It’s almost two weeks since I was in the city of Toulouse to do a training that aims to prepare me for my next job in Reunion. In short, as I have never worked in a control tower, this internship is important to reactivate dormant knowledge for more than 20 years ! Do not worry, I will also be learning on Reunion Island. I’m not going to work immediately as I used to in Aix-en-Provence … It’s weird to come back to the campus of the school I attended in 1997. As John Harper would say, an impression of Deja vu.
New buildings have been renovated, new spaces created but for most of the campus, nothing has changed … It’s quite obvious inside. No, nothing has changed ! The population has changed it. In my old good days (yes it sounds old dumass …), we had very few foreigners on campus. Today, ENAC (National School of Civil Aviation) trains as many as more foreigners. Which is quite strange. We are underemployed globally throughout France, but it is more interesting to train foreign controllers because it brings in more money ! On top of that, the decisions come from above concerning the French recruitment, the ENAC does only form the quotas of pupils that one sends him. But what I find more revolting is that the instructors responsible for training foreigners are French air traffic controllers ! So basically, we are understaffed as I told you, but we further impoverish ATC structures (Towers and en Route Centers) to supply ENAC with instructors who will be in charge of training people who will not work in France ! But what are unions doing ??? It was my rant here. End of the parenthesis …
Let’s go back to the city of Toulouse that I had not seen for a long time. It too has not changed much. In talking to some people, I was told that it was mostly in the periphery that the changes took place. The historic center has not moved much. Oh yes, like all big cities, the traffic is just a hell … That’s what jumps out at me. Beyond the congested traffic, it is the large number of city dwellers who use other type of transports such as bicycles, scooters and also skates or longboard for the youngest. It’s a pretty impressive ballet in the streets with all these different users cohabiting in the streets. The roads are much wider than in Aix-en-Provence and there are almost everywhere bike paths which forces us pedestrians to be even more attentive because the danger can not only come from cars, but also from bicycles or scooters !
Toulouse is not famous for its sunny days. It’s not Marseille, but it’s not Brest too. It is relatively beautiful. I have been lucky since the beginning of my stay to have good weather. The temperatures are quite high and clearly the summer plays extra time. I decided to cut this blog related to Toulouse in 3 parts for my 3 weeks there. As you can imagine, it is in relation to slideshows that I will present on this city. John teased me about this training by asking me if it was relative to my work as air trafic controller or if it was just an excuse to hang out in the streets of Toulouse ? Well the answer is in the picture below. This is your writer in the new environment that will soon be his.
It’s just a simulator but as you can see, it’s quite impressive and most of all realistic. The immersion is real even if it is not perfect. For info, at home the sky will be blue and I will not have to control Airbus A380 (nor British Airways too …). So yes it’s a serious training, but fortunately I also have free time. I live close to the city center, which allows me to go whenever I want. Besides I do not hesitate and as soon as I returned to the hotel, I take the opportunity to go for a walk 1 hour or 2 in the streets of Toulouse. On weekdays I rarely have more time. By cons weekend, I have no constraint and I can go hang out as I want.
The photos gathered in this first slideshow were made during my first week in the city of Toulouse. There are many people on the streets during the week and even more on Saturdays. Sunday is quite calm. A bit like in Aix-en-Provence or any French city I guess. I found it simple enough to take pictures in Toulouse. The population is quite young and dynamic. As I know the city a little bit, it was a bit easier to find me in the city. Nevertheless, I practically did all my photos in the same street this first week. It is the Rue de Metz that brings me to one of the nerve centers of the city: Esquirol Square. It was not voluntary because it’s not the kind of place I usually enjoy. It’s a big and wide street. I prefer alleys where proximity allows me to make closeup. But it was interesting to work more airy compositions.
Here I am finished with this part 1 relating to the city of Toulouse. You can find below the slideshow for this first week.
A quick post to share with you the What you haven’t seen of September 2019. A slideshow with very few interesting photos. There are a lot of photos of Toulouse that I have not shared yet, but I keep them for a future blogpost about my stay in this city. All the photos in this slideshow were made in Aix-en-Provence and Reunion Island with of course the Ricoh GR.
