project 52 | week 11 - song

Where is a shot, there will be a song...
Theme of the project 52 this week is SONG, and it was quite easy to match a song to this different angle of Arc Triomphe in Paris, France (yes, that is what is it). It was a fine Sunday morning with Monika and quite a fun to lay down on my back under the arch and then realize, that all of the sudden all tourists started to raise their heads and shooting towards the sky ;)
Oh, and the song is the classic - Aux Champs Elysées!

©Patrik Banas, Nikon D800 with Nikkor 14-24mm at 14mm, f/22 @ 1/13sec, ISO100

project 52 | week 14 - silhouettes

Timing is everything!
Správne načasovanie nadovšetko!

Huge thanks to my darling Monika! For the trip itself and for her sacrifice, to stay in foyer to take care of all bags and tripods. Guards to Musée d'Orsay were really really not opened to let us go inside with all our equipment. We negotiate at least DSLRs with two lenses. Scotty (the model) and myself went inside, Monika waited. Isn't she a perfect!?

Rendez-vous in Paris

I got a date (or I should say rendez-vous!) this weekend. Very special one! My dear one has invited me to Paris. Just like that. Only two of us and cameras!
We met extremely nice people and took a lot of nice pictures (they will be coming soon). But most of all - we had a nice weekend with "a lot of kisses, hugs and baguettes" ;)
PS: Mademoiselle Eiffel joined us for a double-date...
PS2: Thanks Babaj, Miška, Honza a Scotty!

Nikon D800, 70-300mm, f/11 @ 4sec, ISO 320

eiffel, part 6 - the last one (and the most postcard-ish one)

Enough teasing. Here it comes. The most classical Eiffel tower view, the most classical postcard shot. Something you HAVE to shot on your own, otherwise it doesn't count and you were NOT in Paris :) Well, mademoiselle Eiffel is very photogenic, no doubt about that. And her illuminated, curvy shape against a dusky, cloudy and colorful sky has no competition in Paris. So here I was. After playing enough with a carousel and flashes shots, I have finally arrived to Trocadero and I am fighting elbow to elbow with all other photographers and thousands (literally!) tourists to get the best available position. Keeping en eye (other one, which wasn't glued to the viewfinder) on roaming individuals who had a tendency to kick to my tripod (yeeah, and this is not something you want at the end of your 20 sec exposure! :)

Obviously - when is the best time to shoot a vertical picture? Right after the horizontal one!

eiffel, part 5 (flash always available)

Back to my Eiffel series. This post is the second to last and then I will give you a break for a while. Picture has been taken just a 5 minutes after the one with carousel, about 200m away. On the way to the top of Trocadero stairs I have noticed this unusual angle and situation, where the tower would appear like growing from the bushes. Obviously, bushes were pretty dark on the picture, just a silhouette of it (see the shot at the end). So my flash came handy and during a 20 sec exposure I have fired a simple burst to lighten the foreground in front of me and achieve a sense of the tower nested in the green.

Nikon D800, 24-70mm at 42mm, f/22 @ 20 sec, ISO100. Manual, off the camera flash at 1/4 of power, with a distance about 1 meter.

Same as above, but no flash

eiffel very colorful (part 4 )

Ok, now we are getting to a more "postcard" version of the Eiffel tour. As you can see, it was a very cloudy day, and about an hour prior the dusk I was blessed with a 5 minutes of gold sunshine rays. Both of this has been captured in this HDR composite - heavy clouds above the city and a slight moment of the sun greetings, just above the horizon.
But trust me, this is still not THE postcard one Eiffel, that one will come later ;) Stay tuned.

eiffel, part 3 (black and white angles)

Climbing up - and exploring a different angles. Still the same tower, but look how many opportunities you might find!

eiffel, part 2

Getting closer to the tower. Morning of the "visit to the top". Unfortunately, majority of the tourists in Paris has the same clever idea like us, to come early morning for the opening (9.30am) and our line looks like neverending. While moving quickly at the beginnig, the closer we got to the cashier and entrance, the slower it went. At the end we spent 3 hours (!) just in queue. Total time from the beginning of the line to the top and back five hours! All other activities for that day were cancelled... ;) Well, we did it ... and kids were soooo happy. This shot has been taken in the middle of waiting line. Expect more to come

eiffel, part 1

When you are visiting Paris, you can't miss Eiffel tower. It is really visible from almost everywhere!
Obviously I have taken few nice classical "postcard shots" as well (they will come later!), but let me first start to present THE tower from some different, a bit unusual angles.
This one has been taken next to a small carousel and as I LOVE the motion in the pictures, I had to incorporate a carousel into the frame. Mind a beautiful sky - all brought by favorite dusky FLW filter, otherwise picture is almost straight out of the camera.

Nikon D800, 24-70mm at 28mm, f/22 @ 10sec, ISO 100