Streets of Paris

ejg1890

Taken in Paris last year - everyone should recognize the sites:

alexf

Very nice. Like the gargoyle shot.

PS: It is best to number pictures when posting more than three, for easier reference.

Richard

ejg1890 wrote:

Taken in Paris last year - everyone should recognize the sites:

These are nicely done. So do you have any shots of less familiar sites? There's nothing wrong with postcard views--it's sometimes hard to avoid shooting them for friends and family--but personally I am interested in seeing the parts of Paris I haven't seen so often.

ejg1890

Richard wrote:

These are nicely done. So do you have any shots of less familiar sites? There's nothing wrong with postcard views--it's sometimes hard to avoid shooting them for friends and family--but personally I am interested in seeing the parts of Paris I haven't seen so often.

Yes, but there are so many attractions in Paris it's hard to get photos from else where. Next time I plan to spend more time where the Parisians are. This time was in July and the city was packed with tourist.



Bastille Day Celebration

rutt

Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, I was 12 years old and my parents irresponsibly decided to "retire" to Paris on a moment's notice about 1 week before we were supposed to start school one fall. After they figured out they really didn't know what to do with us, I ended up with a lot of free time and a camera loose on the streets of Paris with only the bare minimum of French. ("Where is the train station?" "It was over 25 years ago.")

Hang in there, this really is relevant. Every kiosk and little store would have these ravishing post cards of famous Paris scenes, especially those long exposure night time tripod scenes with light traces from cars. And I was so jealous I wanted to be able to take pictures that looked that good. Eventually I decided that:

1. I couldn't compete with these images no matter what I did. Something about the pop of the color. These days I could probably match it.
2. What was the point? They were already done. Many times.

Decades later, Andy took me to this place in Brooklyn at dusk to photograph the Brooklyn Bridge. It was really cool and the bridge and Manhattan in the background were ravishing. We set up our cameras on tripods and shot away like mad as day turned to night. I got hundreds of shots. With water smooth from long exposure. With just a little blue left in the sky. The next day, walking around midtown, those very scenes were available from literally hundreds of places. And they didn't look any better worse than the ones I took.

In short, it's nice to be able to shoot post cards, but what you get won't be unique. Try to get beyond postcards by learning to see people, trash, graffiti, dogs, store windows, all the stuff that you would see if it were really your city.

michswiss

A millions times...

If you love your city, shoot it in its natural state. The occasional glamour shot is cool though.

ejg1890

rutt wrote:

Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, I was 12 years old and my parents irresponsibly decided to "retire" to Paris on a moment's notice about 1 week before we were supposed to start school one fall. After they figured out they really didn't know what to do with us, I ended up with a lot of free time and a camera loose on the streets of Paris with only the bare minimum of French. ("Where is the train station?" "It was over 25 years ago.")

Hang in there, this really is relevant. Every kiosk and little store would have these ravishing post cards of famous Paris scenes, especially those long exposure night time tripod scenes with light traces from cars. And I was so jealous I wanted to be able to take pictures that looked that good. Eventually I decided that:

1. I couldn't compete with these images no matter what I did. Something about the pop of the color. These days I could probably match it.
2. What was the point? They were already done. Many times.

Decades later, Andy took me to this place in Brooklyn at dusk to photograph the Brooklyn Bridge. It was really cool and the bridge and Manhattan in the background were ravishing. We set up our cameras on tripods and shot away like mad as day turned to night. I got hundreds of shots. With water smooth from long exposure. With just a little blue left in the sky. The next day, walking around midtown, those very scenes were available from literally hundreds of places. And they didn't look any better worse than the ones I took.

In short, it's nice to be able to shoot post cards, but what you get won't be unique. Try to get beyond postcards by learning to see people, trash, graffiti, dogs, store windows, all the stuff that you would see if it were really your city.

I completely agree. However, when you visit a city for 3.5 days before moving on you are fairly busy in a city such as Paris that you don't get the opportunity to explore all the small side streets. If I had my choice I would have spent more time in Paris during our 2 week trip in order to explore more of Paris. However, we did enjoy our time in Paris and want to return "soon" for a longer stay to explore.

Richard

ejg1890 wrote:

I completely agree. However, when you visit a city for 3.5 days before moving on you are fairly busy in a city such as Paris that you don't get the opportunity to explore all the small side streets. If I had my choice I would have spent more time in Paris during our 2 week trip in order to explore more of Paris. However, we did enjoy our time in Paris and want to return "soon" for a longer stay to explore.

The last time I was in Paris, I remember thinking that the great thing about it is that it's Paris wherever you look. Probably not true in the outer neighborhoods, but certainly in the center. Hopefully, next time you're there you'll have more time to look around and not have to worry about hitting all the famous spots in a very short time.

Niepce

Neat shots, ejg1890. Especially Notre Dame by night. Did you modify the background? I can't remember having ever seen a night so dark in Paris...

ejg1890

Niepce wrote:

Neat shots, ejg1890. Especially Notre Dame by night. Did you modify the background? I can't remember having ever seen a night so dark in Paris...

No I did not modify the background. I didn't do much to the photo - only slight sharpening. No white balance, tonal, background, etc. changes. The lens was a tokina 11-16 lens. I was close in with a tripod and tilted upwards. This minimized the surrounding light and effects.

ejg1890

Richard wrote:

The last time I was in Paris, I remember thinking that the great thing about it is that it's Paris wherever you look. Probably not true in the outer neighborhoods, but certainly in the center. Hopefully, next time you're there you'll have more time to look around and not have to worry about hitting all the famous spots in a very short time.

My first time in Paris was more than 20 years ago. I stayed in one of the outer neighborhoods but still close to the metro. Spent a lot of time conversing with the locals at the neighborhood cafes. I also spent more than 5 days in Paris.

This trip years later was my wifes first time to Paris. Because of the location she wanted to visit we were limited to our time in Paris and of course wanted to visit all the regular locations. We do want to return and this time spend at least 1 week. Also looking into the house exchange so we do get out the the central Paris area.

The rest of the trip was spent driving through much of the French, Bavaria, and Swiss country side. There I have many photos of what may be considered none tourist areas. But then again, when traveling with someone who is not into photography you can't continually stop along the roadside for photos. That will irratate them and never get you to your location. Next time in France we will drive again, but not cover as wide an area as we did this last summer.