Sunset in Montpellier
A stunning sunset from Montpellier, France…
When I visited Montpellier, France I was mostly expecting to shoot the city a bit, capture some interesting architecture and street scenes, and just enjoy hanging out. But one evening I was out in their big open park area known as Promenade du Peyrou and it was obvious that the sunset was going to be spectacular. Sometimes you can tell, when the light and clouds start getting all set up, and you can just feel it. So I hung around and waited for it, and it was well worth it. The park is not that large, but I took hundreds of photos during that time because the light was just amazing. This is the view looking out towards the aqueduct at the back side of the park. The two figures walking down there made it for me.
A stunning sunset in Montpellier
A pair of shots from an incredible sunset in Montpellier, France
This was one incredible sunset!
I visited Montpellier, in southern France, a couple of years ago. One evening I was wandering in their old town and happily firing away. I could see the sunset was coming together and it looked like it might be pretty nice. So I did what anyone would do - I looked for a place with a decent view.
Luckily, that wasn't hard to find. I was near their Place de Peyrou, which was perfect. There is this large arch there and since it's a park there is a lot of wide-open area. This sunset just got more and more intense, so I stuck around for a while and captured a LOT of shots. It was one of those nights that you just don't want to end, you know?
Sunset in Montpellier
A beautiful sunset in southern France...don't you love happy accidents?
Sometimes you just get great light!
This was one of those evenings that I was hopeful, but not sure, about the sunset. It was somewhat cloudy, and as you know that can go either way. So I got out and wandered over to the Place du Peyrou in central Montpellier, France, hoping for the light to get beautiful.
It did, obviously. Don't you love it when that happens? :-)
Montpellier's Porte du Peyrou
Here's an arc de triomphe from France that you probably haven't heard of - it's in Montpellier. Sure, it's not as big as the more famous arc in Paris, but hey it's pretty awesome!
There's more than one Arc de Triomphe in France!
I found myself going through my photo library recently, partly because I love to dig around and process stuff I forgot about, and partly because I have thousands of photos that I still need to process. It's always a treat to root around in the library because I never know what I will come across, and of course it always brings back fond memories.
I was in Montpellier, France a couple of years ago and though I only had a couple of days there, I saw as much as I could and of course got out and shot a ton. I actually had two sunsets there that were just crazy awesome. I'll have some shots from those to share soon, too.
This is a triumphal arch in Montpellier that was built back in the the 1690's. Yep, it's old, but things like this are just beautiful to me. Oh, and it's not nearly as crowded as the more famous one in Paris, which is great when you are trying to photograph the thing.
Montpellier has a large park/open space that I spent some time photographing (and where I captured those two amazing sunsets) and you pass through this arc en route. It's sort of like the exit from the old town, as you are entering the Place du Peyrou (the name of the aforementioned park). I shot this quite a few different ways, and under varying light as you can see in today's shots. I find it hard to pass up something so beautiful and historic. Things like this always make a great subject, don't they?
A stunning sunset in the South of France
Does sleep ever with out over your desire to get out and shoot? Sometimes it does for me, but generally not when I travel. I often fight it off for as long as I can stand it, so that I can get in some more shots. Today's post is a few photos from a stunning sunset in Montpellier that I would have missed if I hadn't been so stubborn!
Do you ever use the split toning feature in Lightroom? I've been experimenting with it on some images recently (which haven't been shared yet) and am really starting to like it. Just curious, and no today's pics have not been adjusted with any split-toning. These are straight-up 3 exposure HDR photos that were merged in Photomatix and then I added filters in Color Efex Pro with final touch-up in Lightroom.
Ok, on to that sunset, Jim!
So I was in Montpellier, France for a couple of days and I arrived late in the afternoon of day one, after no sleep overnight and some travel delays. It was pretty exhausting, and I was tempted to call it a day, get an early dinner, and sleep for 12 hours.
But something compelled me to get out and at least see a little of the town. It's always hard for me to resist the urge to explore a new place, whether I am tired or rested. So I gave into that voice in my head and grabbed the gear and took off. Once I got outside and started seeing the sights, I perked up pretty quickly. But then again, seeing new stuff has that affect on me.
