Life in Berlin, Germany
August 17, 2009
Greetings from Valerie in Berlin, Germany!
**Friend me on Facebook to read more entries and see TONS more pictures! http://facebook.com/valeriemae ** (I will be happy to accept your friend request, no worries!)
I cannot believe I have been away from the USA almost 3 weeks now…and my journey is only just now half over! I have lots more to see, do and experience here in Berlin before returning to the States.
First of all, let me say I’m having the most incredible journey here. I have not had a slow day since I first arrived. Everything is awesome here, the people, the architecture, the food, the chocolate, the bread….everything. I am falling in love with the city, the language, the culture, the people… God is doing a great work in my life and in my heart right now, and I am both thrilled and humbled to be a part of it all!
Read more on my Berlin Journey blog: http://valerieschooling.blogspot.com and also on Facebook!
Shop Talk.
August 28, 2008
So let me say that though there are those who would scold me (Ed Pierce) for shooting so much with greater-than F2.8 lens, I love my 24-105L F4.0 IS lens on my 5D! Its maximum aperture of 4.0 limits what you can do with depth of field and Bohek (that buttery background blur in photographs). So I’m not crazy about it for people portraits and weddings, but it has been perfect as a versatile, tack sharp, go-to lens on this portfolio-building trip. The image stabilization more than makes up for the slow max aperture, and during the times that I’m shooting architecture, landscapes and artifacts, I’d rather have the IS than the faster aperture anyway. I’m getting sharp images at 10th and a 6th of a second shutter speed hand held. The 24-105 range takes away the need of lugging around my usual assortment of lenses when it is inconvenient (like on long hikes or in the subway). It’s even turning out better then my trusty 24-70, which I left at home due to travel weight and size constraints.
Soon to come: many night and low-light images (Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame) taken with the Canon 24-105 F4.0 IS on my 5D.
Countdown to the Wedding
August 28, 2008
Mell and I are now in the Vallee la Marne area in preparation for the Wedding. We met Louise (the bride) and her father today, and Alexander (the groom) just got into town. We are meeting with everyone tomorrow to visit the reception site and finalize picture plans for Saturday. I’ve been working on the rest of our Paris and Germany pictures, as I know many of you have been emailing us for updates. Stay tuned for more pictures 
Nathan
Paris in a nutshell
August 27, 2008
Tuesday started with a bike tour of the city that provided plenty of great scenes for photography and satisfied any need to be a dare devil by biking on the bustling streets of Paris. The day ended with what else but the Eiffel Tower.
Our bike tour crew at the end of the tour
The Tower is currently lit with blue lights and is decorated on one side with yellow stars, which represents the European Union. Around 10pm, the Tower sparkles for 10 minutes every hour on the hour. It was breathtaking.
10pm at the Eiffel Tower
Wednesday has been filled with the Louvre–the world’s largest museum. We got to see and were allowed take pictures of the famous Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and more. We then visited some other little places you may have heard of like Notre Dame, St. Chapelle, and the Orsay Museum. Better and more pictures to be posted soon. All the pictures in this post were taken with Mell’s little point and shoot camera.
Only 3 more days until the wedding! The groom was supposed to fly from New York today, so we hope the computer glitch with the airlines has been resolved. Tomorrow, we leave to get acquainted with Jossigny France (just outside of Paris), where much of the wedding celebration will be held.
Das ist gut
August 25, 2008
On Sunday, we had such a blast photographing Mellisa (our host), JR, Jeannene, and TJ (family), and Sean and Bronna (engaged since December). They were so kind and fun to shoot. The nearby German villages offered such great spots that are foreign to and reminiscent of downtown Charleston.
Mellisa
Ruling the kingdom
Sean and Bronna
The happy couple in the castle
Sean and Bronna to be married July 2009
TJ, Jeannene, and JR
J Squared (Jeannene & JR)
In Germany!
August 22, 2008
Just a quick update to let you know that we made it to Germany and are all hunkered in at my old high school friend, Mellisa’s beautiful German townhouse. Yesterday we successfully visited Graphistudio (our Itallian album publishing company) in Arba Italy, and got back to Venice in time to tour St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, take a gondola ride, and eat at that restaurant that we’ve been trying to eat at for 3 days (it’s been closed for renovations). We took the train today from Venice to Milan, and then up through Switzerland. After a late train, a missed connection, and a quick correction we arrived in Kaiserslautern (which is the town close to the American Military bases and Hospital in Germany), where Mellisa and her friends picked us up and took us to downtown for dinner with their AF friends. Snitzel and beer . We are going to spend the next couple days taking pictures at the local castles for our international portfolio.
I have reliable internet again, so I’m processing pictures and will have a photo post soon with more of Venice and our Graphistudio trip.
Bon Voyage, mommy!
August 18, 2008
Mell is REALLY gong to miss the dogs. Our friend Krissy is house sitting while we’re away.
4:00 AM
August 18, 2008
Well, packing is now done except for the few batteries that we are leaving on charge right up until we leave. For those equipment junkies out there that may be interested in the gear we are bringing, here it is:
Cameras:
- Canon 5d
- Canon 5d
- Canon 40d
- Canon 70-200 IS f2.8L
- Canon 24-105 IS f4.0L
- Canon 16-35 IS f2.8L
- Canon 50mm f1.4
- Canon 580EX II Speedlight
- Canon 580EX II Speedlight
- Canon 550 Speedlight
- 2 Belt-attachable Camera Holsters
- My trusty batman utility belt (hefty belt that holds my various cases and pouches to and hold the sundries I need to carry.
- Full compliment of camera batteries and chargers
- A few sets of our usual rechargeable AA batteries for the flashes, but I’ll primarily be relying on Lithium Ion AA batteries for the travel photography and especially the wedding photography to avoid the need to recharge on the go.
- Monopod
Believe it or not, just about all of that of that fits on one modest 21″ carry-on roller bag. Mell is carrying the laptop in her backpack with our carry-on sundries, and we are checking one slightly larger bag with most of our other necessities. The Monopod is in the checked bag. I bought a fancy lowpro Camera backpack with compartments for everything you’d ever want, but I found that my various belt cases are perfect padding for the equipment in the small roller bag. Sorry lowpro, you’re stayin’ home.
Last minute shopping
August 18, 2008
We needed to pick up a few last things for our trip like a plug converter for Europe. The long lines begin now as it’s back to school season here at walmart
Almost Time!
August 17, 2008
It’s August 17th, which means it’s almost time to go! So of course instead of finishing packing, I’m playing on the new laptop making a travel blog for the website
Yep, Mell and I are heading to Europe to photograph a wedding just outside of Paris! While we are in Europe we will visit Graphistudio in Arba Italy (about an hour outside of Venice, where we will stay for a few days). Graphistudio is our wedding album publishing team, so we finally get to meet them.
After Venice and Arba, we are visiting a friend in Kaiserslautern, Germany for the weekend, and then to Paris for a couple days before we shoot the wedding in Jossigny, France (not far from Eurodisney, incidentally).
We will update as we can with text and pictures. Some of them will be with my iphone, and so the picture quality will be a bit… soft.
Check back often!
Nathan
