Sneak peek

The joy of my last Saturday :)

Have a great weekend!

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Open letter to a friend

My dear friend,

today I write a letter to you, because I want you to know something important.
Sometimes when we sit across the table, in-between California rolls and nigiri plate...  and you dare to tell of dreams... you let them slip into the conversation every now and then.... I see a glimmer in your eyes. A passion kept quietly away, close to your heart. And I want you to know; these passions tamed to be still, the ones which scare you... you carry them for a reason! Those silent dreams are there for a purpose.

And when with quiet tears at the corner of our eyes, you timidly let go of the unhappiness stored away, of situations you simply don´t want to be in...
I hear it and I want you to know: you don´t have to stay there.

And when people treat you unjustly, when they break a part in your beautiful inner self, when they throw dirt at you and when they make you feel small...
I want you to know: you can leave that room. You can leave it and close that door behind you.
Because you deserve to be treated with kindness and warm respect.
 Because you deserve to be encouraged, not belittled. You deserve much better than this. Each and every single day. You deserve a situation in life which makes you reach your potential.
  You deserve it.
You deserve it.

And when you voice with doubts the fears breaking loose... I tell you, yes you have the strength to change and leave for better things to come your way. I tell you, yes that is scary. It scares me too, and that is ok. Because we have these dreams. Oh and dreams, :) dreams go a loooong way. Much higher and longer than we can phantom. You don´t have to plunge into the unknown, you know? You can take small steps. One. after. the. other.
Because you deserve it.
And I will be right here. Walking beside you.
I just wanted you to know.

Your dreamer-friend.

See you soon!

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Words

There was actually something else on the Blog for today, but I just had this quote in mind and reallyyyy wanted to share it. 

It´s from one of the good book. ;)

Have a lovely day.
Come back tomorrow for a personal letter.

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Viola and the glittery light

Back then as we were still living in the same city, she was my number one. My number one for taking out and practising the new things I had recently found on the web. The number one for movie nights and we made my brother jealous. You see Viola is my brothers wife and my sister-in-law but I always call her sistaaa (with three a).

During the last months Viola and my brother have supported my like no other. From all the weekends this past winter it felt like I spent at least half of the time at their place in Stuttgart. 
I have to say, I really love to travel there and spend a couple of days. Not only for the client meetings and business fun. Because it always means I have some time with these two lovely guys. 

Monday - how not to work

We met up early on the Saturday, as we searched for towels, scissors, cleaning agents and spread across the building in pairs of two or three to get some serious spring cleaning done. To tackle the layers of months past, to wipe away, thin the plants, paint the walls, fix the chairs and clean the windows. 

It was a Saturday and call me nuts, but it was special to me. You might could have come up with more creative ideas of what to do with my Saturday off... But I had actually looked forward to this pimp my church action we had at the church which is providing the rooms and facilities for our Christ Crusade group. 

It was special to me because I could wind down and work along side some precious people. At times shared work is better than just sitting next to each other across a table. At times kneeling on the floor or struggling with the humongous window panes will bring you closer together. 

Sport portraits with Linda

 Linda has this ability to challenge me every now and then. She goes wild with ideas and then puts me on the list of do-able. While I still think it is not possible or I could not do it. She already has the faith that I could and can do it. So here is to conquering new challenges. To trying out new fields in photography. As you might have noticed sport photography is not exactly my field. But let me tell you, I´m beyond happy I had the chance to give it a try. So this time was not only sportive but sportive with swords. Linda is training to become a marshal arts instructor and I´m glad to be part of this journey and watch her pushing her own limits. I love how we extend the limits of our own imagination.

Just May

Every time I was writing a note, or scribble, or anything else I really enjoyed writing the month. This might sound stupid to you... but every time someone asks what my favourite month or season is, I´m not sure what to say... I guess I just don´t want to exclude all the others ;)
So this is as close to an answer to that old question. I enjoy the month May... enjoy scribbling it on every page I turn, enjoy the days growing longer and the herbs on the balcony growing with each rain, enjoy the golden light extending night after night and enjoy the first grilling on the balcony, enjoy the first day to wear my new mint (of course) maxi skirt, enjoy the first afternoon to sit on the porch with a good friend with ice cubes in the glasses and ... ahhh, you know, spring.

