le Tour de France

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

Rain storm and the Musee du Lourve

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.

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

Louvre - Picture within picture

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.

A Memorable Tour

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

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.

The sad part of Paris

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.

Images of Paris

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