out trying and testing things just go for it, and don't overthink it. Then pause, look at your shot and ask yourself why it doesn't work. You can even ask the advice of a fellow photographer or submit your images to Facebook groups or Forums. I remember when I first got my 16 - 35mm lens I was making weird empty shots and couldn't use it with a model in front of my lens. I ended up using it only for landscapes and architecture until a few years back when I thought to myself: "use it in your dance photography, make it useable!" ... And I did more than that actually! There is a full video on why you should use a wide-angle lens, with a few of my recent pictures, go check it out. > 5 reasons to use a wide-angle lens < My Fifth piece of advice would be to organize yourself! The most obvious tip of the list, plan your week and settle learning assignments. A few hours in your week where you will learn a specific skill. This has to become a part of your routine! Don't do this on paid shoots because you don't want to waste your client's time testing things that might not turn out well. Choose a specific day every week where you will try something new. My last tip is one you will see a lot here and everywhere: concentrate and get it in Camera! Do your best to get things "in Camera". With the megapixel war, people with cameras that have more than 24 megapixels tend to get lazy and fix everything in post. You don't fix things in the post unless you really have to. Your goal is to not fix things but to enhance your picture in post. This "fixing" approach can be very dangerous and become a horrible habit. Unless you are shooting an editorial, for a magazine campaign where you need to leave breathing room around your subject to let your client crop in for different use, everything has to be thought through before releasing that shutter! Deciding everything in pros is like not knowing what you were shooting and not having a clear idea of the picture you are making. Most importantly you will not learn anything this way everything has to be intentional. Whatever you do, your image has to be the result of a creative process, a sum of decisions where you gathered all your knowledge and applied your skills to materialize a vision, a story, an idea, a message you had in mind. Once you have pressed that shutter your picture is supposed to be close to the finishing line. If you are a photographer and a digital artist, if your work is based on heavy photoshop work, if you are working with CGI or working with composites it's a whole different story. Hope these tips help you somehow! Please, tell me how do you learn new skills? Let me know! I will take a break after the release of my next video next week for Christmas but don't worry I'll be back very soon.

This will be my last blog post and last behind the scenes video of the year! Let's go back in time, back In December 2016... My wife and I were in Grenoble thinking about our future and trying to figure out what our next step would be. After the early unexpected end of our road trip, we were lost and needed some time to rest and think. Being robbed is never pleasant, and with the accumulated problems we had, it was time for us to "stop". The thought of quitting photography did cross my mind. I was disgusted by how things turned out and financially, I really didn't how we would get over this. Fortunately for us, we have fantastic friends and our family didn't let us down. We decided to stop traveling for a while and settled temporarily in Antibes (South of France) where I was able to continue working with my remaining gear. A year later, we can now look back on this adventure and only think about the good times we had on the road. I am really glad we didn't give up! It wasn't easy at first, but when I look at all the projects and work done this year, I can hardly believe it ever happened to us. Toulouse was the highlight of this year! We returned to la "Ville en rose one" last time before 2018 and got access again to amazing locations (14 artists, 9 iconic locations, circus, tango photography in Toulouse) . This time, 4 performers, 4 different locations, and as a bonus, a broken flash, because this would not have been a memorable one without one last unpleasant surprise! Everything was perfect, the first 2 photoshoots turned out great. We started with the Chapelle des Carmélites with a handstand, hand balance performer Charlotte LeMay. You may have recognized her from our first photoshoot together in la cite de l'espace earlier this year. We then met aerialist Karita and got to finally set up my first aerial silk photoshoot. Thanks to la Cartoucherie, we had an amazing place to play with. I was hyped for my 3rd session until I discovered an hour before the shoot that the only Broncolor SirosL I brought with me couldn't fire... And this happened on a Sunday morning. Charlotte Lemay Karita Tikka On our way to the Dome de la Grave, I had to completely rethink my shoot. Go for long exposer shots, higher