My blogger anecdotes !

MAY 29, 2018

Hi everyone! I recently went through all of my old pictures, and I had quite a fun time remembering joyful behind-the-scenes anecdotes. You guys mostly get to see the result of it, but we don't always tell to you the true story behind a photo. So, I thought this would be quite a fun thing to do and tell you all about our funniest, weirdest, most dangerous, painful stories while taking pictures, or what happened afterwards. If you also are a blogger, feel free to do your own blogger's anecdotes tag and let us know your fun stories!

The coldest 

 There is actually quite a lot of moments when we had to get out and shoot pictures in freezing conditions. We try to rush and quickly get back into the car! The coldest temperature we had to face while posing was - 13°C, but the worst has to be this photoshoot. It was "only" -3°C, but I was wearing a very light dress, no tights and I even took my jacket off!

The creepiest 

This one got me quite upset at the time: I used to wear quite a lot of fashion tights when we started the blog, with lots of prints and patterns... and a few of my pictures ended up being uploaded on a fetish tumblr page. When I asked the curator to take them down, mentioning that they where my propriety and meant for fashion only, definitely not for erotic content, he called me hypocritical and said that at the moment these pictures where released on the internet, they were free of copyright. I am still really angry about this. This is quite a problem, and I'm sure many of my fellow bloggers had to face similar issues, especially on social media.

The most annoying  

Quite in the same line, I've had my pictures used by a retail site based in China, and a few others used by e-bay sellers. I had nothing to do whatsoever with them, no partnership, nothing. I was just wearing an item in my outfit, and they used my photography to promote a fake imitation of  that piece. Needless to say that this is fairly illegal.

The funniest 

We were in the snowy mountains, and we saw and beautiful field that was the perfect scenery for my outfit of the day. But a the second we stepped forward, we sunk in the snow! There was at least 80cm of it covering the field, and we had both our legs deep in it up to the thighs . We managed to "swim" (no kidding, the best way to get out of this mess was to spread the weight of our bodies to the surface and crawl back to the lane!). We had so much fun and even threw a few snowballs during the process!

The most difficult

There are two of them, the difficulty not being the same. For the first one: I'm terribly afraid with heights and water depths, and we had this amazing idea of shooting pictures in the harbor. But for Maxime being able to shoot his pictures, I had to stand right on the edge, just below a 5 meter "cliff" and a deep dark pool. I was terrified while posing but I'm quite proud of myself! 

The second one has to be our visit to Chambord. We like having nice, clean pictures without anyone on them (also out of respect for other tourists. Would you really like to have your face on a blogger's site?) Problem is, Chambord's roofs were crowded. Packed with people wanting to shoot pictures of this amazing architecture. It took us almost an hour to be able to shoot our series!

The most dangerous 

We were in Paris and wanting to shoot pictures at the Place de la Concorde. Maxime got almost run over by a car as he dangerously stepped back, stumbling off the sidewalk. I was so scared and got so mad at him. Beautiful pictures do not worth putting your life at risk!

The most painful

Ah, wheat fields, what better scenery for a beautiful summer dress. Problem is, it's incredibly hard and itchy! We had two photo shoots in fields last summer, and I ended up with tiny red stings all over my arms and legs, caused by ears of wheat!  It was burning so badly and I also had my foot hurt on those kind of stems that are left after harvesting, cutting my skin as I was walking. Ugh. 

The most watery 

Once again, Place de la Concorde in Paris, a few years back. The sky was really dark, it was windy and just about to rain. Thunder was not far. I was posing really near to the fountain when a  strong gust blew right through it. A cold wave hit me in the back, we managed to take a few pictures of me soaking wet and a few minutes later, it started pouring. We took shelter in the metro, dripping in rain and laughing out loud!

The worst 

This anecdote actually got me extremely angry and sad, and was one of the reasons I took a break from blogging last year, reconsidering what it had become. 

For almost a year an a half, I was using a famous web and smartphone app allowing bloggers to use affiliate links in exchange of a percent on any purchase the reader would make after clicking the link on the blog. This appears on so many blogs as "shop the post", with thumbnail images of the items the blogger is wearing. This apps also provide links to make your Instagram "shopable". 

To make things clear, I'm totally fine with bloggers making money through affiliate links. Blogging actually is extremely time consuming and requires lots of hard work. 

One day, I got an e-mail from the app curators, telling me I wasn't making enough money, that I should use the IG app more and make more advertising, otherwise they would delete my account and not allow me to use these links anymore. And since I did not "improve", they eventually did, and never paid me the money I had earned for all that time (they would only pay when you reach an certain - and huge - amount of money), they never replied to my emails asking for explanation. 

I felt like rubbish, I felt like a failure but I also felt extremely angry. I realized that they were using me and my content, I was a product and not a human being. They did not see the person behind the blog nor did they see the artistic dimension in our pictures, only a product. 

This got me thinking quite a lot about what I wanted to be as a blogger. I don't want to be a product, I don't want to be used, I don't want my value to be the result of how much money I make through affiliate links!

The hottest

Tropical glasshouse in summer was definitely not a wise idea for a shooting spot. Especially when like me, heat makes you red and swollen like a tomato. Perfect face for nice pictures.

The saddest 

I could also put this as a creepy and annoying anecdote, but I find it much sadder than anything else. And even more sadly, this tends to happen a lot: men passing by when I pose and making stupid comments or whistling. "she should be a porn star", "mmmh, those legs"... Sometimes, they also stop and stare for loooong time. We got in an argument a few times, since these guys are not only disgusting but also looking for a fight: when you tell them to go away or to have respect, they say that "it's their right" to say what they want or stay here and look at whatever they want. Their behavior is just despicable. Just because a girl is posing doesn't mean she's an object to use and comment.

The weirdest 

And here I was, posing in a bathing suit among mountain flowers, trying not to step on a snake and getting stung by bees, with my mum shooting pictures and giving directions, not to mention hikers passing by.

The most frustrating

A few years back, we wanted to shoot some outfit pictures in a public garden, being unaware that in order to take photos in any garden, museum or historic place, one should first ask an authorization from the director at least a day in advance. Of course, this doesn't apply to tourist pictures, only to professional photographers and models, which we are not. But when the watchmen saw Maxime with his massive reflex camera and me definitely posing in a too unnatural way to be just taking a souvenir pic', he went straight at us and yield, asking us do delete the pictures and leave. We still don't quite know how not-professional blogger should see this rule. We aren't selling these pictures anyway... Now, when we try only to use our smartphone's camera in such places, but I can't help feeling so nervous. We also always carry our professional cards (Maxime's banker card and my teacher's card) to prove we aren't professional photographers.

I don't get the point of this rule, we aren't annoying anyone, this is such an awesome advertising for these beautiful places, and with Instagram and all that I can't help thinking this rule is obsolete. 

The best memory

End of a perfect day in a perfect place, with gorgeous light, with the man I love... This moment on Essouira's beach has to be one of the best memories I have, romantic and fun at the same time (a camel passing by, a few cheeky waves hitting our legs).