Vive la France!

What better subject could I pick for today's post but something from France? So here's a few more from last March's Paris trip. We had fair and dry spring weather with cold and clean air: ideal conditions for some night shots!

To start, a classic view on the Notre-Dame cathedral, taken from the Pont Saint-Michel. The light was great: colorful reflections on the water of the Seine, and just enough fading daylight left to leave some color in the sky and light on the buildings (it was around half past seven). At left, you can see an enormous canvas hiding scaffolding, and depicting various aspects of police work.

I used my favorite lens for night photography, an AF-D 35mm f/2.0. Being light and compact, it's a great walk-around lens well suited for unobtrusive shooting. With a little exercise, you can frame from the hip: you just have to remember that at this focal length the width of the image (on film or full-frame digital) will be about equal to the distance to the subject.

And nothing adds more 'mood' to urban night shots than a little black&white...!

Gear notes: D700, 35/2.0

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Sign of the times

A fairly simple shot this time. I noticed these typical Parisian lanterns close to the Notre Dame cathedral. I was immediately struck by the contrast between the old (style) lanterns and the busy collection of stickers and graffiti covering the contemporary road sign. Another example of 'cohabitation'!

The composition works well due to the two crossing diagonal patterns. The set of lanterns and the sign both come close to intersections of 'rule of thirds' lines. The classical building below gives the frame some stability and anchors the scene in the its surroundings. The few branches left also add to the context.

Not much post-processing: a slight brightness and vibrance boost to make the blue spring sky stand out even more, and another touch to eliminate the visible corner vignetting produced by my trusty 28-200mm zoom lens. That 'old' Nikkor from the analog days currently enjoys a second life as a walkaround lens on my full-frame digital body.

Gear notes: D700, 28-200G

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And the winner is...

It was an early Saturday morning in March, and I was on my way to a day of shooting the Paris streets with my friend Sab Will. I was about to take the metro at the Trocadéro station, which a few days later would close for a thorough upgrade.

I spotted the colorful chairs across the tracks, and immediately realized I 'had' a picture. I was left with only a few moments without trains or passengers 'disturbing' the image, I managed to capture no more than two frames.

What attracted me was the simplicity of the composition: strong horizontals, the cold fluorescent lights, the blotches of vibrant green and red, the desolate name sign, the already emptied ad spaces... I kept the tracks and ceiling in the frame on purpose: they strengthen the panoramic view, create some distance from the camera and thus add to the 'size' of the scene.

This image happened to me in a brief flash, and though I waited a little longer the opportunity for more shots was gone: life-as-usual in the metro station simply took over. But I have been wondering since that day what stories I could have created on top of this simple scene, if only I had been in control. Just image one or two willing people that you could direct to play a part in some tableau vivant...?

Gear notes: D700, AF-D 35/2.0

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In & Out

We just had finished an excellent dinner in this rue Saint-Louis en l'Île, Paris restaurant. While my wife was fiddling with her gloves, I stepped across the street just to take a souvenir snapshot of the place. Only later, behind the computer, I realized that much more was going on in this picture.

First I noticed how the light is playing across the frame. There's a spotlight nicely illuminating from above the head and hands (the rest mysteriously stays in the dark). Then there's the scene inside, a lively dinner party still going on (you can see a raised bottle and glass if you look carefully). Such a contrast with the silence of the empty street...

There wasn't any significant cropping, I prefer to get the composition right in camera whenever possible. I brightened a few shadow areas to reveal structure and detail, and also brought up the light behind the window. Finally, I decided to desaturate the colors, so the image reflects the quiet atmosphere I experienced when taking the shot.
Et voilà...

More images from this Paris weekend here.

Gear notes: D700, AF-D 35/2.0

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