Halloween

Let's enjoy Halloween, with its vivid orange and black colors!

I'm absolutely not used to celebrating Halloween, and I had completely forgotten that kids might come that evening to gather candies - so I sort of escaped of my apartment and spent the evening outside, afraid that they might throw eggs at my door... Finally I'm not even sure anyone came knocking and asking for sweets. How sad. 

Next year first resolution: get better prepared for all year events in advance :-) 

 PS: and because I love DIY: have a pumpkin!

Halloween pumpkin

Orange leaves and black stem

Orange and black

Cooking experiment

Do you like roasted chestnuts? 

When autumn comes, this is a meal - or a snack - that I'm really eager to eat. However, I had always bought them at small stalls, in the streets, and had never endeavored to harvest and/or cook any - before last weekend.

Exploring one of the nearby forest (the one in Meudon) with my photography sensei, we came across tons and tons of chestnuts lying on the ground, which had visibly fallen just a couple of nights ago. It was truly amazing. So we began gathering some of them, then a bit more, and suddenly we had collected a whole bag of chestnuts and we could only focus of one thing: eat them at last :-)

Those terribly appealing chestnuts finally made their way to my home (fortunately they were less delicate than mushrooms, as I recall from some unfortunate past attempts), and from there, to my kitchen where we contemplated them for a while, drooling over the perspective of eating them. But how? We were not that thrilled at the idea of cooking them directly in the oven, for fear they might be too hard, so the only remaining solution was to boil them first - and roast them in the oven later on. 

Grabbing a pan and some water, we immediately implemented the idea; and hardly after half an hour of additional time in the oven, we had a bunch of home-cooked roasted chestnuts before our eyes! 

See how good-looking and appetizing they seem, don't they make your mouth water? 

Roasted chestnuts

Yummy chestnuts

Photo mash-up #2

Today theme will be: PINK!
Again, I have been inspired by recent Flickr weekly Catchy colors contest: next time I'll try and set a slightly more innovative subject...

Let's gather some pink pictures now:

Happy pink day :-)

Another forest

With colder temperatures settling in for some weeks already, I have felt slightly lazier and have not gone out as often as I would usually have during Summer. Yet the opportunity to see a friend gave me enough courage last Sunday to go and visit the forest of Meudon, which I had not visited yet.

Unfortunately the weather was terrible - at least for photography (grayish sky and all...). Luckily though there was no rain, so I was able to enjoy strolling around in this beautiful forest. As I had my camera with me, I tried to take a few pictures despite the lack of appealing lights, and, well, it was not quite as bad as I thought it would be: mushrooms, moss, chestnuts and dead leaves were there again to cheer me up, and they did help encourage my camera to wake up from its beginning of hibernation.

So, still a few forest pictures with already much-explored themes... But autumn season is so amazing, there would never be too many pictures celebrating it :-)

Opening chestnut husk

White mushrooms

Tree and twig

Photo mash-up #1

Well, I think I will follow Flickr blog Catchy Color themes as first ideas of Photo Mash-ups. Accordingly... let's begin with YELLOW! (color theme from two weeks ago already)

Let me know what you think of it :-)

Happy yellow day :-)

Let's innovate

You see, I usually organize articles in my blog in quite a static way: 3 or 4 photos gathered at the bottom of posts with a common topic. However, this definitely doesn't help photos be the main point of focus, since they can't get your first glance, don't you agree?

Therefore I think it's time to create a new era of articles where more accent is placed on photos (true purpose of my blog^^) with better mixing and/or homogeneity than can be done by just sorting pictures by date. I don't really have many ideas yet, but why not begin with colors, or subjects, or emotions, or the weather - something of the sort? Let's call it the 'photo mash-up' innovation! :-)

Coming soon...

PS: a picture of the remains of my poor basil - devoured from bud to leaf by a ferocious pasta eater :-)

My basil pot

Digging up

Instead of enjoying Paris car-free day on Sunday (which was my first weekend plan), I decided to make a trip to the nearby forest of St Germain en Laye. I had somehow already explored it, but the upcoming autumn added quite an interesting ingredient to its usual attractive features: thanks to the preceding rainy days, mushrooms had been hastily growing under dead leaves or next to old logs and tree stumps, and they were beginning to show their heads just above the ground. Perfect moment to have a stroll in the woods and set up a mushroom quest & photo competition :-)

Looking for mushrooms was no easy task though. Small as they were, and often similar in color to dead leaves and musty logs, it was a real challenge to notice them. Especially while crossing thorn bushes with bare arms. Still, the battle was totally worth it - rather in terms of photography than of actual harvest, since the few mushrooms we gathered had taken a rather disgusting blue color due to oxidation. We just threw them in the middle of the road and escaped like caught culprits at the sight of approaching walkers...

