Paris streets

Here's a quick selection of photographs

taken out and about in Paris.

Nobody gets married in this weather.

Paris Wedding Photographer?

Photographic Tours of Paris

These tours take place in the vicinity of the Latin quarter of Paris and around Montmartre, but nine times out of ten they take place in and around the Latin quarter. Which I have to confess I prefer out of laziness and my dislike of hills. I’m built for comfort not for speed! And that includes hills. The clients are from all over the world, from South America to Australia and often the UK. We start the tour at the fountain of St Michel. It is here I give my first photographic exercise. I ask my “students” to photograph the monument how they “see” it. This gives me a good idea of where to start with each individual, taking a close look at how they compose and expose the subject before them. The most common composition includes the entire monument, which includes lampposts, bins, lorries and all sorts of other distractions which usually makes the image very busy and does not hold the viewers attention as a result.

http://www.kevinhayden.book.fr/

So I take each person in turn and explain if and where they could avoid distractions and improve their image, it usually involves moving a few feet in either direction to change the whole effect of the image. I make it clear that each of us is shaped by our life experiences, and thus have our own unique point of view which is special and sacred to us as individuals.

Depending on their level of expertise and photoshop skills I encourage my clients to shoot in RAW and manual mode as this will give them more processing leverage and control, and a digital negative that is not effected in photoshop, where as jpegs will lose image quality after several manipulations.

Note : Every camera is set to meter/see everything as 18% grey!

The RAW image is the equivalent of the old film negative, almost indestructible when stored properly and backed up at least three times. In my case hard lessons learned! Hard drives do fail and laptops can and do fall or get dropped.

http://www.kevinhayden.book.fr/

From St Michel we walk through the narrow cobbled streets full of Greek, Italian and Mexican restaurants always looking out for an interesting street scene. I usually stop at the closed shop front shutters, that to the unsuspecting eye could not be used in a photograph. This is where I use my clients for models, and they are always without fail surprised and delighted with the results.

From here we the cross rue St Jacques towards the church of St Julian le Pauvre. On arriving at rue Galande we are offered a great view of Notre Dame cathedral, where the trees in the adjacent park and the buildings on the left create a natural frame around Notre Dame and the small posts along the street offer excellent leading lines. Coincidentally this park is home to the oldest tree in France planted in 1602. Don’t ask me how they know? After a walk in and around the park, after trying some macro work on the residing flowers we warm up or cool down depending the season in the great old book shop of Shakespeare & Co. My favourite part of the four hour tour.

http://www.kevinhayden.book.fr/

After warming up or cooling down, and having tested the patience of the lovely staff we leave Shakespeare & Co in peace and head for the jewel of Notre Dame. Here I talk about how we can turn ourselves into a tripod. First off I suggest increasing ISO sensitivity to as high a point as workable depending on the dslr in use. Then switch focus mode to manual, as in low light even pro lenses struggle to fix on a focal point, and next set camera to self timer. Next thing is to find a pillar to support you, or use a beanbag, rucksack or even the floor to enable you to compose and take your shot with stability. I also recommend holding your breath as the camera fires if you are hand holding it.

The shots in dark churches like this generally suffer from “digital noise” and colour pixilation, to avoid colour pixilation as much as is possible I suggest to avoid under exposure as this pixelates the colours in the image.

Having played around in the dark for long enough we exit onto rue du Cloitre Notre Dame and walk along the side of this iconic building that was saved from demolition thanks to Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

My favourite quote from Mr Hugo goes as such;

Emergencies have always been necessary to progress. It was darkness which produced the lamp. It was fog that produced the compass. It was hunger that drove us to exploration. And it took a depression to teach us the real value of a job.

At the rear of Notre Dame is another park where we have many of the necessary components for the making of a great image, if the light is right of course.

We photographers like the great masters of art Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer etc need light, and beautiful light at that to make beautiful images. That is why the golden hours of sunset and sunrise are so important to remember along with composition if you want truly great images.

Onward from Notre Dame we cross the road to make a visit to the memorial of the deportation. This sombre site recalls how the Vichy government of the time aided the Nazis by rounding up all classes of people not only jews. I am not qualified nor is it appropriate to talk of it here but it is worth a visit. From here we cross the pont d’archeveque which has a picture post card view of Notre Dame.

If time allows we make our way towards the Pantheon, passing back by the Sorbonne and the Gallo_Roman remains at the musée de moyenne age.

If it sounds too much to take in, it can be for the absolute beginner that’s why I’ve started to give out helpful and slightly technical information sheets to those interested. Most are!

Wedding and portrait photography are what I enjoy most, and being an Irish man and a photographer makes a great combination me thinks?

My peers ask me why I do this? I say because I enjoy it, and in order to keep it I have to give it away.

http://www.kevinhayden.book.fr/

Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Kevin.

