Photo Tours In Paris Blog

Adobe Announces Lightroom 3.5 Release Candidate

2011-08-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

Adobe announced today that the Photoshop Lightroom 3.5 release candidate is now available. This update includes many new camera and lens profiles.

Photoshop Lightroom, the popular photo editing software for advanced amateur and professional photographers, gives users the tools to create, manage, and showcase their images.

According to Adobe, a release candidate "indicates that that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all of our customers."

Lightroom 3.5 includes support for twelve new cameras, twenty-six new lenses, and fixes twenty software issues. If you use a Mac, Lightroom 3.5 can be installed alongside earlier versions of Lightroom 3; on a PC, however, by default, Lightroom 3.5 will remove or overwrite your existing Lightroom 3 installation.

To get started using Lightroom 3.5 or for more information, visit the Adobe Labs website.

Train Tickets & Rail Passes in Paris: What to Know

2011-04-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Train travel is so common throughout Europe, and the term "Eurail Pass" is so familiar to most people, that you may not realize exactly what such a pass is - or understand that you can't get just buy such a pass at any train station in Europe once you get there.

Here's some information to help you learn a little bit more about train tickets vs. rail passes for your Paris trip, click here

Tips for Taking Photos from Inside an Airplane

2011-04-13T10:11:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting article that provides tips on taking photos from inside an airplane.

Click Here for Link

Prevent Walmart Printing of Your Facebook Photo Albums

2010-07-19T13:12:00.001-07:00

I just read about this potentially troublesome feature Walmart, Target and other online printing outfits are adding where you can print your friends Facebook photos. I assume this will not be allowed if there is enough objection to it, so let them know what you think. I found this video describing a way to block the feature:

For more information visit A.J. Wood's site

Camera Raw 6.1 is Here.

2010-06-11T03:55:00.000-07:00

Camera Raw 6.1 is Here.

Earlier in the week Adobe released the latest version of Camera Raw (version 6.1) for Photoshop CS5 users. It’s been on Adobe labs for a while, kind of marinating in testing mode, but now it’s fully baked and ready for downloading (you can use the built-in updater inside Photoshop CS5—go under the Help menu and choose Updates), or go to Adobe’s Website and download it here (Mac | Windows )

Photo Tours In London are now available

2010-03-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announce I am now offering Photo Tours In London. I have picked several professional freelance photographers to lead our photo tours in London.

All of the photographers have exceptional photographic skills, enjoy showing off London and are passionate about helping each of our clients capture their own photographic memories.

If you’re heading to London before or after Paris, check us out at Photo Tours In London.

Leopard photo in Condé Nast Traveller magazine

2010-02-21T09:18:00.000-08:00

Just found out one of my leopard photos was used in a Condé Nast Traveller magazine article about the private game reserve Londolozi located in South Africa.

Click to read the article about Londolozi Private Game Reserve

Please Help The People Of Haiti

2010-01-18T01:00:00.001-08:00

This is a great, quick way to make a real difference today. Click the link below for all the details, but they need our help in such a big way, and the Red Cross are the people to bring that help, but they can’t do it without us.

Direct Link

Adorama annouces iPhone Photo Contest

2010-01-18T00:50:00.000-08:00

Adorama just launched a contest for photos taken with your iPhone, and the prizes are just incredible. They are giving away:

**The Grand Prize winner gets a $1,000 Adorama Gift Card
**Ten second place winners win a Wacom Bamboo tablet
**15 Third-place winners will receive a Canon wireless printer
**Thirty fourth place winners get a $100 Adorama Gift Card
**And 25 Fifth Place winners get a $50 Apple App Store Gift Card
**The winners are chosen by a panel of celebrity judges

Here’s the link with more details, and how to enter. Congrats to crew at Adorama for coming up with such a way cool contest! Now go enter, now!!!

Great source of camera and photography tips

2010-01-18T00:39:00.000-08:00

Last year I was watching Scott Kelby's Nikon D-Town TV series which highlighted useful tips and suggestions for Nikon shooters. They covered a range of topics as well many of the Nikon camera models. After a successful first season they just launched season two and decided to open up the format to a wide range of subjects, no longer a Nikon only show.

Here is the link to KelbyTV.com/DtownTV (the first season)

Here is the link to the 1st episode of season two, D-Town TV

David duChemin Releases another Great $5 Ebook

2010-01-12T00:11:00.001-08:00

Hey readers author David duChemin has released another eBook.