Here are a few pictures of my photography loot!

Mushrooms on a log

Beetle under the light

Spinning its web

Heritage days

Last weekend the national heritage days were celebrated in France: a lot of (more or less) famous places were open for visits - and above all, for free! I'm not that used to playing the tourist, and I must confess I still haven't visited the most prominent monuments in Paris (no Eiffel Tower or Le Louvre for me yet...) so I decided I had to seize this opportunity to catch up a bit. 

Unfortunately, unless you don't mind lining up for hours in front of it, you have to wake up extremely early to actually be able to see your dream place; to be sure hundreds of people from all corners of Paris and its suburbs just had the same idea and wanted to visit the very same edifice. Therefore when I innocently went to places I had in mind, people in charge told me that everything was already booked for the day. Or the length of the queue simply discouraged me :-(

I ended up visiting only two places, the Collège des Bernardins (5th arrondissement) and the Opéra Garnier (9th arrondissement).

The Collège des Bernardins, located in the Latin Quarter in Paris, is a 13th century Cistercian building which was fully restored in 2008. Since then, it has been a place where people can exchange ideas, have meetings or training sessions; it supports numerous conferences, exhibitions and events. It also hosts the French Catholic Academy and offers biblical and theological trainings. It is a really nice building, even though I find a bit disappointing that its vast halls have been converted into numerous and small training rooms.

The Opéra Garnier was long called 'Opéra de Paris', before the Opéra Bastille opened. I have been once at the latter to see Mozart's Zauberflöte, but it is by no means as magnificent as the Opéra Garnier. As one of the most famous places in Paris, the Opéra Garnier is quite an imposing monument, with somehow mixed architecture styles. I had no idea of what was inside, and when I entered it, I found the view absolutely breathtaking: heavily decorated elements, elaborate columns, staircases and statues and Baroque-style ornamentation with gold color everywhere: just WOW. I really loved the 'too much' look of this monument!

Light on column

Shadows in staircase

Magnificent fresco

A dramatic face

Exploring forests

One would say I'm not a biologist/agronomist for nothing, as I'm always taking photos of flowers and insects. In fact, I've grown up in quite a small village (rather a hamlet), and have always been surrounded with nature: as far as I can remember, running in fields and climbing trees, playing in mud or puddles or small streams and eating wild fruits on every tree/bush has been my childhood daily life. Even now, I just can't get rid of my old over-excitement at the sight of wild and deserted landscapes.

I've been living in the Paris area for about 4 or 5 years by now, and somehow I have been missing countryside a lot. So when my friend told me a few months ago 'let's visit forests some day', I felt very enthusiastic about it! 

My first expedition was in Fontainebleau forest (a really beautiful one) but at that time I didn't own my Sony camera yet and only used my compact one. But I will remember that trip for a very long time: my friend and I were walking under the trees in the forest, looking for some inspiration, when suddenly a huge quantity of cockchafers went flying/falling on us. For some seconds we were totally panicked (it was nothing pleasant really...) but acknowledging there was no danger, we took advantage of this and gathered photos of those bizarre-behaving insects :-)

Next I discovered St-Germain forest. No cockchafers this time, but I found the view below absolutely amazing and there were lots of insects flying over flowers bushes. Soooo... I collected quite a few pictures - I should really get a macro lens though!

Bee on a thistle

Beetle on the way

Flirting wasps

Color contrasts

Even though I don't especially enjoy high temperatures which are quite a feature of summer time, I must admit that when summer draws to a close I kind of feel sad. Autumn often brings rain or cold and - above all - I just can't get rid of my old 'back to school' apprehension at seeing all those exercise books and pencils displayed in the local supermarkets...

However, one thing that gives all its charm to this season is the extraordinary colors it brings to everything outside. Nature suddenly gets covered with a wide range of browns, reds, oranges, yellows that can't leave you unmoved. I would usually stop for a minute or two at the sight of it, and rejoice in planning a stroll in the woods for the next weekend :-)

I will try to plan a forest trip very soon so that I have odd-looking (and fascinating) life forms to share with you. Last time, I came back with pictures of cockchafers and beetles and spiders - let's keep going through the bestiary!

