This Week in the Garden – June 14

June 14, 2013 by Terry | 2 Comments

One of the advantages of having a big garden is that I never run out of subject matter that is close to home. This past week the bearded iris started to bloom and the first of the peonies. The show will go on for two or three weeks. Those two flowers are my favorites and one of the big reasons I garden. I have quite a few varieties of each, and it’s funny; when ‘Alizes’ is blooming, I think that is my favorite. When it quits blooming and ‘Honky Tonk Blues’ starts, that is my favorite. I guess I am fickle.

Happily, we had a couple of days this week without rain and some good light and low wind, making life easier for a flower photographer.

Posted in Flower Photography, This Week in the Garden

Place de la Concorde

June 8, 2013 by Terry | 4 Comments

A Little History of Place de la Concorde

Covering over 20 acres, Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris. It was completed in 1772 and has experienced many historic events since then. During the French Revolution, a guillotine was erected and here King Louis XV, Marie Antoinette and thousands of others met their end during the Reign of Terror. In World War II, the German High Command had their headquarters in one of the buildings.

We visited this site on the first stop of a night shooting adventure, with six of us traveling in a chauffeured Mercedes, a treat that was funded by one of the other workshop participants. When walking through here at the end of the day, it’s difficult to reconcile its history with the placid atmosphere.

The fountains of Place de la Concorde

In the center of the square is an obelisk with hieroglyphic carvings that was a gift of the Egyptian government in the 19th century, but dates back to the time of Ramses II. On either side of the obelisk are two magnificent fountains, completed in 1840, and based on the theme of rivers and streams. Both fountains contain six figures holding fish spouting water, six seated figures, and four supporting the upper basin from which the water spills down. All of the figures are larger than life. Twelve different sculptors worked on the statuary of the fountains and the major figures were made of cast iron, and painted with bronze and gold paint. The smaller figures were made of bronze. For me, these fountains were the features of the square that I was most drawn to.

(Click on the photos to see in a larger size.)

South Fountain

South Fountain Detail

The north fountain was photographed with the setting sun backlighting the fountain and gave the whole scene warmer colors than the south fountain.

North Fountain

North Fountain Detail

We stayed for the sunset…

Place de la Concorde Sunset

…and after that, we sat on the ground waiting for the street lamps to light as we looked down the boulevard to the Arch de Triomphe. We left before that happened, though; we had more places to go and things to do.

looking to the Arch de Triomphe

These are not award-winning images, I understand, but I enjoyed the history, the beauty of the whole place and the experience of being there with new friends from the workshop.

These links will provide more information on Place de la Concorde and the Fountains.

Posted in Night Photography, Paris, Photography in General, Travel Photography

This Week in the Garden – May 30

May 30, 2013 by Terry | 4 Comments

Since my return from Paris, I’ve had lots of chores to catch up on in my garden. After working many hours last week, I thought I deserved a reward at the end of one day, so I took a little break, went in the house and grabbed the camera and my macro lens. Normally, I like to photograph the flowers early in the day while they are fresh after awakening from the cool night, but this was going to be my last chance at some of these. Some were already beginning to fade to make room for what would be coming next. I had to use a bit higher ISO (200-400) because of the overcast day and the wind gusts. I am becoming enchanted with the shallower depth of field in some of these. Some were handheld while crawling around on the ground; others were shot with the help of a tripod and a break in the breeze.

It truly is a miracle, what can happen in less than a month. This is what I saw when I looked out my back door on May 2.

May 2, 2013

Posted in Photographing Flowers, Photography Tips, This Week in the Garden

Street Photography in Paris

May 24, 2013 by Terry | 4 Comments

I was privileged to take a week-long photography workshop in Paris with Valerie Jardin, an internationally recognized street photographer. This genre of photography was the primary learning experience of the workshop. Valerie, who was born in France, follows in the footsteps of fellow countryman Henri Cartier-Bresson, a French photographer who helped develop the style that resulted in the coined term, “The Decisive Moment”. Some say there are no rules to this genre, but my understanding is that it should be candid (not posed) and should chronicle the contemporary culture. It would have a close relationship to photojournalism (with very limited editing, if any) and the best street photography would tell a story.

I found this very difficult to do. When I had traveled before, I felt that people got in the way, and this was a different way of thinking. It was hard to point my camera at someone without first asking permission. It was much easier for me to strike up a conversation with a friendly stranger. When I came home with over a thousand photos from the workshop, I didn’t think I would have any street photography images that were compelling enough to keep. Those below are ones that I thought, if not compelling, at least worthwhile because they either fit my definition of “street photography”, or they seemed to capture memories of a wonderful trip. A few of them were posed, for instance the man with the red umbrella was staged by a clever workshop participant. I struck up a conversation with one of the street musicians and there was an implied understanding with others that “you can take my picture if you will drop a Euro in the basket”. Most of the images were converted to black and white. That is in the tradition of photojournalism and gives a timeless, authentic feeling. Some of these have color or touches of color because it fit those images the best.

Posted in Paris, Photography Tips, Street Photography, Travel Photography

Pere-Lachaise Cemetery

May 14, 2013 by Terry | 8 Comments

Having taken a week-long photography workshop in Paris, one of the most intriguing locations that we visited for a shoot was Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. It is the most visited monumental city of the dead in Europe and covers over a hundred acres of hills and woodland. The property was once owned by Pere de la Chaise, confessor to Louis XIV, but in 1803 it was ordered by Napoleon to be put to use as a cemetery. Early on, there were few burials there, so to add appeal, the developers relocated tombs of the famous dead to the cemetery. The monuments, compared to what we most often see in the United States, are quite elaborate including sculptures, a faux pyramid, and even a three-story temple. Some of the famous whose resting place is here are Frederic Chopin, Moliere, Edith Pilaf, Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein and Jim Morrison.

We spent about an hour and a half and saw only a small fraction of the cemetery. I used a rather heavy hand while processing most of the images as HDR’s since I thought it was fitting for the subject matter.