Now available is ‘Chasing the Look: 10 Ways To Improve The Aesthetics of Your Photographs’.
It’s available now on in David’s Bookstore (it’s the top one) for his regularly insanely cheap price of $5!

The title of ‘10 Ways To Improve The Aesthetics of Your Photographs’ pretty much sums up what the ebook is about but David describes what it sets out to achieve like this:

“CHASING THE LOOK is about making intentional choices about the use of our gear and the settings on our cameras based on their affect on the aesthetic of the image. It begins to answer the question we all ask at some point while looking at the images of others – “How come my photographs don’t look like that?””

It’s 48 pages long, contains some great imagery to help illustrate what David’s talking about and is written in an easy to engage with and understand style.

Grab your PDF downloadable copy of CHASING THE LOOK at David duChemin’s Bookstore (if you’ve not got his other books already they’re well worth the look too).

New StylePack from PhotoDex

2009-11-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

I was one of three photographers asked to help put together a demo for ProShow's new StylePack Volume 3! HD. Follow the link to see the cool software and images.

Click to see the show, http://www.photodex.com/gallery/view&yt=2449

Just Published My First Travel Photo Book

2009-10-23T01:17:00.001-07:00

I'm very proud that I just published my first travel photo book, A Photo Tour In Paris.

Also, I’ve entered it into a travel book contest. Besides from being extremely proud of the images and work presented I’d like to win the contest. Unfortunately, the first round of competition is a popularity contest. The top 15 books with the most votes will move on to the next level and be judged by a panel of photography experts.

I’m asking that you follow the link http://www.blurb.com/photo-book-contest/view_book/912596 take a look (you can review the entire book via full screen) and vote for my book if you feel it worthy of your vote.

I’m thanking you in advance and I hope you like the book.

Cheers,

Classic View from Place de la Concorde

2009-10-18T07:09:00.001-07:00

One of the fountains at Place de la Concorde makes a perfect foreground to a iconic landmark.

Eiffel Tower and Vendor Artwork

2009-10-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

While out on a Photo Tour I spotted this display of artwork hoping to catch the eye and admiration of the tourists visiting the Trocadéro area.

Another great week of photo tours in Paris

2009-09-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

The last six out of seven days have been really enjoyable. I've hosted and guided people from Perth, Australia; Orange Country, CA; Minneapolis, MN; Beverly Hills, CA; Paris, France; and Boston, MA. We've been blessed with really good weather. The temperatures have hovered around the mid 70's and for the most part the skies have been cloudless.

We walked and rode the Metro to all parts of town trying to capture our own unique images. In some instances, we've held mini workshops going over the basics of digital photography and how shutter speed, f-stops and ISO all work together to create a good photograph.

I've posted a few of our images take the past week.

Paris Photography Workshops now available

2009-09-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

This first year of conducting photo tours around Paris has been quite successful. I've done close to 40 private photography tours and have met the nicest people from around the world. One of the things I found common among all the photographers was that they wanted to learn more about photography. Whether they were fairly new to photography and used a point and shoot or shot with a nice digital SLR, they all wanted more information than what we could cover during our three hours of walking around Paris.

This has led me to the next step in my photography career by creating and offering photography workshops in Paris. Starting in November 2009 I'll be conducting photography work shops in Paris.

The three workshops will be Beginning Digital Photography, Using Flash Photography-Taking the mystery out of flash photography and Taking your photography to the next level.

To view the details about these one and four day photography workshops, visit us at Paris Workshops.com

Another dull day in Paris

2009-08-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

Paris can be so much fun compared to other cities around the globe. I suppose because of its size and beauty, it attracts all kinds of people, business, cultures and movie scenes.

For the last several days, from our fifth floor apartment windows, we've watched our neighborhood be transformed into a movie set. Where parking spaces used to have cars, orange cones with plastic tape have become the norm. Security guards have policed the neighborhood 24x7 making sure no one parked in marked spaces or walked away with photographic gear that appeared on the scene.

Flyers posted throughout the neighborhood stated that shooting would begin this afternoon and continue through end of day Wednesday. We had no idea what movie was being shot. Yesterday, before they completely cordoned off several blocks, I took the dogs for a walk and noticed the movie crew had constructed a fake cafe, fake flower store, fake book store, and a fake produce market.

Today was the day filming was to begin and sure enough by 7:00am huge trucks started replacing the orange cones. By 9:30, filming had begun. I set up my camera, tripod and big lenses, opened up the double floor to ceiling windows and waited for the action to begin. After taking a few shots of the crew getting things just perfect, the doorbell rang and two very large and tall men in suits told me in French and in broken English that I couldn't take photos. I’m not sure how they got into our secure building. They said that Leonardo DiCaprio was not allowing outside filming. Because I didn't want to cause a scene and because I wasn't sure of the legal ramifications I said, sure no problem I'll take down my camera.

