Vanessa Elle is happy to share 2 minutes of “ideas, experiences & wishes worth spreading”. I created this video montage & song exclusively for TEDxHECMontréal, an event worth attending on May 25th 2013.
-It was a wonderful experience to team up with TEDxHECMontréal & to live those moments with my dear actors & actresses. Thank you!
List of names/credits coming soon.
Videos, montage realization & song by Vanessa Elle.
Behind the scenes images
Prom Photography | Faculty of Law at Université de Montréal
Cocktail & Photobooth pictures taken on May 5th 2013 in Mont-Tremblant.
Dear future lawyers & notaries,
it truly was a pleasure to be your prom’s photographer
& an honor to capture this cheerful milestone in your lives.
Congratulations & make the beginning of your new life journey beautiful,
Vanessa Elle
Slideshow of some pictures… For more visit my Facebook page.
Prom Cocktail
3, 2, 1: HANDS IN THE AIR, SCREAM!
I must say… It’s breathtaking to gather hundreds of people together, stand in front of them, & then share your positive energy with them. To see their hands simultaneously move up towards the sky & to hear them loudly scream is an amazing short-lived moment.
Prom Photobooth
Prom Photobooth | Posing, dancing, smiling, screaming, laughing… An evening filled with colorful expressions! Photobooths add a significant favorable euphoric & creative experience to the event or occasion in question. It’s really the time of the day &/or night when people can express their creative senses & enjoy every step of the fun photobooth process. From choosing one or various combination of accessories, to walking or dancing their ways to the photobooth “stand or scene”, to inviting friends to join in to take pictures & to then posing, dancing & having a blast in front of the camera… My role? Motivate & cheer them up to be themselves, go crazy & make sure that they live the ultimate best out of their moments. It was awesome to see law students of UdeM express feelings of success, feelings of joy & feelings of pride in completing their Bachelors degree in Law! I simply had a blast with you guys!
For more pictures: Vanessa Elle Facebook page
Prom Photography Album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.170254276472573.1073741836.119889021509099&type=1
This weekend, graduate DESS, M.Sc, MBA & Ph.D students of HEC Montréal & I celebrated our well deserved end of year – graduation prom. This year, the prom commitee of the aecs (Association des étudiants aux cycles supérieurs de HEC Montréal) invited us to to celebrate our academic progress & success at Hotel Sacacomie in Saint-Alexis des Monts. From cocktails to supper & from supper to party…
Elementary school + high school + college + undergraduate + graduate school; together, this approx. adds up to a 19 years old academic life! 19 years of experience as students definitely does deserve a weekend celebration filled with happy, fun, emotional & crazy times, laughter, unforgettable moments, champagne cheers, lots of dancing & not enough of sleeping… May 11th-12th 2013, dresses & suits reunited to liveuphoria the ”academic success” way.
As Marketing M.Sc students’ representatives of the aecs at HEC Montréal, my colleague & I were motivated to live an experience with graduate marketing students. To celebrate their progress & success at completing their masters degree, him & I decided to offer glow in the dark glasses & bright sunglasses, both branded with our “traditional” I <3 MKT logo, as a gift. (MKT stands for Marketing) Welcoming all marketing students to participate in the process of making those glasses glow (breaking the fluo liquid) is becoming a vivid “rite of passage” for the marketing option (branded glow in the dark glasses were used last year as well). I love MKT sunglasses, I love MKT glasses… simply one way to bring students together, to reinforce a sense of belongingness by reuniting them around the one principal thing that they & I have in common: our academic decision to pursue a higher education in marketing!
Just a creative way to express & highlight in the fact that they, we & I heart MKT.
Special thanks to the aecs, the end of year prom comittee, to my partner in crime & to all of you students for celebrating success with us. Congratulations!!!
Those are your expressed words & your best wishes for my birthday!
A birthday word cloud filled with beautiful words simply because of you!