ISOs, and go for capturing poses instead of freezing movements. We pretty much had the same scenario the next day. My goal was to look for light wherever it was. Learning to adapt to any type of situation is a valuable skill. Things go wrong... always, that's something I've learned to live with, and we all know shit happens when we least expect it. I learned so much this year, and I can almost say we are almost seeing the end of the tunnel. I really cannot wait to see what 2018 will bring us. Before giving you Rendez-vous next year I would like to thank the Toulouse tourism office for their help once again. Huge thanks to Benjamin for the secured setup of the silks at la Cartoucherie and thank you Pierre Alexandre and Pierre Olivier for making this possible. Thanks to Sofia and Steve for assisting me and helping me create new masterpieces. Thank you Isabel again sorry for making you work on a Sunday, we feel really lucky to work in such amazing places. Of course major shoutout to all 4 performers, Charlotte, Karita, Mercedes, and Almendra, you rock! Wishing you all a fantastic holiday season. See you guys next year! Mercedes Flores Almendra Navarro

Behind the scenes dance photoshoot Feat. Paula Penachio Happy New year my friends, it feels so good to be in 2018! This week I am sharing with you a simple one light setup to use when you are short on time. Time is a luxury and unfortunately, I have spent my life running after it. As a photographer, I rarely have the time I want and barely the time I need to make my pictures. To ensure success, I plan ahead as much as possible, visit my location beforehand and make a few test shots and a shot list with different ideas that I store inside my phone. On the day of the shoot I basically know what I am shooting, and the way I am going to shoot it. Of course, light is important, it creates the mood of your shot and you cannot rely on the same setups all the time. Your choice will depend on the purpose of the shoot. If it's a fashion, commercial, editorial, fantasy, lifestyle, wedding shoot, or whatever you will be shooting, you will not have the same approach. But! Sometimes one setup could work, It's easy to figure out and to understand. I use it quite a lot because it's efficient, fast to set up, and creates nice shadows on my model. Are you ready? You might be disappointed because it's really easy: Basically, you place your camera at a 45 degrees angle camera right (or left depending on the pose of your model). I generally place my light slightly above my subject's head and that's it! Look at shadow on the floor, my Broncolor Siros L was placed camera left. Watch the behind the scenes of this session with dance Lyria Van Moer here. You can increase contrast and shadows by pushing your light closer to a 90 degrees angle or bringing it back close to you to lessen the effect. Here with Alice Freestyle in the streets of Nice the light is placed camera left at almost 90 degrees: And here again, I wanted deep shadows on Pauline so I placed my light the same way camera right (look at her shadow on the floor): I've talked about this in a previous video where I shared a few other examples on my work with one light: How to get that dramatic look. and How to shoot a ballerina with one light. But the following photoshoot was one of these where time wasn't really on our side and we had to work fast... I pushed a little bit beyond the time that was given to us... Try it for yourself, experiment, and tell me if you get good results! Down below is the result of my photoshoot with Paula Penachio. Huge thanks to the Cannes Dance festival and the Palais des festivals for letting us create again in this beautiful building.

Toying around on my computer in Lightroom I discover that my most used lens of 2017 is my 24- 70mm f2.8 L Mark II lens! I used that lens so much that the rubber grip came off. This doesn't mean it's badly built, although at this price tag I believe it shouldn't. If you are looking forward to buying your first zoom lens or want to upgrade from the crappy kit lens... This video is for you. The 24 - 70mm is the perfect 1st zoom lens for starters and these are the reasons why: 1/ Distance from Subject For portraiture, you have the perfect distance for me for portraits. You are not too far, not too close, just what you need to be comfortable, both you and your model. Canon 5D Mark III + 2 Broncolor SirosL 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/200sec at f4.5 ISO 200 - 61mm Canon 5D Mark III + 1 Broncolor SirosL 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/640sec at f8 ISO 160 - 50mm This lens is also great for street photography, leave it on, pull it out and you are ready to capture the world. I even made an entire CrossFit photoshoot with just that lens! just follow this link to see the result: 2 lights set up on a CrossFit Photoshoot. I also use it extensively in my dance photography. It was actually the main lens in my last photoshoot made inside the Palais des Festivals de Cannes. Canon 5D Mark III + 2 Broncolor SirosL 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/200sec at f8 ISO 160 - 24mm Canon 5D Mark III + 2 Broncolor SirosL 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/200sec at f11 ISO 200 - 27mm Canon 5D Mark III + 2 Broncolor SirosL 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/200sec at f11 ISO 200 - 35mm 2/ Close to the Human eye Our eyes are like two 50mm lenses side by side on a full-frame body. So being in the range of the 24 - 70 mm lens it is easy to use and to learn. On one end, 24mm doesn't go too wide and on the other end, 70mm isn't too extreme either. 