Hi! I’m Karin, an American photographer living in France who works in Paris, Provence, and the French Riviera.
I specialize in surprise proposals, engagements, elopements, and weddings for incredible people visiting France.
I’d been a travel photographer for a long time, but my portrait business in Paris didn’t start until 2017.
On a lark, I’d just bought a 50mm lens; a colleague was in Paris, and she agreed to pose for me around Paris, and boy, was it fun! She enjoyed modeling, so it was a win-win for both of us.
That got me hooked, and so naturally, now armed with a portrait lens, the next step was to launch a portrait business in Paris!
I was crazy to jump in like that, but I had so much fun and met so many wonderful people, and of course, I learned so much.
Photography is such a gift. It’s a gift I give to others and myself, and I adore it. Especially now that I also have a home in Arles, France, in Provence, where one of the world’s best photography festivals takes place each summer, the Rencontres de la Photographie.
I’m so inspired by others and how we communicate in this visual medium.
I’m a minimalist photographer, can’t stand lugging around heavy equipment, and love having a small, light(ish) kit.
I’ve tried every single brand: Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Leica, Fuji, and now Sony.
I shot with the GFX from Fuji when it was released, and I have been a Fuji fan for a long time. I still love my Fujifilm X100V, but I now count on my trusty Sony’s for professional work.
Sony A7R Mark V– I shoot with a pair of these. For some reason, I love high megapixels, so I always gravitate to the latest and greatest technology.
With Sony, I’d started back with the Sony A7R Mark III and liked the output well enough, but the experience of using it was unpleasant.
I hated the menus, and the colors weren’t great. Plus, the camera felt like using a computer, and I hated the mechanical feel of it. I stuck with my Fujis in that era.
A few years later, after looking at some of my old Sony files stored on my hard drive, I said, wow, those files are nice. I gave Sony a second look, and I liked what I saw.
I feel their current generation of cameras are fantastic and produce excellent results, and I think the colors are amazing as well.
Now I have a light(ish) kit with excellent resolution, great autofocus, and great colors.
As a minimalist shooter, I only use a couple of lenses.
Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM – is an essential lens for my surprise proposal shoots. Needing to get the entire Eiffel Tower in the shot, the 24mm is crucial, but zooming in to 70mm to get a shot of the engagement ring is super important too, so it’s a great tool in these cases, even though I prefer fixed lenses over zooms.
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM – my workhorse lens that produces outstanding results! I love it for most scenes where I don’t have to be too close but still get the scenery in. The files are buttery and gorgeous from this lens.
Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 – this lens has my heart, and I’d always shoot with this one if I could.
I love how it beautifully isolates my subject and produces those dreamy results I love. It’s also not too heavy, so it’s relatively easy to take along in my bag.
I shoot mostly outside in daylight and prefer natural light, but when I need a hand, I use my trusty Godox V1-S. I love the menu system, it’s easy to follow, the flash it produces is clean and effective, and the flash is sturdy and dependable. I don’t worry about dropping it and breaking it.
My go-to bag, being a minimalist, is the Kamrette Mina Daypack. It’s small enough to fit the essentials and allow me to blend in.
As I take the Paris metro a lot, it’s nice not to advertise I’m walking around with a lot of camera equipment. It’s also lightweight and stylish.
I cannot live without my Peak Design Camera Straps. They are the best I’ve owned. Not only are they comfortable, but they’re so easy to slip on and off when you want to go strapless.
I rarely use tripods in my work, but Manfrotto makes a great tripod that I’ve used for food photography.
I edit on an Apple MacBook Pro 14” with 64GB of memory attached to a 27” Apple Display. This allows me to travel freely, whether working in Paris, Provence, or on the French Riviera.
I have used Adobe Lightroom Classic for years, and it’s only getting better and better. I tried CaptureOne for a while, which is also very good, but I’m so used to the Adobe ecosystem that I always prefer using Adobe Lightroom Classic.
Occasionally, I’ll use Adobe Photoshop, but not very often.
To cull photos, I love Photo Mechanic, which makes culling quick and easy.
I love shooting with the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Cards. They write fast, and I’ve always found them super reliable.
My editing style has evolved, and every year, I seem to have an editing crisis where I decide to toss out everything I’m doing and do something else, but the style I’m with now is bright, not too bright, colorful and I try for a bit of cinematic flair.
I’d love to toss in more grain, but I’m never sure if my clients will like it. I currently use the presets from Archipelago, but I’ve used Mastin, Goodlight, TAP, Kindred, you name it.
I will have one or two extra batteries in my camera bag, as my Sonys have good battery life, a couple of extra SD cards, and a cleaning cloth as it rains a lot in Paris. I have to ensure that my lenses are always clean.
My backpack has a spot for an umbrella, which is often needed. If I’m traveling to a lavender field in Provence, I may toss a Feed Energy Bar in my backpack for a shoot. They’re made in France and have a good deal of protein and just the right level of sweetness.
I love what I do so much. I get to photograph nice people and share my enthusiasm with them in these beautiful places.
I get to meet fantastic photographers and swap stories. What’s not to love? My advice is to remember that while this is our art, we should also be having fun.
Shoot for yourself sometimes, remember why you started, and try new things.
I love portraits now, but I still adore my travel photography and love to branch out and try new things, like food photography.
I never want to stagnate. Photography has been a fantastic way to share my vision with others, but what makes me happiest is seeing the work I produce make others happy.
I was photographing a six-month-old little boy with his parents, with a view of the Eiffel Tower, and when I was editing, I got a bit choked up as I thought, this little boy is going to grow up and see himself as a baby with his smiling parents with the Eiffel Tower in the background. How sweet is that?
That’s something I could do for them, and it makes me so grateful and joyful.
So keep having fun is my advice!
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