After wandering around the town (which isn't too large) for a bit, I found myself approaching the Promenade du Peyrou around sunset. This is an open park with a statue of Louis XIV, a water tower, and it houses the end of an ancient aqueduct which once brought water to the town. It's a pretty place and as you can see, the sunset worked out pretty well.
See, sleep is overrated! Get out there and shoot!
I stayed here for quite a while actually, until well past blue hour. The light just kept staying awesome and I just kept firing away. By then, I was pretty exhausted, but hungry, so I headed back and stopped in an Irish pub along the way. Yeah, it seemed a bit odd to find that in the area, but I knew I could get a tall Guinness and some comfort food, both of which would kick me off into a deep slumber. Worked like magic! :-)
I woke up about 11am the next day, fully rested and ready to go shoot some more. While it was a quick 3 days in Montpellier, it all worked out pretty well and I was treated to some amazing light on a couple more outings there. I came home with a lot of images, many of which I still need to work on. So that's another way of saying that you will see more from Montpellier here sometime. Hope you don't mind!
Sunset along the Promenade du Peyrou
It's hard to beat a great sunset. We all know that. But when you are in France and you get a great sunset? Well, that's something to write home about! Or in this case, write a blog post about. :-)
Here's a few pics to enjoy - and I sure hope you enjoy them. I definitely enjoyed being there and taking them!
Sunset in southern France - yes please!
I love sunset, and everyone loves France, right? I have been lucky enough to visit France twice in the last couple of years, and boy do I ever love that country! It seems like everything is beautiful, at every turn - it makes it very hard to walk around and get anywhere. It seems like every 10 seconds I am firing away at something.
Maybe that's why I came home with 5000 photos in a 2 week trip. <grin>
The first part of this trip (which occurred in November last year) was to Montpellier, which is a beautiful little city in southern France, situated in the Languedoc region. It's not technically a little city, but it feels that way to me. The core central district, where I spent all my time, was compact and easily walkable.
It was large enough to give me plenty to shoot and not get bored, but not so large that you feel overwhelmed (which is a little like what Paris feels like, although I freakin' LOVE Paris, to be clear!). I spent 3-4 days there, and that was just perfect. I shot a lot and saw a lot, and it was wonderful. I hope to be able to return.
One thing I had read about prior to arriving (I always do pretty extensive research before I go somewhere, and print out a map of the city with marks on all the spots I want to shoot) was their old water tower in the park area known as the Promenade du Peyrou. The pictures I could find piqued my interest, though it's always hard to tell what something is really like until you see it yourself.
That's why we travel, isn't it?
So I headed out one afternoon, with my fingers crossed for both good light and a worthy destination, and I was rewarded on both counts. The Promenade du Peyrou is a nice open space, with that glorious statue of Louis XIV astride his stallion.
Beyond that, I found the water tower and being a lover of architecture, I just had to get closer and shoot it. At the same time, it was obvious that the light was coming together quite well, and so I spent quite a bit of time here, firing away at this angle and that, taking it all in.
So today's post is a collection of a few shots from that evening, though I must say I have hundreds more that I need to find time to process and share. That's another way of saying you will see another post or two about all that at some point. :-)
see how awesome the light was? it even got better after this, so come back for more photos later!
just couldn't resist making a painting out of this one - hey, it's france, land of the impressionists right?
Sunrise in Montpellier
It's always hard to get up early for anything - even if it's something you love, like shooting sunrise. But then again, you can't shoot sunrise any other time of day except morning, so an early rise is sort of a requirement. So I did just that when I was in Montpellier, France a while back - and it was well worth it! And it was an amazing sunrise!
Sometimes I get rewarded for getting up early!
I really enjoy getting up early to shoot the sunrise. I try and do that at least once on all my trips, especially in Europe. I have a major thing for European cities and streets, and being able to shoot them in the early morning hours - without anyone else around - is a purely joyful experience for me. I just get fired up about the whole thing. The caffeine helps. :-)
Now there are many times that I get shut out - meaning the light is terrible, or it's raining, or something like that. But you didn't come here to read about that, did you? :-)
I was in France back in November, and spent the first part of the trip down in the beautiful southern city of Montpellier. I rather liked the city. The core downtown area that I stayed in and photographed was very walkable - and not too large - and I found a lot of things that I wanted to shoot. And I shot the hell out of them!
