November 20, 2019 by Mike Powell
It seems like people are using cellphones more and more often when they are behind the wheel. Earlier during this trip to Paris I noticed this operator of an excavator along the banks of the Seine checking out his cell phone.
Was he watching a YouTube video on how to operate the machine? Was he stuck in the mud and searching in Google for a solution? Perhaps he was just taking a break. Whatever the case, I kept my distance just in case he started moving in my direction while distracted by his cellphone.
As I struggle to be “artistic” in my photography, I try not to lose sight of the fact that photography is about capturing the moment. Sometimes it is about art, but sometimes it is about simply capturing something that makes me smile.
Have a wonderful day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Humor, Paris, people, Travel, Urban | Tagged behind the wheel, canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, cellphone addiction, excavator, humor in Paris, paris 2019 | 4 Comments »
November 20, 2019 by Mike Powell
Yesterday I went on a three hour sketching tour, which turned out to be awesome once I got over some initial inhibitions over doing art in the public eye. Our instructor/guide, who is a young professor of art in the University of Paris, led us on a mini tour of Montmartre, sharing liberally fascinating tidbits of information on the history of this area of Paris and its role for the artistic movements in Paris. Along the way, he also shared his personal history as an artist and his own views on art.
Before we began, he issued us a collapsible stool, a sketchbook, and a little pouch of materials. At preselected points along the way, we stopped, opened the stools (sometimes literally in the middle of a sidewalk) and had a specific, timed assignment. There were only three of us in our little class, so we got plenty of attention as we sketched, though Romain’s comments were mostly in the nature of gentle questions.
Our first assignment began when we stopped in front of a beautiful pink house, known as La Maison Rose. This building, which was probably built in the 1850’s has a fascinating history and was immortalized by several painters. If you are interested in the history of the house, here is a link to a really engaging article on the blog at parisnicevacations.net that initially appeared in French in Montmartre-Addict. Of note, there is a very interesting connection with Picasso and one of his former models.
As the clocked ticked down inexorably, the blank page challenged me, defying me to create something with my hands, my mind, and my three graphite pencils of different hardnesses. Romain, our instructor, emphasize the importance of the first line, the line that would set the parameters for the entire sketch. I wish I could describe for you what was going on in my head as I worked on this first sketch, but it passed in a blur. I know that people passed and watched us, but I was so focused on my work that I paid them no attention.
We had 20 minutes for the sketch, if I recall correctly, which sounds like a lot of time, but it was so easy to get distracted in the details of the building. The second photo below shows the results of our initial sketches. Can you guess which one is mine? While we were sketching La Maison Rose, Romain watched us and even did his own little sketch of us sketching. It’s not hard to pick me out in that sketch, shown in the third photo below, considering that I was the only guy in the group of budding artists.
We did some other exercises, including sketching in pen, and I might do another posting about that. I was pretty energized by the experience and as the evening wore down, decided to try a more deliberate sketch of La Maison Rose, using my photo as reference material, and the result is shown in the final photo. The lines are a little wonky and I didn’t really leave enough white space on the page for the building to breathe, but I like it a bit better than my initial sketch en plein ail, though I must confess that I spent more time on it, used an eraser more, and was a little tired when I completed it at 2:00 in the morning.
In case you wondered, my initial sketch was in the sketchbook on the left. My German colleague, whose sketch book was in the middle, seemed to be the most experienced of the three of us and has a somewhat more refined style. My Australian colleague, who was originally from South Africa, tended to sketch more lightly and delicately, and it’s a little hard to see her work in the photo. We really were not in competition, so it was easy to share our results with each other. What amazed me the most, perhaps, is that throughout the entire class, our basic “styles” and approaches did not change much.
My sketches tended to be darker, bolder, and a bit chunky than the others—I think I am ok with that, though I obviously do need to a lot of work on actual drawing techniques. I have signed up for a shorter sketching tour with Romain on this coming Sunday that begins outside of Notre Dame and I hope to get in a little practice before then.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Paris, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon 18-55mm, Canon SL2, La Maison Rose, Montmartre, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, sketching, sketching in Montmartre, sketching tour | 16 Comments »
November 19, 2019 by Mike Powell
This may sound a little crazy, but I sometimes forget that I can take photographs with my brand new iPhone 11. Let me explain. For most of my working years, I worked in buildings in which cellphones were not permitted, so I never got used to having one with me all of the time. I used (and use) a landline telephone as my primary means of communication, relying on an answering machine if I was not there.
Eventually I did get a cellphone, but it was a cheap Android phone and I used TracFone as my provider. It is a pay-as-you go system and I would buy minutes annually. Being somewhat frugal, I would turn on the phone when I wanted to use it and then turn it off. The phone was for my convenience. The only exceptions I made were when I was taking photos in really remote locations or when traveling in the USA.
Recently I decided to dive deeper into the Apple ecosystem (I am writing this on a MacBook Pro) and purchased my iPhone and a T-Mobile plan that gives me unlimited talk, text, and data. More importantly, it allows me to text and use data in many foreign countries without additional charges, which has proven to be quite handy here in Paris.