Gina did some quick research on the Internet and found out that Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page (from Juno) and Marion Cotillard (Oscar winner from La Vie en Rose) are starring in the film being shot this week in Paris. The movie "Inception" directed by "Dark Knight's" Christopher Nolan began shooting in London last month.

The set has hundreds of people all around performing their various duties: lighting, sound, catering, setting up movie camera tracks, finishing touches on the set, etc, etc. It seems much of the time people are just standing around waiting for something to happen. It looks rather boring.

We've spent the day glancing out the window to see if anything new has happened. We've watched them film about a half dozen takes of Ellen and Leo talking over coffee (after the third take it got boring to watch). This afternoon I thought something was going to happen as they nearly cleared the set and had the crew standing many yards away. As I was watching Ellen and Leo sit back down for coffee, the cafe exploded. A nearby car and motor scooter went flying in the air with debris falling all over the set.

It's about 6pm and outside below our window, a crowd of onlookers have gathered including the paparazzi with their cameras and big 500mm lenses.

Here are a few photos I was able to capture.

Photographers from around the world

2009-08-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

It’s been another great week hosting fellow photographers from around the world. I had the pleasure of meeting Terry and Nancy from De Pere, Wisconsin, Steven and Chris from Toronto, Ontario and Shane and Louise from Fremantle, Australia.

Very busy week

2009-08-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

Last week was a very exciting week. I did eight tours in five days. It was great to be busy, meet really nice people, show them around Paris and teach them a few things about photography and their cameras.

I hosted clients from Woodinville, WA, Baltimore, MD, and Muskegon, MI. Each tour was a little different from each other as they all had different objectives. We had a good time covering lots of ground and not only photographing during the day, but at night as well. Interesting, all three shooters were using the Nikon D300 which is the camera I own and use so I was able to show all of them some very important and useful custom settings that they were unaware of.

One of the drawbacks of a one day three hour tour is that there is so much to see and experience in Paris that it’s impossible to cover that much ground. Fortunately, Ross from the Baltimore area booked me for five days. This allowed us to not only see a lot of different parts of the city, but it allowed us to really concentrate on expanding his photography skills. For example, one day was set to cover many of the traditional landmarks, but composed in unique ways, two days were spent going over areas off the beaten path, one day was committed to night photography and one day we spent in my studio with a hired model and we worked on off camera flash, how to manually set flash exposure and how to properly use flash for portrait photography. It was a fun week.

In fact, next summer I’ll be hosting a four day photography workshop. We’ll do classroom type stuff in the morning for several hours and then spend the afternoon out photographing Paris. During the four days we’ll cover such things as:

Setting proper exposure
How to create an image rather than just taking a snapshot
Using our cameras in creative ways
Using motion, intentional blurs, panning
Fully understand how ISO, Shutter Speed and F-Stop all work together
Off camera flash and why it's better than on your camera
Onsite shoot with model using flash, light stands and umbrella's
Night photography

Website design and hosting
Useful software
Gear
Printing
How to make money with our photography

And more to come as I put together the agenda.

Below are a few of the photos from our week photographing Paris.

le Tour de France

2009-07-27T01:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, the final stage of the Tour de France rolled into Paris. Because we live in Paris and love photography, I knew I had to venture down to the course to find a good vantage point from which to photograph the riders. The time schedule on the official website indicated the riders would not arrive in Paris until approximately 4:30 pm. Given big crowds of several hundred thousand people were expected to line the streets of the course, I headed to the Place de la Concorde at 10:30 am to stake out a good spot. I assumed arriving over six hours early would allow me to explore and select the perfect location. When I came out of the Metro, I was greeted by thousands with the same idea: arrive early and stake your claim.

Not knowing the exact course route, I figured I'd try to get an elevated position and view from the Jardin des Tuileries looking out to the middle of the Place de la Concorde (the Champs Elysees had too many barricades and trees lining the course to get unobstructed views.) I spotted another serious photographer (I knew he was serious because he was packing a five foot ladder and I had my three foot step ladder bungee corded to my camera roller bag) and asked, "Parlez vous Anglais?" He responded, "No". I pointed to the barricades out in the Place de la Concorde and asked using hand gestures and broken French where the riders would pass. Dinis, a photographer from Portugal, motioned for me to follow him and off we went to the Quai des Tuileries which had an elevated, unobstructed view of the riders as they rode from west to east. We figured this was as good a spot as any and spread out our gear to mark our turf.

