Cityscape – A Visual Notebook…

Summer dusk on Charles’ river

Jean-Michel — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 07:09:31 +0000

Recently I did not had/took a lot of opportunities to practice photography as I used to do when I was abroad…It seems quite usual to be more lazy when back home, the typical “I-have-time, I-can-take-that-picture-tomorrow” syndrome..

I’ll try to do better in 2020…But in the meantime, I still have some archive to explore, like these two views of Boston and Cambridge, MA..

Nearby…

Jean-Michel — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 09:42:00 +0000

Most of the time, I tend to consider differently images that I’m taking to keep a trace of something personal (family events, friends, kids), the ones that are just for the love of carrying kilos on my shoulder (walks, week-end or everyday’s life) and the ones I’m taking on purpose (portraits, still life, landscapes..).

I usually keep the first ones private (except with the concerned people), and almost always share only some of the last ones, simply because it’s their purpose (more less!).

I’m sure most of the time photos in second category are not interesting enough to be shared, but maybe I’m biased, and some could be worth a post (still not 100% sure)…

Because I’m born and living in a South of France, I took me a long time (and 2 years in Boston) to realize how views of villages or landscapes in the area might trigger some interest for other photographers…

So, to share a bit of our day to day living in the French Riviera, here are some views of a nearby small village called Cabris…

5mn to kill

Jean-Michel — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 09:39:00 +0000

Arrived a few minutes too early to my rendez-vous, I walked along the old remparts of Antibes. As always, I had a camera with me, this time only with a 35mm.

I didn’t expected to see waves as there was no wind… Camera on the stones, 64iso to get a long exposure, -2/3ev to keep the night atmosphere…2 views later, my colleagues arrived..

Blue snow

Jean-Michel — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 09:51:22 +0000

After the 4th Jan New England snow storm, when the wind was bringing the perceived temperature close to -32celsius, the same two guys were again at their favorite spot to capture the illusion of a warm dusk light…

Winter twilight over Boston

Dark ice

admin — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 09:47:07 +0000

New England winter can be a real experience…and taking pictures at night by -22celsius is certainly something to be considered seriously…Multiple clothes layers, multiple batteries, a long preparation for a few hours of silent joy…

With a friend, we were two shadows silently capturing Boston lights distorted by the frozen waves of the Charles river…

Photography is often a good opportunity to feel alive.

Potentiality

Jean-Michel — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 13:19:26 +0000

Too often, I feel frustrated when discovering the images that I was the most eager to capture, because of the difference of what I felt when I stopped walking to look through the viewfinder, and what I see on the screen…

I’m not talking about technical aspects, no, in fact, it’s more like if I did not capture the full scene.

In fact, it looks like what photographers see initially is the potential of a scene, not just what it is now, and this subconscious process is creating enough excitement to push us to press the shutter immediately.

Clic, done, it’s in the box…

Well, what’s in the box is indeed only a subset of what it could have been…

It took me years to realize that if I give time to a scene to grow and develop, then maybe, maybe (this may never happen), I may finally have in front of me the full image anticipated by my distorted brain a moment ago…

Boston, 2015

Circles

Jean-Michel — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 07:25:49 +0000

As I’m currently travelling and trying to capture new images, here is another memory from the Boston 2015 winter. Charles River was not fully frozen yet, and a group of ducks was visibly enjoying its new playfield!

White Color Palette

Jean-Michel — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 13:13:00 +0000

When visiting Boston before our move back in 2014, someone said to us : “if you don’t like New England’s weather, wait 5mn…“

Indeed, weather changes can be spectacular, like just after that first snow storm end of January 2015.

However, while the light was warm, temperature was well below zero Celsius, and my fingers suffered visibly more from the cold than the camera !

The Moon on the other side

Jean-Michel — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 13:08:00 +0000

Having the chance to live abroad is obviously a great opportunity to capture images very different from our usual environment. It was the case for me during the Boston historic winter early 2015, when several snow storms brought up to 3m (100 inches) of white powder. While it was a pure logistic nightmare everyday, it was a great experience as a photographer, and I may share some pictures from that period.

The image below was taken from the Cambridge side of the Charles River, after the first snow storm.

Three little cars.

Jean-Michel — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 12:15:00 +0000

Maybe because they are unusual, pictures taken from above with a tele lens are often interesting. As I was looking down from the Empire State Building, the traffic flow started to become abstract and aesthetic.

I knew I just had to be patient…