Sunday´s

... are for my doggy.

If you were anywhere near the super gorgeous last-of-September-Sunday-sunny-weather today and have not used it to pieces, I think you should be punished! 

 This is Mara´s what-if-today-everything-is-just-perfect-face. 

A sneak

peek...

Have a super great and soak-in-the-last-sun weekend!

~   Saluti.   ~

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Glimpses

... of life.

Cream woolen socks on old wood.

Coffee beans covered in chocolate. 

Tomatoes slowly welting away in thick olive oil.

Beauty in animated letters and exchange of words.

A bowl of just picked raspberries from the garden, still damp and sweet.

Sending a parcel with lots of ribbons.

I wish you a great Thursday!

~   Saluti.   ~

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Behind the lens ~ Workflow of a portrait shoot

What´s behind a portrait session?

I have been wondering about this for quite some time. Not for you but just for myself. You know. How to get down with all the pictures floating around. How to optimize my work process. If you have been following this Blog  super close you will realize  that I tried to write a similar post a couple of months ago. I took it down. It was not where I wanted it to be. And then, yesterday I read  a post by Mary on $hitty First Drafts. Yeah, you read that right. Now, you see, very often when I need something getting done and we push it away…

 I argue Oh I could not start this project, I haven´t found someone to coop with me yet. Or Ähm, I could not start the new page yet, I´m undecided about the color scheme.

Yes. I do it ALL the time. $hitty First Drafts is an idea to write down a very vague first draft to take the pressure away from getting it right the first time. I friggin´ love this idea! And I´m sorry I put an unfinished post right in your face! I am trying to do better. Promise. 

Here is what I do behind the lens. Here is how I work around a portrait session and I know it´s not perfect. It´s not gold. BUT if just one single person finds this helpful I am mighty happy to share!

If you roll different or have a question shoot away in the comment section!

Thinking the whole process over again I realized there are three parts you can divide a session in. 1. Preparation  2. Shooting 3. Post processing

Sunday´s are for

... old colors...

I believe there is a reason God gave us sight

... of light

... and colors

An apartment in Roma

It was this one week in February. One day I had called my Mom and told her that by the same time tomorrow I would be in town. I took a train, from Siena/ Tuscany to the middle of Germany, sat still for seventeen hours and as my Dad picked me up from the train station I was more than ready to go home. I had not been home for quite a while since last Christmas was my first one overseas.

It was due. I needed home. This was the same week her first mail arrived. She asked me if I were in Siena at the end of the week. She wanted to meet me and have a café. She sounded friendly. Sweet. But you have to know I never met Amy before. She had read a comment I had made on her wedding, which was photographed by Sarah (Ampersand Photography) and was curious. She found my Blog, liked it and decided to ask for a meeting. I was overjoyed! And in the wrong place. 

The time has come

... for shawls.

I just could not keep this picture for myself anymore!

More to come soon.

Have a great week!!

~   Saluti.   ~

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This one time I was locked in a wine cellar...

It was just their luck. This one week they were visiting me in Tuscany it had been raining every. Single. Day. We had just been hiding out in an absolute elegant cafè and took the one rain-free-hour to stroll around this little mountain village, somewhere tucked away in the Tuscan hills. Them being my brother, his fiancée and a friend. And as it sometimes happens in those tiny places everyone is exploring a bit on their own. At one point close to the market square, my brother was walking into one of these ancient courts along the main street to have a great panorama view into the valley. I was following up, because I thought better look out for him, I don´t want anybody to get lost here in a country they don´t understand a single syllable in. We were taking in the dramatic view with storm clouds and hills and wind as a young gentleman came into the court and closed the main entrance.

No biggy, I will talk to him, maybe he did not see us. So I approached him in my most charming way to reopen those doors, but he just said, no, you can go through the cellar. Alright, how long could it possibly take to walk out onto main street through his cellar, right? So we started to climb down the thick, rough stone stairs, as the young man also locked the cellar´s door.

A favorite moment from my first

This picture was taken at the very first wedding I photographed. 

I just adored the tiny notes from the groom all over the brides accessories. While being with her I saw how her face lit every time she found a new tiny note while she was getting ready. In every piece of her wardrobe was hidden somehting like You look gorgeous, Can´t wait, and the one above say´s See you soon!

Tiny notes.

Adore.

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Mini family, couple session

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here are some pictures from the shoot we had in the woods last week during our lovely workshop.

Berlin

Lately I had this awkward feeling that I know Italia soo much better than the country of my parents and decided to drive to Berlin. This was infinitely sweetened by the presence of my dear roomy from Italy. 

Behind the lens ~ Lesson learned

Lesson learned. Last week I attended the first workshop in Germany and besides being over the moon about the good company, I was thrilled to learn new things. Here are some I want to print in my heart and share with you.

Little gifts ~ arriving at the location and settling into our seats around the table, each and every participant had a cute mint or red note book in front of them. It was a personalized product with both names Desmond & Antonia engraved. Now, this was tiny. BUT it created an instant appreciation in the person receiving the little gift.  I totally loved it. Now I´m thinking up my own plans how I could create such cute extra attentions.