Category Archives: France

Paris: Saturday Night Lights

Posted on by
14

Weekend nights are pretty lively in this city. Even before the sun has set, the party spirit is gearing up. The banks of the Seine are lined with thousands of young people assembled in small groups sharing food and various liquid refreshments and generally having a great time. The expansive lawns of the Champs des Mars and Esplanade des Invalides are similarly packed, but populated mostly by families and Frisbee tosseurs (not a real word). The streets are filled with tourists, stopping every 20 meters or so to photograph the city’s icons and the now obligatory “selfies.” And this photographer heads to the Pont Alexandre III, considered the most elegant bridge in Paris.

Image

Waxing Moon, Pont Alexandre III, Paris

This was photographed from the Right Bank at the entrance to Pont Alexandre.  The entrances on both sides are flanked by a pair of pillars such as the one shown here, each with a sculpture of Pegasus, the mythological flying horse.  It was shot at about 10:40 PM.

Image

Pont Alexandre III and Les Invalides at Night

This was also photographed from the Right Bank, about 25 feet to the left of the previous image.   In the bottom left, you can see the groups of young people celebrating the evening.  In the distance, the illuminated dome of Les Invalides sits astride the massive Esplanade des Invalides.  The two pillars on the left bank flank the entrance on the opposite side. Photographed at about 10:50 PM.

Image

Eiffel Tower, from Pont Alexandre III

And, of course, the obligatory image of the Eiffel Tower.  Photographed at about 10:25 PM.  As you can see, I am steadily working my way downriver.

My travels about this city have been facilitated by the incredibly useful (and free) app by the Paris Metro system.  It knows where I am and I just tell it where I want to go.  It directs me to the right bus stop and tells me which bus to take and where to get off.  So I knew when I was taking that last shot at 10:50 PM that I could get across the bridge to the bus stop on the other side and catch the 11:00 PM 63 bus that would drop me off abut a block from our home base.  If you are coming here and don’t already have it, you must get a copy.  Just go to the App store and ask for the RATP app.

Paris: Place de la Concorde at Night

Posted on by
24

Image

Fontaine de la Concorde at Night

The Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris and is best known for its obelisk with the golden tip.  But the obelisk is flanked on the north and south by a pair of ornate fountains and I have been trying to get a decent picture of one of them for seven years, ever since I first saw them.  It’s always been something:  fountains turned off, lights turned off, lousy light, etc.  In fact, when I came here late yesterday afternoon, it looked like  it might be a repetition of the same story.   The south fountain was both dry and dark.  But the north fountain was running.  Now, I only had to wait and hope they would turn the lights on when it got dark.

Fortunately, they did and the image above is the result.  The building in the background  is the Hotel de Crillon which apparently is being renovated.  The brightly colored design is actually a scrim to hide the unsightly construction work.  In the past, these scrims were graphic designs, often a replication of the structure being repaired, but now the French have taken the opportunity to help finance their renovation projects by renting the scrims as advertising billboards.  In this case, the company is Swatch.

The photograph is another photomerge (two images), primarily because my chosen shooting location (to block out some unwanted objects) put me a little too close to get it all in one shot.  (Technical Data: Nikon 800E on tripod with 24-70mm f/2.8 lens set at 24mm. Exposure: 5 secs. @ f/16, EV= -1.33, ISO 200)

Paris Countdown: Five Days!

Posted on by
13

It won’t be long now.  My camera gear is ready to go, the research is done, and our travel documents have been checked and checked again.  But there is still time for another retrospective of previous visits.

Paris is often called the City of Light or “La Ville-Lumière.” The origin of this term has several competing theories, but we photographers know that the real reason is what happens after sunset.  The Parisians know how to illuminate their city.   According to Elaine Sciolino, in a 2006 New York Times article, considerable resources are dedicated to lighting the monuments, buildings, and bridges of Paris.  There is an entire lighting division in City Hall responsible for choosing the design, style, color, intensity, and timing of the lighting for  some 300 structures within the city’s 40 square miles.

