The play is about the tale of one man’s quest for freedom. A musical journey guided by the songs of Madonna, Sting, Enya and other pop musicians.

It’s a lovely show, I’ve seen it twice so far, and I would actually see it again (if all the performances wouldn’t be in the same week).

Find a few photos from the show in the photo gallery below, and if you want to attend, there are a three more performances at Kinneksbond in Mamer, Luxembourg, on Saturday and Sunday 11-12 November 2023.

It was fun to see all the VIPs greeting (and being greeted by) the people, a wave of happiness all around and, of course, the march of the sheep around the fair.

Schueberfouer is the biggest funfair in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Greater Region, dating back to 1340, when it was founded by John the Blind, as a market for cattle and agricultural products. That’s the reason why, every year, sheep with ribbons in Luxembourgish flag colors are being marched around the funfair in the inauguration day (this particular tradition is called Hämmelsmarsch).

Traditionally, the mayor of Luxembourg city (currently Lydie Polfer) opens the fair and then visits the fairground together with other politicians.

If you’re in Luxembourg between 23 August – 11 September, be sure to visit Schueberfouer and its attractions in Place de Glacis, every day from 12 p.m. to 1 a.m.

See the full schedule on the official website. There will be plenty of events and a nice fireworks show on the final day.

It all started when I was still a child, in my grandparents’ village, back in Romania. We were a big family, so when we all came together for whatever reason, we couldn’t really fit all in their otherwise big house, which was enough for them and their sons, but not for them and their seven sons’ families. So, some of us used to spend the night with some other relatives in the village. On one of those occasions, I woke up one morning in the house of some cousin of my grandparents, felt really hungry, so I figured I should head to our main house to grab something to eat.

I went out on the countryside road and I found myself surrounded by mist, during what I later found out it was called the golden hour. It was 5 am, I was all alone on the road. It was summer, but since the village was on the hills, it was quite chilly. I stopped at a fountain on the side of the road and washed my face with freezing cold water. Some cows in a courtyard were looking at me, surprised to see someone outside at that hour maybe. With my face still wet, I looked ahead down the road and saw the sun rising peacefully, a rooster crowing somewhere nearby.

I never felt so alive in my life.

I was a city boy, so all this was such an inspiring experience for me. I lived most of my life in crowded cities, with tall buildings all around, where you don’t see the sunrise or the sunset unless you really want it and by miracle you have the time for it. So, I never forgot that one morning when I felt like a god watching down on his world. Or, if you want, like an alien who just discovered a new, wonderful planet, and tries to understand it.

I moved to Luxembourg at 31 years old (I can’t believe that was 9 years ago!) and I rediscovered that feeling as a photographer, while exploring the castles and the countryside with my camera. I relived that morning hundreds of times already, but I still want more.

A large part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is hilly, and everywhere you look, there’s a charming village waiting to be discovered, so recreating that beautiful morning over and over again was quite rewarding.

Even Luxembourg city, the capital, being built on different levels and with so much vegetation, offers a lot of splendid views during its foggy mornings in the summer and autumn.

Of course, some of the best foggy mornings you can find and photograph are around large bodies of water, as you need plenty of humidity for fog to be formed. Luxembourg city has the Alzette river flowing through the center, but it’s rather small, so it doesn’t always provide enough humidity.

When we think of Moselle river on the other hand, now that’s a lot of water, and the chances of getting the perfect fog are increasing dramatically around it.

Most of the foggy mornings you will see in pictures are taken during autumn. The reason is simple, it’s much easier for a photographer to wake up at 7 and catch the autumn sunrise, than to wake up at 4 to catch the summer sunrise. Yes, the sun rises a bit later in both cases, but waking up, dressing up, making that coffee and driving to a nice location takes some time as well. Plus, the low humidity during summer may not be the best bet for a good foggy morning. I still did it a few times, woke up at 3.30-4.00 am, as hard as it was, and I was quite happy with the results. 

Another great area to photograph a good foggy morning is around the Upper Sure lake. Combine the magical hills with plenty of forest land and you find yourself in heaven.

I’ve also witnessed some fantastic foggy mornings around the castles of Luxembourg, especially built deep inside the forest. I should mention here:

• Vianden castle, rising above the forest in the Luxembourgish Ardennes. As the Our river is passing through the town very close to the castle, I can always count on a good foggy morning in that location. I only need a good photo spot, and Vianden offers plenty of them.

