La Défense

I’ve been visiting Paris now for over 20 years and somehow haven’t made it west of the Seine River to explore the La Défense area. Well, the other day I finally decided to break that streak.

La Défense is a bit out of character with the rest of what folks view as typical Paris, a much more modern setting with skyscrapers, mall and corporate offices. But the really fun thing is the architecture of not only the Grand Arch itself but the somewhat brutalist architecture that sits just off the banks of the river. As you walk west, toward the Grand Arch the architecture changes from basically an homage to Blade Runner to proper 21st century buildings.

As usual, I had my trusty Sony RX10iv along for the job. It’s sort of the anti-camera for me with its all in one zoom lens, large body and jack of all trades features. But you know what? It gets the job done and allows some great flexibility in focal length. So alas, here’s a few favorites from the other day.

Madeira

We had just arrived on the Portuguese island of Madeira the evening before I took this shot and despite little sleep, the weather was looking great for a potential sunrise shot. As I do often when we travel, I laid out my gear and clothes for a silent escape in the morning so my wife could sleep a little longer. I raced along the coastal road through the numerous tunnels hoping I'd get to the beach in time as navigating Madeira's roads can be a bit of a challenge.

Having made it to the beach just in time I managed to skip and hop over the many large boulders with reasonable sleep deprived grace to frame my shot. I quickly set up the tripod but wasn't happy with my location. Then moved farther down toward the water and lowered my perspective as well. Once satisfied, I added my 10 stop ND Lee Filter and tried a few shots to see how the scene was coming together. After a few more adjustments I got this image and was glad for the peaceful morning watching the sunrise in this far away place.

Eiffel

It’s been photographed more times that one could possibly count and many times by myself. Still, the Eiffel Tower always impresses during a stroll around Paris. This particular sunny day the clouds & sky made for a dramatic setting that caught my eye. As usual, my walk-around camera of choice was the Fuji X100T, always a solid go-to camera.

Lisbon + Zurich

Perhaps an odd couple for cities, but my first trip on my new plane fortunately took me to Portugal and Switzerland. Managed a couple of quick walkabouts to put the Fuji X100T through the paces since I've been busy with training the last six weeks. Nice to get out & shoot again!

The Vasco da Gama Bridge - long exposure X100T

Of course Photo Lego Dude needed his shot of the bridge - X100T

A little exploring of Old Town Lisbon was of course in order - X100T, edit in Snapseed

Street scenes in Lisbon - X100T

Then 24 hours in Zurich - X100T

Lake Zurich - X100T

Evening Falls - X100T

G'night Zurich - X100T