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A year in review In 2020, light struggled through the darkness but fortunately, it still managed to find its way. We took our freedom for granted, and we understand now that we constantly have to fight for it. ⁣ ⁣ So many things in this world are out of our control, so many things we will fail to understand but it's up to us to decide how these events affect us and how we can keep on moving forward. ⁣ ⁣ All I know is that from now on, I will refuse to live in a world driven by hate because I know it has and will lead us nowhere. ⁣ People forget what you say, and what you do unless you touch them deeply. Let your every action be a reflection of your beliefs, let your every action be an act of love. ⁣ ⁣ For the rest, just let time do its thing… Happy new year to you, and your loved ones,⁣ ⁣ Haze⁣ Again it was hard for me to select my favorite images of 2020. Although it was a tough year and certainly my less creative, I have learned a lot about myself, and now have a better understanding of where I wish to go. A huge transition is in the works for 2021. This change was initially planned throughout 2020 but the pandemic changed most of my plans. If I keep on pushing back, I know I will never do it so I will fight through 2021 to make it happen. I won't say more about this here, because the weeks and months that are coming will be unpredictable. But I promise that I will keep you updated. The following are direct links to some of the work featured in the video: Outdoor Crossfit Photoshoot 5 models 1 location Boudoir BTS Photoshoot [Part I] Outdoor lingerie photoshoot Behind the scenes. Make it Simple – outdoor portrait photoshoots feat. Jessica & Lauriane A special dance photoshoot The last behind the scenes video of the year! Creative Dance photoshoot behind the scenes Behind the scenes – Ballerina private photoshoot session BTS smoke grenades fitness photoshoot A few days ago I also shared YOUR top 9 on Instagram. Like every year, there are a few surprises: @annafrancoisee @marinivianna @helene_bernadou @leo.lecarpentier & @pier0dev0 ⁣⁣⁣⁣ we have to do this again ha, ha I knew you would make it in my top 9 @Mnn_fit ... but I never thought 4 of our pictures would be in it Thanks again and let's hope we'll meet again in 2021!⁣⁣ I won't count the years, but it's always a pleasure to create images with you... thanks for your trust @allegrabird Manon's 2nd picture in the Top 9 Each one of our meetings was an adventure... A pleasure meeting you this year @cagnemelanie The first time we met you were so young @monicabbte Rendez-Vous in 5 years? ⁣⁣ It took us so long to meet @alicecatonnet ... But I am glad we finally made it. Let's hope we'll meet again on a more ambitious project.⁣⁣ And closing this top 9, two other pictures of Manon Let's start a new chapter!

So it’s that time of the year when I usually review the work I’ve done. The projects I’ve been on, the type of work I was hired for, how my style evolved compared to the previous years, what I learned, and what I plan on doing next. It is my first year sharing those thoughts in a blog post and on YouTube. I normally keep these observations to myself. But this time I thought that with that terrible year we just had it would be really interesting for me to share these thoughts. You might learn a thing or two in the process and you will also realize that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in my business. So last year I did mostly Athlete portraits in the Fitness and Crossfit world, lingerie, and Boudoir… and of course, I’ve worked with a few dancers, ex dancers, and gymnasts. After a quick glance, you'll notice I've made a lot of basic portraits. I used natural, or available light and sometimes, one, and 2 light setups. I went for a slightly underexposed background on some of my shots. The approach I had for several years got me thinking... How didn't I get sick of this way of working? I don’t hate these images but I think they are not memorable for a lot of reasons. After a while, if my images are correctly executed I ask myself one question. Is it memorable in any way? I am not talking about the experience I had on set, the people I met, and the fun I had during the shoot. I am talking about looking at these images as a work of art if we allow ourselves to see it this way and the answer is “No”. These images will not stand the test of time, and it’s not a bad thing. Not everything has to be “art”, especially If you’re doing client work. If your client is happy, and you got paid then perfect! Making a timeless piece of art was not the goal… you can save this for later, for more personal projects for example. So basically, this is what you end up with. You own your craft, you show up on the job, you are now able to break the ice easily with a client to communicate and you are good at identifying their problem, and providing a custom solution has become 2nd nature! I am still working on this, to be honest, but I am getting better. It’s hard to be creative on lingerie and boudoir sessions. Working in bedrooms, apartments, hôtel rooms doesn’t help to try and be original. So to spice things up you try to change your perspective and add props. I really went dark on some images I went for something moody. I sometimes wasn't looking for a realistic result. And I faced a lot of situations where I had to adapt to unexpected changes on location but that's part of the job. The quality and direction of light are still an obsession for me and I still struggle in certain conditions. Looking at these images revealed the lack of risk I took in my work in 2020, and this has been going on for a few years now. In one of my last videos of 2020, I said that it was my less creative year.. and I was right! Another important thing worth mentioning is that I’ve worked for a lot of clients in the past years that just didn’t have the right budget for what they wanted to achieve. Trying to adapt to their budget forced me to make a lot of compromises. You do your best to make the most out of every situation, and that's what you are paid for, but when there are too many constraints, you cannot expect groundbreaking results. This is important when you are exchanging with your client, don’t oversell your work, because if you stay realistic, your client will be disappointed in the end because you didn’t deliver what you promised. And if you over-deliver you might please him or her, but in the long run bankruptcy and depression might knock at your door. I am not ashamed of the pictures, but after all these years, I expect way more from myself and can’t continue in this direction. The only time I really took the time to create something in 2020 was when I was given the opportunity to test gear which is a shame. Great learning experience, where I got to create images that I