Saturday, September 28th : Yellow vests Act 46. So it is almost a year that every Saturday sees events taking place in the whole of France. After a summer that saw the protesters take a break, september marks a return to the street. In France, we have the right to demonstrate to the extent that these events are declared to the Prefecture so that they are well supervised. Many excesses took place on the sidelines of the various previous acts and it is always with anguish that shopkeepers apprehend these Saturdays …
This Saturday, I’m in the streets of Toulouse and quite quickly I realize that some tension is palpable in the streets of the pink city. Stickers stuck on the store windows, walls tagged with hostile messages, parents with their children with a certain anxiety in the eyes. The day before we learned of the mourning of Jaques Chirac who was President of the Republic from 1995 to 2007. I ran across tagged messages that I find quite revolting. Is the world going crazy ? When I was younger, I loved an animated series that was on MTV. It was a girl named Daria who had a pretty dark humor and she used to watch a series called Sick Sad World. It is the feeling that I have while strolling in Toulouse.
I do not stand here in anti yellow vests nor in pro elsewhere. I just notice that the world is not going anywhere. I discuss with some people in the street about these events. A man who seems to help people who are victims of tear gas, explains to me that he has been there since Act 10 (more than 6 months !) And he does it for his children. He does not know how they will manage in the future society that we are leaving them. We discuss a little about this finding that we must change things, consume differently, distribute differently wealth. We agree on that. No time to waste, we see gendarmes walk to Capitol Square pass us. It does not bode well. By the way, quite quickly, we hear an explosion and they start charging.
It stings immediately to the nose and eyes even if I am at a safe distance from the epicenter of the event. Just in front of me a parasol of McDonald’s restaurant is on fire. It is an impression of chaos that reigns. And yet many onlookers are there to watch these scenes that look like an urban guerrilla. Crowd movements take place and we are specifically asked to move to shelter. I try to take some pictures, but I do not take any chances. I have no helmet, mask, or protections. I content myself with documenting the streets a little while remaining relatively sheltered. People evacuate a lady who is visibly shocked with eyes reddened by tear gas.
Shortly after, Place du Capitole, the heart of Toulouse is given back to pedestrians. People are moving around again as if nothing had happened. The vans of the municipal police move towards the epicenter of the demonstration that has moved. All that remains is cleaning up the damage … This Sunday morning, I learned from the newspapers that the police had used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the 2000 demonstrators in the late afternoon. The cleaning services were also hard at work to erase all the damage caused by this event. Anyway an Act 47 is already planned next Saturday … You’re right Daria. It’s a Sick Sad World.
All the photographs were made with the Ricoh GR in Toulouse.
I will talk to you in this Blog about what I consider one of the most important things in Street Photography from my point of view. I do not expect you to agree with me on this. I had already mentioned in many posts the importance of the content in a photo. Nothing to change about that. I always give much more importance to the content over the form, but the form is also important. It’s a fair balance to achieve. I’m going to talk here about separation. What is it about ? Simply the space you put between the elements of your composition so that your photo is readable. In this case here Street Photography, attention will be paid not to have overlapping characters.
In the street, there are many parameters to take into account. The street is constantly moving. Even if you can anticipate some things, you are going to say that there is too much room left to chance and in the end it’s a bit of a lottery to capture something interesting. I’ll be honest with you : yes luck plays a role. But to reduce the practice to chance does not make sense. There are parameters you control in the streets. Your position to the photographed subjects and of course the moment you press the trigger. For several months, I have given much importance to this simple rule of being careful not to have overlapping characters in my composition. I photograph everything and anything trying to have a clean composition. You can see it in these few examples below, what I want to talk about. These photos are insignificant. The one and only interest is to work on this separation to have characters that do not overlap.
