The Medieval Festival in Provins is one of the most colourful and entertaining outdoor events to be visited in France in mid-June. Located only and hour and a half drive from Paris, the medieval city of Provins with its fortifications and well-preserved city walls is recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site and makes a perfect setting for a large costumed two-day festival. This year, the theme of the 33rd festival edition was "Travel and discovery", and, as you may guess, this was a journey both in space and in time, an event that no travel photographer can miss!

What can be more fresh and beautiful than springtime in Montmartre? Tender pink blossoms, bright morning sunlight, juicy green leaves on the trees - Spring is definitely in the air! Brandi and Joel enjoyed their time to the fullest in the company of photographer Catherine O'Hara and got some great photographic memories as a result!

A romantic date in the Marais area of Paris, full of charming mansions dating back to the 17th century, hidden gardens, picturesque cafés. Warm hugs, gentle kisses, a glass of wine on the terrace, and of course lots of giggles! Photographer Catherine O'Hara, who recently met Diane and Al for a portrait session, summed it up in just one phrase: "Fourty-seven years of marriage and still crazy about each other!"

You may have heard of historic floods that happened in Paris and over the bigger part of Europe in late May and early June this year. After several days of torrential rains, the Seine and Loire rivers brought their swollen waters towards the French capital, causing much surprise and trouble to the city dwellers, boat owners and museum keepers. While city services were continuously working on minimising the havoc the flooding caused, some Parisians headed out towards the embankments and the bridges, camera in hand, to capture the exceptional views it produced.

In photography, one of the most interesting and fun things to capture and to experiment with are reflections. Whether in the city or out in nature, reflective surfaces are all around us. So why not use them for an extra level of interest in your travel photos? Let's see when and how to use reflections in photography and what may come out of it...

Paris has long been a dream destination for Mai Ton and Andrew from Vietnam, so they chose it for their engagement portrait session with our photographer Elena Usacheva. A stroll around the Louvre and the Seine river on an early morning in May was full of tenderness and love for this lovely couple, and Elena captured it perfectly!

For their first wedding anniversary, Jody decided to surprise his wife Sharon with a romantic portrait session during their visit to the City of Light. Our photographer Elena Usacheva met them both at sunrise and took them for a stroll around the Notre Dame Cathedral and later to the area around the Eiffel tower. Jody and Sharon had enough courage to start their session as early as 7 a.m. and enjoyed not only the softest possible light on a sunny day, but also the city that belonged only to them!

Getting great photos straight out of the camera without any editing is every photographer's aspiration. In practice, while the choice of settings and composition are of course to be done in camera, images taken in certain light and weather conditions may need an extra kick. Besides, if you shoot in RAW format (which we absolutely recommend), basic post-processing is inevitable to make the files usable for prints or sharing online. We have therefore put together six Lightroom tips and tricks for making your images pop in only a few minutes!

When in Paris, have you ever wondered what is hiding behind the closed doors of its numerous magnificent buildings? While museums and churches are open to the public, certain edifices first of all serve their direct purpose and can only be visited during Heritage Days in September. One of such venues is the Hôtel de Ville de Paris, the Town Hall of the City of Paris. Besides Heritage Days, when the building gets very crowded, the Hôtel de Ville organises guided group visits several times a year, balancing them with the busy schedule of local administration. This year, I had the chance to be a part of such a visit, camera in hand and I can't wait to share my discoveries with you!

There is one sure way to start smiling: to revisit the photos we took of our wonderful couples during the past year in Paris. Each session brings back plenty of fantastic memories of that day, the moments of affinity and joy, of jokes and laughter, sweet surprises and unexpected catches. We thank our participants again for sharing these moments with us!

Karen and Mario traveled all the way from Indonesia to Paris for a romantic couple portrait session around the iconic landmarks of the City of Light. They met our photographer Catherine O'Hara around the Louvre, walked along the Seine river and swans, stopped by the ornate Alexandre III bridge, and continued to the Eiffel tower. This elegant portrait session ended with Edmond getting on his knee and offering his heart and a ring to his beautiful fiancée right by the Eiffel tower. Our congratulations to this lovely couple!

To watermark or not to watermark your photos? That is the question! Watermarking is one of those endless photographers' debates of the digital era. Some say a work should be signed before publishing it online, whereas others argue that a watermark distracts from the image and does not prevent it from being copied. And as it often happens in such discussions, there is no absolute right answer. Every photographer is free to decide whether to watermark his or her images, and if so, how to do it. Let's have a look at the pros and cons, as well as at the key moments of proper watermarking.