end up loving a bit more than my usual client work, and of course for you guys this means a new YouTube video. But while this is fun, nobody is paid during these sessions. I miss working on projects where the money is not a problem and where the goal is to create images and content that goes beyond the internet. Because personal projects are cool but they cost you money! My goal for 2021, if COVID allows us to work normally: Fight formulaic approaches when possible Taking more risks and getting out of my comfort zone Find new clients that can afford what I wish to offer Even if this means starting from scratch, I believe it’s worth it. Why pursue in a direction that leads to a place that makes me unhappy? If so then I might as well give up on Photography and find a regular job. The idea is to find the right balance, and 2019 and 2020 for me have heavily leaned on only one side so it’s about time for me to make the necessary changes to balance this out. I know it’s hard, I’ve been doing this recently with my video work. Considering myself a beginner and starting all over again. Finding a workflow, the right tools, the stories I want to tell and who I want to work with, and how. I did a few tests last year when possible and got interesting results. You can see these videos on another YouTube channel because I wanted to clearly separate my film and photography work because I am going to tackle completely different themes. Or you can find my video work here: www.hazekware.com But I of course started with what I know because it is easier for me to work with people that I’ve met in the past in my photography projects. So Dancers and athletes will regularly show up at first and gradually we will venture into unknown territories. What about you? What have you learned in 2020? Since 2021 is still an uncertain year at least for me, I will not share or talk about upcoming projects with you yet. I will not make this mistake. So keep an eye out, connect with me on Instagram or Twitter, or even Facebook if you are over 40… My blog of course will still be the place of choice if you don’t want to skip a beat. Please take care, stay safe, be responsible. Love, peace, and having fun, these words are not mine, but they feel like the right words to say right now!

So that is exactly what happened the past week, I was uninspired. Maybe that’s related to our current situation, the lockdown, and everything. I was trying to find an interesting subject for my YouTube channel and my brain just froze. So I thought "inspiration" would be a perfect subject. Where do I get my inspiration from, where do I get my ideas? Here is part of the answer. Film, movies, cinema from indie films to Hollywood. I cannot deny that cinema has had and still has an impact on my work. I am not a fan of copying ideas or concepts from others unless it’s for learning purposes and I generally keep these exercises for me. I then take elements I like from several different places, mix, modify and apply them to my own work. Of course, I have to add my spice to it. I have to take the idea or concept somewhere else because if I don’t, I will end up being a fraud. When watching a film, I question myself about the things I feel while watching it, what does that particular scene do to me. Why do I like it, or hate it, why I think it’s effective or boring, and how I can incorporate this into my work or simply learn from it. Basically, I am expanding my vocabulary, I am constantly looking for new tools to express myself. I believe that today, it is impossible to be original, everything has been done already. So you will be at best a beautiful mix of different things, elements, ideas, and concepts, influenced by your life experience which will help you create something that reflects who you are. The more elaborate and dense your vocabulary is, the more tools you have at your disposal, the more unique your work will seem to be. I am surprised I haven’t been inspired much more by the lighting techniques used in some of my favorite movies so far. But still, When looking closely at some of them I see where I drew some of my inspirations. FILM: Delicatessen ( 1991 ) DIRECTOR: Jean-Pierre Jeunet , Marc Caro Julie Charlet who was 8 months pregnant at the hôtel la cour des consuls in Toulouse (2020)! More on this session: A special dance photoshoot FILM: Lion ( 2016 ) DIRECTOR: Garth Davis Lyria Van Moer in Strasbourg (2018)! More on this session: Test, fail, learn, repeat! .FILM: Lion ( 2016 ) DIRECTOR: Garth Davis Fanny George photographed in Strasbourg (2020). FILM: Men in Black 3 ( 2012 ) DIRECTOR: Barry Sonnenfeld Paula Penachio inside the Palais des festivals in Cannes (2018) More on this session: One light when your short in time Lyria Van Moer inside the Palais des festivals in Cannes (2017) More on this session: From the Carlton Pontoon to the Palais des Festivals FILM: One Hour Photo ( 2002 ) DIRECTOR: Mark Romanek Dave Scott in Paris (2014) Manon Vergé inside the Pavillon Joséphine (2020) More on this session: Behind the scenes Fitness photoshoot on location FILM: Paddington 2 ( 2017 ) DIRECTOR: Paul King Lauren Kennedy in the streets of Toulouse (2016) More on this session: Toulouse; BTS photoshoots Vlog 14 FILM: Paddington 2 ( 2017 ) DIRECTOR: Paul King So looking at the dates, you will probably think: "This doesn't work, he actually shot this 1 year before the movie". What I am trying to show here is that some of these composition examples are common and have been used for years, so be sure to add them to your vocabulary! Fanny George inside the Pavillon Joséphine (2016) More on this session: Goodbye Strasbourg FILM: The Hunt ( 2012 ) DIRECTOR: Thomas Vinterberg Julie Loria inside la Basilique St Sernin in Toulouse (2017) More on this session: Toulouse; BTS photoshoots Vlog 14 FILM: The Wolf of Wall Street ( 2013 ) DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese Lyria Van Moer inside the Palais des festivals in Cannes (2017) More on this session: From the Carlton Pontoon to the Palais des Festivals Backlighting and silhouettes. Something I also took from movies, and that I should do much more often. I have done too many images that are front-lit. FILM: Unbreakable ( 2000 ) DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan Uva Virgina and Cesar Agazzi inside the Abattoirs contemporary museum in Toulouse (2017). More on this session: InMotion Toulouse 2017 part II; Tango photography By the way, the website I used for all the screengrabs in this article is from the amazing website: SHOTDECK! I never went on that Cinematic look in my photography in terms of lighting, but this is going to change soon. By the way, the word “Cinematic”, is one of the most overused words on YouTube. This will be the last time I will use it, as YouTubers have beaten this word to death in the past years to a point that