Paris—No 2

We stayed in small hotel in the 6^th Arrondissement.  Our hotel was about three blocks from Jardin du Luxmbourg.  About three doors down from our hotel was Le Timbre, a sixteen-seat restaurant that severs great country French cuisine.   We ate there twice and enjoyed both of the meals.

JD ordered a terrine the second time we ate at Le Timbre.  It was the best terrine that I have ever eaten.  We were seated right next to the kitchen, which was separated from our table by a simple bar.  I told the chef (also the owner) that the terrine was the best that I had ever eaten and would love to have the receipt.
About ten minutes after my request, he placed the receipt on our table.  Of course I thanked him for the receipt but really did not look at it very closely.  I decided to make the terrine for Thanksgiving so when I took it out and began to study it I noticed couple things—first, the receipt was a combination of English and French and second, all the measurements were in Metric/Celsius.  Thanks to JD, the translation was relatively easy and thanks to converters on my iPad, the conversion was also relatively simple.
The terrine?  It came out GREAT!
Enjoy. 
Camera settings:  Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 62mm, ISO 2200, f/4.8 at 160^th of a second.
Post Processing: 
Lightroom 4—applied Standard preset during import, set white and black points and added vibrance and clarity.

Paris—No 1

 

More-or-less on the spur of the moment, JD and I recently visited Paris for a week.  Before I retired, I would often go to Paris on business but have not been back since I retired.
I love Paris.  There are so many great things there—great food, great wine, wonderful museums, fabulous walking and a certain excitement everywhere you go.
This time, Paris seemed tired.  The people seemed to have lost their great love of life.  They seemed to be just going through the motions.
Today’s photo is of one of Paris' great icons—the Eiffel Tower at sundown taken from the Esplanade du Trocadero. 
Enjoy. 
Camera settings:  Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 70mm, ISO 1600, f/11 at 1/2 of a seconds on a tripod 
Post Processing: 
Lightroom 4—applied Vivid preset during import, set white and black points and increased overall vibrance and added clarity to the Eiffel Tower using the adjustment brush.

New York City before Sandy—Part 5

Lights!  Action!  New York City!

Walking along 8^th Avenue and 42^nd Street, I came across this scene.  To me, it says:  New York City at night.   In the photo, I wanted it to be totally about the bright lights and the dynamic movement.

Again, here is hoping that all of you affected by Hurricane Sandy get back to normal as soon as possible.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 70mm, ISO 1600, f/8 at 1/90^th of a seconds.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 4—applied Standard preset during import, set white and black points and added vibrance and added clarity to make the photo look similar to an HDR photo and used manual lens correction to adjust the distortion of the buildings.

New York City before Sandy—Part 4

Today’s photo is another one taken in New York City’s Times Square.  It is one of JD’s favorite photos from our trip this year.

You are probably asking yourself:  “why are all of these people setting in Times Square?”  Well, every year the opening opera of the New York Metropolitan Opera is projected on screens in Times Square.  You can see four screens in the photo, but I counted sixteen screens that were showing the opera.

What do I like about the photo?  For sure, it is the intensity of the viewers watching the screens.  They are totally into the performance.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 70mm, ISO 3200, f/5.6 at 1/90^th of a seconds.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 4—applied Standard preset during import, set white and black points and added vibrance and added clarity to make the photo look similar to an HDR photo.

New York City before Sandy—Part 3

What do you think about when you think about New York City? 

Lots of people often default into thinking about “the bright lights of Times Square.”  Now, Times Square is not one of my favorite places in New York City, yet I do believe that it does illustrate what is New York City—for better or worse.

Here is a photograph of a clown that was walking around the area.  Immediately upon me raising my camera to my eye, he broke into this pose.  I like the photo because it is a typical scene that you will see in Times Square.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 70mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/30^th of a seconds.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 4—applied Standard preset during import, set white and black points and added vibrance and added clarity.

New York City before Sandy—Part 2

Again, looking over photographs of New York City that I took over the past two years, this one struck me as “typical NYC.”

Today’s photo shows the main reading room of the public library.  When I worked in Deloitte’s executive office during the mid-1970s, I would often walk across the street and spend my lunch hour reading in this room.  It is a beautiful room and always full of people.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 28mm, ISO 1600, f/3.5 at 1/30^th of a seconds with camera braced on top of bookcase.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 4—applied Standard preset during import, set white,  black points and added vibrance and added clarity, sharpness and contrast to lower portion of photo with an adjustment brush to bring out detail.

New York City before Sandy—Part 1

I have been looking at many photographs of New York City after Hurricane Sandy hit.  Both in 2011 and 2012, I spent a week in New York City.  It is almost spooky looking at the streets of New York without any people in the scene.  It’s just not New York City.

When I think of New York City, I think hustle and bustle, people hurrying here and there, and, of course, strange scenes just about everywhere you look.

When you look at today’s photo, you just got to think:  “what does a New York Police officer think of this unpaid advertising?”

Our prayers go out to everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Those of us who live on the Gulf Coast know what you are going-through.

Enjoy.

Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 28-300mm f/3.5~5.6 at 120mm, ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/500^th of a seconds.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 4—applied Standard preset during import, set white and black points and added vibrance and clarity.