As you can see, it’s immediately more complicated when there are a lot of people in the frame. But with training we get there. Not every time, but you will be surprised to know that the eye force to work this kind of composition is very responsive and will know when to press the trigger. But there are also techniques that allow you to capture this kind of compositions even if the street is messy. I will detail some pictures that I made these last days in Toulouse where I’m spending a few weeks as part of my training before leaving for Reunion Island.
Exemple 1
One of the easiest ways to get a good separation with all your characters in a composition is to use the diagonal avoiding to photograph them from the front, but on the side. Just wait until they come off one another to press the shutter button. For those who follow a little my work, I abuse this technique that is not only effective but also very dynamic because it offers perspective to the photo. In the photo above, there is not much going on, but the content was not what made me click here, but it was that morning light that caught my eye.
Exemple 2
Here too it is the diagonal that has been used as a technique, but differently. You also need to use static elements in your composition. Here I had 3 static elements : the guy with his smartphone, the other guy in the van and the group of people on the right. Obviously this composition was way too simple. I left enough room left to integrate the guy with the headphones that went to my left. This scene is composed of static elements and yet there is life in the final composition. The diagonal offers a dynamic perspective that takes us directly to the gesture of the guy in the van. Here again, special attention has been paid to the fact that no character is overlapped to have a good reading of the photo.
Exemple 3
Another photo that was composed in the same way as the previous except that there I had only my two bikes that were static. The guy in blue and the lady I integrated left to close the frame, were moving. Here the timing was important to have a good separation between the characters.
Exemple 4
I spotted this girl with the painting in her bagpack. I quickly crossed the street to take the picture. I analyzed the scene to find out what I was going to integrate into the composition. There was of course the girl on her bike, the people under the bus shelter and of course the girl with the yellow pants. Once all these elements in memory, I focused on only one thing. I was in motion and waited for all the elements to be separated to press the trigger. Did I see the look that the little boy was giving to his mother or sister ? No. My attention was elsewhere. One thing only mattered to me : separation.
Exemple 5
Oh yes on this last example, you need a bit of luck to get something clean with so many people in the frame. But you know what ? I am surprised to succeed more and more this kind of photos. My eyes scan all the elements and I know when to press the trigger to have the best chance to succeed such photos. I think the important thing is to put foregrounds that occupy a good part of the frame and then focus on them. The rest comes almost naturally. I hardly exaggerate when I tell you that I concentrate almost exclusively on this famous separation between my characters in the street. I find this very important because after all, when you look at the photos of the Masters, this is obvious. These clean compositions that make these pictures incredible. Of course it is not enough to make good pictures, but how many potential beautiful pictures ruined because you have not paid attention to a good separation between your characters ? The idea is to train your eyes until it becomes natural. A subconscious thing. What I can say is that it takes times to master that.
All the photographs were made with the ricoh GR in Toulouse.
It’s been almost 3 years since this blog exists. It has evolved a lot since my first article and the content too. I have tried to expand the topics with the progressively T.M.E (Through My Eyes) and for some time, I decided to share with you my photos in slideshows. I could have posted these photos in Blogsposts, but I did not want to drown the reading under dozens of photos. The other reason is that I shoot a lot and so far so many of these photos were dusting my hard drive. I had found a way to show them by occasionally making a slideshow called What You Have not Seen # xxx. I decided to change the frequency of publication of these slideshows by offering it every month.
This slideshow is the first in a long series that will be published every month and that will gather the photos that I will not have had the time to share with you. They will be more or less long according to what I will have to share. For this month of August, Aix-en-Provence is in the spotlight. I did not have time to share these photos because I essentially shared photos of my recent trips in Rome and Marseille.
This is the last summer I spent in Aix-en-Provence. It makes me a little heartache because I was at home in this city. Even though I spent quite a bit of time in the streets of Aix during this month, I had a lot of photos. The slideshow below is very long if you have enough courage to watch it through.
All the photographs were made during the month of August 2019 with the Ricoh GR and GRD 4.