it doesn’t make sense anymore. Why movies and not photography? I feel that the majority of photographs I have access to, especially on IG tend to look the same. Some are really good and superbly executed but that’s it. You strip off the technical aspect of it and there is nothing left. And I kind of feel this way about a lot of my images and this has to change. Last year in December, my wife and I decided to watch one movie per night. Past and present, classics we have never seen or wish to see again. Childhood memories, ones we are ashamed of but loved to watch when we were kids… and of course brand new releases. Basically, we pick both pick 15 movies, throw the titles in a hat, and randomly pick one each night. In January I decided to share a few words on some of these movies on my Twitter , and I will probably share some of my favorite frames and a few words on my favorite cinematographers. Follow the hashtag #eachdayamovie and start the conversation. So if you are feeling uninspired, movies can really boost your creativity. Plus this will you to have some context to your work, think about production design and the narrative of your shots. I know that this is exactly what I am going to work on this year. What are your favorite movies, do movies inspire you any way… let us know in the comments below!

Hello y'all, long time no see... The weather is not that great here, it's cold, we have a curfew so no random photoshoot outside after 6 pm! The past year, I have spent most of my time at home like a lot of you. And for someone like me who loves to shoot on location, it's hard. Thankfully, we can still work here in France, even with us, photographers. I just have to find the right locations that are still actually open. Even those who are, don't want to bother welcoming photographers and filmmakers so that doesn't make things easy, especially when our art is our bread and butter. But I won't complain, my ball is still rolling, and we can only hope for the better and in this world full of negativity, let’s be positive. Something I've been doing a lot recently is trying to find new ways to use light and trying to find new fun tools to make my life easier on the job. I don't have a location, I don't have a model, I ain't got much room at home, but will this stop me from learning, from exploring new things? I've done very few self-portraits before, and that's a shame because it's the cheapest way, to play around with ideas and concepts before considering making them on a larger scale. You don't need much room and you just need an effective way to make the camera focus on yourself, compose your shot, and fire without being behind the camera. There are multiple ways to do that. There are now several brands that offer their own software, that lets you pilot your camera from a laptop. But these days camera apps have become better and much more stable and much faster to use. I used the Fujifilm camera remote app before, for shots where my camera was out of reach, in order to avoid standing on a stool and breaking my neck. I can create better images with the composition I have in mind every time even when my camera is rigged up high, attached to a boom arm. For Canon users, there is the canon app called "camera connect" and I will only talk about these 2 because they are the only apps I've used extensively. With these apps, you can change all your settings, ISO, aperture, F stop, set your focus, and of course, fire your shot. You can also review your images, zoom in on them, so no excuses, you can test experiment with things on your own...and that’s exactly what I am doing right now! My self-assignment that day, was “color”, and to make things simple I decided to use led lights and not any led lights. I used the PavoTube 30C RGBW LED Tube and the almighty Forza 500 (you don't need that kind of power for what you are about to see, so keep that in mind) with a bunch of accessories. Why led RGB lights and why these ones? One big advantage is that I am all alone, and seeing live what the image is going to look like helps a lot. The Pavotube is also great because one light is not super expensive (compared to what I usually use at least) and these big ones have super long batteries that allowed me to shoot for multiple hours without being plugged in. I chose the big ones because I needed the spread and softness. They are RGB W lights so theoretically you can do pretty much any color combination with them. And this helped me so much while I was doing my tests and deciding which colors I preferred for my future projects. All the following images were slightly modified in lightroom, sometimes just a simple curve and a few tweaks on highlights contrast and saturation. I played with complementary colors and if you don't know what that is, basically, it's when two colors oppose each other, giving you maximum color contrast. I then tried analog colors or shades and tones that are nearby. And I mixed them with white light and then opposed cold and warm color temperatures. I also added a white bounce on the table in front of me, to pick up some of the light and slightly raise my shadows on the bottom half of me to keep a bit of the detail. Another white bounce was added on some shots in front of me too when needed. On these last images, I used the fresnel and barn doors to shape my light with the NANlite Forza500 On this final portrait, the Forza500 was used with the Parabolic 120 and a grid as a top light. This is one of the setups I would use if you want to minimize the shadows on the face, a setup that is usually kind and flattering for people's faces because it doesn't show all the flaws of the skin. I used to find this way of lighting very frontal and a bit boring… but I had to try! For that kind of setup, to draw attention to the eyes, you have to create a catch light in the eyes, even if you have tiny eyes like me. So I simply added the 2 Pavo Tubes in front of me, set at around 1 or 2% so that they didn't affect my scene too much, and just gave me the needed reflection of light visible in my eyes. So what colors and setups do you prefer? I have my personal favorites, and we are only scratching the surface here because there are tons of things you can do with these. Before going any further, I will try some of the setups I made here but… on an actual model and we’ll see if all this training will help me on this next session. I will create multiple episodes with these led lights by NANlite, down below the lighting gear I used: NANlite Forza500 + Grid Fresnel Nanlite FL20G + Barn doors NANlite PavoTube 30c + BArn doors and eggcrate Lee filter gels Do you use colors in your portraits? What do you use? RGB lights or colored Gels? Tell us in the comments below! I will try to be a little more present in the following weeks, so until my next post, take care, and have a good one!