I went off to find three lawn chairs: one for me, one for Dinis, and one for Gina who would be joining us later in the afternoon. From my backpack I pulled out a book and baguette and relaxed.

Another photographer, Sasha, an American now living in Sweden, joined our little group and we now chatted to kill time. Around 3:30 pm, Gina finally showed up after an eventful Metro ride (many of the Metro stations were now closed if they were too close to the route). Finally, at around 4:42 the riders arrived in Paris to finish the last 50km by circling the route several times.

From our spot, the riders would pass us six times before the final stage was complete. We all figured we would have plenty of opportunities to capture a few good frames. Gina picked up my second camera and she too fired away. Below are a few of the images we captured.

Looking east on the Quai des Tuileries

Looking west on the Quai des Tuileries with Grand Palais in background.

Alberto Contador, in yellow jersey, the tour's winner.

Thor Hushovd of Norway, in green jersey, the tour's best sprinter.

Samuel Dumoulin from France, Team Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne (COF)

Fabian Wegmann from Germany, Team Milram

Alberto Contador singled out.

Left to Right:
Alexandre Pichot, France, Team BBOX Bouygues Telecom
Jussi Veikkanen, Finland, Team Francaise Des Jeux
Carlos Barredo, Spain, Team Quick Step

A little rain on tour

2009-07-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

Many photographers won't venture out when the weather turns for the worse. When there's clouds and rain it gives us visual treasures if we know where to look.

Over the past several July days the skies have opened up and the rain has come pouring down.

Below is the latest of a few opportunities that the July showers have presented.

Institute of France

Rain storm and the Musee du Lourve

2009-07-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Last night while out on a photo tour we got caught in a monster rain storm. When the rain started coming down in buckets we made a fast exit off the Pont des Arts to one of the dry passageways in the Louvre. The storm clouds, golden lighting and reflections made for an interesting photograph.

2009-07-22T01:26:00.001-07:00

Interesting vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines with a great textured wall.

Louvre - Picture within picture

2009-07-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

I thought this picture in a picture was an interesting composition of the outside of the Louvre along with the inner building of the Louvre.

Sunday tour with Aliya

2009-07-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

Today, Aliya from Pennsylvania and I went for an early morning sunrise photo tour around Paris. Although the weather didn’t cooperate with the golden glow of an unobstructed sun, we managed to bounce between the right and left bank and capture some unique images. Starting at 5:15am we were able to cover Ile Saint Louis, Port de la Tournelle, Quai de la Tournelle, Saint Michel Fountain, Quai du Louvre, pont des Arts, Musee du Louvre, Palais Royal and street art around Belleville.

Some of our images are below.

Statue of Liberty in Paris

2009-07-04T10:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Fouth of July

In appreciation for the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor, Americans living in Paris erected a small replica, about 35 feet high, of the Statue of Liberty. It is mounted next to the Pont de Grenelle, a bridge crossing the Seine, 1.5 km South of the Eiffel Tower.

Adobe releases Photoshop Lightroom, Camera Raw updates

2009-06-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 2.4 as well as v5.4 of the Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop CS4.

The updates are available here.

Camera Painting

2009-06-21T03:56:00.001-07:00

In an effort to be creative with my camera and push myself outside the box of perfectly focused photographs, I recently started playing with motion to produce interesting images. This gives me an additional option while out shooting. I don’t have to wait to find interesting subject to shoot, I create them.

The technique is quite simple. I set the camera to either manual or aperture mode. I want to make sure my shutter speed is between 1 to 6 seconds. I find an interesting subject; almost anything will work with camera painting although I like colorful things.

I fire the shutter and move the camera during the 1 to 6 second exposure. Sometimes I rotate the camera in a circular motion, other times I just move it horizontally or mix it up and do a little of everything.

You never know what you’re going to get. Each shot is an experiment. Because I shoot digital I can instantly see the result and determine if I like the result or if I need to change my method of motion. Plus, I can play and shoot as many images as I want and it doesn’t cost me anything.

So next time you’re out with your camera, play around and try it. You might come up with some very pleasing results.

Below are a few images I took this weekend while walking around Paris.

The store front of an umbrella store. (before)

(after)

Tables of an outdoor cafe.

Posters pasted up on a cement wall.

Posters pasted up on a cement wall. (version 2)

Hollywood movie poster.