So why don’t I use it to take photos? Well, first of all, I have to remember to take it with me when I go out. Twice already this trip, I left the apartment without my phone and only realized it much later. Unlike many people, I felt absolutely no sense of panic when I realized that I was separated from my phone nor any obsessive compulsion to return to the apartment and reunite with my iPhone.
More importantly, I find the position for taking photos with a smart phone to be somewhat unnatural—there is something comfortable and secure about putting my eye to a viewfinder rather than holding my arms out in front of me. One of the consequences of my cataract surgery a few years ago is that I no longer need glasses most of the time. My distance vision is now 20/20. After a lifetime of being significantly near-sighted, I am now slightly far-sighted, and it just happens that the distance at which I hold my iPhone is one at which my vision is not quite sharp without reading glasses. (My DSLRs have diopter adjustments, which lets me see thought the viewfinder perfectly, although I sometimes have issues seeing sharp details on the LCD screen on the back of the camera.)
Here are a couple of shots that I took on Sunday with my iPhone. I took the first shot from the steps of Sacre Coeur Basilica in Montmartre and the second shot later in the evening from a bridge over the Seine River. I am impressed by the details, the color, and the quality of the images.
Change is hard, but maybe it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged iPhone, iPhone 11, Montmartre, night photography, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Sacre Coeur, Seine River | 12 Comments »
November 19, 2019 by Mike Powell
How comfortable are you in doing something that you know you are not good at and then publicly showing the results? I have tried watercolors a few time and brought some watercolor stuff with me to Paris. My trip is over half over, so I decided last night to play a bit, using some of my recent photos for reference. I definitely need lots of practice, but it was incredibly enjoyable.
I think “primitive” would a positive spin on my watercolor “style”. I’m finding water control and brush control to be my biggest challenges at the moment. Those two issues make it hard for me to put in details, because the lines expand really quickly if there is too much water. Of course, it helps to be able to draw, which I don’t do well, so proportions can quickly get skewed.
Here are a few geeky details for those of you who paint with watercolors. I used a twelve color DaVinci full pan watercolor set in a metal tin. DaVinci is a small company in California that makes its own paints and they are a higher quality than the student grade paints I have used before. For paper, I used several brands, but they are all 140 lbs (300 gsm) in weight and are cold press. The first painting was done on a 4×6 inch (10×15 cm) Fluid 100 block that is 100% cotton; the second one on a 5×7 inch (12×18 cm) Fabriano Artistico extra white block that is also 100% cotton; and the final one on a 4×6 inch (10×15 cm) Strathmore postcard that is made of wood pulp.
As I worked and played with the watercolors, I thought of a Sidney Sheldon quotation that I came across recently, “A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it is to be God.” There is something really special about the creative process, making something with your own hands.
Later today I am going on a three hour sketching tour in Montmartre, as long as the weather holds. That will be the real test for me, seeing how well I can overcome insecurities and fears while literally in public view.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Paris, Photography, watercolor | Tagged DaVinci watercolor, Fabriano Artistico, Fluid 100 paper, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Strathmore Watercolor Postcard, watercolor | 10 Comments »
November 18, 2019 by Mike Powell
Although I have posted a number of “artsy” shots recently, periodically I slip into the role of a tourist to capture images of well-know Parisian landmarks. Yesterday during a few brief moments of sunshine, I photographed Sacré Cœur Basilica at the top of the hill in Montmartre.
I have taken a lot of photos of Sacré Cœur during this trip, but they have all been gray and gloomy and so I have not posted them. One other thing I noticed was that the perspective was always somewhat skewed in earlier images, because I was forced to shoot so severely upwards. Yesterday I decided to walk down several levels and shoot from “ground level” rather than from one of the upper levels that provides such a nice panoramic view of the city.
During one of my visits to Sacré Cœur earlier this trip, I went inside the basilica and took a few interior shots. The first one here shows a painting just above the central altar area. The final shot shows one of the many stained glass panels that I saw. When I am inside a church, I tend to limit my movements and adopt a reverent attitude, so I generally don’t get a lot of interior shots.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon SL2, Montmartre, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Sacre Coeur, Sacre Coeur Basilica, stained glass | 5 Comments »
November 18, 2019 by Mike Powell
I don’t know why, but last week during a day in which it rained continuously, I went snap happy photographing umbrellas. The umbrella images that I posted already were pretty straightforward depictions, albeit somewhat artistic. Here are a few images in which I loosed my creative impulses to capture something a little different.
The red umbrella in the first image really stands out, but there are a few other details that caught my eye. The normally transparent panels on the Pont des Arts have become a bit translucent because of the rain drops, adding a nice effect. You may also notice the cluster of locks on the lamppost.
The two last facts that I mentioned are related. Years ago someone came up with the way that lovers should get locks with their engraved names and affix them to a Parisian bridge as they declare their eternal love. This has turned into a huge problem—there are now locks everywhere in Paris—and there has been a partial collapse of a bridge caused by the additional weight of the locks. According to an article by the group No Love Locks, Parisian authorities decided in 2014 to replace the mesh grates on the Pont des Arts, covered with locks estimated to weigh 60 metric tonnes, with the transparent panels. Obviously that has not deterred people from finding new locations for the locks—the organization I mentioned has a slogan that grabbed my attention, “Free your love. Save our bridges.”