My thought on the Hollyland MARS 400s pro Last week you saw me photograph myself and I know that some of you weren’t too excited about this. But if you look closely, there are a few things you might learn in that video and, If you look even closer you may have noticed this little device, The Hollyland MARS 400s pro, a tool I never thought I would need, and that I’ve been using quite a bit recently. Here is a quick view of the main specs of the Hollyland MARS 400s pro: Transmitter and Receiver Set Transmit up to 1080p60 Video Transmit up to 400ft to RX, 300ft to App SDI and HDMI Inputs and Outputs L-Series Battery/USB Type-C/DC Power OLED Display, Low-Battery Warning Extremely Low 0.1s Latency Shoe Adapter & 1/4"-20 Mounting Thread For more scientific, geeky reviews, there are tons of videos on the tube already! This is a wireless video transmitter, one that can help you free yourself from cables. If you wish to monitor your camera from a distance if your camera is placed at a weird angle, or if it’s hidden in a very tight space, no more composing your shots blindly with this. You can hand this to your focus puller too… if he is not far from the transmitter and if there is no obstacle in the way. The size, and low latency, make it convenient for small indie budget productions, or any kind of small video project. But is this only aimed at filmmakers and videographers? What about photographers? And that’s where personally, I was surprised. I produce videos every now and then so all the features mentioned earlier alone make it worth the purchase. But here is one other cool thing you can do with this that can save you some time on photo shoots. I usually have to show my work “live”, I have to show what I am doing during a session to a client (who can be in front of my lens), or to my team nearby. If you don't want anyone creeping over your shoulder then this tool is for you. You can simply send the feed from your computer (and show anything from your computer), or directly from your camera to another monitor. And you know what, there is an app that can be downloaded on a tablet or phone, so you can have additional devices connected, and multiple collaborators know exactly what's going on at the same time. The App offers a few useful additional features. You can check/ set your focus (focus peaking...), fine-tune your exposition (waveform, histogram, etc...), you can use Luts, and so on... No more disturbance while you are in the zone. Recently I made a few home sessions that I called “Tiny home sessions”. I have a very small apartment. And this became very useful for these portrait sessions too. I don’t have to move from my chair anymore or leave my camera for too long (I am lazy ;) ) My model has a live view of my camera thanks to this and we can both stay in place and correct little details without having me showing the back of my camera or her coming to me to see the last photos we shot. A real-time-saver! I talked about this in my last video, I also place my camera in strange places for photography. Although some of the apps that I use are very helpful, they sometimes have a visible delay that can get in the way from time to time. So of course you won’t be able to trigger your camera but you will have little to no delay in real-time while you are photographing. Look at the ceiling! Now let's talk about the things I don’t like about the Mars 400s pro. To be honest these are minor things. The way you plug & connect this device is crucial, nothing can be in the way, I advise you to have this be the first device your camera is connected to. This is if you want the best performance out of the Mars 400s pro. Another thing interesting is that there is no "pass-thru", with the Mars 400s pro. So you can’t connect your camera to this and then connect it to something else afterward, in an external video recorder for example. You can of course do the opposite, connect an external recorder like the ATOMOS Ninja V and then to the Mars 400s pro transmitter. The problem when connecting things this way is that by having the Ninja V in-between a delay in your signal is to be expected on the monitor you are sending this to. Like I said earlier this has to be the first thing your camera is plugged into if you want to get the best performance out of it. So if you are using an external recorder, the delay will make it difficult for your focus puller to do his job. Especially for moving subjects or for precise focus at wide apertures. If you are using an external recorder there will be a few situations where this setup won’t work for you. If you are not using one, then the announced 0.1s delay on the website is pretty accurate, and there should be no problem! Now is it a deal-breaker? I don't think it is, it all comes down to your use and the type of work you do. The look is somewhat special, it comes straight from the ’80s, personally, I don’t really care this is very subjective. I like the fact that it doesn’t eat too much space vertically. I would have loved a carrying case with this, this would have been a lovely addition to the unit, but here I am nitpicking. The last thing I will point out is the battery indicator in volts, some will find this bizarre and would have preferred a diagram or percentage, but so far it hasn’t bothered me much. And this is all I can say about the Hollyland Mars 400s pro because when you look at the price, it makes it hard to complain. At 699 euros in Europe, for what this has to offer, it is a bargain. Of course, it is still an investment, and like any tool out there you have to justify its use. Because it’s affordable, doesn’t mean you have to buy it. If you look at any other video transmitters out there, very few propose this kind of performance at this price. And if you are looking for a Zero delay signal then this means you are working on big-budget production, that you probably have the money, so you are on another level, so this is a totally different conversation! To sum it up, this is a great device for the price. For any indie filmmakers, small video projects, where you need to have a small, light reliable video transmitter, this is definitely something worth considering. For photographers, it's a great investment too! I plan on using this device on a lot of future projects where I won’t have the ability to reach my camera. And every time I know someone else around needs a look at what is going on, I know I will be able to provide them a live view on a monitor or from the App. Leave all your questions about this device down below, and if you want to get yourself one send me a message, and let me know, I can put you in touch with their team and they might offer you a little discount! Hurry up, I will only do this for a couple of days. The behind the scenes images of the photoshoot I showed you here are coming, stay tuned, stay safe, and until my next post, have a good one. Get yourself yours: Hollyland Mars 400s pro - France or Hollyland Mars 400s pro - UK