That’s it, I’m with my family on the island of Reunion ! To tell the truth, it feels good to be with my wife and children after more than a month spent away from them after their departure in early August. We have already been separated but never so long. The longest duration should not exceed 1 week. I do not stay long nevertheless because I have to go back to the continent for 3 weeks of training … I was able to discover the new routine of my children. Wake up at 6:15 am, leaving for school at 07:15 am. FYI, at Jouques we used to leave home at 8:00 am … Which is still a big difference. Two reasons explain this earlier departure. The traffic is very dense (not to say infernal …) and also the school that starts half an hour earlier. It’s a new rhythm to take.
Since we are on a tropical island, the sun rises earlier and the city activates earlier too. I was able to visit their school and I am very happy to see that the school is very good and that my children have already adapted to their new environment. They really have a capacity of adaptation that we adults do not have ! I did a little Street Photography in the city with them after school as you can see in the photo above. They have a uniform like the little English. Last Tuesday, I was able to go explore my new playground with my Ricoh GR. I had to roam a little over an hour in the streets of Saint-Denis, where I will work and also live. I was there very early and the streets were pretty deserted. We have to wait until 9:30 am to see the streets come to life.
Since I arrived, the weather is pretty capricious. To be honest, it was often cloudy and we even had some showers. But nothing really bad. We are on a tropical island and the sun reappears often after the showers ! This Tuesday morning, I had a lot of luck because the sun made meager appearances allowing me to play with the light. As in Aix-en-Provence, I am more comfortable now when the light is flat. Why ? Because I do not have to worry about where the sun comes from to take pictures. I just have to focus on the scenes to capture.
When I was in Aix-en-Provence, I knew my environment and it was quite simple to do Street Photography there. Here it is not yet the case. I do not know the city well yet or how people will react to my rather intrusive style. They will not react in the same way to my presence. Aix is a very touristy city and the presence of people with a camera passes almost unnoticed. Although there are also a lot of tourists in Reunion, they are not necessarily in the city of Saint-Denis which is not of great interest to people passing through the Island. My approach may be different at first to domesticate this city. It’s quite exciting but also intimidating. I might have run into another street photographer during my hour spent in the streets. There is no mistaking the signs. A shoulder bag and an analog DSLR screwed to the wrist. I did not dare to call him but I think I will run into him again in the streets of Saint-Denis …
The picture above is a failed one. You guess why, it was just a question of a few milliseconds when pressing the shutter. To be too close to people, that’s what happens … This woman is from the Comoros Islands, which are located in the north-west of Madagascar not far from Mayotte which is a French island. As you can guess, many Comorians fleeing the poverty of their islands try to pass on Mayotte to obtain the French nationality. For several years, there has been an increased presence of people of Comorian origin on the Island. This is not without generating quite a lot of tension with this community on the Island. I will not dwell on this delicate subject because it is not the object of this Blog. So we often meet women with these paintings on their faces. Reunion is a multi-cultural island. Several different ethnic groups live side by side without much problem. I still have to find the limits not to exceed so as not to offend these people. I keep a certain distance for the moment to evaluate their reactions to my presence.
Change is good. In Aix-en-Provence, I was at home. This change will force me to evolve, to do things differently to confront new type of people. Will it be harder to do Street Photography on Reunion Island ? It is difficult to answer this question because I spent just a little time in the streets of Saint-Denis. What is certain is that it will be different. What I did in Aix will serve me but I have to reinvent myself in relation to the context.
This photo could be my last photo made in the streets of Aix-en-Provence. At the time I write this very short blog, a page turns. I am finishing today my last day of work in Aix. I go directly find for a few days my beloved family on the island of Reunion. Yesterday, going to work and heading to a restaurant where I had to find some friends, I continued to do what I did for the last 3 years. I had my Ricoh on my wrist as usual and I captured here and there some scenes in the streets of my city. What’s funny is that all the pictures I made yesterday, I post-processed them in B&W.
I did most of the photos between 7pm and 8pm and it was sorely lacking light and the B&W was needed because in color, the photos would have been awful … Everything had started in monochrome for me and it had to be so for finish. I study the possibility of switching to the Ricoh GR 3 for better performance in low light. Case to follow …
I will try to make a blog more consistent to summarize these almost 4 years roaming the streets of Aix-en-Provence. I’m always looking to the future and I’m pretty excited to see what I can do in Reunion Island. It’s also a big leap into the unknown because there was some comforting routine in Aix. Before that, I would have the opportunity to spend 3 weeks in Toulouse before focusing on my island.