Tour with the Weiss Family from Florida

2009-06-20T00:14:00.001-07:00

The other day I had the pleasure of taking the Weiss family out on tour around the city. We covered many of the landmark areas, creating interesting compositions. We also spent time going over many different ways to shoot a scene. We discussed matrix metering, spot metering, shooting vertical, horizontal, using different f-stops and when to bump up the ISO. We had a great time.

I've posted a few shots from the day.

A Memorable Tour

2009-06-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

I went out on another tour Tuesday with Jeff from Stephenville, TX. We had a perfect day. The weather was nice, not too hot and we covered a lot of ground.

We visited Place de la Concorde, Jardin Tuileries, Palais Royal, the Opera, Musee du Louvre and Champs Elysees. Not only did we photograph these sites, but we worked on composition, changing f-stops and how this can dramatically change the impact of your photo, as well as using slow shutter speeds to our advantage. We used motion to create interesting images. We worked on the art of seeing, finding images in things most people pass by and we also added some special functions to his fairly new Nikon D700 that would be helpful while out shooting.

We came across a nice surprise when we arrived at the Louvre. The pyramid was lit up in a blue glow. The Paris Air Show is happening in town, which is a very big deal here, and there was a large private party inside the Louvre. The blue glow coupled with lots of large balloons in the air made for interesting photographs. A few shots of our tour are below.

Using blur on a movie billboard to create an interesting piece of art.
Here's Jeff getting into position to capture the image below.

The result.

The Musee du Louvre decorated for a Paris Air Show party.

President Obama in Paris

2009-06-14T03:03:00.001-07:00

President Barack Obama is well liked in Paris. Posters and signs of him can be found mounted on walls, murals, and even in art galleries.

Walking through the Saint Germain des Pres area, I spotted this remarkable painting in the front window of an art gallery.

Another Great Tour

2009-06-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of taking Dave and Azie from the LA area out on the town. We had moisture in the air, but decided to brave the elements and head out anyway. Armed with a couple of umbrellas, we kept pretty dry and fortunately the rain didn't last long.

Dave and Azie had been in Paris for over a week and had seen much of it already, so we worked together to plan an interesting course and headed out.

One shot we took that you don't see very often in the States is how moving companies get furniture up to the upper floors of Paris aparments. Some buildings don't have lifts and some only have lifts just big enough for two people. Most have small staircases spiraling up to the top floors creating a problem of how to get big items up to the apartments.

In most cases, furniture is sent up on a huge hydraulic lift with a platform to hold the furniture which is then inserted through the window. The moving lifts are a common sight in Paris.

The sad part of Paris

2009-06-09T06:36:00.001-07:00

Like scenes right out of Slumdog Millionaire, we see beggars frequently all through out Paris. Some sit silent and motionless on the hard ground waiting for compassionate strangers to drop a few Euros into their well worn cups. Most simply stare at the ground without a hint of emotion.

Their presence makes me wonder what they’re thinking or if they feel pain. Where did they come from? Are they on their own or do they work for someone? Are they lonely? Do they hate life? All I know is that it’s sad.

The Making of a Street Art Mural

2009-06-07T05:52:00.001-07:00

In the heart of the Belleville area of Paris, a community of street artists thrive and regularly display their imagination by creating “street art” work with cans of spray paint. In most cities, as well as in Paris, painting on walls (graffiti) is illegal, but there are several walls in Belleville where painting is legal.

I’ve been visiting this area for about six weeks and each time I visit I’m rewarded with the most imaginative and creative work on display. Last Friday I visited and found for the first time, several artists in the beginning stages of creating their latest piece of work. I decided to hang out and record the progress of one of the artists, Skio.

Fortunately, the corner café had chairs and tables running down the side of the alley so I pulled up a chair, ordered a Stella and watched these guys work.

All finished.

Tour with Bobby from Houston

2009-06-03T03:19:00.001-07:00

Hosted Bobby from Houston, TX yesterday on a seven hour guided tour of Paris. Some of the areas we covered were Belleville, tje Marais, the Louvre, Palace Vendome, Palais Royal, Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, and Pont Alexander III. Some photos from the tour:

A little bit of the USA in Paris

2009-06-02T02:31:00.001-07:00

While walking in the Saint Germain des Pres area the other day, I could hear a car idoling very loudly, like a suped up engine, but couldn't see it. Then it appeared, a dark blue 1967 Mustang in perfect condition parked on the street.

With the engine purring loudly and with it's unique beauty a crowd gathered around to take photos.