Depuis 2020, je travaille étroitement avec une marque que j'affectionne tout particulièrement : BenQ En effet, J'ai partagé dans ce blog mon expérience avec un outil indispensable dans mon "workflow" (en anglais), mon écran ! Une vidéo sur le moniteur que j'utilise sur quasiment toutes mes retouches actuelles, le SW321C PRO IPS 4K 32" ( L'article et la vidéo ici ! ). Après cette vidéo la team BenQ m'a proposé de présenter mon travail et de partager mon expérience en tant que photographe dans un Webinar de plus 1h30 en français. Ce dernier détail me tient à coeur, car ma châine étant en Anglais (Pour des raisons liées à mes débuts), c'était l'occasion pour moi d'enfin parler de mon travail dans ma langue maternelle car désormais je travaille majoritairement en France. Une très belle expérience pour ma part, qui nous a conduit à un 2ème rendez-vous ou nous avons parlé lumière, de son importance et des principales options à notre si disposition. Les 2 vidéos sont disponibles ci-dessous : Si vous avez des questions, n'hésitez pas à me les laisser en commentaires ! Peut-être qu'un 3ème rendez-vous verra le jour prochainement... qui sait ?

Behind the scenes dance photoshoot How are y’all doing? The sun is almost shining here, and for me, this means more outdoor photoshoots. This is great because I’ve been waiting to use more and more colored smoke grenades in my work. Before diving into this session where I will break down a few shots and show you how they were made. I would like to finally talk about a camera… The Fujifilm GFX100s! It is the camera I used for this session (and for many others). I had the chance to have the camera early and play with it, and finally, last Friday a first video showing samples of the work I've done with it was released on Fujifilm’s channel. If you haven’t seen it, here it is: Share some love, in the comments, and let them know they should consider me as an ambassador... All jokes aside, I will of course share longer videos here, on my channel, and blog, with more images, starting next week, so stay around. LadyBionic Emma Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 30mm F3. 5 R WR 1/640sec f/5.0 ISO 50 So there are no secrets here, I’ve shared my process in the past so if you are a regular, you probably know what’s to come. I don’t like when models actually manipulate the grenades, and I love thick smoke, or when the smoke considerably alters the mood of my shot even if this means sometimes, dealing with dramatic changes in my exposure. The problem with that is that you cannot work alone... Sometimes, you will need to work with multiple grenades at once, or one at a time depending on your preferred technique, and your options will depend on the size of your team. LadyBionic Emma Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 63mm f/2.8 R WR 1/640sec f/4.5 ISO 50 Doing this alone is complicated so you will need at least the help of one assistant. The other problem you will run into every time is obvious, it’s the wind, and the slightest gust of wind will modify the trajectory of your smoke and ruin the shot or magically make it amazing. A lot of trials and errors, and sometimes, unfortunately, a heavy use of photoshop! LadyBionic Emma Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 63mm f/2.8 R WR 1/800sec f/4.0 ISO 50 For some of these images, I had to merge different takes to have almost exactly the smoke where I wanted. Of course, the goal is always to make your images in-camera, but having the ideal conditions, every time is impossible. So knowing how you can still make it happen and make it work, can save your session. For this one, I was accompanied by my wife who assisted me, and the talented Emma a local contemporary dancer. I really liked the light we had that morning so I decided not to work with flashes. And of course, I used Enola Gaye-colored smoke grenades, the ones that I use all the time. Have you ever used smoke grenades in your photography? No? Why not? You can also share your experience, tips, and tricks in the comments below, let us know how you do it! If you have nothing valuable to share with us and if your heart is filled with hatred, just troll another blog. Thank you all for the love and support, See you all in the next one, but until then, please, have a good one. LadyBionic Emma Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 63mm f/2.8 R WR 1/1600sec f/2.8 ISO 50

Our new Thursday Rendez-Vous, a little video here and there, where we will talk gear, photography & video tools. You all know how hard it can be to film handheld with a DSLR or mirrorless camera. If you use these cameras occasionally for videos you will need a solution up to a certain point to stabilize your shots and make your filming experience easier and more enjoyable….And this is when the act recoil Rig by Zacuto comes in. I did some tests last year trying to figure out the tools I wanted to work with for some of my video work. I was also looking for a simple solution to film my BTS videos and light setup for my small video productions. Personally, once I am past the web search for information, I have to quickly jump into the testing part because this is the only way for me to make a decision. To stabilize my footage I used the Ronin S for some time and I decided to sell it recently. I wanted to experiment with more handheld and shoulder shots for less robotic, less clean camera movements. And this is without increasing the downsides of shooting with cameras that suffer from rolling-shutter. You want to add a bit of weight to those lighter setups, for more stable shots. You want a rig that is modular, and if possible scalable, robust, and easy to assemble. And that is when I stumbled upon the brand ZACUTO. There are numerous options out there, at different price points. I had cheap rigs in the past in my hands, but they didn’t feel safe. With all the expensive gear you put on your shoulder, your rig better be solid. I chose the universal cage because by ZACUTO because I didn’t want to be trapped in a system and I wanted to be able to adapt and use any DSLR/ mirrorless camera. It ships in different parts that are really easy to assemble, and although the cage isn’t fully closed something I was a bit concerned about initially, it easily handles the weight. If you only use a particular camera, they offer custom cages for some of the most popular brands out right now, so have a look at their website . The ACT recoil rig but with the ATOMOS Ninja V on top! I wanted a system like that because I knew early on I would add a follow focus later. I received the Z drive late, so I didn’t fully test it yet. But here it is! This is compatible with most brands out there so you can play Dr. Frankenstein and build your ideal monster rig. You may have seen my latest behind-the-scenes videos or the one I made for Fujifilm. My partner used it, for almost all the handheld shots. The best thing about it is the different ways you can hold it. The whole thing keeps it tight and compact for me, perfect for run & gun. Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There is no perfect rig out there. So if I had to complain, there is one thing that could have made this rig nearly perfect, at least for me. The price places it above a lot of its competitors and is something you have to consider. Based on the experience I have with it so far, it is worth the $1,450.00 but there is one thing I haven’t talked about that could have changed everything… it’s the additional viewfinder. They say it is free, that it comes with the kit, and that's awesome! We tried to use it, with different systems, different cameras. And without sharing our feelings on this EVF we all ended up not using it. I preferred shooting with an external monitor like the Atomos Ninja V. And the reason for that is that it is missing all the essential features that would have made it THE strong feature of this rig. No histogram, no vectorscopes, focus peaking is only available in black and white, and you can’t import LUTs just to name a few things. So unless you only use it to compose your shots, you will rapidly replace it with a more advanced tool. I understand that they advertise it as “free” so one may think that we shouldn’t expect much from it. But you can eventually buy it for $499.00 separately, and at this price, we could have hoped for a more advanced product. I am sure that a lot of you would save up for a good external monitor or even consider the more professional viewfinders they offer. So it all comes down to personal preferences, the way you work, your preferred methods. It totally works for me, and I see myself using it in the future for small productions, whenever I am using these small cameras, and my partner has also adopted it to film our BTS Videos. In this industry, and especially for independent artists and creators where every cent counts, I believe this EVF could have made a difference. You get what you pay for, but just Imagine, a better EVF almost at the level of their high-end ones, shipped with this rig but at the same price. I know I am dreaming, but this would have made the Zacuto ACT recoil rig a no-brainer for a lot of us. What about you, have you got some suggestions? What rig do you use on your projects?

Behind the scenes feat. Anaëlle Mariat This is the 3rd Behind the scenes video made during our sessions inside the Château la Louvière, if you haven’t watched the previous ones, I invite you to do so! Dance photoshoot behind the scenes at Château la Louvière! (Feat. Marina & Oleg) Fine art Portraits Behind the scenes photoshoot (feat. Loïs Bret) Believe it or not, this is the same location, and I still believe we haven’t explored everything there. This is more in line with what I used to do regularly in the past years, it's another ballerina photoshoot! Anaëlle Mariat (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 110mm F2 R LM WR 1/10sec f/2.0 ISO 100 This time we have Anaëlle Mariat with us and we decided to do the entire photoshoot in the wine cellar of the castle. On and in between the barrels and casks. All these lines present made it easy for all the symmetrical images I wanted to make. This is something I have been doing more often lately, breaking that symmetry with the pose or movement I am capturing, or adding at least one element that will make the symmetry less perfect. Life is not perfect, and usually, this catches people’s attention (I believe so). If you are as obsessed with perfection as I used to be, then this might be the first step to cure yourself! I am kidding, of course, I am now just learning to let go. Adding geometrical shapes and lines, to add some visual interest with fabrics is something I haven’t done much. This is just a start, I have a few more ideas that I hope I will be able to realize in the near future. Anaëlle Mariat (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 63mm F4 R WR 1/10sec f/2.8 ISO 100 Maybe the highlight of this photoshoot, at least for me, we were running out of time that day and we didn’t go exactly where I wanted to go with the following pictures. Still, we managed to get a glimpse at the possibilities, and I hope I will be able to come back and create the things I initially had in mind. If you have been following me for a while, you should be aware of my love for reflections. Since we were allowed to wet the floor, I couldn’t imagine myself not doing it. A few months back I lost the grid of my beauty box 65. and since I still haven’t found the time to buy a new one we improvised one with the big grid I had with me because I needed a little bit more control over my light. To my surprise, it kind of worked! Anaëlle Mariat (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 110mm F2 R LM WR 1/10sec f/2.0 ISO 100 We ended this session with a simple portrait… but to be honest this was more a test for me to see what we can possibly do in a future photoshoot in this same place using more fabrics. We will see this later this year, fingers crossed, but we have to come back! Anaëlle Mariat (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 23mm F4 LM WR 1/10sec f/4.0 ISO 100 Last Thursday I published not my first review, but the first video of a new Rendez-Vous with you guys. It will not be every Thursday, and it will depend on my mood, and the gear I have in my possession, but I wanted to separate all the gear-related stuff from my Sunday posts. If you have seen it: The ACT recoil rig, the only camera rig you need ? These videos will evolve and change slowly over time, so stick around. A 4th behind the scenes video will pop out in your feed next week to inspire you, and I hope you are having a blast today, stay safe, and until the next one, please, have a good one! Huge thanks to the Château la Louvière, for letting us create in this wonderful place, and for making us feel at home. Thank you to my 2 assistants, Marlène Blackdough and Damien Rembert.

