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Notre Dame


Notre Dame
Photo Information
Copyright: Leon Smith (cobbydale) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 495 W: 63 N: 495] (1738)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-03-05
Categories: Architecture
Camera: Panasonic DMC TZ3 Lumix
Exposure: f/3.3, 1/8 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-03-09 1:23
Viewed: 406
Points: 24
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Just returned from a short trip to Paris where I took this shot of the famous Notre Dame cathedral taken toward the end of the "blue hour", just before the sky got fully dark.

As it was taken without tripod I increased the ISO but only up to 200 to try to gain some sensitivity but keep the noise down. I had experimented with a few different white balance settings before opting for a custom WB based on the cathedral wall for this shot. This seemed to achieve a more natural rendition of the scene (rather than get an orange cast amid all the man-made lighting).
snunney, dragonslayero, marknunnerley, siolaw, feather, lilimih33, stego, macondo, pelin, pboehringer has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To feather: Nikoncobbydale 1 03-09 05:09
To siolaw: darkness and povcobbydale 1 03-09 04:58
To marknunnerley: hotel roomcobbydale 1 03-09 03:25
To lybil: POVcobbydale 1 03-09 01:54
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Leon,
A very good night time capture with well managed exposure. I like the positioning of the cathedral in the frame and the diagonal line of traffic. Excellent clarity, particularly without a tripod.

  • Great 
  • lybil Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 98 W: 146 N: 57] (863)
  • [2008-03-09 1:44]
  • [+]

Leon,
Unsual point of view of Notre Dame de Paris picture.
Seldom, we have this POV including the trafic and so on.
Your Panasonic Image Stabilizer did a great job to allow you to have this kind of picture with a sharp scenary (A might the photographier also :)
Well done.
Kind regards.
Lybil

Hello Leon

Great timing for this photo.
Like you say, it is at the end of the blue hour and that I can see.
Excellent low light conditions to really bring out an almost anchient look to the scene...except for the cars that is...
I've been to this place myself and I know what it looks like and I must say that you have captured it well. I would however have tried to pan the photo slightly to the left in order to put a little bit more attention to Notre Dame cathedral.
Overall an excellent photo.

Odd Jarle

You have done well to keep it down to an 1/8 sec even with a IS. Bit of noise in the sky but this may be down to how it is saved for web. I only say this because I have read you saying this before. In photoshop it's a doddle to save at 200 but can understand the difficulty of trying to save when you don't have this option.
As Stephen said, the diagonal works as well as the placing of Notre Dame in the frame. Hope you enjoyed the trip. Is this taken from your hotel room Leon?
br
mark

Hi Leon,
You went to my hometown.. too bad i wasn't there! You rendered well an interesting light here, although a bit dark, it has appealing luminosity. The high POV is also good (from where?) The cathedral placement nicely balanced by the traffic on the Seine banks...
Well done
LAurent

What luck (or good management) to have a hotel with such a great POV. You did very well with the WB setting as it looks totally natural. Good steady hand too at only 1/8sec. A tip for the future is to set the 2 sec timer to help steadiness even more.
I see you have abandoned Nikon for Panasonic!
Kath

Hello Leon!
Very very beautiful night picture from Paris, with very good point of view!
Nice atmosphere!
Best regards!
Lili

  • Great 
  • stego Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3765 W: 632 N: 5050] (15370)
  • [2008-03-09 18:02]

Hi Leon,
I am amazed how you could find an original POV of this icon. And a very good one! I like the parallel rivers (the Seine and the one of the cars, ie, the street) on the diagonal, like balancing the church. The light and sharpness are superb, hats off for the steady hand.
Regards, José.

Hi Leon.
One of the best shots I've seen of the cathedral. The blue hour exposure is pretty good, and I'm impressed by the quality of the shot from the TZ3. There's a bit of noise in the sky, but not much. Perhaps the exposure could have been just a tad longer.
The composition is really good, giving a long perspective down the river and the road beside it. Very nice indeed.
Regards,
Andrew
Regards,
Andrew

  • Great 
  • pelin Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 164 W: 130 N: 421] (2192)
  • [2008-03-12 11:36]

Hola my friend :-)

Very intresting perspective of Notre Dame, with the street traffic and night scenery it looks amazing. well exposured photo with good light exposition. I like it,
thanks!
~pelin

You have done a very good job with your of night shot. Superb composition and good exposure.
Best wishes,
Achim

Leon,
beautiful image with a very nice balanced composition exploring the blue hour at its best. I wonder what ISO you used here (forget it I just read your note). Unfortunately the sky is full of noise and I believe that this might be due to increased ISO. Why not ISO 100? At least you could have achieved the streak of moving traffic due to a longer shutter time. Hmmm, maybe you didn't have a tripod and the compromise was necessary. Good compromise after all! ;-)
Peter

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