All photos were taken yesterday with the Ricoh GR.
This year 2019 is a key year with many things that have happened in recent months. A year of change symbolized by our move to Reunion Island. My children and my wife have taken a little advance on me because they have been there already for 1 month. Besides I will join them a few days because we had a little underestimated this separation of 2 months and a half. I will go see them 15 days before returning to the city of Toulouse to finish my training. Since this beginning of the year so, despite the time spent taking care of the move and the sale of the house, I was able to go on the side of Paris, Bristol and last week, I went for a small 3 days trip to Rome.
As for all my previous destinations, this little trip to Rome was done solo. You might find it surprising, but I like to go alone on a trip. It’s selfish enough as a choice, but I like having no constraints and doing what I want. Do not believe that I am someone asocial (may be …). It’s just that I like these moments spent with myself. Do not be fooled, I also love traveling with my wife and children ! You can imagine that behind all that, there was also the possibility of doing street photography freely. This was the case for Rome last week. The idea was to find a destination not far in Europe to spend a few days. I hesitated between Istanbul, London, Madrid and Rome. My choice as you can see it focused on the Italian capital. it was much later that I realized that my English friend John Harper was also in Rome two weeks before me (I invite you to read his Blog here). Holy coincidence ! After Bristol and Bath, it would have been fun to meet in the streets of the Roman city !
So here I am for a few days in Rome. Usually, I learn a little about the city that I will visit before going there. I read a few guides, I look at some pictures, I study the neighborhoods … But here I did nothing of all that. I went there without knowing anything about Rome. I had just booked on the advice of some friends, my visits to the Coliseum and also to the Vatican. I was also vaguely briefed on interesting places in Rome. I did not know much because my idea was to roam the streets without taking care of anything else. I went there for the purpose of doing street photography. So the place did not matter to me. By the way I did not use any public transport, preferring to walk.
The end of the day was a relief because I had to walk more than 10 kms per day ! I do not regret this choice because it allowed me to better visit the city. Nevertheless, I struggled a lot the first morning because I had a hard time finding my way around the city. I did not know it and I did not know where to go. I lost a lot of time trying to locate myself on my smartphone. I had also left the hotel very early and found myself in almost deserted streets at 9am. It was Saturday morning and the streets began to fill up much later. I then understood better how the different neighborhoods of the city were articulated and I was much more comfortable on the streets.
This element is crucial to allow me to focus on photography. I already explained it in several Blogs. I need to understand the city to do street photography. Understand where the flows of people are. Understand where the interests are. It will have taken me almost a day for that. When you spend only 3 days there, you do not have much time to make photos … But 3 days is not bad. The ideal would be to spend 4 to 5 days in Rome. In three days, you do not have time to capture the soul of the city. Moreover you can see in the photos that I share in this Blog, that I mainly photographed in touristic places : in the vicinity of the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Piazza di Spagna … It would be necessary to spend more time to succeed in making Street Photography out of these places. Clearly there I did not have time and I had to take shortcuts and do Street Photography in touristic places.
Anyway, it does not change me much of Aix-en-Provence which shares many similarities with Rome. I’m not talking about the size of the city, but the architecture and the fact that they are highly tourist destinations. The challenge was not to fall into the ease by photographing tourists who take themselves in pictures. I will admit that it is quite difficult and that it is necessary to focus not to reproduce these tasteless shots. For the record, I photographed interesting situations in the streets of Rome and I realized later that I had photographed French people ! Hey, I will not tell you which photos it is !
It’s quite simple to do Street Photography in Rome. Almost everyone has a camera in their hands. The areas are very dense and you go unnoticed when making your photos. I stayed in relatively touristic places, but I think in less crowded places, the presence of the camera draws more attention. This is particularly the case of the district of Termini (railway station) where I lodged. Tourists here are in transit and you will see very few people taking photos. It will require a little more discretion.