Thank you <3
Les Grands Salons Let’s Get Married | Les Grands Salons Marions-Nous
Let’s Get Married’s Grand Salon Marions-Nous is “Canada’s largest bridal wedding exhibit-show featuring hundreds and hundreds of wedding specialists showcasing their indispensable products and services for the bride and groom”. (marionsnous.ca) This large wedding exhibition was held on January 5th & 6th 2013 at Place Bonaventure in Montreal. This “Grands Salons” gathers together many specialists in the wedding industry. Visitors can find wedding rings, bridal dresses, tuxedos, reception hall facilities, photograhers, videographers, DJs, dancers, florists, limousines, home furnishing, hair & makeup consultants, wedding planners & so much more… Each business brand had its own kiosk amongst which the public can circulate on a large red carpet.
My experience & perceptions
Are you the bride? When are you getting married? Did you find your wedding dress? Did you book your reception hall? Who’s your photographer? Do you need a florist? Or maybe you need a limo? Perhaps you’d like a piece of chocolate? They are delicious! Try!…
Pretty impressive! Bombarded with all those questions, yes I was! The only question that I answered was the chocolate one & yes they were delicious! Aside from being bombarded with questions, I received a large number of flyers & business cards all of which I carried in a bag that I was given as a gift. January 6th 2013, I experienced Les Grands Salons Let’s Get Married for the first time.
I personally believe that it can be a great source of ideas & inspiration for engaged couples (target market) to visit & interact with businesses in the wedding industry. The Grands Salons does offer a wide range of product & services, inspiration & one can obtain lots of information in an easily accessible & convenient way! However, to some extent & with a small portion of exaggeration, visiting this wedding exhibit felt like a flea market experience. Some kiosks were “louder” than others. Whereas some were trying to convince me to book “my wedding” with them, others were nearly silent. The smile on their faces was the only word to be heard.
Concluding Remarks
Overall, it was a great experience. I think it can be a very attractive milieu for a businesses in the wedding industry to expose products and services, meet & interact with actual or future customers, & network with other businesses… In addition, I had the opportunity to see people with whom I have worked with (as a photographer or videographer) & to socialize with other actors in the industry. It was amazing to see the rich diversity & the plethora of possibilities presented to couples. However, I strongly believe that the most important values were missing. Do I need to remind the reader that it was an exhibit for a once in a lifetime event? Perhaps the bride & groom did feel treated in a special way for their special day? As for me, I strongly think that it’s not about how loud one is, how many flyers one gives or how delicious the chocolate is. Uniqueness & differentiation in the world of love & wedding is about making a difference, adding a significant value, “beautifying” the experience of one of to the most important & special day in a person’s life. After all, how can the values of passion, love & care be nearly absent in this world of dreams, memories & magical love?
What about you readers? Have you ever been to the Salon?
If yes, feel free to share your thoughts?
2012 Photography
2012 Videography
On my 2012 bucket list: follow my photography-videography passion, seeking to progress, gain more experience & never give up on something that I love to do & do with love. Item checked! Even if its been less than one year and a half that I have purchaed my camera, I am happy to say that I have exceeded my own expectations! Very honored to have had the opportunity to save a plethora of special & once in a lifetime moments for people who believe in my passion, trust my work & appreciate my positive, creative & energetic personality! Today, thanks to my firm motivation & persistent determination, I have realized another of my dreams! Vanessa Elle officially is my business & as a creative entrepreneur, I will keep to aim high in order to meet my personal & business 2013 goals.
“Everything seems impossible until it’s done” – N.Mandela
Happy New Years everyone :)
Peace, love & happiness | Happy Holidays to all of my followers, readers & public visitors.
Sharing with you this “abstract-art like” picture of colorful Christmas lights,
a magical image with no editing, no filter, no effect applied, in it’s raw-pristine state.
Enjoy & Make your Holidays beautiful.
Holiday Smiles: My gift of time, care & happiness.
It’s not about having time. It’s about making time.
Always seeking to learn, experience & live new things, I have decided to realize one of the plethora of ideas that daily run through my mind. “Holiday smiles” is my personal project idea that appeared in my mind while discussing with a colleague of mine, a photographer, on December 5th 2012. The idea was so interesting & exciting that I knew I wasn’t going to let it fade away. “Because I am a philanthropist, a photographer & a positive person in pursuit of her passions » is what I tweeted after my meeting.
