Paris in Black and White (Part 2)

[mistress_elaine]

Here's nearly a dozen more grainy, overexposed, expired photos to go with the ones I posted last week. I've thrown in a few non-expired converted colour photos, as well, for the sake of completeness. See if you can spot the difference

Comments

[cosmiccircus]

I like how you focus on details, and not just taking a photo of the whole big thing. It makes for interesting closeups and patterns!

[mistress_elaine]

Yeah, I'm all about patterns, and I may soon be all about close-ups, too, as I'm thinking of acquiring a second-hand macro lens for my Olympus. I'm not sure if I want to carry yet another lens with me, though. It's bad enough alternating between my regular 50mm lens and my new 28mm lens. I had to switch lenses God knows how many times on my last trip...

Glad you like 'em. Thanks!

[taotianone]

i love your pictures of paris, but they put me to thinking about paris and i lose focus on the pictures and rejoin the city. i remember walking one night from the trocadero palace across the champs de mars, and under la tour eifel, seeing much the view you photographed, and on to our little room across from ecole militaire. ummmmmm...good pictures make great memories...or is it the other way round

[mistress_elaine]

Wow. You sound like quite the Paris aficionado...

The walk from the Trocadero to the Eiffel Tower was high on my list, as I had just seen a friend post some amazing pictures of the tower taken from the Trocadero. I somehow ended up not going there, mostly because the weather was such that the views wouldn't have been very impressive. I'll definitely take that walk on my next visit to Paris, though, provided the weather is more photogenic then.

I can't say I was terribly impressed with Notre Dame. I mean, it's a gorgeous building (especially from the outside), and it was fantastic visiting it while the light was good and the choir was there, but like yourself, I've seen more beautiful churches. I generally prefer less ornate churches -- Protestant ones, if you wish. Many of the churches I visited in France and Italy made me want to scream, "You know, less really is more, you guys!" But still, I'm glad I saw Notre Dame, and I somehow managed not to have anything nicked there

[taotianone]

yes, paris is one of my favorite cities, although i've only been there a few times. it's not necessarily the most interesting place i've ever been either, but it's an exceptionally beautiful city to just walk and wander. i took lots of photographs there, but they were all color slides, on which my scanner doesn't do a very good job. i'll have to try a few for lj posting sometime.

the day i walked from the troc to the tower, it was prior to the millenium, and the big jumbotron scoreboard on the tower that was counting down the days had just flashed a huge "666" over the city and it was quite a topic of nervous conversation. however, dawn [and "665"] came without incident.

[mistress_elaine]

Ha. I wish I could have seen that "666" sign. Sounds like fun.

Yes, Paris is stunningly beautiful, and I look forward to doing more walking about there some other time when the light is slightly more conducive to photography than it was on my last visit. For some reason, though, I didn't fall in love with Paris the way I did with Barcelona. It may have been something to do with the weather (we had much better weather in Barcelona than we did in Paris), but whatever it was, Barcelona really struck a chord with me and Paris didn't. I think the right way of putting it would be to say that I appreciated Paris while actually enjoying Barcelona. Hopefully I'll get around to enjoying Paris, too, on my next visit.

I hope you'll find an opportunity to scan your Paris slides some time. I'd love to see your take on the city!

[silverclear]

My god, the first photo looking up through the fencing just gave me vertigo. Well done!

[mistress_elaine]

Heh. Yes, I can see how it might have that effect on people. Hope you enjoyed the ride! :-)

[muckefuck]

So what was that little spot of journal deletion drama? Or was that simply a hiccough in LJ?

[mistress_elaine]

'Twas merely a dramatic decision taken by a tormented mind. I'll explain in more detail in my next post.

Incidentally, I'm sorry to hear you lost your China pictures. That would ruin the whole holiday for me. I hope it hasn't ruined yours...

[muckefuck]

We were really distressed about it for like an hour. But we're both Buddhists so we know not to get too attached to anything. Besides, my worst case scenario for China always involved one of us ending up in a hospital, so there's no way this could be worse than that. I was taking detailed notes as we went along and, as soon as we got back, monshu started writing out all his reminiscences, so we have a full record of the trip even if it's not photographic.

[mistress_elaine]

I wish I were enough of a Buddhist to feel the same way about all the travel photos I've lost over the years. I don't care much about material possessions, but I'm afraid photos are a different story altogether. They represent memories, experiences, self-expression and art, and as such mean more to me than they probably should. I get tremendously upset whenever I lose photos. So kudos to monshu and yourself for taking your loss so lightly...

As for the Chinese health-care system, I can see why you would be worried about anything happening to either yourself of monshu, but for the record, the best dentist I've ever come across (and I've come across many!) works in a Beijing hospital. I was dead scared when I submitted to her ministrations, but she was amazing. So even that worst-case scenario might have been a pleasant surprise for you...