Fallen fruit after rain

Painted logs in the woods

Some colors on a rain-washed street

Bokeh effect

There is something I have been eagerly wanting to learn and apply, and that is the bokeh effect. I'm totally enthusiastic about the way it turns street lights into big colorful circles :-)

So far I have tried two 'types' of bokeh (not sure one can call that different sorts of bokeh though): the one that only makes the background go blurry (focus on a close object) and the nothing-on-focus one, which gives a completely aberrant picture where any point of light in the scenery is distorted into a shining ring. I terribly love the latter!

To me the most difficult part is always finding creative ideas for light sources, so that the bokeh could really enhance the photo. Fortunately enough, my photography sensei had been coming along to teach me the basics and provide me with some very useful advice...

Here are my first few tries, more will follow!

Street lights at night

A grasshopper in a clearing

Busy on a buddleia

Rainy days

We had a heavily rainy week recently, and unfortunately that meant less photography for me: as I was anxious not to damage my camera, I had to wait for the rain to stop before having a chance to take a stroll outside with it.

However, though I don't especially appreciate stepping in puddles or walking bare-headed (and umbrella-free) under the rain, a rainy weather is not something I really dislike - as long as my camera is not affected. Maybe some would say that having lived in Brittany (as I did during my post-graduate years) is quite an efficient vaccine against rain-related grumpiness. But I don't remember Rennes to be that much more rainy than Paris, so let's say the rain has never been a problem to begin with :-)

Usually I would rather walk than use my bike after a rainy day, since I'm not that thrilled at the idea of falling on a slippery road in the Paris area, so perfect opportunity for some pictures...

It just so happened that when I got myself out of my apartment today, I came face to tentacle with an adventurous snail that was diligently moving from one side of a bench to the opposite one (what seemed interesting enough for such a tedious journey, I haven't got a clue).

I cheered it a little on its way ahead, because the poor thing had to cross a precipice - but it did perfectly well on its own! :-)

Assessing the situation

Taking the plunge...

...Goal achieved!

Underground lines

Today I was absent-minded enough on my way back from the 13th arrondissement (quite a habit lately) to miss several times the metro connection I had to take :-(

Although I know the station quite well, I just forgot to get off and had to take the same metro in the opposite direction, but missed the station a second time and had to go forth again...

As a conclusion (and a way to chase my somehow infuriated emotions away) I decided to post something about the Parisian Métropolitain.

This giant and (mostly) underground caterpillar has been the number one reason that made me move closer to my job place. During rush hour, it is often a real pain to merely set a foot inside the car: people throw themselves out, anxious to reach their workplace on time, and sometimes they don't pay attention and crush some feet or hit some arms. It also occurs the other way around: people waiting for the metro grow impatient and don't let people get quietly off the train, which results in quite violent conversation or gestures.  Personally my worst experience was loosing one of my shoes (yes...) when a man pushed me outside of the metro, as there was not enough place remaining for two persons to get in.

However, apart from this going-to-work part, I think it is a very practical means of transportation and I am really glad it is provided! I don't know half of the stations yet, but I hope I will soon be able to visit all corners of Paris thanks to it :-)

Side by side

Metro lights

Asian Delicacies

I have tons of older photos I would like to share with you, but today I will seize the opportunity to express my (almost) life-long passion for Asian food!

Among different things I really enjoy eating, Asian cuisine has for long caught my utmost attention. Of course, you might first have experienced the unavoidable sushi restaurant, or the local Chinese buffet. Quite ordinary and not that appealing, I admit. But if you go deeper into the 13th arrondissement streets in Paris (for instance) you will come across lots and lots of attracting and kind of unsettling Asian restaurants of all sorts, from the big super classy one designed for Westerners tastes, to the small and (at first sight) slightly off-putting canteen, hidden between a phone company and a bigger restaurant. Usually, the first trick to dig up a good place to eat would be to pay attention to the smell that arises from them: strong-smelling ones=good ones, in my opinion. Well, maybe the second trick, as the number of people waiting in line to be served would certainly be just as efficient :-)

With such a wide range of taste experiences, I have still lots of meals to test and approve, but here is a sample of my (re)discoveries today...