Photodex.com new software StylePack Vol 2

2009-05-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

Very recently I was one of a few selected photographers to help develop a demo promoting Photodex.com’s new ProShow StylePack Vol 2 software program. The demo can be seen on Photodex’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=84384744372 or on their website http://www.photodex.com/products/styles/v2_promo.html

Inside St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church

2009-05-26T13:20:00.001-07:00

This church is one of oldest of Paris. Its existence at this place is mentioned as early as the 4th century. Dedicated to Gervasius and Protasius, the church was formerly the seat of the powerful brotherhood of wine merchants.

Montmartre Hillside

2009-05-24T09:17:00.001-07:00

The crowded hillside down from Sacre Ceour shows the tight living spaces to which Parisians have become accustom.

Tour with Greg from Atlanta

2009-05-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went out on tour with Greg from Atlanta. Greg had never been to Paris before and was excited to get out and see the city and explore some of the historic sites around town.

Although relatively new to photography and a digital SLR, we also worked on improving his comfort level with ISO, depth of field, shutter speed and composition.

Here are a few images we took during our walk around town.

Parisian Doors

2009-05-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

European doors are a popular subject to photograph. Probably because there are so many of them, most are very old and through time have acquired a certain texture and because of the artistic details that make up the door.

This door, from the St. Paul-St. Louis church which was started back in 1627, is a great example of artistic detail and greadeur.

Free Nikon Software for tethering camera to computer

2009-05-20T01:52:00.000-07:00

I found a great free software program to tether my Nikon D300 to my computer. This allows you to shoot an image and see it on the computer within seconds.

Nikon makes a program called Camera Control Pro 2, but it retails for $160.

The program is available at http://tinyurl.com/orp237

and it seems to work with most Nikon models.

I downloaded the program and within a few minutes had image appearing on my laptop.

Classic European Look

2009-05-17T04:06:00.000-07:00

While having a glass of wine at an outdoor café that bordered a small open public square I had the opportunity to watch and photograph many people as they passed by or stopped and rested on several of the park benches.

This older gentleman with the hat, scarf, cane, old rugged coat and scruffy beard was a great subject.

Old Music Player...New Music Player

2009-05-15T00:26:00.001-07:00

I saw this gentleman playing his accordion trying to earn a living inside one of the Metro stations. For some pocket change he was eager to pose for a few photographs.

Stone Lion and Eiffel Tower

2009-05-13T00:37:00.001-07:00

Being a Leo and lover of lions. I saw this lion statue at Place de la Concorde and framed it to include the Eiffel Tower and the Obelisk de Louxor. You'll find many stone lions around Paris, usually near museums and public squares.

National Geographic talks about photography

2009-05-10T06:25:00.001-07:00

Saw this video presentation David Griffin, director of photography for National Geographic, gave to an audience as he goes through some very powerful photographs.

I thought I'd share as I enjoyed the presentation very much.

La Sainte-Chapelle

2009-05-06T01:09:00.000-07:00

La Sainte-Chapelle (English: The Holy Chapel) is a Gothic chapel on the Ile de la Cité in the heart of Paris, France. It is perhaps the high point of the full tide of the rayonnante period of Gothic architecture. It is famous for housing Christian relics including the crown of thorns brought to the site by Louis IX.

After breaking ground in January of 1246, the Sainte-Chapelle was rapidly constructed, and completed April 25, 1248.

This photo is of the ceiling of the Lower Chapel.

Walking through the Marais

2009-05-04T01:23:00.001-07:00

While walking through the Marais district last weekend I spotted these two ladies resting along the one of the busy cobblestone streets.

The Courtyard of the Musée Carnavalet

2009-05-03T03:02:00.001-07:00

The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau.

The Carnavalet houses about 2,600 paintings, 20,000 drawings, 300,000 engravings and 150,000 photographs, 2,000 modern sculptures and 800 pieces of furniture, thousands of ceramics, many decorations, models and reliefs, signs, thousands of coins, countless items, many of them souvenirs of famous characters, and thousands of archeological fragments.

Place de la Concorde and Eiffel Tower

2009-05-02T05:08:00.001-07:00

The Eiffel Tower is one of the world's most famous landmarks and it's easy to use as a back drop in many photographs.

Here, shooting from the Fontaine des Mers located at Place de la Concorde I captured water droplets as they cascaded from one tier to the next.

