The glass

Sometimes, just sometimes there are these days when the glass is half empty. We all know them. And I think it is just a part of being human. The art of life is to see the glass half full again. So today very much to my surprise it started to snow. This means for the Italians I share this city with they prepare for the state of emergency by staying home. I on my part took my camera and walked out for a stroll. With a smile on my face puzzling all the three people I came across. I had all Benetton Sales to myself. But today was not the day for Benetton. Today was the day for my new photographer gloves! I wanted to get them some while ago and finally they are mine. I weatherproofed them! They are wonderful!

So what is to be done on a day like this? 1) I try to keep calm and put the kettle on.

This is my all round solution. It really helps. Promise!

2) Then I remember one of my favorite books. It´s called “Life without limits” from Nick Vujicic. He overcame all the struggles of a life without limbs and became an international motivational speaker. Honestly? His story is absolutely amazing! Read about it or watch some clips on youtube and let yourself be inspired. He is a freaking living miracle!

So then there is just one nice thing left to do, go out, get some fresh air, have the city to yourself and take pictures. Enjoy with me some of the “snow” impressions. ;-)

Portrait session with Elspeth

Remembering my first stay in Oklahoma Elspeth was certainly among the people I looked sooo forward to meet again. During my first stay I remember we set out to go slack lining in the park and this was the first time I ever did it. Every time Elspeth was involved in any of the undertaking it meant the best jolly time ever. So naturally I was very excited to do some shooting with her. She is one of these creative people which impressed me during my stay. She sings, writes music and has this natural good taste for beauty and style. I love this combination. So for her it was only natural that I should have some pictures this day as well. And she made me very happy with that. Because like I said, she has the eye. ;-)

Thank you Elspeth for this wonderful day with you!

If you would like to hear her latest piece she played on Oklahoma Live TV go here.

Sunday´s are for dozing off

What else?!

Portrait session with Jesus

We set up our session during the only three days when it was raining in a row in all of December. We kept pushing it one day ahead and then another. At the end we were out in this magical hour of durst before the sunset and I could not have been happier!! I loved the durst and the mysterious touch it gives to the session and all the popping colors. So nice! It was really fun to stroll around our canteen garden, this is where we eat. The building in the background was a church once, I guess, like four hundred years ago. Jesus is student from Spain and I have to admit I was totally doing a little dance, because I wanted to take pictures of his hair!
YES. 

Sunday stroll

I just set off to have my lazy-Sunday-photo-stroll and stumbled upon one of these antique markets. Always heard about them, never run into one. Today was my day. You could find pretty much anything there, from a whole blacksmith´s workshop to postcards signed by Toto. Ah, wonderful. Just the right thing to top off my Sunday. After spending some good deal of morning/midday on the kitchen´s sofa reading about photography, this was the right place to try some new things. After my first or second round around the tiny market I found a nice Radio worth capturing. So: me, kneeling on the street, there comes a Signore, telling me that this would be his. No doubt of that. He comes closer and tells me that as he was young, he had blond hair and deep blue eyes, the girls went mad for him. I believe him right away ;-) He keeps on talking, about old times and asks me out to dinner. Oh well, sweet Italy I am back. I realize there are two other man at his stand trying to bargain for a new beloved item. So we go back to his other table and I observe the bargaining. Because it can take some more time I amuse myself to make more pictures. The Signori did not really decide on a price but want pictures. I do not know how long they bargained before I showed up but it still took them about twenty minutes to make a deal. It´s Sunday, we all have time at hand and everybody makes sweet small talk. The Signore asks me to dinner again and I reply in a relaxed manner `Mh, maybe not today…` We do this little game for another three times. He wants’ to know whether I will eat alone tonight, No, nooo! Of course not. As he realizes I will not give in, he is trying to make me go out with the other two gentleman who are trying to purchase the coffee mill. Because, in his words, they are much younger and way more good looking. Ma certo (Yes sure). Well I was simply amused to realize on this chilly Sunday afternoon, I am back in Italy. We kept on chatting and when the blue hour is about to end, I walk home. Happy, amused, smiling to myself. Of course not without a little purchase of my own. Not at Roland’s stand thou, I found original fashion prints from 1911 and made one my own.

I wish you all a very happy week!

Laura + John´s Winter Wedding

I imagine every wedding is filled with exciting firsts. Especially for the happy couple but this time even for me there was a good deal of firsts. It was an overall wonderful day filled excitement. And I think because of that it passed even quicker. In my tiny head the evening flew like five minutes. Anyway, back to the firsts.

It was my very first winter wedding. I suppose it´s because in Germany winter is not a season to get married in. In OK it was a marvelous-sunny-60-degrees-day. This is what we call beginning-of-summer ;-) Laura and John entrusted me their rings so I took the chance to run wild with them and the bling on some Christmas decoration. It had to be.

It was my first time I took “first-look-pictures”. I am determined to bring this fashion back to Europe and make it BIG. The wonderful part was, that I could join Lee (check him out!) for this part, we both took pictures of the opposite reactions! It was sooo much fun.