Monday sneak peek

Even if I fancy myself having packed a pretty perfect handbag for this Saturday's wedding... I still find some things missing. You would think there is some kind of routine or predictability when you photograph weddings on a regular basis... but still there are new things coming my way every.single.time.

For example this one... I was just about to overcome my fear of heights once more, while taking a picture on what felt like the 8th  balcony of the church. Let me just tell you it was a freakin' high church... And I lean over the balustrade to grab this one overview shot as my knee brushes against an old church bench. This second I was thinking to myself how very stupid it would be to hurt my knee and get a splinter.

Not giving it a second thought or second look I kept on the merry picture taking. Fast forward a couple of hours to the family portraits as I brush my hand over the spot on my knee feeling there was indeed some old church bench wood stuck in the skin, which most certainly did not belong there... 

Sorry if it was to detailed. I was grateful I did not feel a thing. Yes this is the wedding-day-adrenalin talking. 

Lesson learned: always put the tweezers in the wedding hand bag. You never know what could happen. ;)

    

So here I wish you a sweet new Monday with a sneak peek from this most gorgeous wedding of Sarina & Tim.

Can´t wait to share more.

Till soon!

~    Saluti.   ~

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An Italian-Moroccan love affair

They met in the country of her forefathers. She was in Rome to study and while it was clear to her that she did not want to stay in the eternal city much longer she was determined to make something else last forever. Her friendship with the man of her dreams. To our greatest delight we had the honor to witness Sara & Hicham tying the knot on a chilly march Saturday, in a small circle of warmhearted dear ones in the city center of Stuttgart.

Dear Sara & Hicham, Thank you for facing the cold and stormy breeze and for taking this lovely time for the portraits. We had a blast capturing you! 

Sara please keep convincing your groom to be a model for Benetton!! I'm waiting for him to appear on one of the next catalogue' s ;)

We wish you all the joy in the world!

-

Lei viene dalla Germania, lui da Marocco, la lingua comune è l’Italiano. Lei andava a Roma per studiare, e dopo poco sapeva che non voleva rimanere nella città eterna per sempre. Però alla fine ha trovata l’amore eterna lì. Abbiamo avuto l’onore di fotografare Sara & Hicham e loro giorno specialissimo nel centro di Stoccarda. Il matrimonio è stato festeggiato un freddo sabato di Marzo in un cerchio di amici molti affettuosi.

Cara Sara, caro Hicham, grazie per queste ore bellissime, è stato una gioia avere voi due davanti al nostro obbiettivo.

Vi auguriamo tanta, tantissima fortuna!

The day I stood on a fire truck

What was not on the list 

 The first photo of the Saturday was not one I took, not even a selfie... not of the location and not even at the location. It was in the morning and I was on my way to the Black Forest, I was about to leave Stuttgart behind and noooo, I did not speed... The slope was just very downhilly. (Oh why)

My father cracked up as I sent him the obligatory outrage whatsapp message.

Late at night, the opposite direction... I tried to avoid killing little frogs on my way home as I was also fighting a huge amount of mist on the street. I was driving some kind of evasive manoeuvre around these little guys which are not hopping but slow motioning, stretching one arm in the air and then just wait ... The first time I crushed one I winced for like 10 minutes.

As the first lighting stroke the area I thought about having yet another speeding ticket waiting for me... it felt like a universal warning... then I realized it was just a lightning ;) Driving home in a huge thunder Storm freaked me out a bit ( a lot).

Also that Saturday I performed my first solo wedding of 2014, without dripping into a guest, bride or pool... Nor falling of a fire truck.

Speaking of fire trucks... yes you read that right! Sometimes on wedding days weird things happen... and then you have the choice to roll with it, or run. As someone suggested it would be best to take the group picture from the fire truck... well... I did not run. I just said, let me put on some pants. I honestly did not want to climb a vintage fire truck in front of two-hundred guests in my LBD (little black dress). In a twisted kind of way taking a group image while standing on a vintage fire truck was a personal highlight. Since things like that never occurred to me, it was never on my list. I´m so glad I neither dripped nor fell of that precious thing, while giving directions to the crowd.  

Thank you dear for capturing this!