3/ Architecture and Landscape photography... I am not an architecture photographer so I don't have examples to show you... Although if you closely look at some of my pictures, architecture plays an important part in my shots. I find that at 24mm I get that perfect balance where I can have a person or performer in front of my lens without having too much distortion and much of the environment in one shot. Canon 5D Mark III 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/60sec at f2.8 ISO 3200 - 24mm Canon 5D Mark III 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/200sec at f7.1 ISO 50 - 24mm (Behind the scenes) Canon 5D Mark III 24 - 70mm f2.8L Mark II 1/60sec at f3.2 ISO 320 - 24mm (behind the scenes) For me it was the perfect introduction to wide-angle lenses, I Talked about wide lenses in a previous video ( >> 5 reasons to go Wide! << ), and going wider than 24mm could be disturbing or difficult for some (Distortion / Warping, etc...So in my opinion, this lens is perfect to dive into wide-angle lenses (full-frame). That's why I would not start with a 16 - 35mm or a 17 - 40 at first...You can eventually consider the 24 - 105, but if I had to choose one ... 4/ It's simply a versatile lens! Takes less space than owning 3/4 prime lenses. So you can get a lot of the job done with only that lens in your bag. I've used it for live events, concerts, and I've done multiple shoots just using the 24 - 70mm. I know I can travel with it and keep it on my DSLR and it will fit nearly all my needs. 5/ The quality overall This canon 24 70mm performs extremely well throughout the range. At f2.8 it will allow you to use it in low light situations. Of course, prime lenses perform way better, but none of my clients ever told me " You should have shot this with a prime lens" and although mine isn't in a perfect shape anymore it is robust... mine has gone through a lot, I traveled everywhere with it. So, if you were hesitating in getting a first, good versatile zoom lens, this one is probably the one I would recommend! What about you? What is your favorite lens? Which one do you use the most?

Ballerina Behind the scenes photoshoot Feat. Valentina Pierini If you look at the majority of the videos posted on my YouTube channel, you have probably noticed that I usually work with strobes. But guess what, I also work with the available light, indoors and outdoors. Surprisingly, with natural light and with strobes I kind of work the same. The following outdoor photoshoot took place in Rome last December with Italian dancer Valentina Pierini. One camera, my 24 - 70mm L f2.8 mark II the 16 - 35mm L f2.8, and no reflector or diffuser! I wanted to start early but it was really too cold to my taste and I didn't want my poor dancer to get sick so we decided to meet when the sun was already up. Shooting in Winter is tricky because days are shorter which means that the light changes quickly. What you see on the back of your screen might change 15 mins later so you have to work fast. When shooting in natural light I first look for 2 things: 1/ The shadows of my model on the ground... I like long shadows because this means my model can look at me without having these nasty shadows in the eye sockets. Usually the shorter the shadows, the higher the sun. 2/ Shade! This is my least favorite option but this gives even exposure on my subject, so this is always a great option to have... just in case. So, If the sun is too high, don't panic! Just think of poses or movements where your artist or model will have her or his head slightly up. For an even exposure, backlight your subject and let the sun create a nice rim light on your model. This is exactly what I did in the first 2 pictures I made: When possible I like to play with lens flare, and here I was hoping I could get this effect all across my picture. You can clearly see the sun adding a bright rim light on her side and although we didn't use a reflector, I still managed to have a decent exposure on her and keep most of the details. In the 2nd picture, I kept the sun in the top left corner but it was already too high. I'm a fan of hard light, so I am not afraid of having my model facing the sun. If you like the soft faded look on your pictures, this is not for you! To make it simple, I place my model as if the sun was actually my strobe and I make sure my model is