It was the first time that I sang and photographed at a wedding. It was fun. But this was the last time. Laura and John, this was for you! I think in the future it will do me better to concentrate on one of these beloved activities ;-) BUT, it was also the first time that someone started to dance while I sung (I guess it was because of the very good jazz band behind me.) Sooo big, wonderful FIRST for me!

Another great moment to be with the girls was, when we invited Laura´s Dad Tim into her room. He was so thrilled to be invited into what he called “the sanctuary”. Hihi.

Well, as the party started, I put my camera down and enjoyed the dancing. First time for me twirling the princess (Laura, that would be you). First time to dance the “last dance” with the father of the bride.
It was a really wonderful day and certainly one which will be in my memory for loooong. I am very thankful to have been part of it and to have met many wonderful people.

How to wrap a bride

~ Laura + John´s Winter Wedding ~ 

Time with the girls and the joy of getting ready.

Looking at the pictures and browsing through my memories it is almost too hard and beautiful to pick a beginning to share. I meet Laura in my hometown a couple of years ago and she is one of the persons very dear to my heart. Despite the distance of the very big ocean between us. Because, yes, Laura lives in the States, more specifically in Oklahoma… not exactly the next weekend trip. As I made her acquaintance in my church I would have never dreamed that I would one day travel to her wedding. She is a very special friend with whom I have shared my fair share of deep, sincere and most silly-laughter-filled conversations. I love this mixture. As she wrote to me and broke the news about getting married to the man she loves, I immediately told her I will come, no matter what. And this is what I did. Every time when I meet Laura again, I recover this phenomenon, that no matter how many months, or years ago we met the last time in person, I warm up to her in the blink of an eye. After half an hour it is as if we were never separated for such a lengthy time, we laugh and make jokes like it were yesterday. That is what I love about her. And she is smart. She probably speaks better German than I do. She has a passion for German in the way I am passionate for the English language. She is utmost beautiful and I think she should give the modeling thing another try. Honestly Laura, I do!

Did I say wrap a bride? Oh yes. Laura had this amazing Vera Wang dress with a cute, rose bow and now as the wedding day came near, it was my task to wrap her. Yuppie. First time ever I wrapped a bride! We had practiced this already for the bridal shooting (and one time before that, when it has to be right…) and on the day of her wedding it was my turn to warp her up as beautiful as I could. Now this was the one moment I did not take pictures of from all the precious preparation time ;-)

Laura thank you for having me so close around you all the days before the wedding and especially for your BIG day. We really spent every day together and I still marvel at John´s patience. I was even in the happy state of being able to wake the bride – really – when do you ever get to wake the bride and sing “ Oh what abeautiful morning”, “You are getting married today!”I don´t say that I did that… Oh yes I did. Haha. Such fun! I could write more. A LOT more. Laura, thank you for all the intimate insights in your wedding, I was truly honored to be at your side, to hold your hand, to tell you how beautiful you looked and share all these moments. It was breath taking!

I mentioned I was with the girls from the dawn of day, so I will dedicate this post to the getting ready part of the wedding. The rest of the princess-winter-wedding is coming really soon. Promise.

Laura ~ Bridal shooting

One of the truly great pleasures of my stay in Oklahoma was that I got to photograph my very first bridal session. Laura, my dear friend I came to visit, asked me to join her for the session at the wedding chapel. So I had not only a great time to spent with my friend, but also to meet a new photographer, Lee Davenport, who was soo kind to let me join him and learn from him and of course I got to check out her cute chapel before anybody else. So for me only good things came from this cute shooting. I enjoyed every minute of it! I knew that Lee had all the good and classical shots, so I took my time, jumping around the chapel, climbing on the benches and crawling on the ground, finding new angles and playing around. This was an awesome bridal shoot. I hope there are many that will follow. I will try to import this cool session to the german and Italian wedding world. :-)

~~~

Eines der wirklich großen Vergnügen meines Aufenthaltes in Oklahoma war meine allererste Bridal session (Ein Shooting nur mit der Braut). Laura, meine Freundin die ich hier besuchte, hat mich speziell für dieses shooting angefragt und auf meine Ankunft gewartet. Ich hatte eine großartige Zeit mit ihr. Ich konnte die Bekanntschaft von Lee Davenport machen, dem Hauptfotografen der Hochzeit, der mir die Möglichkeit gab, neues zu lernen. Ich hab jede einzelne Minute des shootings genossen. Da ich wusste das Lee alle schönen und klassischen Bilder machte, nahm ich mir die Freiheit durch die Kapelle zu hüpfen, auf die Bänke zu steigen und auf dem Boden rum zu rutschen, um neue Winkel und Ideen auszuprobieren. Ich hoffe es werden noch ganz viele dieser Bridal shootings folgen und ich werde versuchen diese Mode in der Hochzeitswelt in Deutschland und Italien zu verbreiten ;-)