When I took the second photo, just as was the case with the first one, I was standing on one of the paths along the Seine River and shooting at an upward angle. We often use our umbrellas as protection, from the rain as well as from others, and this shot up under the umbrella has an unusual, almost intimate feel to it.
It is hard to explain why I like the final shot. Maybe it is because of the reflected lights on the wet pavement, or the fallen leaves, or the people walking, bounded on one side by the row of trees and on the other by the covered green stalls of the bouquinists (booksellers). It is the kind of image that I could imagine turning into a painting.
So there you have it, a curious mix of images. Before I set out on this trip to Paris, I remember warning readers my postings would be atypical, and possibly a bit strange during my time here. I think this posting is the result of consciously trying to express myself “outside of the box” in a way that is fun and yet a little scary.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Pont des Arts, umbrellas, umbrellas along the Seine | 15 Comments »
November 18, 2019 by Mike Powell
When I traveled overseas for work, which I tended to do at least a few times a year, we generally stayed in U.S. chain hotels, most often run by Marriott. Those hotels are predictable and easily identifiable—from a distance you know immediately that they are hotels.
The dark green door in the center of this image is the entrance to the apartment where I am spending the three weeks that I am in Paris. The entrance is so nondescript that it doesn’t even have a street number indicated and you might think at first that it is associated with one of the adjacent stores.
For the last 25 years I have lived in a townhouse community in one of the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. and essentially nothing is in walkable distance. Here in Paris, once I descent the 96 stairs that I profiled earlier, I am in the midst of the action. Rue Montorgueil, the street on which the apartment is located, is a bustling pedestrian area in the center of the city with lots of shops, cafés, and restaurants. It can get a little noisy, but from the sixth floor, the sound levels are tolerable.
Who are my neighbors? On one side, there is a wine store called Le Repaire de Bacchus (The Den of Bacchus) and on the other side there is a gourmet tea store called Mariage Frères (Mariage Brothers). I was initially confused by the name, because the two words don’t seem to go together. Was the store founded to celebrate the individual nuptials of the brothers or were they married to each other? As it turns out, “Mariage” was the family name of the founders. According to Wikipedia, Mariage Frères Tea Company was founded on 1 June 1854 by brothers Henri and Edouard Mariage.
As for the photo, I am pleased with the way that I was able to capture the light and, in particular, the reflections on the wet pavement. The image has a part of the urban vibe that I have been enjoying so much here in Paris. It makes me wonder what it would be like to live in a place like Paris long-term.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Language, Paris, Photography | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Le Repaire de Bacchus, Mariage Frères, neighborhood, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Rue Montorgueil | 11 Comments »
November 17, 2019 by Mike Powell
Montmartre is the small hill with the highest point in Paris where the stunningly white Sacré-Cœur basilica is located. Previously I have posted panoramic views of the city that I took from the stairs of Sacré-Cœur.
How do you get there? There is a little funicular train that will take you up the hill, but I have always elected to walk. Multiple sets of stairs approach the summit from different directions and I have climbed up a lot of different ones. Some of them are decorated with colorful patterns, but all are steep and long.
Montmartre has become one of my favorite locations to visit and I think I have walked there every other day on average. Here are images of a few of the sets of steps that I have successfully encounterd over that period of time.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Paris, Photography | Tagged Canon 18-55mm, Canon SL2, Montmartre, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Sacre Coeur, Sacre Coeur Basilica | 5 Comments »
November 17, 2019 by Mike Powell
I decided to go for a late night stroll on Saturday and ended up at Place Saint-Michel in the student district not far from Notre Dame. Where else could I have been able to order a crêpe with Nutella and bananas after midnight? For the record, the crêpe was amazing.
Along the way I captured this image of the Pont Saint-Michel (Saint-Michel Bridge), one of 37 bridges over the Seine River in Paris. Those bridges come in all shapes in sizes, with several of them pedestrian only. This particular bridge links the left bank of the Seine with Île de la Cité, one of only two remaining natural islands in Paris. The island, on which the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral is located, is historically viewed as the center of Paris.
The Pont Saint-Michel, which was built in 1857, is quite distinctive in appearance. If you look closely you will see two large N’s, each surrounded by a laurel wreath. These are symbols of Napoleon III’s Second Empire that lasted from 1852 to 1870. In the right hand side of the photo you can see the lights of the embankment on the Seine and above them the lights at street level.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Paris, Photography | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, night photography, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Pont Saint-Michel, Seine River | 11 Comments »
November 16, 2019 by Mike Powell
One of the coolest thing about digital photography is the way that software allows you to change the look and feel of an image. This evening I played around with some different presets in Luminar 3 and got a look to one of my recent umbrella shots that I really like—almost like an antique photograph.
I tend to be somewhat of a minimalist when processing my wildlife photographs. I shoot in RAW, so I normally will tweak things like contrast, exposure, clarity, highlights and shadows, but except for cropping that is pretty much it. Shortly before leaving for this trip I downloaded Luminar 3 as part of a special deal in a pre-sale of Luminar 4.
I haven’t really used it much, but I decided to experiment with it during this trip. I tried some different looks with a recent photo that I really like. There are dozens and dozens of presets and all are adjustable, but none of the color ones satisfied me with the images.
I really like black and white and there are a whole range of options in the Tonality group of presets, including one that covers Toning. I liked the Sepia preset a lot, but settled on one called Gold and Selenium. After I made a few adjustments I got this look.
What do you think? Do you miss the bright colors of the umbrellas and the foliage in the altered version? Although I published the original shot recently, I decided to reprise it here for ease of comparison.
I like both versions a lot, though I must admit that the “feel” and “vibe” of the separate images are quite different.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Paris, Photography | Tagged black and white conversion, canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Luminar 3, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Seine River, umbrellas, umbrellas along the Seine | 7 Comments »
November 16, 2019 by Mike Powell
With the recent onset of cold and rainy weather here in Paris, it is hard to remember that we had a bit of sunshine earlier in the week. As I was walking along the banks of the Seine River during one such sunny period, I grew entranced by the shadows that trees were casting onto the embankment walls. People passing by me must have wondered what I was photographing, given that I was facing a seemingly blank wall and had my back to the river.
The images show mostly skeletal tree forms, but some show evidence of hardy leaves persistently clinging to the branches, not yet ready to fall. If you examine the photos carefully, you can see some of the details and textures of the materials used to build these embankments. Just a few yards above, there is busy world, full of cars and people hurrying about, but here, life moves at a slower pace.
I love too seeing the giant iron rings intermittently embedded in the embankment walls. These, I believe, are a legacy of past commerce along this river, places where barges would tie up, perhaps for safety or sleep, or simply to silently surveil the scenic surroundings. There are times in our lives when we could all use spots like that.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Autumn, Nature, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, embankments on Seine River, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Seine River, shadow trees, trees | 3 Comments »
November 16, 2019 by Mike Powell
When I spotted this bird as I was walking along the Seine River yesterday morning, I knew immediately that it was some kind of cormorant. Unlike most water birds that float on the surface of the water, cormorants sit really low in the water with their bodies barely visible. Their long necks always make me think of a periscope coming out of a semi-submerged submarine.
Although this bird looks a lot like the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) that I am used to seeing at home, I have determined that it is most likely a Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). This cormorant followed a familiar pattern of behavior—it would be swimming along when without warning it would dive deeply into the water and remain underwater for a long time. It was a fun challenge trying to figure out when and where the cormorant would reappear.
Most of the time the cormorant stayed far from the banks of the river, but on one occasion it popped up right in front of me and I was able to capture this image. It was nice to be able to capture some of the orange coloration around the cormorant’s mouth, but the real prize for me was getting a clear view of its spectacular blue eyes. It is definitely worthwhile to click on the image to get a closer look at that amazing shade of blue. If you look closely at the water, you will also notice some small concentric ripples created by the falling raindrops.
When I went walking in the rain yesterday, I knew there was a good chance that I would see ducks and gulls and maybe a swan or two. Who knew there were Great Cormorants on the Seine RIver? No matter where I am, I am always thrilled by the joy of the unexpected, by those little surprises that add so much texture to life. So I choose to live my life in hopeful expectation as I scan the world for marvelous subjects to photograph, confident that they will present themselves if I keep my eyes and my heart open,
—
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, turtle, Urban, wildlife | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, cormorant, Great Cormorant, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Phalacrocorax carbo, Seine River | 7 Comments »
November 15, 2019 by Mike Powell
When it is pouring rain all day in Paris, what can you possibly photograph? Like wildflowers in the spring, colorful umbrellas have sprung up all over the city and they make cool subjects.
I captured the first little scene along the Seine River this morning. I envisioned the possibility of the photo and hung around the location as the group of three people approached. I took multiple photos as the moved toward and under the bridge. The biggest challenge I had was a distractingly bright orange bicycle parked in the middle of the pathway beyond the exit. Fortunately the green umbrella was large enough in this shot to hide the offending bicycle.
I semi-stalked the next group of three young ladies as they walked through the Tuileries Garden toward the pyramid entrance to the Louvre. It was a little frustration because they kept stopping for selfies, but I finally got a shot when they moved together for a moment. I love the way that the three subjects had complementary shades of umbrellas and stylishly distinctive backpacks.
The final photo highlights the umbrellas themselves and not the owners. Although it was still raining, the owners had carefully placed their umbrellas to the side so that they could take photos of themselves with the Louvre pyramid in the background. I like the angle at which the umbrellas are placed, which, along with their black color, emphasizes the form of the umbrellas. The shadows on the wet cobblestones add additional visual interest to the image.
It was cold throughout the day today, about 34 degrees right now (one degree C) and the possibility of snow is forecast for this evening. Yikes! Fortunately I have warm clothes with me and most importantly my camera bag has proven to be as waterproof as advertised. I don’t exclude the possibility of an after dark adventure a bit later.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Language, Patriotism, people, Photography, Travel, Urban, Winter | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Le Louvre, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, rain showers, Tuileries Garden, umbrella, umbrellas | 11 Comments »
November 15, 2019 by Mike Powell
Place du Tertre, a small square in the center of Montmartre, is a special place where artists of all varieties set up their easels every day and work in the open air, surrounded by the milling public. Many of them are portrait artists, who gently try to convince you to sit for a portrait.
I watched several of those artists at work and they are amazing talented, creating true-to-life drawings over an extended period of time. This is in sharp contrast with the large number of quick sketch “artists” who aggressively pursue you in the streets, trying to convince you to stand for a “portrait,” which is often a mere caricature that barely resembles the subject.
A number of other artists worked on small canvases with oil paint using palette knives. I had the impression that some of them were working in almost assembly line fashion, cranking out the same limited number of scenes of Paris suitable for souvenirs.
After circling the square, I returned to the only artist who was working in watercolor. He would sketch out his detailed paintings in India ink using a pointed fragment of bamboo as a drawing instrument. After the ink had dried, he would carefully apply multiple washes of color. Some of you know that I have dabbled with watercolor and I was absolutely enthralled as I watched this artist at work, mixing and applying the colors from a watercolor set not all that different than ones that I have.
Watercolor painting is time-consuming and unforgiving—you really cannot hide your mistakes. Supplies are relatively expensive, compared to oil and acrylic painting. Why would an artist choose this style of painting? It does not seem like an economically rational decision.
I did not want to interfere with the artist’s efforts, so I watched from a respectful distance and discreetly took a few photos. When he reached a certain stage when he needed to let a layer dry, he stopped for a smoke break. As he lit up an unfiltered, hand-rolled cigarette, I started to talk with him.
At first I asked him about the materials that he uses. He paints on high quality Arches 100% cotton paper, using a mix of artist quality paints from Winsor and Newton, Sennelier, and others. For brushes, he uses several rather large natural hair brushes. He pointed to one of them and noted that it had cost over 80 Euros (about $100), but he had used it for close to ten years.
He said that he had been painting from a young age and preferred painting in public like this and had done so for almost 40 years. Based on some comments he made about other painters, he seemed to reject the almost elitist idea of painting in seclusion in a studio, with works hanging in high-priced galleries.
He obviously loved what he was doing, but somewhat wistfully talked of eventually retiring to a place in the country. As he puffed on the final fragments of his cigarette, he announced that it was time to get back to work. I thanked him for talking with me—we spoke exclusively in French—and sharing his experience and perceptions. He graciously agreed to let me take a quick portrait shot and that photo, the last one below, is one of my favorite remembrances of this trip to Paris.
The first photo below gives you an overall sense of the environment at the Place du Tertre. Note the assemblage of easels and the passing tourists and compare that with the focus of the painter, who appears to be in his own little world.
The second image provides a slightly closer view of the work in progress. Note the large size of the brush that he is using and the initial delicate washes of color that he has applied.
The final shot, as noted above, is a quick portrait of the artist. It’s a candid pose from where he was standing. I really like the way that it turned out, capturing in part the unique personality of this awesome artist that I was happy to encounter, a man content with doing what he loves outdoors in all kinds of weather (except, he noted, in the rain, which obviously is bad for watercolor paintings).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, painting, people, Photography, Portraits, Travel, Urban, watercolor | Tagged Canon 18-55mm, Canon SL2, Jean-Marc Lambert, Montmartre, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Place du Tertre, watercolor, watercolor artist | 12 Comments »
November 14, 2019 by Mike Powell
When I first spotted a police zodiac boat yesterday morning as I was walking along the Seine River, it was moving really slowly and seemed to be doubling back periodically. I wondered if someone had jumped off one of the many bridges over the Seine. Then I spotted a floating body, or at least I thought initially that it was floating.
As I zoomed in with my telephoto lens, I could see that the body was moving rhythmically and then I spotted an orange-tipped snorkel. It was a diver in a wet suit who appeared to be getting in his morning training—from what I could see he had flippers and was using a short blue board rather than performing swimming strokes.
The driver of the boat that was marked “Prefecture de Police” also appeared to be in a wet suit. I don’t know if he was bored, but from time to time he would speed ahead and make a sharp u-turn in order to zoom through the arches of a bridge, as you can see in the second image.
When the diver I was following neared what looked to be his destination, I suddenly realize that there were a total of three divers in the water—maybe the other two divers had been waiting for their slower colleague. In the third photo, the divers were getting ready to turn to the left, to an area where I believe the police/firefighting boats are docked. If you look closely at that final image, you can see a small flock of ducks in the background that did not appear to be surprised or disturbed to see humans swimming in the Seine River.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Paris, people, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, divers, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, police, police boat, Seine River, zodiac boat | 8 Comments »
November 14, 2019 by Mike Powell
I got up early yesterday morning to try to capture a sunrise here in Paris. The sunrise was pretty much a bust, but on the way to my location, I captured this image of a full moon over some shadowy Parisian roofs.
It is always tricky to take a shot of a full moon—the camera wants to overexpose the moon, leaving a glowing white circle. In order to get the moon looking right. I usually have to underexpose the image by a couple of stops, which leaves the content of the rest of the subject barely visible. I hope that you can just see the curve of the domed roof to the left of the moon and a roof with some chimney pipes just below the moon.
I was hoping to have more time to take additional photos, but as I made adjustments to my camera, the moon disappeared in the clouds and quickly dropped lower on the horizon.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Landscape, Paris, Photography | Tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon SL2, full moon, moon, Paris, paris 2019, paris france | 10 Comments »
November 14, 2019 by Mike Powell
So much of Paris merges together when viewed from the step of Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre, in part because new construction in Paris was limited to 121 feet (37 meters) as of 1977. One notable exception is the Montparnasse Tower at 689 feet (210 meters), which is quite visible in this photo from yesterday evening—the height limitation was imposed in reaction to the construction of this building in 1973, whose size and appearance were loudly criticised. (By comparison, the Eiffel Tower is 1,063 feet tall (324 meters.)
In case you are curious, the giant ferris wheel is a temporary structure in the Tuileries Garden for what I think is a Christmas market. When I first arrived in Paris, the circular portion of the wheel was only partially completed. Since that time, the wheel was completed, cabins were added, and, as of yesterday, the wheel was moving, probably in test mode.
In recent years, the rules on construction have been relaxed and some taller buildings are planned, primarily on the outer edges of the Paris. I highly recommend an article at newweek.com entitled “Will Skyscrapers Ruin Paris?” that argues, in part, that the traditional architecture of the city is part of what sets the city apart from others in the world.
Here is one thought-provoking paragraph from the article:
“When a dense area has low buildings, it forces residents to interact and puts more life out on the streets—a large part of what gives Paris its character. According to Swiss writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, five stories is the ideal height of a city building because anything higher begins to make us feel “insignificant, small, and trivial”—all words rarely used to describe life in the City of Lights. It’s no wonder artists and scholars have flocked to Paris for years for inspiration. Would the same be true if the spirit of Paris were essentially locked away in modern towers?”
In the 1942 classic movie Casablanca (my all-time favorite movie), Rick (Humphrey Bogart) famously told his ex-lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), “We’ll alway have Paris.” Will we?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Art, commentary, Landscape, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Casablanca, Montparnasse Tower, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, We'll always have Paris | 4 Comments »
November 14, 2019 by Mike Powell
I finally figured out a way to get an unobscured view of the Eiffel Tower from the hills in Montmartre. Yesterday evening was relatively clear and I managed to get a few cool shots just after sunset. There was a small group of tourists that jostled me a little as they tried to get similar shots with their cell phones but my monopod and longish telephoto lens (55-250mm) almost certainly helped me to get better shots.
However, it turns out that the night lighting of the Eiffel Tower is covered under a copyright, so please don’t use my shot for commercial purposes. I have a friend who reviews photos of a stock company and she unsurprisingly was well aware of this reality. Copyrights in the European Union, including France, are good for the lifetime of the artist plus 70 years. So, in 1993, the Eiffel Tower entered into the public domain (and a legal replica was later made in Las Vegas).
Here is a link to an article from PetaPixel that explains this whole issue and includes an informative video. The bottom line is that the night lighting was installed in 1985 and is considered an artistic work, covered by a separate copyright law. As many of you know, I spend most of my time photographing wildlife, not buildings, so I have never really thought about problems like this.
In the end, though, I’ve decided to post these photos, because my blog is not a commercial endeavor. If at some time I were to decide to do this professionally, these photos, no matter how much I like them, would not be part of my portfolio.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Art, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, copyright laws, Eiffel Tower, Paris, paris 2019, paris france | 18 Comments »
November 13, 2019 by Mike Powell
After another brief rain shower today in Paris, the rain abruptly stopped. As I was putting away my umbrella, I glanced down a side street and caught a glimpse of this glorious rainbow. I managed to snap a few photos and then the rainbow simply disappeared.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Nature, Paris, Photography | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, paris 2019, paris france, rainbow | 7 Comments »
November 13, 2019 by Mike Powell
Swans seem almost angelic in their beauty and I was thrilled to spot this pair of Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) yesterday as I strolled along the Seine River in Paris. I had the impression that the swans wanted to swim nearer to the middle of the river channel but were unable to do so because of the numerous boats filled with gawking tourists.
Periodically, as you can see in the second and third photo below, the swans had to deal with the waves created by the passing boats. However, they did not complain out loud—they are mute swans after all. The swan in the first image may have been signaling its displeasure, though I believe it was merely trying to dry its wings after being doused by a high wave.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Cygnus olor, Mute Swan, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Seine River, swan, Swans on the Seine | 4 Comments »
November 13, 2019 by Mike Powell
We had crazy weather yesterday, with two big rainstorms, intermittent blue skies, and thunder and lightning. The biggest surprise for me, though, was a hailstorm that dropped a coating of pea-sized hailstones everywhere.
There was such an accumulation of hail that in the first photo it looks almost like snow had fallen on the outdoor seating of the cafe. When I arrived at my apartment, however, I examined the small table on the balcony of “my” apartment up close and could see the individual, spherical hailstones. Wow!
I carefully tried to avoid the patches of hailstorms when walking after I nearly fell—hailstones on cobblestones are a treacherous mix.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 18-55mm lens, Canon SL2, hail, hailstone, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, weather | 16 Comments »
November 12, 2019 by Mike Powell
I think the spiky protrusions were intended to keep birds from perching on this post along the Seine River, but somehow this gull did not get the point.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Paris, Photography, Urban | Tagged bird humor, canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, gull, paris 2019, paris france, Seine River | 11 Comments »
November 12, 2019 by Mike Powell
Paris inspires me to try “artsy” shots. On a recent early rainy morning, I was struck by the elongated shadow of this bicycle on the wet pavement and captured this image. The light seemed to be coming from two different sources, with different color temperatures and directionality.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Art, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged bicycle, elongated shadows, paris 2019, paris france, wet pavement | 8 Comments »
November 12, 2019 by Mike Powell
I did not plan to make birding a focus of my trip to Paris, but I can’t help but take shots of them when the occasion arises. I’ve seen lots of gulls and pigeons, some mallards, and a few swans, but so far have not gotten close enough to get shots of them—I have relatively modest telephoto lenses with me on this trip.
The first image shows a crow, what I think is a Carrion Crow (Corvus corone). I am not at all certain about identifying birds in Europe, so please correct me if I am wrong. I photographed this crow and the other birds featured in this posting in the Tuileries Garden, which is located in between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde.
The second bird is a Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus). Several other moorhens were swimming about in a small pond, but this one decided to boldly look for food. Perhaps it was looking for a handout from tourists.
The final birds are Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). This small flock of starlings flew about from place to place. I did not detect any signals, but all of them seemed to take off and land at the same time.
If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know that I like to photograph anything that catches my eye. Even in a place like Paris, where there appear to be famous landmarks in every direction I turn, I am just as likely to be spending time photographing these modest little birds. I think it would make me a maddening travel companion for a more normal person.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon 18-55mm, canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, carrion crow, Common Moorhen, common starling, Corvus corone, Gallinula chloropus, paris 2019, paris france, Sturnus vulgaris, Tuileries Garden | 7 Comments »
November 11, 2019 by Mike Powell
All of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées was blocked off today to permit French President Macron unimpeded access to the Arc de Triomphe, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and made a speech in honor of Armistice Day. I did not make it all of the way down to the Arc de Triomphe, but captured a few photos of the ceremonial guards as they made their way past my vantage point on the Champs-Élysées.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Arc de Triomphe, Armistice Day, Armistice Day 2019, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Paris, paris france | 5 Comments »
November 11, 2019 by Mike Powell
I got up early yesterday morning, hoping to get some photos of the sun rising over Paris from the steps of the Sacre Coeur Basilica, the highest point in Paris. Unfortunately it rained on me the entire walk there and while I was there. The sun did not cooperate and it is tough to take photos in limited light when it is windy and rainy.
I hope to try again when the weather is better. In the meantime, here is a composite panoramic shot that I took earlier in the week that gives you an idea of the view from that spot. I am curious to see how WordPress handles a panorama shot and encourage you to click on the image to see some of the amazing details.
I took a series of eight shots and stitched them together with the Photo Merge feature of Photoshop. Only later did I come to realize that I might had been able to achieve a similar feature with my new iPhone, but I am still so unaccustomed to it that I have not even used the phone (or camera in it) in several days.
It was a bit cloudy and dark the day that I took these photos and it is a bit hard to pick out landmarks. One of the most notable landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, is not visible in the image—it is off to the far right, hidden by the trees. As I was walking away, I caught a glimpse of the tower and by climbing on a wall and leaning against a railing, I was able to capture the second image below. You can definitely see how much the structure towers over the surrounding buildings (pun intended).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Landscape, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon 18-55mm, canon sl1, Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, panorama, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Sacre Coeur, Sacre Coeur Basilica | 2 Comments »
November 10, 2019 by Mike Powell
During my three-week vacation in Paris, I am staying in a small studio apartment that I rented through Airbnb. It is located on the top floor of an old building on Rue Montorgueil, a pedestrian zone in the center of the city that is lined with shops and restaurants.
One of the apartment’s wonderful features is that it has a balcony overlooking the street. Although I have had to bundle up a bit in the cool November weather, I love spending as much time as I can sitting outside, observing the people below. The first shot shows one of my first dinners here. I don’t usually photograph my food, but this image gives you a sense of the balcony setting as well as a look at some of my basic food groups here.
The second shot gives you an idea of the view from the balcony. Yes, it is a long way down, but it is literally not for the faint of heart, because you have to walk up 96 stairs in a narrow winding stairway in order to get this view.
The final photo shows one small set of the stairs I have to climb. On each of the six floors, there is a small landing and one apartment to the left and one to the right.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, food, Landscape, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Airbnb, apartment, Canon 10-18mm, Canon 18-55mm, Canon SL2, iPhone 11, paris 2019, paris france, Rue Montorgueil | 14 Comments »
November 9, 2019 by Mike Powell
After I did the posting called Sunrise on the Seine earlier today, I realized that it did not truly give readers a sense of location. Yes, it was in Paris, and yes, it was on the Seine River. The image was pretty, but it didn’t really speak “Paris.”
I shot a lot of photos this morning as I walked and stopped on the paved pathway down near the water level of the river. I was hoping to be able to capture an image of Notre Dame at sunrise. The angles and timing did not quite work out as I expected. By the time Notre Dame came into view, the sun had already risen a little too high and was directly in front of me.
When sorting through my photos, I initially rejected this image because the bright sun created a hot spot in the image. Later today, I decided to revisit the image and decided I liked it. Why? It has Notre Dame in the frame, of course, but it also shows the effects of the early morning sun as the rays illuminate the boat on the right and the concrete barrier along the pathway.
So, I decided to break my normal pattern and post multiple images today. It’s Paris, after all—I am sure I will be forgiven if I feel extra inspired here.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Autumn, Language, Paris, Photography, Travel, US Navy | Tagged Canon 10-18mm, Canon SL2, Notre Dame, Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Seine River, sunrise | 20 Comments »
November 9, 2019 by Mike Powell
Saturday morning sunrise on the Seine River. What a great way to start today in Paris.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Paris, Photography, sunrise, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon 10-18mm, Canon SL2, Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, Seine River, sunrise | 7 Comments »
November 9, 2019 by Mike Powell
Evenings in Paris can be magical. Many of the buildings are wonderfully illuminated and it is easy to feel a sense of enchantment. The moon was moving in and out of the clouds yesterday evening as I walked past the Louvre, providing some natural illumination. I managed to capture this two second image of part of the traditional Louvre building by leaning my camera against a railing.
I am gradually getting used to the I. M. Pei glass pyramid that stands in the middle of the traditional courtyard. It was early evening and there were still a lot of people around, preventing me from capturing the simple geometric view I had in mind. In the end I settled for a somewhat closer view that cut off the lower corners of the pyramid.
The final shot is a view of the St Eustache church that is located not far from where I am staying. This church was built between 1532 and 1632 and, according to Wikipedia, its façade is in a Gothic style, while its interior is in the Renaissance and classical styles. I have not yet gone inside it, but definitely plan to do so. I also would love to be able to hear the church’s organ that has 8,000 pipes and is the largest pipe organ in France.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Autumn, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged L'église Saint-Eustache, Le Louvre, Le musée du Louvre, Louvre, Louvre museum, nightime photography, Paris, paris france, St Eustache, St Eustache church | 16 Comments »
November 8, 2019 by Mike Powell
How do you photograph a structure like the Eiffel Tower that is so iconic and so well-known? The first choice is to decide which side of the Seine River you want to be on when taking the photos. You can get some good photos from the hilly area across the river called Trocadéro, or you can stay on the same side as the tower itself. I chose the latter option.
There are some real limitations, because the grassy areas leading away from the tower are fenced off. If you get far enough away, you can get the traditional full-length shot like the second image below. I personally like to move closer and shoot upwards.
Unfortunately, my favorite angle is no longer available. In 2011 I was able to walk right underneath the tower and shoot direct upwards while standing in the middle of the four legs. Now there are plexiglass barriers surrounding the entire tower that are used to funnel visitors to a single entrance with fees and security checks for those who want to climb the tower or take the elevator.
The first show below is my favorite. I like the angle and was able to wait for the clouds to move into a photogenic position. I took the shot with a DSLR and a zoom lens. Recently, I bought my first real smartphone, an iPhone 11, and during this trip I am learning how to use it. I am still not used to the idea of taking photos with a phone and it feels so unnatural to hold at arms length to take a photo. However, this iPhone has a super-wide mode and I decided to use it to take the final photo. The perspectives are a little distorted, almost like a fisheye lens, but I like the effect.
As you probably have noticed, I am combining the roles of a tourist and a photographer, thinking a lot about my shots as I take them. Unlike most of the tourists I saw yesterday, though, I don’t plan to spend a lot of time taking multiple selfies.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Architecture, Autumn, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged Canon 18-55mm, Canon SL2, Eiffel Tower, iPhone 11, paris 2019, paris france | 11 Comments »
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Mike Powell 
Montparnasse Tower at night
November 14, 2019 by Mike Powell
So much of Paris merges together when viewed from the step of Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre, in part because new construction in Paris was limited to 121 feet (37 meters) as of 1977. One notable exception is the Montparnasse Tower at 689 feet (210 meters), which is quite visible in this photo from yesterday evening—the height limitation was imposed in reaction to the construction of this building in 1973, whose size and appearance were loudly criticised. (By comparison, the Eiffel Tower is 1,063 feet tall (324 meters.)
In case you are curious, the giant ferris wheel is a temporary structure in the Tuileries Garden for what I think is a Christmas market. When I first arrived in Paris, the circular portion of the wheel was only partially completed. Since that time, the wheel was completed, cabins were added, and, as of yesterday, the wheel was moving, probably in test mode.
In recent years, the rules on construction have been relaxed and some taller buildings are planned, primarily on the outer edges of the Paris. I highly recommend an article at newweek.com entitled “Will Skyscrapers Ruin Paris?” that argues, in part, that the traditional architecture of the city is part of what sets the city apart from others in the world.
Here is one thought-provoking paragraph from the article:
“When a dense area has low buildings, it forces residents to interact and puts more life out on the streets—a large part of what gives Paris its character. According to Swiss writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, five stories is the ideal height of a city building because anything higher begins to make us feel “insignificant, small, and trivial”—all words rarely used to describe life in the City of Lights. It’s no wonder artists and scholars have flocked to Paris for years for inspiration. Would the same be true if the spirit of Paris were essentially locked away in modern towers?”
In the 1942 classic movie Casablanca (my all-time favorite movie), Rick (Humphrey Bogart) famously told his ex-lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), “We’ll alway have Paris.” Will we?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
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Posted in Architecture, Art, commentary, Landscape, Paris, Photography, Travel, Urban | Tagged canon 55-250mm, Canon SL2, Casablanca, Montparnasse Tower, Paris, paris 2019, paris france, We'll always have Paris | 4 Comments »