NikonGear'23

Images => People, Portraits, Street, PJ & Cityscapes => Topic started by: Airy on February 16, 2022, 23:25:23

Title: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Airy on February 16, 2022, 23:25:23
Aix en Provence, place d'Albertas. Df, 50/1.8G
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Airy on February 16, 2022, 23:26:23
Marseille, MUCEM. Df, Zeiss 25/2
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Airy on February 16, 2022, 23:27:31
Arles, Van Gogh Café. Df, 50/1.8G
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Airy on February 16, 2022, 23:30:35
Arles, Cathedral. Df, Zeiss 25/2. Heavy-handed PP, using a "wavy" curve to get a dark, structured sky.
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Airy on February 16, 2022, 23:39:19
Aix en Provence, place de Verdun. Df, 50/1.8G
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Akira on February 17, 2022, 00:08:07
Love the atmosphere of Van Gogh Café image.

I also like the cathedral shot that reminds me of a wet plate image.
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: John Geerts on February 17, 2022, 07:52:02
Lovely overview of the region Airy.    The Van Gogh Café in Arles is famous, I guess ;)

The Zeiss is impressive.
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: HCS on February 17, 2022, 09:49:58
Lovely Airy!

Your pictures make me long for the south of France, i've been vacationing in this region a lot.

I like the outcome of your wavy curve to bring out the mood in the Cathedral of Arles.
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Thomas Stellwag on February 17, 2022, 14:55:28
I like your series and remember all the places,  just having been in Aix, Marseille, Arles and Sete in November
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Airy on February 17, 2022, 15:13:05
Thanks all for commenting.

Thomas, it is not exactly a series, because I made no effort to achieve any kind of homogeneity. One camera, two lenses (quite different animals, not really a good match), and whimsical processing. The scenery and the weather were not exactly homogeneous either, cold wind an warm sun, roman limestone buildings and contemporary steel & glass stuff... but enjoyable all the same. Arles especially was a nice surprize (my first visit there): despite being famous, if only for its photographic events, the city is not swamped by luxury boutiques or real estate peddlers like poor Aix en Provence for instance. The old town rather reminds some rundown places in Italy.

Hans, one peculiarity of wavy curves is that they have at least one flat area, here in the light greys, where contrast is annihilated. The result is a mix of high contrast and low contrast zones (e.g. the walls in the front, and the roof in the back). There is more structure in the sky than in the ancient wall :)

John, you guessed right. That's also a reason for pushing the saturation, but I should have been more cautious about the reds that are "overstated". The Zeiss is a great performer indeed, here shot at f/8-f/11, but great too wide open, despite a slightly nervous bokeh.

Akira, you're right about the "wet plate" effect, although it was not my intention. My concern was the bland sky and I did not want to use masking (the whole stuff was lazily processed in NX studio). Curve was adjusted to "populate" the sky while avoiding halo effects near the tower edges or the cross on the roof, which would have exceeded my tolerance threshold.
Title: Re: Some snapshots from Provence
Post by: Nasos Kosmas on February 17, 2022, 17:14:42
Very nice Airy :)
As others already comment nice atmosphere!