I would have liked to spend more time in the Roman city, but I already feel lucky to have spent 3 days walking the streets of Rome with my Ricoh GR. I tried to capture at best a glimpse of what is happening on Roman streets. You must tell me that in view of the photos that I put forward in this Blog that I did only color in Rome ! That’s not the case. I shot a lot more in B&W. I made a selection of about fifty photos that I grouped in a slideshow that is quite long if you have 6 minutes to lose. The photos are presented in their order of shooting. No desire to order or reorganize all that … You can see through this slideshow my wanderings during these 3 days spent in Rome.
I remind you that all these slideshows are present on my YouTube channel and you can subscribe to be informed as soon as a new video or slideshow is put online. All photos were made with the Ricoh GR.
I have not told you about skateboarding on this blog. I reassure you right now, I do not skate. I already have trouble standing on a scooter I’m not ready to venture on a skateboard. I always admired the skaters and how cool they are on these little boards. I think that after the heroes of Marvel, the skaters are the coolest on earth ! In 2017, my children became passionate about skateboarding and started having fun on the terrace of the house. I quickly decided to bring them to dedicated areas for this sport to prevent them from dmaging the house by trying their tricks ! We have spent a lot of time on different skate parks in the area. You will find below photos collected during my Skate trips with the kids.
There are rarely a lot of people on the skate park. What is nice is that all levels coexist in the same place. Advanced skaters are very tolerant towards beginners and make room for them to have fun too. I have never seen a skater kick out a beginner. He is wisely waiting for his turn to ride. As for the photos, it’s quite simple to do because the photographers are well accepted. It is a discipline where style is important and I think it must flatter the ego to know that we are being watched. The best sesame anyway was the presence of my kids having fun on their skates.
What I like most of all is the atmosphere that prevails near the skate park. We have the impression that the adults who frequent them have not grown up and have remained great children. And that’s to say, but I find skaters very cool ! They have this idleness that only surfers have. After all it is also a sliding sport and to look more closely, they are quite similar. I had already spotted this skate competition last year, but I could not get there. This year, it’s not much better because I work the whole weekend and in the end I can just attend the session of Friday which sees the amateurs compete for 2 qualifying places to compete with the professionals.
So I’m back to Marseille for the Red Bull Bowl Rippers Skate 2019 ! The bowl of Prado is located by the sea. At the end of the afternoon at the Prado, there is a lot of people. Many people enjoy summer and holidays. For those who work, it’s the end of the week and it’s a break for the whole weekend. Quite quickly I meet young people who seem to all converge on the place of the demonstration.
You will find very few photos of the competition on this Blog. There was a security perimeter around the Bowl that kept me from being closer. Difficult to have something interesting with a 28 mm! But I did not care. The show was elsewhere on the rostrum with a very colorful population. It’s a very special atmosphere that reigns at the Bowl du Prado. The presence of the beach a few meters away is for something.
I regret not being able to attend professional sessions that were held on Saturday and Sunday because these guys are real virtuosos on their skates defying the laws of gravity. I put you in touch the video relating to the 2019 edition. It is very long but by zapping a little, you can see what I want to talk about.
All the photos were made with the Ricoh GR and the GRD 4.
I recently shared a slideshow about my 3 days in Marseille on my YouTube channel. I had not yet had the time to write a Blog on it to share it with you. You will find the link just below. One of my followers wanted to know a little more about the composition. I work a lot on instinct. Which does not mean that it’s guess work and that with a little luck I have something suitable. It does not work that way … In most cases, there is thinking before pressing the shutter button. It happens very quickly. These are composition schemes that I have in mind. Nothing is fixed. I do not apply ready-made recipes, but with all these different schemes in mind, my brain knows how to recognize interesting situations and compositions.
