France Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Just Enough Focus

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019

Collioure

This picture is from a drive we took from France to Spain along the coast; we made so many stops that it was a minor miracle we made it anywhere.

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One of our favorite stops was Collioure. We intended to stop only for a few minutes but lingered half a day. We walked around, sat in outdoor cafes, and mainly enjoy the Mediterranean way of things.

#venicefl

The problem with a place in Florida called Venice is that if you Google “Venice,” you’ll end up in Italy. Even if I search my website, I get Italy. Using the hashtag “#venicefl” helps sort that out.

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#VeniceFL — Here is an old photo I took of Venice – the one in Florida (not Italy)

That’s the thing about living in the new world, a lot of places get named after the old world. If you’re someone like me that was born here, its confusing as heck. (I never said I was bright.) It’s like when someone in Ontario Canada mentions London; or the poor souls in Paris Texas.

Venice photos from Florida and Italy

Hashtags aside, I took this with the original Sony A7R. By this time I owned it for over a year and was thoroughly happy with it. Now I’m on the third generation A7, but am going back with newer software. The updated software breaths new light into these old shots. This is processed with Aurora HDR 2019, and after looking at what it can do with these old photos, I’m going to be going back to have a second look at a few more.

October 24, 2018October 21, 2018

Gigondas Village

Gigondas is a town in southern France known for its wine. But then, we could say that for just about every village in France.

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Gigondas Village — Up upon the hillside village in Southern France

They are sticklers for doing things the old way, and the wine from here is famous around the world. A funny little story: about a week after I returned home I was in a small store in my hometown, and they had Gigondas wine. I wasted no time bragging that I had just been there.

Street Studies

Here is a shot like the one I posted last week from the central section of old Montpellier. As with that other shot, this is from the day I wandered around taking photos of people walking the narrow streets. I could do that every day if I lived in an area like this, but I don’t so I have to take a lot while I’m there.

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I processed this to make it look like the shot was at night even though it was midday. Transforming it like this is a personal preference of mine, and it creates a slightly different narrative for the image. For me, these types of images are studies in mood, lighting, and effects. I do them to satisfy my curiosity as to how far I can take a picture from its original exposure.

Old Montpellier

A few years ago I was wandering around the old section of Montpellier. This image is from a day when I walked around taking random photos of people walking past shops.

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Old Montpellier — A scene as I walked by the shops in old Montpellier, France

What’s relevant is I took this photo during the day, and the original looks much different. However, I wanted to recreate a low light look, so I’ve manipulated the lighting with photoshop and other tools, like Luminar from Skylum.

Europe Gallery

I took this when I was on vacation. However, no one likes looking at vacation photos, unless maybe they’re our own. However, I do like looking at pictures that have a sense of mystery to them. That’s what I tried to do here, create a sense of something I saw in my head but wasn’t there.

April 18, 2018

L’Hérault, France

This is the Hérault river in Southern France. We stopped here for a brief rest on our way back from a visit to the mountain village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert. There are a lot of rivers running off the mountains here and many have ancient bridges or structures alongside.

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L'Hérault, France — A quick stop on the road to Montpellier, France

Just off to the left are a set of caves that, had we not been so tired, we could have explored; something to add to the next trip I suppose.

European Gallery

If stopped at all the good spots for pictures I would never get anywhere. This is especially true in a new place, but even at home, I’m in the habit of scanning. Unconstrained, I could go to the store for milk and come back days later, still thirsty but with a lot of pictures. That’s why I don’t bring my camera when grocery shopping. Even though sometimes I think I should.

March 22, 2018March 22, 2018

Beings We Call Animals

While wandering through Les Baux-de-Provence a few years ago I came across this gentleman. He sat perfectly still and seemed interested in what I was doing.

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Beings We Call Animals — An intelligent fellow watches intently as I take his photo.

Some animals have an intelligence you see in their eyes and actions. I got that sense from this soul as he continued to watch me. You could almost see him think.

other photos from France

These are the beings we call animals. I wish there was a better word.

December 27, 2017

Artistic Headspace

This is from St Paul de Vence near Nice France which is an art colony on a mountain overlooking the Mediterranean. It’s an ancient village with narrow streets lined with shops and studios of every type. I snapped this of a random artist as I walked around one day.

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Artistic Headspace — Sometime I feel like I get into the same artistic headspace as a painter

Having spent so much time processing photos, watching an artist at an easel seems a little familiar to me. What I do with photography is different, yet I think I get into a similar mindset as say a painter or sculptor.

As I work with photos I create something new, mostly from an idea I have of the scene. Even though it’s a photograph I alter it through post processing to achieve a certain look. So, while it’s very different than using paints, my head is probably in a similar space as other types of artists.

european images

That’s the thought that struck me as I watched this artist quietly from behind. The solitary pursuit of his vision seemed very familiar to me; so, I took a picture and started the whole process over again.

November 6, 2017

Sailboats in La Grande-Motte

I was La Grande-Motte a couple of years ago walking around with my camera. A friend who was running some errands dropped me off for the morning. It’s a seaside resort town on the Mediterranean and in that respect has a lot of similarities to where I live in Florida. I was here in the off-season so it did not have the normal crowds.

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I could be wrong but it seems like there are more sailboats in Europe than in the states. I’m no expert but I think we have more powerboats in the US. Nevertheless these long rows of docks are common in southern France.

more images from France

The symmetrical leading lines of the rows reflecting on the water fascinate me. For that matter, leading lines and water always grab my attention. It’s something I’ve taken photos of over and over again. There is a good explanation for it, I’m sure.

November 2, 2017November 2, 2017

Inside the Old Walls of Aigues-Mortes

This image is for me a study in the transformation of a scene. The photo was taken in daylight inside the old walls of Aigues-Mortes, southern France. However the photo appears to be in the evening. It’s an example of what I imagined verses what I saw.

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Street signs, power lines and crowds were all removed. I worked on the tones and the light. I added the illumination of the lamps and a sunset through the portal. Finally I added shadows and some subtle shades. In reality there is very little reality in the image.

But is there reality in a novel, movie or painting? They’re all renderings of an artist. Sometimes I tire of reality and prefer the world of imagination. I am a practical guy so these explorations are a departure from the routine of daily life.

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Given how much time we spend in the day-to-day it’s advisable to escape for a while. For me, that means simply transforming a scene from day to night.