Paris Boudoir Photography

I can seldom resist the temptation to take a picture of a photogenic face, especially those of pretty girls of which the Paris streets seem to have in abundance. After the initial bonjour I explain to the would be model what I would like to do and also point out that there’s obviously no pressure or obligation. If they are agreeable to be photographed there and then, I continue with my banter so as to keep their minds off the camera and their egos. It generally takes less than five minutes and I’m away with my catch in the bag. The secret is to work fast and keep talking and eye contact, more often than not I am requested to send the photos via email which I make sure to do out of respect.

I believe the French have a verb for what I do, it’s a “flaneur”. Someone who observes and photographs. This translation is open to correction so feel free to email me @ kevinhayden62@hotmail.com with any thoughts you may have to share on my ramblings.

Meeting Bronwyn.

One recent shoot that transpired from my brazenness was with my new friend Bronwyn. I believe she has a real talent for modeling! When I first saw her I knew I had to shoot her. I previsualised how I wanted to photograph her, Bronwyn has a great classic look of the forties and fifties, so I knew straight away how I wanted it to look, a little boudoir and glamour and she had a wardrobe to suit. On my rambles around Paris I come across some interesting shoot locations, and my favourite is the hotel de Nesle in the 6eme arrondissement of Paris, on the left bank and that is where we chose to shoot. Bronwyn had embraced this commission with great enthusiasm, and arrived at our café rdv with an amazing hair and make up detail. For a new model she was very professional, arriving on time and looking exactly as I had hoped for. She had with her several costume changes and just as many shoes, she had kept her part of the bargain now it was up to me to do it all justice. The God of light was on my side and supplied a window with perfect light.

I also brought my Canon 580ex flash and an Elinchrom with a small softbox. The light being as good as it was I used a white and silver reflector for most of the shots.

I don’t use gold reflectors as it’s too yellow on the face, and I find it unnatural.

The room was small and I had to be mindful of keeping any unused props out of the way, didn’t always succeed, for this I value photoshop.

When we got into the shoot Bronwyn posed like a true pro, and I had very little input in how she sat, stood or lay on the bed, it came naturally to her, as it does most feminine beauties.

When we looked at the time we were both surprised, we’d been shooting for almost three hours, and had a great time. If you would like to have a shoot like this just send me an email @ kevinhayden62@hotmail.com also visit www.kevinhayden.book.fr for more of what I enjoy doing.

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings.

Kevin Hayden.

Paris

Shakespeare & Co

There exists in Paris France a place of refuge, an oasis of great self indulgence, where silence and reading are cordially approved of, and where blaring headphones are glared at with differing levels of scorn depending on the ‘looking’ member of staff. There are no visible signs suggesting silence nor the prohibition of headphones, in fact it’s quite normal to discuss the objects of mutual interest albeit in respectfully hushed tones.

http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

What has this place got to do with photography? Well that’s a good question and this store is a good subject for any photographer. Be they landscape, portrait or macro photographers, subject matter abounds in this Parisian jewel next to the seine. The staff are all English speakers and always welcoming although often busy with their daily duties. That can include shaking out their sheets and mattresses, and having the place ready for the less literate of Paris society. That’s not say that Paris residents are in any way challenged in the ways of literature!

This store has been open everyday since 1951. It has been home to many writers in transit, Shakespeare & Co will offer shelter to the writer in need who has a script to show proof he/she is a bone fide writer.

So on entering the wooden framed door and passing through the heavy curtains that make a poor attempt at keeping the bone chilling cold at bay, you are met by the smiling face of an Irish girl, a Wexford lass at that. Well at least that has been my pleasure the last dozen times or so I’ve had the pleasure to pass through the heavy curtained entrance of Shakespeare & Co.

http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/

The London based writer Erica Wagner describes Shakespeare & Co so much more poetically than I ever could in her editorial for the festival she said, “Like so many people- readers, writers, book lovers of every shape, size, stripe - I first walked into this bookstore after a fine dinner somewhere… light glittered on the slick black surface of the Seine, and we could have climbed onto a bateau mouche – but we dived into Shakespeare & Co instead. Sometimes I feel, even when I am far away, that I’ve never left. It’s that kind of place. It stays in your blood, in your heart, and reminds you why you love to read.”

I concur!

Back to photography, I do forget sometimes where I am and what I’m supposed to be writing about, my mind has always wandered, it’s not old age, or perhaps now it’s a mélange of the two??

Now photography before I forget again!

Here in Shakespeare & Co you can find endless inspiration to while away the hours and the cold. The differing light calls for either a custom white balance using a grey card or what I really recommend is shooting in RAW while using the grey card or expo disk to avoid hours in front of a computer correcting the colour casts on all your photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTcItRP9iGA

The above link is a short amateur video on how to use the expodisk.

My sites : http://see2bephotography.com/portfolio.php?L=fr

www.kevinhayden.book.fr