Cité Métro Station

2009-04-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Cité is a station of the Paris Métro, serving Line 4.It is the only station located on the Île de la Cité, and serves Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Conciergerie, and other monuments of the island. It crosses under the Seine on both sides. The platform lengths are 110 metres, longer than the 90-105 metre length of most line 4 station platforms.

The station was renovated in 1991, and its lighting is green. (provided by wikipedia)

Photographic opportunites at Notre Dame

2009-04-29T05:53:00.001-07:00

The other day I went to Notre Dame to climb the 387 stairs to the top of the South Tower to photograph the view and specifically the legendary gargoyles. I arrived at the tour entrance at 9:00, an hour before the 10:00 opening time. The lines get long, fast.

However, on this particular day a sign outside the door read “Today we open at 11:00”. I decided to wait it out and pass the time photographing inside the cathedral as photography is permitted inside as long as no flash in used.

The cathedral is massive in size and the ornate sculptures, stained glass windows, high ceilings, chandeliers, and unique light make for interesting photographic subjects. I could have spent much longer than an hour inside, but I wanted to get back to the tour line at 10:00.

Nikon D300, 50mm f/1.8, 1/40 s at f/1.8, ISO 500, WB Auto

Nikon D300, 50mm f/1.8, 1/50 s at f/1.8, ISO 1000, WB Auto

Nikon D300, 50mm f/1.8, 1/80 s at f/1.8, ISO 800, WB Auto

I went back to the tour entrance at 10:00 and was the first person in line. I pulled out a book and started to read. A line of over 100 people quickly formed behind me by 10:20.

After climbing an unknown number of well worn stairs I arrived at the Chimera gallery. All along this narrow walkway you can see the many different gargoyle creatures. Figuring the gargoyles would be shaded or at least many stops below the bright view of Paris I took along a Nikon SB-800 flash to throw some fill light into the gargoyles to pick up some detail in the stone creatures.

I shoot with the Nikon D300 which allows wireless flash through their Creative Lighting System (CLS). I put the camera in manual mode; spot metered off the bright skyline, got my reading, but decided I wanted the clouds to look a bit more dramatic so I underexposed the sky by about a full stop. I then used the in camera flash commander to control my flash. I set the flash to ¼ power to start knowing I only wanted to pick up some detail. It was hard to see how the gargoyles were being lit because the bright daylight was making it difficult to see my LCD. I figured I’d take lots of photos with different flash powers to be on the safe side.

Nikon D300, 18mm-35mm, 1/2000 s at f/10.0, ISO 400, WB Auto, Nikon SB-800 Flash

Nikon D300, 18mm-35mm, 1/1600 s at f/10.0, ISO 400, WB Auto, Nikon SB-800 Flash

Nikon D300, 18mm-35mm, 1/320 s at f/14.0, ISO 400, WB Auto, Nikon SB-800 Flash

Nikon D300, 18mm-35mm, 1/1600 s at f/9.0, ISO 400, WB Auto, Nikon SB-800 Flash

Nikon D300, 18mm-35mm, 1/2500 s at f/5.6, ISO 400, WB Auto,

Panoramic Image made with four images, Merged with Photoshop CS4, Photomerge

After spending about an hour and a half photographing the gargoyles and the views I decided it was time to head down. Once I started down the skinny spiral staircase, I started viewing the images and was very happy with the results.

Images from a Night Tour

2009-04-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

The other night I had the pleasure of showing Graham from Burnt Pine, Australia around Paris for a night tour. We had a great time taking photos from Pont Alexander III, Musee du Louvre, Trocadero, Champs de Mars and Avenue de Saxe.

Below are a few images we took during the tour.

When in Paris, you must enjoy a crepe

2009-04-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Crepes stands are found all over Paris. This crepe maker was in the Montmartre area.

Parking is a premium in Paris

2009-04-20T00:11:00.001-07:00

In Paris, the cars are small and the parking places just as small. It seems the Parisians are happy to help one another by parking as closely as possible, therefore possibly creating one more space along the curb.

While some appreciate the gesture, others prepare for the consequences.

Musee du Louvre

2009-04-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

We were on our way to the entrance of the Musée du Louvre with visiting relatives when we came around a corner and saw these terrifc dark clouds looming above. I thought it made for a dramatic image.

Paris Metro Station

2009-04-15T03:06:00.001-07:00

One of the colorful Metro stations within the Paris Metro system. This station is Sevres Lecourbe. The Paris Métro or Métropolitain (French: Métro de Paris) is the rapid transit system in Paris. It is a symbol of the city, notable for its station architecture, influenced by Art Nouveau. It has 16 lines, mostly underground, and a total length of 214 km (133 mi). There are 300 stations. Since some are served by several lines, there are 384 stops in total.

