Category: Street Photography

In the streets of Nantes on Ascension Thursday 2019

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Same day as the last article, but this series is about the streets on Nantes, with some obligatory bike shots, some lovely knockers, shops, churches, and other buildings. This seems to represent part of my universe when I’m in Nantes. Or more the way I see this little area of Nantes.

I usually park in the Feydeau car park, and head through Bouffay, towards Place Royale where I’ll eat in either the Sugar Blue Café (really nice and one of my favourites) and when it’s not open I have to cross the road and eat at the Suppli Factory which is like Italian street food, but not on the street, but still really good food!

After the food, which was delicious we headed off towards the St Nicolas Basilica (photos of which will be the subject of another article) and up past the Cathedral towards the river Erdre (yet another article). Spoiler alert!!!

Clisson in colour, and close up…

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As you might know from reading the rest of this blog, I love using my Canon 6D Mark II with vintage glass. This Helios M44-2 is a bokeh beast for my inner bokeh whore… I love depth of field and this lens allows me to really express myself. Not only do I get the bokeh but due to a design falut in this lens, you get a “swiry bokeh.”

When I saw photos with this swirly bokeh for the first time I was blown away. I wanted that so boadly and when I first got this lens onto my camera I loved it. I’ve been getting acquainted with this lens and am beginning to get find what I can do with it.

Of course it has limits, the major one being that I can’t focus to infinity but i’m ok with that. I can get around it by using zone focusing. I can be around 6 to 10 metres away from my subject and have a small aperture. Above that the mirror with smack into the lens and my camera with start throwing a wobbler! And we don’t want that , do we!

So this bokeh, what is it then?


In photography, bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh has been defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”.

Wikipedia

Modern architecture on the Île de Nantes

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I remember when the words, “modern,” and “architecture,” when used together in the same sentence would conjure up images of post-war concrete brutalism. Think carparks from thw 1960’s etc.

Thankfully, this is no longer the case! Or at least I hope not. So nearly 60 years later, yes, that does give you a bit of a choc, modern architecture is no longer a dirty word, used, to put architects down.

In this series of photos you will see geometric forms, textures, walkways, and a place I would consider living if it wasn’t so pricy… Maybe in the 60’s they said similar things, but this time around, I believe them!

Today’s weapon of choice was the Canon 6d Mark II and the 16-35mm lens.

The obligatory bike shot!

Posted on Posted in Bikes, Black and White Photography, France, Nantes Photography, Street Photography, UrbanTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Do you ever get that shot that just seems to turn up on each of your films or series on an SD card? I do. Usually it’s doors, or door knockers for me, but I’ll leave that for an other post. This time I’m going to talk about the obligatory bike shot.

Now I’m all for being ecological and actually own a bike. I have even been known to get on it. Not only that but have been known to use it as a form of exercise and ride around my village. I keep telling myself to get my arse back into gear and get back on after a winter break. My body could use the exercise. Anyway, in Nantes, there seems to be a huge amount of bikes around, and you can see the Dilveroo, or Uber eats, guys riding around and they for an integral part of the city’s landscape. The city also has a large amount of cycle paths and I aim to visit Nantes on my bike one day. It should help me get to places that I can just can’t get to with the car, and it will diminish my carbon footprint, but maybe not my rubber tyre print…

The thing with a bike is that you can get up close and it won’t question your motives like you sometimes get whilst trying to do street photography portraits. You can take your time getting the angle you want without it telling you to get a bloody move on. You can get that depth of field that you like so much and it wont tell to Photoshop out any rust. They won’t talk back. No being accused of stalking.

The tools of the trade for these photos are: the Canon 6D Mark II, the Fujifilm X100F, and the Canon AE1. Can you spot which two photos were shot on film? And for the really keen ones amongst you, can you tell me which film I used?

Come to Nantes – It’s a riot!

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Oooooh… About to get political. Well, not really, but for the last 19 weeks, the Gilet Jaune movement has become a reality and what was at first something pretty scary, has now become part of everyday life and people are just getting on with it! I love the way they just say “merde” which delivers a certain contempt that the English language just can’t manage to do so concisely.

I’m not going to pass judgement on the movement, or am I going to get into the politics of it all. However, as a piece of history, it has been fascinating to watch and photograph. I mean the French are ready to demonstrate about anything, and things can get quite militant, so we know what to expect. The police come out dressed in riot gear, an all of a sudden you some bangs. The first rounds of teargas have been fired. You get that strange mist that permeates the city and gets your eyes and throat. Not the most pleasant experience, but I’ve had worse. Streets get blocked off by rather large CRS (Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité) or Gendarmes. And they know if you’re demonstrating or not and are quite civil. The ones you have to watch out for are the BAC (Brigade Anti Criminalité) who have less riot gear on but can be pretty brutal.

I watch from afar as elements of the scene fall into place. People are just going about their daily business.

A Manif (demonstration) from last May bout the proposed airport in Nantes.

Thes folowing photos were taken on the X100F and the Canon 6D Mark II, with a Pentacon 50mm lens.

February in Nantes

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The month of February was amazing. We had a veritable heatwave! Alright, it wasn’t 30°C in the shade, but about 15°C – 18°C. It’s February after all. I felt alive whilst getting all that free Vitamin D.

This is more typical of the photography that I do when I’m out in town. Generally black and white, urban, and trying to find a timeless quality…

When I do black and white photography I feel able to strip away the “distractions” of colour, and concentrate on the essentials; composition and subject. I try and capture the mundane and the ordinary, documenting everyday scenes in Nantes.

It would appear that I have a fixation about doors and door knobs. But that is a story for an other day…