HOLIDAY SMILES? Making a small difference in a person’s life, interacting & making that person smile, especially during the Holidays. The Holiday season, for many, represents celebration, togetherness, the gathering of family members & friends. This said, my mission was to give my time to those who may agree with this “meaning” & yet not be able to meet it & feel it. In other words, I decided to give my time & share my optimism, energy & caring personality with those who are constantly at higher risks of loneliness: our senior citizens.
« Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the
young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it
cares for its helpless members » – Pearl Buck
How about giving time to those who have time & for whom it may have a bigger impact on their day… After all. « holidays are about experiences and people, and tuning into what you feel like doing at that moment. Enjoy not having to look at a watch » – Evelyn Glennie
December 21st 2012, the residence in question accepted to welcome me in order to express my mission & make my idea a reality. Christmas hats, camera & a list of lucid residents… my cousin & I were eager & enthusiastic to knock on older people’s doors.
What a beautiful experience rich in emotions, words & smiles! The most touching part of my experience was;
Residents questions & comments:
Why are you giving your time to us? Why are you doing this? Why us? No one gave me a Christmas card this year, why you? My family hasn’t called me for Christmas yet.
Others went further into saying how even their close relatives wouldn’t call them & even consider visiting them. Others really felt unworthy; they felt like they didn’t deserve our time. They claimed that it was too much, that it was nearly unreal that young girls like us would give and make time to visit them, who are “strangers” simply to give them a Christmas hat to wear, make them smile for a picture, print it & then give it to them. I must admit that I had tears in my eyes to hear them say such powerful words such as (unworthy, & undeserving). It made me even sadder to know that such feeling was in part influenced by the absence of visits from their own family & friends!
Making them happy just made my day beautiful. Seeing them smile from the moment we walked in, laugh when we asked them to wear a Christmas hat, & see their eyes glow as we wished them a Merry Christmas was what made the experience worth it. Making memories out of short moments…
What an emotional & unforgettable photoshoot! A success!
To celebrate this season, the TEDxHECMontreal team has organized a small Christmas party on December 10th 2012 inviting all of its members. Most of the members of the team & myself gathered for a nice & cozy winter supper. During our evening, we decided to make a short videoshoot with the following ingredients: improvisation, creativity & the Holiday spirit. After deciding on the background to shoot, the rest of the evening shoot happened quiet naturally. Below, you will the link to this sweet, simple & short videomontage.
This said, enjoy watching & Happy Holidays!
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TEDxHECMontreal EVENT: JUNE 1st 2013
For more information, feel free to:
Visit our website: http://www.tedxhecmontreal.com
Like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxHECMontreal?fref=ts
Send us an email: tedxhecmtl@gmail.com
Videoshoot & montage of girl friends…
Sharing funny moments, beautiful memories & expressing & sending their wishes to their close friends (Mary & Joey who recently just got married) My role? Realize/concretize the creative wedding gift idea of one of the girls, Felicia.
This less than one minute video is just a teaser with bloopers, an introduction to the 17 minutes long video montage. It was a fun videoshoot filled with laughters!
Song: “The Rembrandts-I’ll Be There For You”
& here are some pictures taken during the videoshoot.
5@8 Marketing – Halloween Edition
Photobooth pictures that I have taken Oct.25th 2012.
This 5@8 event was organized by David & I along with other marketing graduate students. It was organized for students from the DESS, Masters (M.Sc. & MBA) & doctorate (Ph.D) programs at HEC Montréal. Candies, chocolate, RedBulls were on the table. In addition, alcohol beverages were offered. Thank you to all of you who were present, the aecs & to all of you who have helped us make this evening beautiful & successful! - The Addams Family
Creativity & education, pictures & 5@8.
Enjoy the slideshow!
An interesting black & white video effect with a touch of Jazz/Chillout? Why not! Seeking to try something creatively different for a wedding video montage, I decided to create/make a more classical love montage with a warm ambiance by playing with the effects of color & music. Coloring my images with music, Jazz/Chillout music. My choice of song? The Trumpeter (Guti Remix) by Ray Foxx is a jazzy/chillout/lounge available in a compilation from Cafe Del Mar.
