Tag Archive for: black&white

The kiss

The kiss. Prague, Czech Republic, 2016.

The kiss. Prague, Czech Republic, 2016. Get a print!

The street photographer’s motto could be the same as the Scouts’: “Be prepared”! This is something that’s I’ve learned once again during my trip in Prague, while visiting the Josefov district (former Jewish ghetto of the city).  Coming out from another street, just at the corner, I’ve observed this couple saying goodbye in the kindest way possible: in a long and passionate kiss. It’s one of those moments when I’m very glad I always have my camera in my hand, ready to shoot.

Despite a long and passionate kiss, something intimate I think, even if happening in a quite crowded street, the instant I always prefer to shoot if this second just before the lips touch each other, when you can see the actual emotions of the kisser – or the kissed – just before the magic happens. It’s a far more touching moment to me, a moment of romance and peace for two persons in their own world for a few second, even if tens or hundreds of people pass by them.

It’s one of the photos I prefer of this trip. While others are much more graphical or display pure childish joy, this photo is just so peaceful, but also so full of emotions, it really stands above the rest. And it was also one of my very first shots, it was like a sign it will be a good trip on the photography point of view, I was so pumped up for the rest of the day!

Fine art prints

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More about this photo

Here are The Kiss’s EXIFs:

  • Camera: Canon 6D
  • Lens: Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
  • Aperture: ƒ/2.8
  • Focale: 70mm
  • Shutter speed: 1/320s
  • ISO: 100
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Bubbles

Bubbles. Prague, Czech Republic, 2016.

Bubbles, Prague, Czech Republic, 2016. Get a print!

Back to Prague (Czech Republic) with a photo that I really like… and totally forgot! This is why I like to go through my old photos from time to time, that’s how you find some hidden gems. First it was Long Legs, now it’s Bubbles. I almost lost what may be my 2 best shots of the trip, by just forgetting them. That would have been a shame. So fellow photographers, go through your archives from time to time 🙂

It was our last day, we were wandering in one of Malá Strana‘s parks without particular goal, when we were attracted by the noise of children playing, screaming of joy. And here we were, with that man we’ve already seen a few time making giant soap bubbles for the kids to run after, for their pure enjoyment. It was a very nice scene to watch, children playing children games, running like crazy in the park during a hot spring Sunday…

As the kids were busy with the bubbles, I’ve had all the time in the world to frame as I wanted and capture them going after a fresh, huge bubble. The reaction of the smaller child, as well as the happiness of the man, are just priceless to me. It’s such a pleasure to capture those simple moments. Simple, but also full of meanings and life lessons. It just never hurts to take a step aside, leave our busy lives for a moments and enjoy the simple things of life.

You can enjoy other photos from Prague in a dedicated portfolio item.

Fine art prints

Do you like this photo? Contact me for obtaining an original, signed fine art print in limited edition!

About this photo

  • Camera: Canon 6D
  • Lens: Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
  • Aperture: ƒ/2.8
  • Focale: 70mm
  • Shutter speed: 1/500s
  • ISO: 100
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Long legs in Prague

Long legs. Prague, Czech Republic, 2016.
Prague has been a long time travel destination. It has this beautiful architecture, those small streets, and all those tourists that make it perfect for street photography.

This photo was taken next to Prague’s castle, in the Little Quarter (Malá Strana for those who speak Jan Saudek‘s language). Just after going down the exit of the castle on the right, there is this street, with an incredible view of the whole city. But at the end of this street, there is these long stairs, leading to restaurants and bars hidden in nice old houses. But when you’re lucky enough to have the sun just in line with these stairs, it’s a festival of incredible shadows.

I had to wait quite a lot to get this photo. There are a lots of tourists, everywhere. It’s a real challenge to get a clean shot there! And don’t even get me started about the Charles Bridge! I wanted someone alone, just one single person going down these stairs, but it was too much to ask I think. I still managed to shoot this woman, with the longest legs in the world… according to her shadow at least! I also love the way the sun shines through her hair, like a bowl of fire above her neck. It’s definitely one of my best shots of this trip!

I also have a few more photos from Prague, I think I make some new entries in my portfolio in the next weeks. And a few other trips in the most iconic places in France are also planned for this summer, so stay tuned!

Do you like this photo? Contact me for obtaining an original, signed print!

EXIFs:

  • Camera: Canon 6D
  • Lens: Canon EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM
  • Aperture: ƒ/7.1
  • Focale: 70mm
  • Shutter speed: 1/60s
  • ISO: 100
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Airport stairs

Airport stairs. Munich Airport, Germany, 2016.

The Munich airport (and airports in general actually) may be my favourite playground for photography. It has pretty much all I love: slick and modern design with large windows, stairs, rushing people, calm crowd. They scream for a dynamic environment that is perfect for my kind of photography. Being a fan of geometry, strong lines and diagonals, I can find there all the graphical elements I need for street photography, Pierre Pichot style 🙂

I took advantage of a trip from Cluj-Napoca (Romania) to Frankfurt (Germany) via Munich (still Germany) to take a few shots. It was not the best possible scenario: on both go and back trip my first flight was delayed, making me rush between the arrival and boarding gates. So impossible for me to take my time and plan my photos. It was pure reflex shooting, in an instant. The photo above was shot while waiting for very long mechanical stairs to reach the last floor of the building. It was already late at night, the airport was pretty empty and I thought I’ll never be able to fit someone in my frame. At the very last second a group of passengers finally appeared, making my photo complete.

I once again decided to use the dutch angle, first of all because I really like it, but more importantly because it accentuate quite a lot the dynamic of the photos, multiplying the diagonals across the frame. The architectural complexity of this airport becomes much more obvious this way. It always reminds me those crazy science fiction movies and comics. Tsutomu Nihei’s manga Blame!, in this very case.

Do you like this photo? Contact me for obtaining an original, signed print!

EXIFs:

  • Camera:Fujifilm X100T
  • Aperture: ƒ/8.0
  • Focale: 23mm
  • Shutter speed: 1/125s
  • ISO: 6400
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Another direction

The other direction. Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

A few weeks ago I was attending a university graduation ceremony of one of the members of my family. I wasn’t really in a artistic mode to be honest, much more in another direction like  “take portraits with the telephoto as you came late and can’t get closer than 20 meters from the scene” mode. Not my favourite kind of photography, but being the only one in the family with correct photography skills, I was the one that got declared volunteer for this task. I think that it will ring a bell for all the photographers reading this blog post.

Once my relative got his diploma, it got really boring as there were still a LOT of kids that were to receive their precious paper. It gave me time to wander a bit and I found this grey haired man, in this theatre-like place. It was a pretty interesting figure: he was the only one with light coloured hairs, and he was reflecting the lights from the scene like none of the other people in the place. The time for me to move the camera to him, he looked at the other side (the scene is a bit more on the right hand side), and in this other direction he showed me a part of his face. Click, the shutter is released, at least I have my shot of the day 🙂

The processing was fairly straightforward using Adobe Lightroom to turn the photo in black and white and give a lower key feeling. Then, some tiny touches of dodge & burn to raise the overall contrast.

Do you like this photo? Contact me for printing fees!

EXIFs:

  • Camera: Canon 6D
  • Lens: Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
  • Aperture: ƒ/2.8
  • Focale: 150mm
  • Shutter speed: 1/160s
  • ISO: 1600
  • Copyright: Pierre Pichot 2016, all rights reserved
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Tag Archive for: black&white