Colin & Sarah in Paris | When Instagram works its magic

"He's more myself than I am,

Whatever our souls are made of,

His and mine are the same."

-Emilie Brontë

This is what these two lovebirds inspire me. 

If you're a little bit active on Instagram, you might have stumbled upon one of their accounts for sure (@colincabalka and @sarahcabalka). Colin is a filmaker and Sarah is a photographer. They have been among the most inspiring persons to me since I joined Instagram. The love they show for one another but also for humanity in general is so uplifting and inspiring. Yeah I know, I've used the word "inspiring" too many times in these four first lines. But they just are! Anyways, when I knew they were travelling through Europe, I really wanted to meet them if they happened to pass by Paris. Unfortunately, Paris wasn't on their initial plan. But fate finally decided that they should go to Paris after they scribbled country names on paper and threw them into a hat, France came out twice and here they were, in my city. I didn't have time to show them all my favorite spots in Paris on the day we met, nonetheless we still had a great afternoon strolling around the city, of course we couldn't miss my favorite bookshop : Shakespeare and Company and a great coffee at la Caféothèque since they're both coffee lovers.

Sharing our experience about being young (can't believe they're not even 25...) and entrepreneurs, about travelling and having meaningful experiences; made me realize how much I want to use photography not only to create beauty but also to serve others, give back what God has given me as a gift in order to create something meaningful for people, souvenirs they will hold dear from generation to generation. I really like 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

Truly, this makes me feel very grateful and thankful that photography walked into my life, I don't really think I deserve any of what has been happening in my life for the past few years, but THANK YOU to anyone who has made all this possible, I'm feeling blessed. (Tanya J. if you're reading this, you're the angel who offered me that analog Olympus one fine day in 2007. Kindface, you're the one who has been developing my first rolls for free. You guys made it all started. M.E.R.C.I). 

And lastly, to anyone out there reading this : BELIEVE YOU CAN, YOU WILL.

Mariage dans les Montagnes Suisses | A Magical Wedding in the Swiss Mountains

Un joli mariage d'hiver avec finalement beaucoup de soleil alors que nous attendions la neige ! Le parapluie a donc servi d'ombrelle...
Virgnie et Nicolas se sont dit oui en février dernier. Tous deux mélomanes, ils ont choisi un mariage sous le signe de la musique: disque vinyle en guise d'invitation, pass de concerts pour les marques places, et le groupe bernois (qui - à mon humble avis- gagne vraiment à être connu. A écouter juste au-dessus) Patrick Bishop  pour sublimer la cérémonie religieuse - une des plus belles auxquelles j'ai assisté. J'ai également redécouvert la magnifique chanson "Wedding Song" de Bob Dylan qui a été lue durant la cérémonie, petit extrait :

I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love

I love you more than money and more than the stars above

I love you more than madness, more than waves upon the sea

I love you more than life itself, you mean that much to me.

Ever since you walked right in the circle's been complete

I've said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street

In the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun

I love you more than ever and I haven't yet begun.

You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live

When I was deep in powerty you taught me how to give

Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole

I love you more than ever and it binds me to this all.

I finally had some time to share with you this beautiful winter wedding in Switzerland, where we were expecting snow but turned out to be finally quite warm ! The umbrella hence turned to a sunshade :)
Virginie & Nicolas are both music-lovers and decided to have a wedding filled with music, starting from the wedding invitations and save-the-date that were actual vinyles. Rock bands as table names and concert pass as seat name tags...Getting an "all-access" pass was a first for me, I felt pretty cool :)
They also had the amazing (and -to my opinion- so underrated ) German band : Patrick Bishop, who turned the religious ceremony into one of the most sublime I've ever attended. Feel free to play their song, just right above. Some beautiful texts have also been read during the ceremony, such as the lyrics of the "Wedding Song" by Bob Dylan - which reminded me how genius this guy was -read above, it's gorgeous ain't it ?

Merci Virginie et Nicolas de m'avoir fait confiance pour votre beau jour.