Last week I shared with you my current go-to shoulder rig. The ACT recoil rig, the only camera rig you need? This week we are aiming for an even smaller setup with a couple of accessories. The past year I have accumulated a lot of them, but I will only talk about the ones I often use every time I have a DSLM/ DSLR in my hands. Whenever I need a quick and dirty setup to shoot in seconds, these are currently the 5 accessories I use. This is a brand that you might already know… Smallrig! They sell tons of little pieces, bolts and screws, handles, cages, and handy accessories, anything that can turn your camera into a more friendly photography and most certainly video tool. You have to love building things, so if you are a lego freak, then you will love creating your own little setup. One of the reasons why I love Smallrig is that most of its accessories are not super expensive. My partner and I use them regularly, especially when we do not need a full rig for really simple handheld shots. These accessories will help you have a better grip on your camera, you will be able to mount things easily around it, they will help you keep some of your ports secured, and also make things look nice and clean. For this article, we are going to concentrate on the accessories we use with the Canon EOS R5. The first accessory we got for the R5 is obviously the cage ! SmallRig makes cages for almost all known brands and camera models out there. The advantage of a custom cage is that it will keep most of the functions of your camera available. Once it’s on, you have multiple options now to mount things on or around your camera body. You probably have seen my behind-the-scenes videos where I use a 360 camera. I used to mount the ONEX 360 on top of the hot shoe mount, and if I had one piece of advice, to share, do not ever do that! The hot shoe of your camera is not made to support too much weight or tension, and if you break this mount it will cost you a lot to repair. So this is where the cage comes in handy. You can screw your 360 camera on top, use the cold shoe, or even add another one wherever you want on your cage. Now you know where my ONEX 360 camera sits. If you want it further away you can use a magic arm that can give you a bit more flexibility or you can use the Swivel and Tilt Monitor Mount by SmallRig. This Swivel and Tilt Monitor Mount is of course made for your monitor. I usually put this Swivel and Tilt Monitor Mount on the handle and now I can hold on to my camera with one hand and have the monitor close and adjust the angle when needed. I sometimes when needed add a microphone on the side too! One of the biggest flaws of most of today's DSLMs is the Micro HDMI and USB connections. The Micro HDMI port is notoriously known for its fragility. To solve this issue SmallRig has different options for you. A Micro HDMI to Full HDMI converter will help reduce the stress and tension on the ports when mounted on the cage and that will additionally, let you use a full HDMI cable. Or the SmallRig HDMI and USB-C Cable Clamp , which will hold both your HDMI and USB cable in place, and take the majority of the tension and stress off your camera. The SmallRig Universal Cable Clamp is another favorite, that will help you manage your cables. I hate having all these cables dangling around so thanks to this I can keep things clean. These are only a small selection of the accessories I use on a daily basis. You should check their website for more, some of these tools are really useful. What about you? What are your favorite accessories?