not blinded by the sun! Have your model /artist stand and pay attention to the shadows on her face and body. This will help you choose your model's placement, pose or move. I am looking for shadows, contrast, look at the light falling giving more depth to Valentina. The light definitely influenced the composition and choice of the scene. You know I love these Dynamic wide pictures ( 5 reasons to go wide! )! When capturing movement, knowing where the shadows fall is harder, you have to give it a few tries. Looking at the shadows can also give you a few ideas. I thought it could be cool to play with them that morning so I asked Valentina to improvise. Taking my pictures from a higher perspective is not something I do often... Happy the idea popped into my mind. For this last picture, the timing was almost perfect... We were not quite there but I still decided to take the shot. The problem with natural light is that you cannot move the sun. You can try to bounce the light with accessories or diffuse it but that's about it. To make it short, you have to move or figure out a way to make it work. I had a composition in mind, a precise framing, the light was coming from the right side and I wanted that "Split effect" with the light on one side and complete shade on the other. So I decided to go for a movement going in the same direction as the light. The sun was a bit high, so having her naturally lift her head during the movement was perfect! To sum it up, pay attention to details, look at the shadows and how they behave. Let the light guide you and play! If you want to know more about how I made these pictures watch the following video:

12 months is not enough, I needed one more to finally complete, retouch, all the work done in 2017. This weekend I will officially be able to say that I am stepping into 2018. One of my main goals this year is to work on projects that matter to me. Emphasizing quality over quantity, and favoring teamwork for bigger projects. This will take some time to set up so basically, 2018 will be a year of transition. My wife and I left Antibes (French Riviera - France) this week we were spent the past 9 months and a half, and we are looking for a place, a city to settle down in. I need to work on long-term projects because I got tired of being constantly in a hurry these past years. Last December I shared my 2017 top 9 on Instagram and like every year I am surprised by the ones you seem to prefer. So I decided to share in this short post my top 10 based (in no particular order) on my personal preferences and their place in my body of work. The overall selection is also a little taste of what to expect this year and in 2019. 1. Karita Tikka - Halles de la Cartoucherie (Toulouse - France) The bigger the better? Not really, but I love epic pictures... > Check out the Behind the scenes < 2. Gillian Leopold - Villa Eilenroc (Antibes - France) So many elements, details make this shot one of my favorite. > Check out the Behind the scenes < 3. Lyria Van Moer - Palais des festivals (Cannes - France) This picture sums up my obsession for lines, architecture, flow, reflections, and dance! > Check out the Behind the scenes < 4. Liza Riabinina (Cap d'Antibes - France) During this session, I learned how it was possible for me to give a bit more room to breathe to my models. 5. Maria Giachello & Santiago Giachello - Hôtel d'assézat (Toulouse - France) I love dance photography, in its various forms... > Check out the Behind the scenes < 6. Alizee Agier (Cap d'Antibes - France) Martial arts are one of my goals this year! > Check out the Behind the scenes < 7. Virginia Danh - Pavillon Joséphine ( Strasbourg - France) This picture launched a new series that still has no name. Still growing, still testing, and exploring, we will see how far we can go this year. 8. Casey wood - Capitole de Toulouse (Toulouse - France) The city of Toulouse a big part of my work in 2018? We'll see in a few months! > Check out the Behind the scenes < 9. Charlotte le may - Cité de l'espace (Toulouse - France) One of my favorite photos made in Toulouse... and what a location! > Check out the Behind the scenes < 10. Karita Tikka - Halles de la cartoucherie (Toulouse - France) Karita once again! A tiny team, for big results... > Check out the Behind the scenes < What are your favorite pictures of the past year? Please tell me, I am curious to know... The result might be different from Instagram. A lot of these pictures would not exist without the help of a group of amazing people! I want to thank all the volunteers that helped me out on some of these complex shots. If you wish to be part of this adventure, make sure to follow me on IG where I often announce my upcoming projects in my stories, who knows we might be in the same city! You can also join my newsletter to be sure not to miss any of my upcoming events. 2018 can finally start for me... I really can say much about what I have in store, but trust me it is worth the wait! See you all very soon.