Paris has the most closely spaced subway stations in the world, with 245 stations within the 105 km2 (41 sq mi) City of Paris. Lines are numbered 1 to 14, with two minor lines, 3bis and 7bis. The minor lines were originally part of lines 3 and 7 but became independent. Lines are identified on maps by number and colour. Direction of travel is shown by the terminus station.

Paris is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow. It carries 4.5 million passengers a day, and an annual total of 1.365 billion (2005). Châtelet-Les Halles is often cited as the world's largest underground station. (information provided by Wikipedia)

Nikon Announces New D-5000 DSLR with HD Video

2009-04-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

Today Nikon announced a new entry-level DSLR—the Nikon D-5000 (shown above; photos courtesy of Nikon), which includes the ability to shoot HD video (like the D90), but it also includes a new swivel Vari-angle screen on the back, along with “Subject Tracking autofocus which automatically locks onto a moving subject.” Plus, according to Nikon, “The D5000’s D-Movie Mode allows users the exciting ability to record HD movie clips (1280 x 720) at a cinematic 24 frames per second with sound.”

Although the big buzz will be about the video features (your video writes to an SD card), the camera itself is no slouch, at 12.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, 11-point auto focus, 19-scene modes, built-in self cleaning function, ISO up to 6400 (no word yet on noise levels), 4 fps continous shooting, blah, blah, blah—-you can read all tech nuts and bolts over at Nikon’s site (here’s the link). By the way, it lists for just $729 (body only), and it’s expected to ship in late April.

Paris has so much to see and do

2009-04-14T00:08:00.001-07:00

Paris offers events and activities for everyone. If you're vacationing, there just isn't enough time to take everything in. Even living here, our to-do list remains long. While out walking the city during one of my Photo Tours, I came across this sign pointing to a collection of intriguing places in close proximity.

Another great tour today

2009-04-13T02:02:00.000-07:00

Had a great day with clients Josh and Minda from Lynnwood, Washington. We covered Parc Monceau, the Metro system, Place de la Concorde, Jardin des Tuileries, Palais Royal, Musee du Louvre, Pont des Arts, the Seine, Notre Dame, Saint-Germain-des-Pres and the Palais de Chailot near the Trocadero.

Here we captured two newlyweds jumping for joy for their wedding photographer.

Under the arches of the Paris Opera

2009-04-09T02:33:00.001-07:00

The Palais Garnier, also known as the Opéra de Paris or Opéra Garnier, but more commonly as the Paris Opéra, is a 2,200-seat opera house on the Place de l'Opéra in Paris, France. A grand landmark designed by Charles Garnier in the Neo-Baroque style, it is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of its time.

The building is located in the IXe arrondissement and is served by the metro station Opéra.

Photo Tours In Paris- The Movie

2009-04-03T05:06:00.001-07:00

Please take a look at the latest version of the photo montage of PhotoToursInParis.com

Video software by Animoto

Royalty-free music by PremiumBeat.com

Sky high view of Paris

2009-03-25T00:14:00.001-07:00

View of Paris from the observation deck of the Montparnasse Building. My first attempt using HDR software from PhotoMatrix. Not perfect, but kind of cool.

Photo Tours In Paris Movie

2009-02-28T01:55:00.001-08:00

Photo Shoot at the Musee du Louvre

2009-02-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

Below are images I took the other night while visiting the Musee du Louvre. I found a really cool software program that will pull images from another site and display them on a website or Blog. I wanted to share the photos and see if the technology really worked. I hope you enjoy.

(It may take a few moments for the images to load)

2009-02-16T23:03:00.001-08:00

It was getting dark and I didn't have a tripod, so I took advantage of the fact I was only getting blurry images. I set the camera to manual focus mode and put the city street and the Eiffel Tower slightly out of focus. I played around with different exposures I liked and this is what I came up with. Not everything has to be in perfect focus to make an interesting image.

City Streets of Paris

Eiffel Tower

Randy Harris Photography is featured

2009-02-16T21:50:00.000-08:00

Randy Harris Photography is currently featured at PhotoIdentities.com

Montmartre and art are inseparable

2009-02-15T23:02:00.001-08:00

The steep butte of Montmartre has been associated with artists for 200 years. Today street painters thrive on a lively tourist trade, as travelers flock to this picturesque district, which in places still preserves the atmosphere of prewar Paris.

Images of Paris

2006-09-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer