Spirals
Jun, 2014Views
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Awards
Fall Award 2020
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Great Find
Magnificent Capture
Peer Award
Exceptional Contrast
Superior Skill
All Star
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken very early on in my photography journey, and was taken from the top of the exit staircase in l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I hadn't noticed my boots in the shot until afterwards, but the end result was too good not to share.Time
As this was indoors, the time of day wasn't too much of an issue, but I do remember that it was around sunset when we left the rooftop to go down the stairs (which was a lot easier than climbing up them I can tell you). There are some shots of the sunset over Paris among my other uploads, taken before this one of course.Lighting
The lighting inside was quite low, hence the high ISO and low shutter speed settings. This did allow for some interesting motion blur though, so it wasn't all bad, although shooting hand held at 1/4 produces its own problems. Thank goodness for the hand rails.Equipment
This was in the time before I had much equipment to speak of, so it was taken with a mirrorless camera and 18-55mm kit lens. As I said above, it was shot hand held, with only the hand rail to steady the shot, aside from the built in image stabilisation of course, but at 1/4 that isn't much help anyway.Inspiration
I was in a large group, and we'd just finished shooting from the top of l'Arc de Triomphe across Paris at sunset, but obviously there was still more that I wanted to capture during my trip. As we left the rooftop, the view through the staircase just begged to be photographed, and naturally I couldn't resist. I was experimenting with my new camera, and trying new things, and this was one of the resulting photographs. I tried several angles before I settled on this one as my favourite.Editing
The main post processing I applied, was of course to convert to B&W. The colour version still looks good, but this one enhances the contrast and makes it a lot more eye-catching, in my opinion of course. Art after all, is subjective. I did a few level adjustments here and there, mainly to bring up the highlights, but I tried to keep the editing to a minimum.In my camera bag
It largely depends on what I'm shooting. I've got a 16-300mm all purpose lens that I'll put on my 7DII and go out with nothing other than that and a few spare batteries. If I'm on a shoot that requires more scope or adaptation then I'll take both my Canon bodies, an array of lenses, a couple of speedlights, flash triggers, softbox and anything else I think I may need.Feedback
When shooting architecture, I'd say that the angle is one of the most important things to consider, so never go for the first photo you take. A few degrees in any direction can change the whole look of the photo, distorting perception, capturing something that wasn't in an earlier shot, or anything else for that matter. Experiment, and most importantly, have fun. Don't be afraid to ignore the rules, as doing something unconventional can produce interesting results.