Je t'aime, moi non plus | The Parisian Metro

Chaque parisien a son histoire avec le métro, il nous est forcément tous déjà arrivé quelque chose sur l'une de ses 14 lignes... Pour la plupart, en tous les cas pour moi, c'est "Je t'aime, moi non plus" avec ce métro. Parfois, c'est l'homme idéal, toujours là, prêt à nous emmener où l'on veut, quand on veut...enfin, quand il est pas trop fatigué. Et parfois, il te pose un lapin, te laisse poireauter sans te prévenir. Y'en a qui, comme Cabrel, l'aime à mourir, il l'aime tellement qu'ils décident de finir leur vie avec lui, sur ses rails, ce qui n'est pas du goût de tout le monde...
Parfois, chez lui, dans ses couloirs, y'a des super concerts improvisés, parfois tu assistes aussi au pire concert de ta vie genre The Voice avec tous les perdants de la Star Ac.
Parfois il te permet de faire les plus jolies rencontres, parfois il emmène avec lui les gens les plus bizarres de la ville, et bien sûr comme le placement de table c'est pas son fort, ils se retrouvent tous dans ton wagon, assis juste à côté de toi. Et là, tu as juste envie de lui dire : Ecoute métro, on a vécu une belle histoire mais j'en ai ma claque, toi et moi c'est fini ! Et puis au final, tu te rends compte qu'il est comme les artères de Paris, et que c'est quand même difficile de se passer de lui.

///

Every Parisian has his own story with the Parisian Metro, we all have a story to tell about what happened on one of its 14 lines... For most of us, at least for me, it's a love-hate relationship with this metro.

Sometimes, the metro is like the perfect guy, always there, ready to take you anywhere you want, anytime you want to...well, that's when he's not too tired. And sometimes, he can stand you up, let you wait for ages without a call. Some love him to death - literally. They throw themselves at his feet rails. Which of course, annoys a lot of us, we all want to be selfish with him and expect him to be here whenever we need him...

Sometimes, the most amazing improvised gigs happened along his corridors, sometimes he take you to the worst gig ever, like a mashup with all the losers from The Voice and X-factor.

Sometimes, when you travel with him you have the most beautiful encounters, sometimes he just travels with the weirdest people in the city and of course, he sat them just beside you. That's when you lose your temper and wanna shout at him : Listen dear metro, I loved you, but I can't take it anymore, let's call it quits! But then, you come to realize, metro is like the arteries of Paris, you can't really live without him.

Welcome to the World : Raphael | Séance photo nouveau-né

 

"I brought children into this dark world because it needed the light that only a child can bring"

   

A fun family session | Photographe Portrait de famille sur Paris

Aujourd'hui je partage avec vous une chouette séance avec la super famille G. composée de Justine, Matthieu et leurs deux enfants : Ezra & Iñaki. J'ai rencontré Justine il y a de ça quelque temps déjà , elle venait tout juste de se marier et je savais qu'avec cette fille au caractère bien trempé, on allait être copines :). Ce n'est que quelques années plus tard, lors de son retour à Paris après un détour par le Québec, que je la retrouve, cette fois maman de deux petits gars aux caractères bien trempés aussi !
C'est au cours d'une après-midi plutôt pluvieuse que je retrouve tout ce petit monde dans leur appartement parisien... qu'ils ont quitté depuis pour s'installer de nouveau à Montréal.
Matthieu est chef cuistot et passionné de cuisine, c'est donc sans hésitation que j'ai dis oui pour une séance à midi ! Une invitation à la table de chef Matthieu ça ne pouvait pas se refuser :) et j'ai bien été gâtée...la suite en image, enjoy !

Today, I'd like to share with you a fun family session I had with Justine, Matthieu and their two boys: Ezra & Iñaki. I met Justine quite a while ago and I knew straight away that this bold girl and I would be good friends :) . But it's only a few years later, when she was back in Paris from a few year-stay in Montreal, that I would meet her again, mother of two boys - as bold as her, i must say !
We started the photoshoot in their Parisian appartment - that they since left for Montreal, again !
Justine's husband being an awesome chef, I couldn't say no to a photoshoot starting at noon with a lunch prepared by Chef Matthieu :) It was a feast for my stomach and for the eyes too...

Tomates trois couleurs avec sa sauce huile vanillée, chorizo, cébette // Tree colors tomatoes with a  chorizo & vanilla fragrant oil sauce, spring onion

Iñaki : Comment bien se laver les mains avant de manger - Showing me how to wash hands properly before eating

Amuse-bouche : Pomme de terre, jambon-comté, salade, gelée de cerfeuil, graine de sarrasin // Appetizer : Potatoes, ham-comté cheese, salad, chervil aspic, buckwheat seeds

Pré-dessert : pêche pochée au Rooibos // Pre-dessert : poched peach in Rooibos

Iñaki : me montre comment bien skater sur sa planche de bois - Showing me how to skate properly on his wood board

Biscuit macaron aux framboises fraîches // Macaron with fresh rasberries Yes, I was in heaven ...

Merci Justine pour ton amitié et tes précieux conseils ;)
Merci Matthieu de m'avoir régalé et conseillé aussi
Merci Iñaki de m'avoir appris à faire du skate comme les vrais
Merci Ezra d'avoir décalé ta sieste pour moi

Love,
Cx