“Woman in Red” — A woman in red pauses to look at a shop window in Paris.
I thought of calling this “Paris Style” or similar, but to be honest, in many ways Paris style isn’t all that much different from what we see in other cities… and that title might just be falling for a common stereotype. (Note the red beret, for example.) Nonetheless, this rather stylish woman caught my attention, in her striking red outfit.
It was a very cold day in Paris, and we were out for a lengthy walk back in early December. I think that I made the photograph in or close to Le Marais, the well-known central Paris district with the narrow old streets — in contrast to typically more modern streets elsewhere.
“Dunes and Distant Hills” — Death Valley sand dunes and distant desert hills in morning light.
The photograph’s title includes the words, distant hills.” But just how distant are they? From my position as I made this photograph, once I got to my vehicle, it would be a roughly 10 mile drive to those hills. Distances (and sizes) can be very deceptive in this park where we often experience huge vistas with features many miles away.
I made this photo near the end of the morning’s work. I had started before dawn, both to photograph in the soft predawn light and because I wanted to be in place for the arrival of the first direct sunlight. When that arrives, things transform very quickly. At first the color-saturated light hits only the high points, but as it increases the light works down onto and around other features.
“Woman and Delicatessen” — A woman walks past the Marianne delicatessen, Paris.
This photograph comes from one of our long walks during our early-December visit to Paris. We have been to Paris before, but always in the summer. The winter (technically, very late fall) visit felt quite different. There are still tourists — like us! — but in far lower numbers. But the biggest difference is that instead of the usual pleasant to hot summer weather… it was cold and gray the whole time.
As with several of the other recent Paris photographs, this one falls into the “quick grab” category, in which I work very fast before an opportunity disappears. Here it was partly the woman walking toward my camera position — I managed to get two frames including her before she was gone. I’m also fascinated by a few other things, including the prevalence of the color red in this scene, along with the extensive plant life above the canvas overhang.
“Salt Flat Reflections” — The lower slopes of the Panamint Mountains are reflected in shallow water on Death Valley salt flats.
The experience of making this photograph was perhaps as enjoyable as the scene itself. I was up very early and walked out to the edge of the salt flat a bit more than a half hour before sunrise. From earlier scouting I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to be. Out there next to the playa it was utterly silent and still, and I was the only person there to witness the morning light coming to the Panamint Range and then the valley.
It may seem counterintuitive to go to Death Valley to photograph a mountain range reflected in still water. But out in the valley, a good distance from the roadways, there is essentially always water. It may be in pools and slowly evaporating or, as here, it flows slowly all year long. The water in the photo is probably less than an inch deep, but that’s enough to produce a fine reflection.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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