One morning I got up early and headed out, while it was still deep into blue hour. When it's still dark out, it's pretty hard to tell what kind of sunrise you are going to get. There were some visible clouds, so I was hopeful. But honestly, it can go either way. It could fizzle into some gray nothingness, or it could explode into a fiery display of nature's brilliance.
Clearly, I got the fiery display.
So here's a collection of shots from that morning. Some were obviously taken while it was still dark, before Nature got all fired up for me. Of course most are from that wonderful sky that was literally on fire. I took those in or near the Place de la Comedie, which is sort of like their historic town square. My hotel was right on the edge of it - which was a perfect location for exploring the town. I literally walked out the hotel door, and in about 50 paces was in the square. Great location!
this is their opera house - quite stunning!
I have plenty more to share from Montpellier - including a couple of sunsets that were just as incredible as this sunrise. I just need to find some time to process them! But of course, I will find the time, because as I wrote in this blog post, I have some serious goals for this year!
Thanks for clicking by today!
i couldn't resist turning this one into a painting, using topaz impression.
once again, this one just wanted to be made into a painting.
Sunset in Montpellier
Here's a collection of shots from a FABULOUS sunset I shot recently in Montpellier, France. Although I was tired from no sleep on the flight over, I just could NOT resist getting out and exploring a bit. Then to get rewarded with such great light - well, let's just say I was pretty dang happy!
Tired or not, you gotta go shoot when the light is like this!
As you probably know if you visit here enough, I just got back from France. The first part of my trip was to southern France, specifically the city of Montpellier. Although I couldn't find too much online about great spots to shoot there (and thus didn't have high expectations), I found the city to be rather beautiful, and lively too since it's a college town.
Whenever I fly over to Europe, that always involves a night in a plane thanks to the time changes and distance. What that really means is that I do not sleep that night. I just can't get comfortable enough on a plane to get any sleep. I try, and I try, but it never works.
So I read or write, and generally try not to think about it. Sometimes that works.
But regardless, whenever I arrive I am always pretty tired. However I choose to stay up and get myself into a pattern on the new time zone, so it's usually a long day and an early night. But of course when I arrive in a new city for the first time (such as Montpellier), I find it too irresistible to stay in for long, and thus end up walking around and taking some photos.
I got into my hotel that afternoon at about 3:30pm and since sunset was at 5pm, I didn't really waste any time sitting around and unpacking. I had to get out and explore! So I wandered for a little while, and when I found the light starting to come together to form a glorious sunset, I set up in their town square (known as Place de la Comedie) and fired off a bunch of shots.
Then, I slept for 14 hours. It felt great!
iPhone fun in Montpellier, France
I was in Montpellier, France last week and found it to be awesome. As you can imagine, I gunned a MASSIVE amount of photos, but I am still in France (yay!) so today's post is a collection of 10 iPhone shots from last week in the lovely southern French city of Montpellier! I think you are going to enjoy these!
Wow, what a great little town in southern France!
As this post goes live, I am wrapping up what has been 2 amazing weeks in France. Yes, you read that right. I have been in France for almost 2 weeks, and it has been incredible. What a country!
The first part of the trip was down to lovely Montpellier, near the southern coast, for several days, and that's what this post is mostly about. But I am writing this from an apartment in the Latin Quarter of Paris, where I have been ever since, and which I am loving. Paris is amazing, but more on that later. Today I'm talking 'bout Montpellier.
Before I traveled to Montpellier, I did the usual internet searches for cool stuff to shoot and all that, and really didn't turn up a whole lot. I just couldn't find very much written about the town, and thus my expectations were set pretty low.
But I have to say that I really loved the place, and hope that I can return some day. It's a beautiful town and the historic town center is fairly compact and easily walkable, which is great with me. I love to walk with a camera and check out places.
It didn't hurt that I was treated to two fabulous sunsets in a row, with an incredible sunrise coming in between them. I was awed at having such incredible light on several outings!
So here are some iPhone shots from the road (I rarely take my big laptop and process my "real" photos on the road). I took all these over the course of a few days last week in Montpellier, and processed them all in Snapseed, which is pretty much all I use now on my iPhone. That app is hard to beat.
I will be back soon with a LOT more from here as well as about 2 million photos from Paris!!
(click any photo to enlarge)