Feat. Axelle Chagneau at the Château la Louvière This will be the last Behind the scenes video from the sessions made inside the Château la Louvière. I really enjoyed working there, we experimented a bit, I changed my approach from time to time and learned a thing or two, but above all, I had a lot of fun. Dance photoshoot behind the scenes (feat. Anaëlle Mariat) Fine art Portraits Behind the scenes photoshoot (feat. Loïs Bret) Dance photoshoot behind the scenes at Château la Louvière! Feat. Marina & Oleg Another photoshoot with a dancer, with contrast, deep shadows, and motivated lighting on the menu. What is "Motivated lighting" in the first place? It is the use of lighting in a scene to imitate a natural light source. The word "natural" makes this confusing. "Motivated lighting" is a bit like practical lighting. We are simply going to replicate the presence of practical lights on a scene. The idea is to make you believe that what is lighting our subject comes from (a visible) practical light in the shot or one that might be slightly out of frame. I have been doing this more and more lately, trying to find that "in-between look”. A lot of my images were too artificial in the past, and unnatural. I was aiming for a specific aesthetic that was perfect for commercial work or fashion. But this was not what I was looking for here. The advantage of using strobes is control, and the option to bend reality, or to make it your own. I wanted to place myself somewhere in-between, I wanted to keep that dark mood look and in some scenes, like the following, I wanted people to feel like the light hitting my subject was coming from the chandelier. This is why my light was placed on top. Axelle Chagneau (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 23mm F4.0 R LM WR 1/125sec f/4.0 ISO 200 Something, I would generally avoid in most cases because of the shadows it creates in the eye sockets. But when you think about it, this is how light may look like on people in most interiors because it generally comes from the ceiling. If you look back at the other sessions we made here, I tried this light placement a few times, with different results. For this same scene, we added a stool to make her taller and simply hid the stool with a long black fabric unrolling and continuing past my camera. No crazy movement with the dress this time, we made it simple for a change, something you can easily do in your own work without even the need for an assistant. Axelle Chagneau (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 23mm F4.0 R LM WR 1/125sec f/4.0 ISO 200 Remember the images we did in that marble bathtub, with my camera hanging from the ceiling and with that long white cloth ? We also made this shot here but with a different lens and without the white fabric. We went from a 30mm lens to a 23mm with the GFX100s. I removed the walls and windows in post to make the room bigger and to further isolate my subject. Axelle Chagneau (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 23mm F4.0 R LM WR 1/100sec f/6.4 ISO 200 This last shot was a tough one to make! I always do my best to make things look simple and easy to create. That room is rich in details, in objects. This old scale hanging from the ceiling, the boat in the far left, the mirror, the clock on top… so many things I really wanted to include in the shot. Lighting this scene wasn’t easy, in terms of room space, and with the reflection in the mirror, it was tricky to actually hide the flash. I wanted a lot of shadows so from the start we placed the light on the left backside. Axelle Chagneau (Château la Louvière - Léognan France) Fujifilm GFX100s - GF 30mm F4.0 R WR 1/125sec f/4.0 ISO 320 Such great memories, this feels new for you, but for me, this was a long time ago. Because of the embargo on the Fujifilm GFX100s, I wasn’t allowed to share these earlier. I really hope you still got your dose of inspiration today. Rendez-vous in my next post folks.

My youtube is a mess, although I try to keep a similar structure for each one of my videos, I always find a way to screw things up and change a thing or two. For example, most of my talking heads are excuses for me to test new ideas and tools for future projects. This video is no exception, the sound you are hearing in this video is coming from the LensGO 328c Cavalier audio wireless system. This lavalier wireless system is maybe one of the cheapest on the market… so what do you get at this price point? Let’s find out! The 328c comes in this neat little black case and inside you have 2 transmitters, one receiver, 2 lav mics, 2 cables that allows you to connect the unit with a mini-jack directly to your DSLR or DSLM, or to your phone. A cold shoe mount adapter is also included but no batteries and no micro sd card included, but more on that later. If you are not a fan of lavalier microphones you can plug any microphone that uses a male mini-jack cable (so of course no phantom power here). I tried naively to record a guitar performance by placing the microphone near the soundhole against the soundboard and this didn’t go well. This mic, unfortunately, couldn’t handle the pressure, resulting in distortion in sound in the low-end spectrum. But to be fair this wouldn’t be the first use that comes to mind. This obviously is more suited for live shows, broadcasting, interviews, and any content like this video. I brought it on a photoshoot with me, because I've been asked a few times now if I would ever include the audio in future behind-the-scenes videos. So here you can hear what it sounds like when I work with a french performer. So in this kind of situation, it works great, I might consider recording myself this way for future Behind the scenes videos. After a few videos made with this, I can also say it can be a great solution for YouTubers or any online content creators. But If I want to be honest, in terms of sound, I wish it was a little more open. It lacks presence and deep voices like mine don’t shine with these mics In terms of range, I didn’t have any issues so far but I’ve always used it in fairly open spaces and ever went near the announced 150 meters, and always had no visible obstacles. I used the included lav mics but also plugged my Sennheiser MKE 600. In some of my YouTube videos, I used the Sennheiser as a backup just in case anything goes wrong. But what’s great with this system is that you can also record directly on a micro SD card giving you the option of having a backup. I wish every audio device had this feature. But what about the build quality… Well, this is obviously where you understand how they managed to propose such a device at such a low price. I have been using it only a few times and the screens are already a little bit scratched. It’s light and that’s a great thing, but the overall plastic feels a bit fragile. Overall, you cannot be too severe with the Lensgo 328c because it is really budget-friendly. It gives you a decent sound that with a few tweaks can easily sound the way you want it. This will work flawlessly for your interviews and your Youtube videos. And if you don’t like the Lav mics sold with it and have other mics laying around, just use this as a wireless audio system. For the rest, only time will tell! I can’t bet on this given my feelings on the overall build and the few scratches I already have after a few uses. Again let’s not forget the market targeted here. So if you don’t have the budget yet, this could be a good start before you invest in more high-end professional gear. What about you? Do you use a wireless audio system? and which one? More on the LensGO 328c : Facebook Instagram Youtube Website