Exotic flower 1 – Macro photography. Auteuil, 2012
Not so exotic flower – macro photography. Amiens. 2012
Champs Elysees – Trailing Lights (2)
Here is the remainder of my Saturday night pictures of trailing lights at the Arc de Triomphe:
One of my favourites.
As cabs were passing by, a mixture of green and red lights.
This dude looked really cool, and I thought that was a nice picture … until I realised a lamppost was coming out of his head. Bummer!
Lions and Eagles
Emperors do like their lions and eagles. This little beast can be seen on lampposts all around the square. Now, the funny thing is that this Arch was designed for the benefit of Boney I (he even wanted 4 of them but only 2 were built, the Carrousel and this one), but it was only completed in 1836 under the reign of Louis-Philippe. In other words, a King, celebrating a self-proclaimed Emperor, with symbols of the revolution against … the Monarchy. It’s fair to say that there was a bit of confusion for at least 90 years after the revolution. Those of you who would like to understand that state of confusion after 1789 in France need to read The Chouans by Honoré de Balzac, a capital book if you want to understand the situation and the rapport de force.
Trailing Lights on the Champs Elysées
It starts with a picture of trailing lights at dusk, looking towards the Champs Elysées
Then I moved, Clockwise, in order to capture the West side of the Arch,still looking towards the Champs Elysées, only slightly later.
So that I end up, at nearly 11:00pm turning my back on the Champs Elysées, looking towards the West, with the famous Marseillaise by Rude (the statue, not the anthem; the statue on the right East pillar, one of the most famous ever, by Sculptor Rude, who didn’t deserve his name, neither in French nor English).
Ghosts In The Machine
Long exposure, 1.6 seconds, the red trailing traces are those of a taxi sign and a couple of headlights and rear lights. What I prefer though are the ghosts on the pavement on the right-hand side. Place de l’Etoile, Paris, 2013
La Défense Business District (B&W)
La Défense is situated west of Paris, a major business district where I worked for 3 years. Not your usual romantic view of Paris, but the stark reality of a modern and busy City. Despite prejudices. Shot on my way back from interviewing a business partner for a Website. As I had my camera with me, I made the most of it while waiting for my next appointment. Paris, June 2013
Triumphant … Again (HDR)
A great classic, I hadn’t taken pictures of the Arch of Triumph (Arc de Triomphe) since at least 1987 or 8. This is an HDR shot made of 3 bracketed shots taken in a fraction of a second; dodging the passing cars was a bit of a challenge. The lens is my fixed manual Nikkor O 35mm.
