stepping with style, a photo from Ile-de-France, North

Photographer's Note

I hope my Trek friends will forgive me yet another picture taken on the steps of La Grande Arche ( but I haven't been getting out much with my camera recently). I love the stylishness of this French woman. How do I know she is French...well it's obvious isn't it? ...so chic, her outfit simple and stylish. Perhaps I should group my pictures taken at La Grande Arche and Le Defense district into a theme, then I will have a good excuse to return to add more photos.

tyro, rushfan2112, josepmarin, AROBN54, branley has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jaywalker (16105) 2007-12-08 14:04

Hi Bev, A well presented photo, the graphics created by the stairs is very good & the lady brakes this up brilliantly, superbly composed, nice soft light & TFS, kind regards Wilson.

paprika-jancsi (2349) 2007-12-08 14:13

I sure forgive you, bev. this one is very good. Jancsi

tyro (30513) 2007-12-08 15:53

Hello, Bev.

I like this one.

At first glance, it looks as though you've cut off part of her left foot: of course you haven't - I think it's just because the step she is standing on covers part of it. But the fact that it is so near the bottom of the frame makes it look like that. Perhaps if you'd included another step below her, it might have been less distracting. Not sure.

Still, the picture if wonderful and I agree that this girl has style. The picture reminds me of those pictures of the French photographer Lartigue - some of those are amazing. He (though he died in 1986) and his pictures have featured in a series on the telly about photography recently: unfortunately I've not managed to see that much of the series but what I saw was interesting.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. By the way - focal length of lens 125mm; shutter speed 1/500 sec. - no sign of camera shake at all! There you go. I see you upped the ISO to 800 so you could use a fast speed. Great!

rushfan2112 (2965) 2007-12-08 16:47

Hi Bev. As you say, stylish and chic. You've metered very well for this as it would be easy for the bright steps to give a reading that would make the subject a silhouette. Might I suggest a B&W coonversion with lots of grain as an even more 'Parisian' look - a la Henri Catrer-Bresson or JH Lartigue? I might have a go, if that's okay? Really excellent shot. Kind regards, Paul.

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josepmarin (59385) 2007-12-09 3:15

Hello Bev,
The geometric graphism of the stairs works very well, and creates a good backdrop to this woman who goes down for them.
The result is direct, and has a lot of aesthetic force. The exposure and the colors are very well handled.
I like it.
Best regards,
Josep

graffer (1800) 2007-12-09 8:36

Hello Bev,

Another of your fine and observant "street" shots. I expect you could have spent hours here picking off targets. A good place steps, I suppose, as people are usually looking where they are going, rather than seeing crafty photographers with their long lenses.

Like John, I thought to start with that you had cut off her foot - this gave me an idea for a WS.

See what you think.

Regards,

Peter.

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AROBN54 (11475) 2007-12-10 7:28

Hi, Bev,
I love these street shots you do. I am always hesitant to photograph grown ups. I love the clean sharp lines and the contrast of the (yes, VERY chic) lady walking on them. I love the bit of color her scarf adds to an almost B&W looking shot and you have positioned her perfectly in your frame. Great job!! Thanks and have a fine week!!
Shelly

branley (3681) 2007-12-11 5:13

Hi Bev,

because it's Christmas here's my gift to you....another 2 points today for this lovely capture of, in my view too, a typically chic French lady. It would be good if she came into the frame from the left, i.e. walking in to it, but it's still a fine shot and I really like it. n.b. Perhaps you should do a theme, it would be great.

Kind regards,

Stephen

afshinazizi (6) 2009-03-03 7:03