I will try to detail in this Blog, which led me to take a picture. What are the important elements that I wanted to integrate into my composition and especially when I decided to press the trigger. This Blog will not be exhaustive. I just take the opportunity to explain some photos taken recently in Marseille. I do not pretend to give composition classes. These are just tips. I started the T.M.E (Through My Eyes) project to show you what my eyes were seeing in the street. Here, it will be more a question of explaining to you what led me to press the trigger.
Exemple 1.
You can see that this picture is composed of three elements. I locked from the beginning the exposure on the highlights (on the sky here). I had to spend in all and for less than a minute to get to this picture. I spotted two people waiting for the bus and of course the gentleman with the hat caught my attention. A silhouette of a guy with a hat always works. I also had this billboard bathed in light. The interest was to now complicate this too simple composition by integrating another element. The bus arrived rather quickly counteracting my plans. I managed to have a picture with a cyclist. Then people started to get on the bus, that’s when a lady came with her stroller. I had to take a small step on the left so that her silhouette stands out against the sky. I had my three elements. That’s when I decided to start. You can see the other photos below.
Exemple 2.
I already knew that this photo would be in B&W. FYI, I shoot in RAW only and I do not use a filter on my Ricoh GR to have a preview in monochrome. But I know right now for some photos if I will work in color or monochrome. Here clearly for me it was B&W. Why ? The horizontal stripes of the gentleman’s shirt and the vertical bars. The gentleman’s attitude in the foreground had caught my attention, as well as the silhouette of the man leaning against the fence in the background. The road and the barrier allowed me to play with the leading lines that led me to the bus stop which gives me a little context in reading this image. We are near the Catalan Beach in Marseille. It certainly does not speak to you, but all the Marseillais know this beach. The girl on the billboard, it’s just a bonus. I did not pay attention, but it complements the overall composition. Note that I stalled the hand of the guy in the foreground at the bottom right of my image for more dynamism. This photo was made while walking. When I saw the scene, I paused to integrate all the elements I told you about, and then I just kept walking until I was able to trigger at the right moment. I do this to keep the candid moment of the scene. If I stopped to compose, the gentleman would surely have looked at me. Sometimes that’s what I’m looking for, but very often I do not prefer it.
Exemple 3.
I love this picture because there is movement and it represents the tumult of Marseille. This photo was made in the district of Chartreux close to the apartment where I lodged. My attention was of course drawn to this group of young people who were coming back from the gym presumably. The idea was to organize the chaos that reigned in this place to get something readable out of it. Again this photo was made while walking and waiting for the right moment to trigger. What is the right moment will you tell me ? I took into account several elements. Be careful that there are no overlapping characters (there is the little boy with the striped t-shirt, but I do not find it embarrassing). Have characters coming in and out of the frame. And to finish points of support in the background (the man with the helmet). All this thinking is taking place quickly in my mind. The small bonus of this photo is the small group of young people coming down the sidewalk. Why is this so important ? It gives life to the photo ! It’s like people coming in and out of the box. This photo is not static. There is movement, life and tension. You can see below, another exemple of this kind of picture.
Exemple 4.
Obviously this picture I only conceived in color ! I stayed close to this gentleman for 5 minutes with his yellow swim shorts. This is the kind of character that catches your eyes when you’re on the street. A few years ago I would have put myself in front of him shamelessly and I would have taken a photo with a low pov. Not anymore. It’s like when I was younger, I was doing daredevil stuff that I will not do it again now. It’s stupid to get old … Instead, I tried to compose differently by integrating another bather who was tanning with also a yellow swimsuit. I only had to wait for other people to finish my composition. These two ladies will do the trick. We have yellow on the outside and blue on the inside. This photo would have no meaning in monochrome. you can see that there is an eye contact. It was inevitable by staying so long on the spot, I am necessarily spotted.
Exemple 5.
This photo was made on the boat that took me to the island of Frioul which is off the coast of Marseille. I spotted these two Japanese who were dressed identically. These colorful shirts were a feast for the eyes and made the use of color mandatory. I made something like 10 photos to get to that one. As usual, I try to complicate the composition by adding elements. Here it was trying to integrate the lady with the hat in the frame. I think I kind od succeeded here and I even had bonus gestures. My only regret about this picture is to have been too close to them because I would have liked to see a little more their shirt. The reason I was so close was to eliminate other clutter elements from the composition. Half succeeded because we still distinguish the face of the guy with the FC Barcelona t-shirt left.