• Bourscheid, the largest castle in Luxembourg and my favourite. It’s surrounded by forest and very close to the river Sure, so it’s very generous with its foggy mornings. Add a bit of sun and the landscape turns magical.

• Brandenbourg, less known than the other castles, especially because it’s only a ruin now, is built deep inside the forest, but not very close to any river, so it rarely gets surrounded by the fog. However, when that happens, it becomes a true feast for the eyes.

Coming back to the city of Luxembourg, which I’ve explored in any possible way, from underground to its many levels and even from above, I was always amazed by the plentitude of viewing points you can find, especially on foggy days. Even after so many years of photographing Luxembourg, I still find new spots to explore.

The safest bet to experience a magical misty morning in Luxembourg city is the old town, with its iconic buildings, some of which are over 1000 years old, with the valley of Grund and its small and cozy Alzette river, with its dozen cobbled streets and their lonely wanderers. 

It almost doesn’t matter what viewing point you choose, as long as you’re somewhere on the upper side of the city (Ville Haute) and you can see far and wide, splendor is guaranteed! Being a photographer in Luxembourg can be rewarding!

I remember one particular morning very well, when I got to Plateau de Rham very early, but the fog was just too dense to photograph anything. I could barely see where I was walking, yet I could clearly distinguish the powerful light coming from where the sun should have been. Foggy and sunny? That’s worth the wait!

So I just wandered around for about an hour and a half, hoping for the best. Right when I was about to give up and call it a day without any success, the fog started lifting and I realized I was on to something. The fog formed a winding shape just below the buildings in the upper old town, just like a brush from a skilled painter would look like. I started clicking and I remember I managed to fill up my whole memory card, with the same images over and over, as I simply couldn’t stop celebrating the beauty in front of me.

However, Luxembourg can be amazingly beautiful from any angle you would look at it, in any quarter you would find yourself, if the time is right. 

I’ve seen amazing golden mist while wandering across the hills of the Grand Duchy, searching for new landscapes.

I’ve seen beautiful mornings while exploring the city through less visited quarters.

And I’ve seen them in totally random places in the countryside, while driving to various clients.

You can probably realize, by now, why I’m in love with this magical land and how grateful I am that I can work as a photographer in such a photogenic country like Luxembourg.

I’ll keep hunting for my magical foggy mornings in Luxembourg. Until the next time, stay in touch and don’t forget to wake up early and enjoy life to the fullest!

The year started very slow and with lots of uncertainties. You may remember or not, but at the end of 2021 the pandemic got strong again and some events got canceled. I was hired to photograph 3 of those events, so the cancellations didn’t serve me well, to put it lightly. Catching the coronavirus one week before Christmas also came with a downturn, as I had to find and pay another photographer to show up instead of me for the one event that didn’t get canceled (ended up paying more than I got from the clients, but obviously it wasn’t their fault that I got infected). So, January was pretty dry, with no buffer from previous months.

January is always a bit slow, but in 2022, it was even slower, as the pandemic was still doing some damage around. I got my first clients in late February (!). 

Then, it got really slow again, as Russia invaded Ukraine and the whole world was shocked, pretty much everything stopped. Basically, the first half of 2022 has been affected by either the pandemic or the war.

I used all this time off to browse into my large archive and put together a number of videos of Luxembourg to launch the video section of my Luxembourg image bank. I’ve also added a lot of new and older photos, taken over the past years.

Summer started pretty strong, with many clients for business portraits, corporate events, wedding photography and real estate photos.

The activity cooled off in mid-July, so when I sensed there won’t be much client work to do, I started working on my Luxembourg photographer website. 

I’ve spent most of the summer and beginning of autumn redesigning my website, transferring the shop to this main website from the subdomain I was using until now, and hopefully I managed to bring everything into the 21st century. Many nights have been lost trying to make the website and online shop look and feel as simple and easy to use as possible. That’s when I understood that my work on it will never be done. For instance, I only managed to move 5% of my old image archive to the new online shop. I’ve made a nice first selection, but there’s lots of work to be done. So, the subdomain will stick around for a while.

In parallel, I worked on launching the new Luxembourg Magique 2023 calendar, a weekly calendar available in 3 sizes, with 52 pages and 52 images, one per each week of the new year. It has been a success so far, having been sold more than in any other previous year. 

I’ve also published 2 new Luxembourg greeting cards for the winter holidays, in a new format than the 2 previously available models. I’ve also published 15 postcards that are available as a set on my website, or as individual postcards in some Ernster shops, especially in downtown Luxembourg city.   

