Uniquely Parisian !
I took the photo during the flood in La Seine, 2018. The water level almost reached the bridges, submerging the Zouave statue. The days used to be mostly cloudy...
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I took the photo during the flood in La Seine, 2018. The water level almost reached the bridges, submerging the Zouave statue. The days used to be mostly cloudy except for few days like this one when the sky opened up for a magical sunset. Quite a strong wind made it a perfect scene for long exposure shot.
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Jun, 2018Views
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Contest Finalist in Paris Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
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Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Genius
Virtuoso
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken in central Paris, from pont de la Tournelle, one of the gorgeous bridges connecting the island and the city. Keeping a sunset backdrop in mind, I took help of 'google-maps' to find this place.Time
I took the picture during sunset. This little span of time around sunset I love the most to take pictures. The sky changes its colour from gold to orange to red and then to blue. On top, less light allows to take long exposure shots efficiently. Possibilities of using light and vibrant natural colour are absolutely enormous.Lighting
When I arrived at the bridge, it was still about 30-40 mins before the sunset, which I used to find a good spot (although the obvious good places were taken by other photographers) and set up. It was partly cloudy and incidentally, when the sky was turning orange, patches of dark clouds started gaining mass, obstructing a clear sunset. But that set up was just perfect for a mystic picture with the historical essence of Notre Dame. The river was flooding, I wanted to give motion smoothness below and above Notre Dame, with an orange horizon opening in the same line of the cathedral. The reflected light on the cathedral, distant bridges and human life on roads, give a feel of being blessed with happiness amidst constant flow of sorrow. That's life, isn't it ?Equipment
I used canon 70D, a 18-135 mm f3.5 lens, a neutral density filter with 10 stop reduction and a sturdy tripod.Inspiration
It was rather a rainy week (or even couple of weeks) with the river at the heart of the city flooding. A day of sun in this time was like a hope revival. I wanted to capture this essence. I was waiting for a sunny (or partially) day when I could portray this on a digital platform. The idea was to picture some mystic feel of sudden happiness or hope but using a completely urban-busy life in the backdrop.Editing
Yes. I needed to take two separate pictures: 1) extremely long exposure for the clouds and the river and 2) Notre Dame and other parts of the city with proper light. In the post processing, I blended these two pictures.In my camera bag
My equipments are rather simple. I have a canon 70D camera body. Then I pack my canon 18-135mm, f/3.5 STM lens, mostly for the landscape or wide-angle portraits. The angle range is absolutely great. A ND filter. A canon 50 mm, f/1.8 prime for close portrait shots. This one's cheap but the most useful lens I have come across. And, as I love taking long exposure photos, always a sturdy tripod.Feedback
One should prepare him/herself considering the place to shoot (a prior idea is better) and reach early, weather (follow closely the forecast) and definitely the equipments. Have a cup of coffee and spend a lot of time there playing with the exposure time to capture the drama. I didn't have ND filters with different degrees of reduction, which I felt a bit of inconvenience. One should have at least a few of those as light drops very fast during that time.