As J. Gordon Levitt said, “there’s something really appealing about the simplicity of black-and-white images.” ”Black-and-white photography is considered more subtle and interpretive, and less realistic than colour photography.” – Wikipedia. In this case, reality is in a mind’s interpretation of beautiful abstract images.
A couple requesting a more emotional/dramatic side to their wedding video will truly appreciate & value the artistic combination of black&white colors with Jazzy music. The language spoken by grey shades can, to some extent, scream more than colorful images. When watching monochromatic images, one is freed from the potential distraction caused by the world of colors. With a higher attention span, individuals, whether conscious or not, will have the tendency to pay more attention or focus on what’s happening &/or the meaning or message communicated through the in motion pictures. For example, I personally find that emotions are more pronounced in a grey context. Ted Grant would agree saying “when you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!”
Siham & Charbel also married on June 11th in a more traditional fashion. To read more: http://liveuphoria.org/sihamandcharbel
*Photography/Videography
Was a pleasure & a great opportunity to work with Paul Doumit, an amazing wedding photographer based in Montreal. Him, his assistant & I spent the entire day together, saving Siham & Charbel’s lifetime memories. While he was holding moments still, I was saving moments in motion. He not only is a talented photographer, but also a person who is truly passionate about his work. Feels amazing to work & be surrounded by others, who like you, can write the words love, work & passion in the same sentence.
An entire day filled with excitement, smiles & emotions. Enjoy watching the Manuela & Jason’s wedding video montage. Reliving August 11th 2012, starting with the bride & groom’s preparation all the way to the evening celebration. Made with love, shared with love!
Congratulations to this beautiful couple. Always a pleasure to capture moments and memories & make them last forever.
Picture taken: Sept.18th 2012.
Making them smile & happy makes my day beautiful. Seeing them express love & emotions as they relive their wedding day through my images & montage means satisfaction & success for me. Always ensuring that my video, as much as possible, allows their minds to replay or re experience images, family&friends moments & memories. That images & music heighten their emotions, that they smile, hug &/or maybe even tear up as they watch my montage are things that I value in my passion, in my business, in my work.
Behind the wedding scene… Picture of the bride, the groom & I.
Passion, love, work & fun… because I believe those words can belong to the same sentence :)
Can one be modern & still keep & follow traditions? It sure was possible for Siham & Charbel. This Lebanese man & his Algerian bride have gathered with family & friends to celebrate their love, June 10th 2012. This couple recently got married in a very traditional Algerian way. What makes a traditional Algerian wedding so different?
As a person who loves learning & who seeks to continuously expand her knowledge, here was an amazing opportunity for me to truly experience & discover the Algerian beliefs/culture regarding weddings. Being a wedding photographer/videographer is not only about saving the moments, but also about living the moments, their moments & making sure it’s even more beautiful. My strong interest & curiosity in regards to traditions & beliefs motivated me to ask some questions along the day or along the process. I was very well approached & greeted by her family members who gladly answered me with a smile. It made me appreciate the culture & also assisted me in directing my search of images. Differently said, by knowing about the Algerian values, beliefs & by understanding why every step or every single detail is important, it allowed my artistic mind to be guided. Therefore, during the day, as I was learning more about the meaning behind things, this recent knowledge caused my eyes & hands to react & capture with a different sense. I succeeded at placing myself in their shoes, really feeling & adapting to the Algerian traditions.
Learning through my beautiful adventure… (because photography takes you beyond)
Everything started on June 9th 2012, one day prior to the wedding. My camera & I assisted to the Henna moment, moment in which close family members & friends gathered to see Siham & Charbel have henna applied on their hands by Siham’s grandmother (tradition similar to Indian culture). The henna was a “red/brown circular” type of henna. Later on, other family members & friends who were invited to Siham’s house also had a little session of henna. Although I was asked whether or not I was interested to have a touch of this traditional henna on my hand, my role of holding the camera prevented me from agreeing (although I would’ve loved to).
Dresse(s)?