And to continue with the website and my online shop, I finally managed to add Amazon Pay, Payconiq and direct bank transfer as payment methods, all of which have been successfully used by clients in the months before Christmas. In the previous years, only PayPal and credit cards were available (and still are).

Autumn came with an avalanche of clients for event photography, business portraits, sports and real estate. Combine that with many new orders for books, greeting cards and calendars and the sleepless nights came back. 

It continued like that until Christmas week, Christmas parties included, but I’m happy that I managed to fulfill all the orders and send all the photos to clients in time before the end of the year. The general consensus is that the pandemic is over, so it was only natural that the photography activity will be intense in this period.

I didn’t shoot that many pictures of Luxembourg in 2022, photographing for clients kept me mostly inside for long and probably the best periods, but I sure do have a huge archive of images to process from 2020 and 2021, the pandemic years. That means literally thousands of unpublished photos that will see the light in the coming years. I took this picture below in 2019, but only this year I had time to publish it, so you can imagine the backlog.

And when I say I didn’t shoot that many, it only means that I took some 60-70 photo tours, not that I didn’t shoot at all. I used to photograph Luxembourg almost every day in the past years, but this year I had to lower it down to every week or twice a week instead, having so many other jobs as a photographer. I’m happy that I found some new viewpoints, that’s pretty exciting after photographing Luxembourg for 7-8 years.

I had to prioritize my main activity as a corporate and events photographer, so I can make sure I can pay my bills.

It wasn’t all nice and sweet this year. I’ve prepared many more photo products and gifts for the Christmas and New Year season, but most of them never made it to my online shop, having been disappointed with either the quality of the final products or their delivery times. When a project looks good and makes sense in my head, it doesn’t mean it will be a success in real life, as I depend on large producers as well. To explain, I’m not in the business of selling ink and paper (or whatever other materials), but in the business of selling my photos, designs, ideas, sometimes in digital format, sometimes on various supports or objects. If my suppliers for physical products don’t deliver as expected, I have to take the loss. I do have a list of my preferred producers that I like to work with, but I’m always trying to find new ones or new products. And if they don’t live up to my expectations, I can’t push my losses onto the final clients. In the end, every loss is a lesson learned.

But all in all, 2022 turned out to be a good year, with lots of activity, and the next one looks interesting already, with a few photo jobs set up for January and February, plus many new projects that I didn’t have time to finish this year but are very well contoured to be done in the next year.

I’ll see you in 2023, let’s have a fresh start and a fantastic year ahead.

Happy New Year!

The show is based on the life of American composer and songwriter Cole Albert Porter, who wrote many hit songs in the 1920s and 1930s, like “Night and Day”, “I Get a Kick Out of You”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” or “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”.

The script is written by Neil Johnson, who also directed the show.

See some pictures I took last night:

No spoilers here, but the themes are more adult-oriented, so maybe it wouldn’t be suitable for small children (let’s say teenagers can attend though).

Anyway, a wonderful experience, the show is playing (in English) this weekend, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, check out tickets availability on Pirate Productions’ website.

We went to see what’s up, since we still coulnd’t believe what was happening in front of us.

The bird name is Nande, it’s a nandu (or rhea), not an ostrich, and the keeper, Janez Cetin, comes from Slovenia. They are traveling the world, apparently to raise awareness to living a healthy life. Yesterday, they were in Luxembourg city, today, they must be in Paris. If you want to follow their adventure, you can check out their Facebook page.

Police came quickly and checked their documents, but they didn’t want to be photographed for some reason. Anyway, both the bird and its keeper had all the proper documents in order, the bird is vaccinated and all, so they continued their trip by tram to the Gare, where they took the train to Paris.

Obviously, you don’t see such a big bird casually walking in Luxembourg city every day, so everyone was awed, taking pictures and selfies, in the tram station and inside the tram.

Just another Saturday night in Luxembourg 🙂

I’ll start with my small contribution to the cause: I’ve prepared 3 posters that you can buy and show your support for Ukraine. If you’re not a fan of printed paper, you can also license any of these 3 images, in which case you will receive the full resolution photos to use in your communication. All the proceedings collected will be donated to the organizations helping the refugees right now, and I will announce all the buyers about the donations made. So, I will support the production costs, packing and delivery from my own pocket. Please note that it takes about a week for the money to enter my account, so you need to act fast.