Hope you'll enjoy the pictures, and maybe have a try someday :-)

Condiments (long coriander, thai basil leaves...)

Pho Dac Biet ('special Pho', with beef and tripe)

Ba Mau drink with 3 colors (yellow, green and pink)

A Photo Competition

As I explained in my first post, my desire to get involved more thoroughly into photography originates in a slightly foolish photo competition with a friend of mine (who happens to own the very same camera as mine, by the way). At that time, I had not bought my Sony camera yet, so I must say I entered the competition with some technical handicap :-)

Anyway, this crazy contest turned out to be a real fun: I went everywhere around seeking inspiration, and doing so I discovered a lot of beautiful places. Nothing is more thrilling than watching around you, eyes wide open, with flared nostrils and alert ears, waiting for a fish to bite your camera-hook!

First topics were: 'childhood', 'water', and 'waiting'. Then we concluded that this was a bit too restraining and thus decided to explore places instead: Montmartre, the 13th and 2nd arrondissements. 

Here are some photos about childhood, the very first theme we had chosen: I could not help but draw suns and houses on the concrete ground with colored chalks...

A yellow sun shining on a bridge parapet

Having fun with colors

St-Germain Island

I've recently been wandering near Issy-Les-Moulineaux: more precisely, on the island which is located between this city and Boulogne-Billancourt in the South-West suburbs of Paris, and called St-Germain Island.

It is quite a charming place in summer, with its vast and green park where you can come across thousands of white or brown butterflies (nothing comparable with the countryside ones, unfortunately). I could not catch one this time though, quick as they were! The weather was really hot and it was somehow painful to stay too long under the sun, so I did not have the courage to chase after them :-(

I love taking photos of insects, I will try to gather some more for a future article :-)

A firebug climbing up the stem

A busy wasp in a white-and-yellow flower

A bee invading a pink flower

Under the Pont Mirabeau

Among the many things I recently discovered in photography, long-exposure shooting seems to me one of the funniest and most impressive ones. For the moment I don't know all the possibilities of this method yet, but I have been quite thrilled with the results of my first try :-)

This would have been impossible without the help of my friend's tripod which allowed the camera to be perfectly stable. Long-exposure without a tripod is... well... pretty awful. Even if you place the camera on something fixed rather than holding it by hand, let's say the parapet of a bridge for instance, it's still very difficult to get a good image since 1) the 'horizontality' can't be controlled as easily, 2) the wind will still make it move a bit, and 3) I can't bear the idea of letting the camera fall into the water/ground so I can't get my hands off the camera anyway...

I have been given a small tripod (a horrible green object, yet terribly convenient) which helped me a lot when using my small Panasonic, but the weight of my Sony camera sort of exhausted the poor thing (it instantly bent towards the ground) and I haven't really used it after that anymore. The 'let's keep borrowing someone else's tripod' will have to stop, I know; buying one of my own is among my 'next things to do' list, I guarantee :-)

So, here are some of my first experiments with this parameter. There's obviously room for improvement, but at this stage I'm quite happy with them!

Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine

La Défense Lights

A New Challenge

Once upon a time, a compact-camera user who knew nothing about photography discovered the joys of using a slightly more sophisticated device...

For years I had been bringing my little Panasonic Lumix compact all around with me, enthousiastic enough with its capabilities and absolutely unaware of the DSLR world. However, some months ago, my idealistic vision of my handy, yet kind of poorly-equipped camera got seriously compromised :-(

The thing is, if you have a photography-fanatic friend who understands photography as a true art - rather than a digital generator of souvenirs - it somehow changes your way of considering your camera.

Besides, this very friend and I had started a sort of silly photo competition where we had to take a picture every weekend on a pre-defined subject. As he was equipped with a 'hybrid' camera (that mirrorless version of a DSLR camera) with lots of options and functionalities that mine had not, I was soon overwhelmed with jealousy and disappointment at my own un-funnyphoto-ness.

Without a moment's hesitation (well, it has actually taken some time) I decided to make the leap. And when I came to making the decision of which model I was to buy, I felt so helpless that I chose a very easy solution: buy the very same camera as the one my friend owned :-) Now, my sweet SONY α6000, a whole trial-and-error future is opening before us...

I still have lots of things to learn, but I hope you will enjoy my photos - don't hesitate to add a comment if you have any suggestions!

...Paving the Way to Photography^^