Travel Diary

A sentence I never thought I would say was, "See you later, mom! I'm off to Provence!" Yet here I was, about to embark on the trip of a lifetime: a trip with Paola Mathé and L’Occitane in the south of France.

The Arrival

After many flights and lots of jet lag, Paola Mathé and I arrived in Provence. On the day of our arrival to the hotel, it started pouring. But as we were driving, we saw a field of poppies and pulled over to take it all in.

Paola taking a photo of the poppies.

The Brief

I was there to capture Paola's time with L'Occitane, as she was going to release a lipstick with the brand in a year's time. They had planned a week's worth of activities and at the end, Paola would choose a shade for the launch.

The Shoots

I took so many photographs. Even when I was done working, I could not put my camera down.

I took this still life photo while Paola was filming with the video team.

Paola in the garden of our bastide.

A basket of fruit and a L'Occitane lip tint.

Poppies everywhere.

Behind the scenes.

Paola testing swatches.

The views from the L'Occitane Spa.

What I learned

Traveling with lots of gear can be complicated. On this trip, I took my camera and a single 35mm lens. This encouraged me to get creative with my shots and compose things in ways I normally wouldn't. You don't always need the gear. It can be nice to have, but when traveling I found its best to stick to a setup you can carry everywhere. In total my gear on this trip was simple: one full-frame camera body, one Sigma 35mm lens, two batteries, two camera chargers, international charger adapters. Easy and effective.

Another thing I learned was to take as many opportunities as possible to take photos. The moments in between the hero shots are worth capturing, too. And oftentimes they add extra context or depth to the overall photo-story.

The End

Until next time, Provence!

Love,

J