Algerian brides wishing to celebrate their weddings in a very traditional way will have to consider changing their dresses several times during the evening. Advantage or inconvenient? Although Siham would probably lean to saying its an inconvenient, I personally think it’s a gorgeous opportunity. Let’s keep in mind that Siham’s answer may be more accurate considering that she lived the experience whereas my opinion on this is solely based on my positive perspective. I personally think that it’s beautiful to have to see yourself in different dresses on the same day. But these are words originating from my “in love with change” mind. Talking about dresses, the 2nd one which Siham had to wear was more traditional than the others. Here is a picture:
Intrigued about the meaning or value behind this traditional & luxurious dress, I asked her aunt about the symbolic importance. She replied: “This dress is to symbolize kingdom, to represent the bride as a princess. In fact, back in the days, this is how princesses would dress. Thus, our traditions require that we treat our brides as princesses.” Impressive isn’t it! It is important to note that Algerians are not the only ones to have such traditions. Many others, such as the indian culture, have similar beliefs as well.
The reason for which most of this post was focused on Siham is explained by the fact that the role of men (Charbel), was not of any significant difference when compared to the more typical weddings.
In conclusion, traditional versus modern is not the most important question to ask oneself. Rather, it is the mere celebration of two people in love that matters & that regardless of any potential limitations! I could have elaborated on so many other things or elements of this event but doing so would result in me writing an entire book! A rich & worthwhile experience! Congratulations to Siham & Charbel. Wishing you happiness & beautiful memories for a lifetime. It was a pleasure living & saving those moments for you!
Since you are subscribed to my blog & since you have just received an email notification for this post, allow me to wish you happy mother’s day in public :) I wanted to give you this “surprise post” or those words as your 1st gift of the day because today, we are celebrating an amazing 25 years of knowing each other. 25 years of care, friendship, love & sharing of beautiful, emotional & hilarious crazy memories. You & I are both determined to live a happy & successful life as much as possible even if it means jumping from a plane ;) We have so much in common & I love how through time we really grew to be so alike & so close to one another. Mother, you are my life teacher, my life’s inspiration, my true best friend… & that, since 1987 <3
Simply expressing my love to you the write way…
PS: Stay the way you are because you just can’t be any more amazing! Oh, & See you later ;)
Picture taken during our crazy vacations in Greece/Turkey
1st picture taken Later today on Mothers Day… Image uploaded after published words.
“You don’t marry someone you can live with – you marry the person who you cannot live without”
Sunday May 6th 2012, I had the pleasure to save beautiful moments & create lifetime meories for Roula & Hassan’s wedding day. With them, I lived one of the most emotional & important occasions in one’s life. From the parent’s house, to riding in a limousine to the Botanical Garden & to the reception/restaurtant. It was… a truly amazing experience. For me, being a photographer/videographer by passion is not only about capturing the right poses & angles but also about making them enjoy the experience as much as I do, making them feel comfortable, entertaining them, making them smile & laugh, creating a fun & exciting ambiance/atmosphere all day long with the married couple & also their relatives/friends. Why? Because I enjoy staying true to myself & expressing my optimistic, energetic & sociable personality, which when combined with my passions, creates a synergy of happiness & success. Also, fact about me; making other people’s day beautiful makes my day even more beautiful.
My mission is to make the actual wedding day even more beautiful on the emotional & psychological state by making sure that they & I liveuphoria on this once in a lifetime event. Then, through pictures & videos, I am determined to create memories by saving the moments for as long as memories can last!
More pictures & Video montage to be shared through a slideshow soon. Roula & Hassan, Congratulations & welcome to my Ve Photography albums & Liveuphoria personal website.
Ending this post with a picture of Roula, Hassan & I :)
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/liveuphoria
Instagram picture: http://instagr.am/p/KUxdCMifm_/
A simple & creative message to thank everyone who has taken the time to wish me a Happy Birthday today :) Thanks to everyone who has expressed their wishes in person, by phone, via text message, by sending an email or birthday card & even on Facebook. You really made my day beautiful & I hope you enjoyed this beautiful day as well. Truly Yours
The beautiful changing sky on February 22nd 2012
“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety” ~Ansel Adams.
Expressing myself the photography way!
Picture taken January 28th 2012, (V&M Engagement) By: Ve Photography