Exemple 6.
Photo taken on arrival on the island of Frioul. I was immediately attracted by these supermarket shopping carts lying there on the platform. Surely to help vacationers carry their luggage. I put myself on the other side to take a picture and I noticed at that moment, the colors that match well. This photo was motivated by the oddness of the scene.
Exemple 7.
This photo above was made on the esplanade at the top of MuCEM. It is a very photogenic place. This photo is a failed one. I really like the shadows of people who come into the picture. They do not overlap and we clearly see 3 people walking. This photo was taken late afternoon with a sun that stretches the shadows. It’s not good because nothing is happening ! I highlighted in red the missing elements. Finally that’s what I had in mind when I imagined this picture in my head. Shadows that enter the frame, a character on the right side of the picture, another in the middle and finally characters in the upper right, a bit of gestures ans that’s all ! Just to have a balanced composition. All that would have happened if I was more patient, but it was a late afternoon and I had already tired … In the end I managed to have all these elements separated but not all together !
I still managed to have something interesting when I did not expect it. The low sun often offered me gestures where people protected themselves from the sun. It was the case on this last photo. I was also lucky to have a gesture from a character who was on different layer. This last picture was taken as I was heading for the exit. I did not expect it. I had not managed to get what I had imagined in my head, but another scene came to me. It’s the street. Very often, nothing happens as expected. You have to be responsive and always be ready to press the shutter button.
Exemple 8.
I introduce you Mario, the plunger of le Vieux Port ! If I only had to show this picture, you’d say, “Thumbs up Jeff, you have an eye and caught a great moment! “. In fact the reality is quite different. I had to take about twenty photos of Mario before I managed to get what I wanted. I went down to the Vieux Port to take pictures of the fish stalls with everyone who is pressing on this place in the morning. I heard a huge splash on my back. That’s when I realized that someone had just plunged into the harbor ! I saw him reappear and climb on the platform. I knew well that he was going to start again. So I stayed there at the edge waiting for him to jump again to try to capture this time his jump. I did not know how to compose. Like an idiot, I tried to take a low pov to have him detached on the blue sky. Missed test. It was later that I realized that I had my background so that he stands out in the composition. It was the sea ! I like this picture because the attitude is perfect with the palms of the hand turned towards me and his pink swim suit that contrasts well with the blue of the sea. Of course this picture works better in color. I worked the other photos in B&W, but clearly the photo is better in color.
Exemple 9.
Photo still taken at MuCEM. I was going out when I saw this place that was just beautiful with the shadows on the ground. Little detail, there was no one in front of me … I peeked behind me and saw 3 people arriving including a woman wearing a long dress. So I waited for them to go past me to make this picture. The image can be divided into 3 parts. I stalled the woman’s head against the back wall that was clear for the photo to be successful. There the monochrome or the color did not matter much. I retouched it in B&W because I like the B&W …
Exemple 10.
I was on the Esplanade de la Major (famous cathedral in Marseille), when I saw a crowd of people with blue helmets screwed on their heads. The street often rhymes for me with routine but it is also know how to spot the unusual. And there clearly, there were pictures to do. It was a group of tourists who were preparing to go and visit the city on these species of all-terrain gyropods. They had just finished taking the instructions and were on the way out. I immortalized their departure. It was like a small army going into battle. The most complicated thing was to trigger at the right moment to prevent the photo from being unreadable with overlapping gyropods. I still succeeded there even if a person is overlapping behind my foreground silhouette.
Here I am done with these few dissected photos. These explanations are to be taken for what they are. In no case a lecture on composition. I’ve just unraveled some of the photos in this slideshow to explain what happened in my head when I pressed the shutter button. I can do the same for each photo of the slideshow but it’s quite long …
All photos in these examples were made with the Ricoh GR.
