Angry Birds Party

Szymi's Birthday Party - with a lot of Angry Birds. We had a lot of fun! :-)

Ladybug summer

Waiting for little Iza - sneak peak

     Still waiting, waiting, waiting... - but it can become very soon! For now - a little preview of the very great session. The parents od baby Iza.

Fiesta de las Madres

     I had the great pleasure to participate in the celebration organized by the Centro Español de Neuchâtel because of the Mother's Day. 

     It was a wonderful evening - the happy people, fantastic food, great music. Bar/restaurant Las Tres Carabelas in Peseux serves specialites espagnols & équatoriennes. Delicious!

     Gracias por invitarme, Consuelo!
P.S. This is the EVENT MOONLIGHT SESSION 

Sweet sixteen

     Sixteen years old - a wonderful age. You can everything. You can be whoever you wish. You can be a child and you can be an adult.

      Nadja is just in this great period - she is natural and open, flirtatious, sincere and curious of life. Simply - adorable!

     Her loving mom gave her a session as a gift. We borrowed decorations, clothes, we were changing makeup and places of shooting. We all had a huge fun! 

     And I can't decide which Nadja I like more - an elegant and chic (black and white version here),  romantic and subtle or maybe just a teenager?

      Youth ... You can be whoever you wish - even at the same time.
P.S. This is the PORTRAIT MOONLIGHT SESSION III: "Once upon the time"
DECORTIONS: living création d'intérieur and Moonlight

Magical alchemy

   "I have invented nothing. I have simply documented a magical alchemy that I want to share" - set Gregory Colbert,  Canadian photographer and film-maker. 

     Well, he set it about whales dancing, but I could say the same about Nicole. We met because she needed good pictures for a new job and the Internet. She warned me that she is unphotogenic. It will be obvious - I did not believed her! She was posing great - easily and naturally. In 30 minutes I made a lot of good pictures. 

     It was a nice time - thank you Nicole for a fantastic talks! And how was it? Breast to God? ;-)
P.S. This is the MEDIA MOONLIGHT SESSION I: "I am in the web" (THE BONUS) 

Feeling

            Photography for me is not looking, it's feeling. If you can't feel what you're looking at, then you're never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.

Donald McCullin

Surprise in a pot

I just love this boy :-) And I am very happy, because he is going to have a baby brother!
P.S. This is the CHILDREN MOONLIGHT SESSION III: "Bird of paradise" (THE BONUS)

Apprends-moi papa!

     It is not easy to eat with chopsticks - I can't do it. But this sweet, little one (petite Lucie), was strongly trying to learn. And her dad, with great patience, was trying to teach her. A very lovely scene.
P.S. This is the EVENT MOONLIGHT SESSION 

Wonderful smile

     What a wonderful smile! I met little Clara during an event in restaurant Las Tres Carabelas in Peseux. Her charm just amazed me -  and I am still impressed...
P.S. This is the CHILDREN MOONLIGHT SESSION I: "The Star" 

Is it worth to have photos taken by professionals?

     I have a great pleasure and honor to invite you to read the interview, which is made by the director of job4U2, Sandrine van den Oudenhoven.

     I am making this with a certain timidity, as it was an unusual situation for me - to do an interview, but as a person answering the questions. I hope that I was able to pass this trial victoriously :-) 

      After the first period of existence of my company I would like to express my happiness - my offer was received very warmly. Thank you so much for it!
     I am grateful for all the help I've received from you, for your support, kind words and recommendation. Still ahead to new adventure! 

Expert Interview: Magdalena Simm, lifestyle portrait photographer in Neuchatel

     Last week, I had the chance to interview Magdalenna Simm, professionnal photographer in the French speaking part of Switzerland, and it’s a pleasure to share this interview today on my blog. Magdelena’s work is focused on Lifestyle Photography, which is “a style of photography which aims to portray real-life situations in a controlled setting". I really like her style, also when applied to “Media Photography” meant to be used for professional and online purposes.

SANDRINE VAN DEN OUDENHOVEN: Magdalena, can you tell us something about your accompanying spouse story?

MAGDALENA SIMM: It's a simple story similar to the one of a large group of women living in Switzerland - my husband got an opportunity to work in Switzerland, so we came here. He took a job, and me - home and family (we have two boys).

S: Did you immediately get a job in Switzerland?