>ORDER HERE<. My goal with this action is not necessarily to raise a lot of money, as whatever I can raise won’t be enough anyway, but mostly to inspire you to do something as well, anything that you can, to help. If you choose my way, please allow 7-10 days for the posters to arrive.

There are more ways to help Ukraine from Luxembourg:

You can make a direct donation to the Ukrainian community in Luxembourg, they are obviously more connected to the events and will know better how to distribute the help you’re providing.

If you need a certificate for tax purposes, make your donation to the Fondation Lions Luxembourg.

If you have enough space, think of hosting the refugees in your house. Lots of other useful information in that Facebook group. There’s also a listing platform for those offering or looking for a host.

You can also donate laptops or smartphones and tablets that you no longer use, the refugees may need them.

If you have jobs available for Ukrainian refugees, post them on the dedicated job boards and help them support their families.

Make a donation to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). They are active in Ukraine and surrounding countries and probably need more funds to continue.

Make a donation to UNICEF, who are focusing on helping the kids affected by this humanitarian crisis. SOS Villages d’Enfants is also working to help the kids and war victims.

Help the Red Cross organization provide more relief in Ukraine.

Participate in protests against the Russian invasion, voice your opinion on social media or your website, anything, but don’t ignore what’s happening.

So, as you see, there are plenty of ways to help Ukraine and its people overcome this humanitarian crisis. All you need to do is choose one or more and act now! The world needs peace, but more urgently, the war victims and refugees need relief.

If you know of other meaningful campaigns to help in this horrible time, feel free to share them in the comments.

And a quick one about the action that you’re expecting from Russian nationals, in their country of from abroad:

I was born in communist Romania, under the rule of dictator Ceausescu. I was only a child when the revolution took place, but I remember very well.

Before the revolution, we weren’t allowed to talk about Ceausescu or his regime, no matter where we were. If we were in the countryside, playing on a field, we were still not allowed to talk about it, because, the adults said, “they” can hear us through the electricity wires. Whether they believed this or not, the message was clear, we don’t talk about it!

After the revolution, and Ceausescu’s execution, people were still afraid to talk about it for months! The man was dead, we all saw the execution on TV, yet everyone was still afraid to talk about it. That’s the kind of terror an autocratic regime can bring to a country.

So, I wouldn’t expect much from regular Russian people in terms of dethroning Putin, I understand what’s involved for them if they take a stand (they would put themselves and their families at risk), all I know is that nobody asked them if the invasion should start. And, if they live abroad, they probably don’t love the regime in their country and don’t approve its actions. Don’t expect them to speak up, to “clean up their own mess”, it’s almost impossible for them to protect their families from abroad.

I know it’s hard to understand, when you lived in a democracy and freedom all your life, but what we consider normal now, to voice your opinion, protest or whatever, it’s almost unthinkable for most Russians.

So, try to not fall for xenophobia, it would only make everything worse.

I managed to get to the protest and shot a few pictures.

People hanged sunflowers, the symbol of Ukraine, and brought anti-war banners, mainly directed at Putin and his horrific attack.

See the pictures below:

It was the first time I could go to an anti-war protest in Luxembourg, since the Russian invasion began. I always hoped that Putin would find a good enough reason to back down after the first week, it didn’t happen and it seems that it won’t happen very soon either.

I support the people of Ukraine in these horribile times for them, I hope they will find the strength and resources to rebuild most of their destroyed cities soon.

If you think you can help, here are a few ways to do so from Luxembourg:

Donate to the Ukrainian community in Luxembourg, they know much better where the help is most needed.

If you have jobs available for Ukrainian refugees, post them on the dedicated job boards and help them support their families.

If you have enough space, think of hosting the refugees in your house.

I have launched a charity sale of I #StandwithUkraine posters. All the proceedings from those 3 images will be donated to Ukrainian refugees, through Fondations Lions Luxembourg (recommended by LUkraine Asbl). Maybe a drop in the ocean, but this is what I can do to help.

Voice your opinion and concerns about the war in social media and anywhere you can. You probably know by now, the Kremlin propaganda is working tirelessly to justify and shine a legitimate light on the war, mostly by disinformation and whataboutism. Let’s help more people to not fall in this trap.

I’m also deeply sorry for the Russian population and Russian-speaking people in Luxembourg and all around Europe, for being dragged in a war against their will, and who will probably face some kind of (unjustified) hatred or discrimination in the near future, without having anything to do with their leader’s “special military operation”. Let’s not fall for xenophobia, Russia is so much more than just Putin and his military ambitions.

I hope the peace will come sooner than later.

