Paris

Technical: Ektachrome slide no data

Paris in the ‘80’s. Slide film. One ISO. The only variables were the shutter speed and f-stop. There are so many errors present in this shot that I made. Cropping is interesting as the trees lead to the Arc de Triomphe. After that, it’s downhill. My eye was curious to see the foreground people. There is too much sky. The horizon should move upward. More people (remember National Geographic) but then you have to decide if the foreground is focused or the monument is the key element.

You could go HDR nowadays. Lately, I have done this on occasion, taking several shots and planning to stack them in Photoshop. I just keep forgetting to Photoshop post processing. I can imagine a vertical panorama shot to emphasize the long Parisian boulevard.

There is telephoto compression and the long Champs Elysees is foreshortened. The color balance is off and needs correction. The Arc de Triomphe is not in focus. This may be partly due to weather, heat, and haze. On a warm summer day these effects will blur objects far away. The photographer and lens may not be at fault. The only way to reduce this problem is to move closer. But then you lose the telephoto effect. I would do this over, if I were there again.

Telephoto Effect

Technical: Nikon D200, 1/200 sec, f5.6, focal length 400mm

I have the VR setting on. Ordinarily the rule is 1/focal length. I should have been at 1/400 sec. The point of this image is to try to demonstrate telephoto perspective. At full 400mm the depth of field is compressed. Objects near to far are compressed upon one another. It serves to enhance the crowding effect. Here I wanted to emphasize the crowd. Large as it was it seems even more crowded. Then, the buildings on this winding street meet and contribute to make it more so.