Nights in Bayeux
A couple of shots captured during the lovely, soft light of blue hour, in the small French town of Bayeux.
A few years ago, we took a trip to France, and one of the things we wanted to make sure to do was visit Normandy. It’s a beautiful area and there are several towns that looked interesting, but we settled on Bayeux and spent a couple of nights there. Of course, I hit the streets with my camera as much as possible, because shooting in foreign cities just makes me happy. It wasn’t crowded at all, which is great for me, and I was able to wander freely and shoot quite a bit. I just have a thing for street scenes, and doubly so when they are European. These two were captured on my wanderings. Nothing particularly spectacular about them - just everyday spots under the soft light of twilight.
On the streets of Chicago
Evening starts to arrive in Chicago and I am out capturing some street scenes…
I love wandering the streets when I visit a city, and places like Chicago give you a lot of interesting things to photograph. Although my trip there was fairly short - and thus I did not have a lot of time to shoot - I still made the most of it and came home with some shots that I really liked. After getting rained on over at the Bean, I was in search of a meal. As I walked, I really liked the look of this English pub, and the color of the sky. I just had to wait a moment for someone to walk into the frame.
The streets of Chicago
Blue hour in Chicago and I am wandering the streets…
Nothing I love more than wandering around the streets of a city, camera in hand. On my recent trip to Chicago, I had a few hours one evening to do just that, and came away with a few images that I really like. Despite a little rain here and there, I still got it done. :-)
New York nights
A street scene from NYC taken while strolling around there one evening…
Just a quick snap one evening in NYC as I was wandering along. I used to not like NYC that much, but now I just adore it. So much to see and shoot, you can never tire of it!
Framing the shot
Along Carnaby Street in London late one winter afternoon…
When I travel, I generally like to find street scenes that are pretty empty. Thus that leads me to getting up for a sunrise shoot a lot of the time. But when I last visited London, I didn’t do that too much and instead shot well into the night. One late afternoon I was along Carnaby Street, which is a fun and photogenic part of London. I was mostly just wandering and looking, but of course I had my camera ready just in case. When I saw this guy taking a shot of the scene, I thought it made for a good shot as well. But I kept him in it. :-)
Phone check
A young lady stops to check her phone on the streets of Fussen, Germany…
Everyone everywhere is pretty much always checking their phones for something. I’m no exception, unless I am out shooting of course. In this case, I was wandering with my Mom in Fussen, Germany with no particular destination. We were just checking out the town. This lady was across the street from us and when she stopped, I couldn’t resist the shot. That red jacket just caught my eye!
The backstreets of Prague
A back street in Prague is a wonderful place to wander…
Oh man, wandering the streets of Prague is so awesome!
I love street scenes, especially in Europe, and when I travel I make it a point to try and get lost a little bit. It’s always a fun way to spend some time, and I end up finding little back streets that I think are just so photogenic. I have a thing for European street scenes, and so I am eager to get off the beaten path (and thus away from the crowds) and just wander. I always get home with images that I like and more importantly I have an excellent time exploring a new place.
Sunrise in Dublin
Sunrise in lovely Dublin, Ireland…
It’s so rewarding to get up for sunrise and walk the streets in a foreign city. I try and do it at least once on every trip, and I am always rewarded with great photographs.
The thing is that everyone likes to sleep in a bit, so if you are up and out at sunrise you are pretty likely to be able to photograph popular spots when they are empty. That is exactly what happened for me in Dublin, Ireland. I wandered around in the Temple Bar district and had these usually crowded streets all to myself. Sunrise was pretty, too!
Going vintage in Marylebone
A street scene from my recent trip to London, done up with a texture and some color adjustments.
My recent trip to London resulted in me returning home with literally thousands and thousands of images. I am working to get a lot of them edited and posted to Instagram and Flickr, and of course they will slowly trickle here onto the blog as well. Here's something that I had fun editing. It's just a single exposure street shot that I captured one afternoon. I just liked the scene, but wanted to do something a little different. So I added a texture and did some color adjustments too. I thought it came out pretty cool.
Winter evening in Paris
The streets of Paris on a cold winter night...
A quick snap from a winter night on the streets of Paris!
I absolutely love Paris, and I love street scenes, so when I can get both in one shot I am a pretty happy guy! This was one winter evening when we were visiting Paris and out shopping and generally just enjoying the amazingness that is Paris. As is often the case, my wife and daughter were in a store somewhere and I was prowling the street outside, firing away. I'll take that trade any day!
This is a 3 exposure HDR created in Aurora HDR and then I took the image into Luminar to add some filters and make general color adjustments.
Le Consulat
Le Consulat in Paris, during twilight...
A nice little scene in Paris!
Prior to our last trip to Paris, I had written out a list of places I wanted to photograph, and noted where they are in the city. Atop that list was Le Consulat, this little cafe in Montmartre. I have seen plenty of pics of this place over the years, and was glad to finally get there one evening. As you can see the area wasn't too crowded, so I was easily able to get my shots without having to wait too long!
Aimless in Firenze
Side streets in Europe always draw me in...
Wandering the back streets of Florence, Italy - such a treat!
When we were in Florence, I made it a point to get out and just try and get lost. Not really lost per se, but you know, sort of wandering aimlessly without a care in the world. That's a great feeling, and one we don't get often in life. So I jumped on it.
We were staying just south of the Ponte Vecchio (their famous old bridge) and that part of the town seemed less crowded to me (the main draw of the town, their Duomo Cathedral, is on the other side). So when I was out I was less intruded upon by the tourist hordes, which was obviously a good thing for me.
I love little European street scenes, so just about every time I turned a corner I fired off some shots like this one. I love the lines in this sort of shot, hence I took a bunch of them. If you find yourself in a crowded European city, consider staying slightly off the beaten path so that your photo pursuits can give you a little more room to move.
Sunrise on the streets of Prague
Sunrise in Prague, and I am out on the streets with my camera...
I love European street scenes, especially at sunrise!
Whenever I visit Europe, I try and get up for sunrise at least once to get out in a city and capture it before it gets busy. It's my favorite time of day and usually a great one for shooting in a city. There are no crowds and the warm golden light of sunrise offers up some great possibilities.
When I was in Prague back in April, I spent one morning wandering all over the historic town center, capturing street scenes and just enjoying the peace and quiet. Prague is a beautiful city, which means there are a lot of tourists there. Getting up and out for sunrise is the best way to really photograph it because I had the place to myself.
Blue hour in Amboise
An evening street scene from the lovely little town of Amboise, France...
Here's one from a few years ago - I love this little town!
We were in the Loire Valley of France a few years back, checking out all the amazing chateaux that dot the countryside there. It's well worth a visit, if you haven't been yet.
If you want to see my previous blog posts from the Loire Valley, you can find them all here.
We stayed in the little town of Amboise and just loved it. Small and quaint, with a beautiful chateau atop the hill and lovely little streets just built for wandering - this town just captured my heart. This was one evening while I was out with my camera, making memories.
The streets of New York
Staring down some traffic in New York...
I love street shots like this one, and there's no place better than New York for capturing them!
One of my favorite things to do in New York is just to wander around the streets and somewhat randomly take shots. I love street scenes, regardless of where I am, but in NYC there is just so much to capture that it is quite honestly exhausting.
Even when I am tired, I feel like I need to push myself and capture more because who knows when I will return? Plus what if I find something really magical? So I keep going and going. It's tiring but fun.
Usually I find myself stopping in a crosswalk, having positioned myself in front of the other pedestrians so that I can get a clean view of the traffic that is facing me. Ideally I can pull off a quick handheld shot or two, but they don't always work out. This one did though!