Image

Twilight, Institut de France from the Right Bank

The image above shows the Institut de France with the Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge, on the left.  The bridge links the Institut with the central court of the Louvre Museum.

Image

Twilight, Pont Neuf, from the Right Bank

Pont Neuf, a short walk away, is another example.  This was taken about five minutes earlier than the image of the Institut de France  This is the oldest bridge across the Seine today.  Construction started in the 16th century and it was the first bridge not lined with houses on both sides.

 Image

 Sacre-Coeur at Night

 A few days later, I was on the rooftop terrace of Printemps (64 Blvd. Haussman),  and captured this scene of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica located on Montmarte Hill.

If all goes well, I should find a few more opportunities to photograph the La Nuit en Paris.   And, as in my previous post on Paris, I welcome any suggestions for subjects and/or locations. I’ve had several interesting suggestions already.  Just use the Comments option to send them.

Paris Countdown!

Posted on by
19

In two weeks, I will be heading back to Paris and I am beside myself with excitement.  I have been carefully planning possible locations and times to capture photographic images, but let’s get real.  There are other reasons to be there.  And it is entirely likely that my blog postings will cease entirely during the 15-day trip as we use the too-short time available to concentrate fully on whatever experiences we may encounter.  But, at the moment, this begins the final count-down, a retrospective of past trips to help set the mood.

Image

The Louvre Pyramid at Twilight

I like to learn a little bit about subjects that I photograph and there is a lot to know about this place.  In 1981 President François Mitterrand launched a major expansion of the Louvre, a project headed by I.M. Pei and including Yann Weymouth as Chief of Design.  The project was completed in 1989, featuring glass manufactured with Fontainbleau white sand to attain a perfectly clear white color supported by a metal structure designed by Navtec, a U.S. firm known for its rigging on America’s Cup sailboats.    (Technical Data: Nikon D200 with 18-20 0mm f/3.5 lens set at 18 mm; exposure: 1/40th sec. @ f/3.5, EV at -1.0 at ISO 400)

Image

The Eiffel Tower at Night

And no trip to Paris can be complete without a photo of the Eiffel Tower.  Named for its designer Gustave Eiffel, it was completed in 1889 to mark the centennial of the French Revolution and served as the entrance arch for the 1889 World’s Fair. Its completion also ended the short reign of the Washington Monument as the tallest building in the world. The unusual blue lighting and circle of 12 illuminated stars in this image were a temporary celebration of France assuming the Presidency of the European Union in the summer of 2008 for a six-month term.

I didn’t have a tripod, but there is a wide ledge on the balcony of the Place du Trocadero that is perfect for a platform.  (Technical Data: Photographed from the Place du Trocadero with a Nikon D200 with 18-20 0mm f/3.5 lens set at 29mm; exposure 4 sec. @f/4.0, ISO 500)

Image

Inside the Musee d’Orsay

The Musee d’Orsay originally was a railway station built in 1900 for the Universal Exposition.  It served this function for 39 years and was used for other purposes until 1970 when it was about to be destroyed.  The Ministry of Culture blocked the plan, directing that it be preserved and transformed into an art museum to bridge the gap between the Louvre and contemporary art of the Georges Pompidou Centre.  It was opened in 1986.

I found an upper balcony overlooking what must have been the original train shed and made three handheld exposures. It was one of my first attempts at Photomerge.  (Technical Data: Nikon D700 with 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens set at 24 mm; exposure: 1/80th sec. @ f/4.5, at ISO 400)

Image

Phone Call, Paris 2008

“Street Photography” is not my strong suit but sometimes one gets lucky.  In this case, I noticed the coincidence of the color of the young woman’s purse and the display in the store window.  She very kindly remained engrossed in a lengthy cell phone conversation giving me plenty of time to get my act together. (Technical Data: Nikon D-200 with 18-20 0mm f/3.5 lens set at 80mm; exposure 1/125th @f/5.6, ISO 400)

If anyone has a favorite photo location in Paris, please let me know.  You might see it in a future post.