Category Paris XIV

Happy New Year from Paris, France (HDR)

Yann Gourvennec 4 Comments

I know I’ve done it already but there is no harm in sending you once more all my best wishes for the year to come with this night shot taken from the Cité Universitaire, a beautiful 1921-1935 Students’ housing programme designed by the French government with the help from benefactors from the States (Rockefeller) and the then newly-freed Alsace (Deutsch Delameurthe). I can’t tire from taking strolls in that beautiful park, a stone’s throw from where I live. So here’s to you again friends from all over the World, and thank you so much for stopping by this blog and making it worthwhile to work so hard on my pictures. See you soon in 2014!

Michel Pigeon, sculptor, the mirror (“Le miroir”)

Yann Gourvennec 2 Comments

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A very elegant yet improbable position. Try mimicking that! Even with yoga training…
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Close up view. The bronze is beautifully crafted
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Seen from above, the lady and the mirror…

Hurray! My old new D600 has just arrived in order to replace my stolen camera. While loads of funny comments about oil and dust spot issues are issued on the Web, the D600 is now cheaper. Buying a second hand camera and lens kit made it even cheaper, even though cheaper doesn’t mean cheap. Yet, I decided to start from scratch and not think about this dreadful event and start working on my pictures again. Here are my first shots today with the new camera, a set of stills of a statue by Michel Pigeon, a local artist from Rue Hallé, a nearby street in the 14th arrondissement.

This is a small bronze piece and the shots were taken with the superb Nikon 105mm macro (micro) lens. Not a spot of oil or anything on the shots; note that nothing would ever show with very large aperture modes. Anyway, as Ken Rockwell rightfully points out on his excellent website, what matters is the lens, so if there is one thing you need to invest in, it’s a good lens or a super good lens like the 105mm I used in this series of shots.