M: At the beginning I worked from Neuchatel for my newspaper (in Cracow I use to work for the biggest newspaper in south Poland), but working remotely was very complicated. Then I got an offer from a big publishing house (Pascal) and I wrote a guide about Switzerland. Unfortunately, due to my poor level of French, I could not even dream about taking journalistic work here.

S: And so you started photography?

M: Not right away. I have always been attracted by the world of art, and photography is my passion. Every spare moment (between home works, language classes, lessons and playing with my children) were dedicated to improve my skills. I have been reading a lot, participating to trainings and workshops, learning the new software for digital photography, and above all - I was shooting thousands of photos.

S: It looks like you are very busy?

M: In Poland I was really busy, as I was working a 150% time job. The rest of the story you know: I had been very lucky that my husband’s company supported my career transition to Switzerland with a spouse career assistance program. Few months ago I decided that I was ready to turn my passion into a profession. And I had a lot of fun working on my professional project together with you.

S: Thanks to you I realized how important are the photos that we post on the Internet.

M: Today, more than ever, pictures are everywhere! It’s a kid of explosion of visuals everywhere. Almost every family has a camera; we have them also in our computers, mobile phones, etc. Shoots everyone and everywhere.

S: Isn’t it good?

M: Of course it is: pictures - even unprofessional - are great souvenirs. However, this huge volume also means a dramatic deterioration of the positioning of art photography. There has never been before so many bad pictures that are made public.

S: Do you mean on the Internet?

M: Yes, but not only. Twenty, thirty years ago in our homes there were not to many pictures, but those we exposed - on walls, placed in nice frames - were taken by professional photographers. And usually they were really good. Then we started to “make” photos ourselves and in frame appeared smiling faces and natural poses, which, however, often were far away from perfection. It was the beginning of the "Lifestyle Photography". But you're right - the biggest mess is on the net.

S: I think it is particularly important when images are used for professional use. Also Professional Branding International experts all agree that the visuals you put online to document your profile are extremely important.

M: In today social media world, it has never been so important. You need to control your image online and the pictures circulating on the net are a big part of your personal branding. You need to be sure that your image is telling the same message as what you say or write.

S: Okay, I understand that, but I recently read 2 contradictory articles from a famous personal branding expert. One recommended posting the same pictures on all your on-line profiles: One single avatar that you should update on a regular base (no picture of you when you were 20 if you’re now in your late 30’s…) but not too frequently. The second article advised to have many different pictures of you online so that someone who would “google” your name wouldn’t be bored seeing always the same visual. What do you think?

M: I would say that if you have an avatar (this is a visual used for your social media profile) and if this avatar is a nice professional picture of you, well - you’re already doing pretty well! Some people are using comics or object pictures: these types of avatar don’t allow to make the link between online and face to face networking. Moreover, people may believe that you are hiding yourself being this impersonal avatar. Casual pictures are fine, but only for Facebook with access reserved only to your very closed friend.

S: So, What would you recommend?

M: I think you always need to be guided by common sense. For business purposes I would advise to have one single avatar and to use the same everywhere: on your website and blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype, email, etc.. However, there is nothing to prevent to use in private places (such as a different account on Facebook, another email address) a different avatar, perhaps with less formal photo. Your picture is like your business card: it shows your professionalism at work, what you can offer as a professional, what kind of skills you can have. Personal photos can be of a different nature, but be careful - they shouldn’t look bad either, because anyone can just google your name and… see these photos...

S: Thank you Magdalena.

P.S. The interview comes from: http://job4u2-switzerland.blogspot.ch/. I hope I can say, that at present time Sandrine is my friend and - nearly an agent :-) I can highly recommend her person!

Puckish charm

     This little hunk suppose to be my assistant when I was photographing his mom. But I saw that he was still trying to look into my lens with an impish smile. When I wanted to photograph him - he pretended shyness. And after a while - with a squeal of joy - he run to me to see his face on the camera's screen. Sweet kid. 

     Sometimes, you don't need much to make a session successful - here performed very well a little twig with some green, young leaves, behind which the boy was trying to hide himself. And maybe one thing more - his puckish charm.
P.S. This is the CHILDREN MOONLIGHT SESSION I: "The Star" 

Jasmine tea

     I had a great pleasure to attend the meeting prepared in Recif by the two lovely Japanese. Seduced me not only the food, or their exotic kimono, but most of all the way they move, delicate movements of hands and just amazing grace. Thank you, ladies!

P.S. This is the EVENT MOONLIGHT REPORTAGE