Humanity will prevail!

In this article, I will explain why I don’t jump on the Black Friday train.

You may have seen over the years my calendars, fine art prints, books and other products that I produce and advertise as possible Christmas gifts ideas. But you have never seen them discounted for Black Friday or any other sales period. There are many reasons why you won’t see discounts on my online shop:

• My products and services are unique. Meaning that, if I’m the only one creating them, I am the only one who can sell them to you. I’m not buying TVs and laptops from a wholesaler and selling them to you on retail, with a profit. That’s not what I do. I create the images, I’m designing the products and I(‘m trying to) distribute them. Sometimes, I even deliver them myself. You can buy from someone else somewhat similar products or services, but those will be theirs, not mine.

• If my images and products are selling or not, it’s not that important to me. Sure, if they’re selling, it’s a good confirmation that I’m producing good work or at least I’m on the right track. If they don’t, it’s a good sign that I should probably improve something. But what matters to me the most is to create them in the first place. I made it easy for people to find and buy them, however, the selling process doesn’t bring me the same satisfaction as the creative process. What makes me happy is to create.

• I don’t think it’s fair for people who bought with a full price to see the exact same product on discount, even for a short period of time. I could understand this for electronics and clothes, because they have a moral depreciation factor, they may not be “hot” after a while, or there may be much better products launched for the same price since their launch. But I try to create timeless images as much as possible and, if anything, from what I have seen so far, older images usually get more expensive, not cheaper.

• I believe in fair prices all year round, not just on Black Friday. What’s fair can be, of course, debatable. But my prices seem fair to me. If they seem fair to you as well, then great, we may have a deal! There may be lower or higher prices for somewhat similar products if you look around at my competition. We all have our reasons to set a certain price for products or services and I won’t discuss them in depth right now. What matters is that I can work with these prices. I hope you can as well.

• My products are always available in a very limited quantity or made on order. I can’t afford to produce and keep large stocks, I wouldn’t even have enough space to deposit many products, so there’s not much clearance for me to do, at any moment of the year. I would love it if people would buy photography and prints the same way they buy phones, flowers or pizza, I could afford to keep large stocks. But the reality is, people would buy pizza and beer in a snap, while they would think about it for a month before buying a book or a calendar for the same amount. And I know this for sure, because every year I get messages from people who took too long to decide and they feel sad that I don’t have what they want anymore. It’s just the reality of these days, I probably do the same.

• My job is being a photographer. If I would do a Black Friday discount, it would just mean that I’m willing to accept a lower payment for my work, even if my work hasn’t changed. Now, think about when you last went to your employer and said that you want a lower salary. Never, right? Would you like to earn 50% less in November, but work the same, just because it’s Black Friday? So, that’s how I feel when Black Friday comes around and I get a message or two about my prices. No, I’m not willing to reduce my “salary”, which is already low enough. And it’s been low enough in the past 18 years since I’ve started doing this, because photography has never been a high paying job.

• Photography is not just a business for me, it is my life. And I take it seriously. Photography is all I’ve been working on for all my adult life. And my life is not on discount. Would you offer yours on discount?

I could go on forever, but the bottom line is, I’m a photographer, not a souvenir shop. I’m a real person with a real life and a real family. I have an online shop, where I display my images of Luxembourg and products that derive from them, because I’m hoping to get paid for my work and efforts, or at least to recover some of my expenses, but my primary occupation is to take pictures, not to sell shiny products made in bulk.

So, when all these Black Friday or Cyber Monday or Winter Sales are over, I will still be here, with or without my calendars, books, fine art prints or greeting cards, patiently waiting for the right moment to shoot another picture.

Happy shopping, everyone! I’ll see you later 🙂 Don’t forget to subscribe here below!

Trying to get out of the incredibly long queues on the few roads still opened, I was redirected by the GPS 6 times and spent several hours in traffic (for a trip that should have lasted one hour). At one point, the GPS told be to take a left on this street:

It didn’t seem like a good idea, so I tried another route, but not before taking a few pictures:

Back in Luxembourg, things started to cool down, but I’ve heard that Echternach was flooded really hard, so I went there to see what’s happening. I have never seen the town of Echternach like this ever before:

These are football fields, completely flooded:

And this is from the centre:

The things are starting to get back to normal now, at least for the people unaffected by the floods. Those who have been affected will need a long time to recover their losses, if they can be recovered.

However, from my experience, if the water found its way through those areas, it will happen again at some point in the future, unless we take action to prevent it.