Category: Travel

Day 33 – Alley at night – Bordeaux

Alley_Bordeaux

Here is another one from my nighttime adventures in Bordeaux. Once again I got so caught up in the sight seeing I didn’t take time to change lenses. I was going to go out for an early evening stroll with the Sweet 50 but got waylaid in the hotel lobby to join in an evening snack with some of the girls. Just the ticket after a heavy lunch and a long series of three course dinners stretching on from 7 to 10pm. Dinner in France is not a meal, it is an event. Anyway, I decided this one should be monotone since it was close to it anyway but way too yellow from the street lights. I used a sepia tone and added a frame in Nik Color Efex Pro.

Day 32 – Fountain at Night, Bordeaux

Fountain

I was returning to the hotel after dinner last night and stopped to try a shot of the fountain with the Trio 28 mounted on the M100. I especially liked the effect on the street lamp. I was also pleased to see the man looking at the fountain blurred out to add an element of intrigue instead of an annoying distraction. In post processing I just bumped up the exposure, clarity, and vibrance and added a little sharpening.

Day 31 – Mosaic

Mosaic

I made a real effort to get some new lensbaby images starting with a walk to the train station in the morning. I found these lovely travel posters done in tile. This particular one happened to be of a chateau we were to visit that day. Shot with the sweet 50. I don’t know that the blurring of the title really works and though I worked on the right side, I can see I may not have done enough. But, unfortunately I don’t have time to do more right now as I am way behind on my travel blog (http://jeannehoadley.com/Travel in case you haven’t checked it out.

Day 30 – Bateaux

Bateux

We’ve really been on the go these last two days and I still haven’t had a chance to get out the lensbabys. Hoping to have time for a camera walk after breakfast this morning. I usually like to go around a place once with a normal lens before I get out the lensbaby for a second go around but there just hasn’t been time for that. So, long story short, I had to go back to Bayeux again for this shot of boats on a canal with old buildings reflected in the water. I’m not sure at this point if it was taken with the sol45 or the sweet50. I even worked out a system for photographing my had to indicate which lens I am using but I haven’t been remembering to do that either. This was processed simply; a little saturation and vibrance and a high pass filter to sharpen it up a little more.

Day 28 – D Day Crosses

Crosses

We had a full day of learning about D Day. Way more information than I wanted or needed. It was sobering and moving to see the nearly 10,000 crosses (and a few stars of David) marking the graves of those who died in what would ultimately be one of the decisive campaigns of World War II. 

This was captured using the Sweet 50 on the M3. I did ultimately bring the Edge 35 just to use on this day but in the end I found it too wide to tell the story I wanted to tell. Post processing was just a little added contrast and a high pass filter to sharpen the edges of the crosses.

Day 27 – Bayeaux Cathedral

BayeauxCathedral

So, as far as I’m concerned the highlight of the trip so far has been the Cathedral here in Bayeux. I saw and photographed the outside this morning, the inside this evening. And then after dinner it turned out they were lighting it up with colored lights. I had been working with the Sol45 earlier in the day but the Trio28 is what I happened to take with me to dinner so that is what I used to capture this one. I added a little contrast and clarity as well as some vibrance and saturation and opened the shadows a bit. 

Le Tour Eiffel

LeTourEiffel

We had a whirlwind tour of Paris this morning. The only place we were allowed off the bus was for a photo of the Eiffel Tower. I’m not sure why it had such a strong vignette on the left but it gave it a sort of old timey look so I decided to go with it and processed it in Silver Efex Pro with a Sepia tone and a frame. This was shot with the Trio 28 by the way. I had to crop it some and added a high pass filter as well. I like that the people were in blur. I’m pretty sure I had it on sweet. After dinner I will get my travel blog going so if you want to see more of Paris go to http://jeannehoadley.com/Travel.

 

Day 25 – Window Garden Paris

WindowGardenWell, I was wrong about Charles De Gualle. Had to be the most efficient customs experience ever. Then I was met by Road Scholar and whisked away in a van to the hotel. Of course, our rooms ere not ready and I was too tired to do much. But met one of my fellow travelers and eventually was too hungry not to go to lunch. After getting in to the room I took a two hour nap then went for a walk around our Opera District neighborhood with the Sweet50.  I was wishing I had stuck to the Trio 28 as I really could have used a wide angle for many of the shots I wanted to take. I liked this little window garden that was just across the street from the hotel and I am much too tired to invest much time in this. Tomorrow we just have a quick bus tour of the city then move on to Bayeaux.

 

Day 24 – Airport Blues

DFW

After getting up at 3am to get to the airport I landed in Dallas with 6 hours to kill before my flight to Paris. I had lunch, or brunch or something then set out with the Trio28 on the M100 for a little “street” photography at DFW. My flight to Paris wasn’t even listed yet so I explored Terminal A from stem to stern before finally getting on the Skylink train to Terminal D. This image was captured in the skylink terminal. I liked the sillouettes and the reflections and the sharp center surrounded by blur that is so classic Lensbaby.

So it’s noon on the West Coast, 2pm here and I still have two and a half hours to kill before boarding for Paris starts. Just scored a nice neck pillow for what I hope will be a blissfully unconscious flight. Not sure what tomorrow will hold but you may be seeing images of Charles De Gualle airport as I wait for my Road Scholar colleagues to gather.

Juney Whank Falls

JuneyWhankFalls

Having come back from the Great Smokey Mountains with nearly 1500 new images in my files it was pretty hard to choose and image of the week this week. This one may not be the best but it was hard won as I had to hike a ways up a steep hill to get to the falls. It was worth the trip, as you can see, and I even had them to myself for all of five minutes. Not bad for a national park.