Xmas bet May 31, 2008
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France, December 2007
One joy of living in the UK for a long time is that you learn another culture traditions… and one xmas tradition in the UK is to have “crackers” at the xmas diner. So now for the last few years I have been bringing back crackers to my familly for xmas (yes, that’s the only present they get! 
One of the present was a small deck of card, actually one of my old time favorite, there is something kind of magic about it (inside joke maybe). Anyway, I was playing with my lens to try some macro shot of the cards and also of the small golden letters on the table when my cousin started playing with some casino chips (I can’t remember why!) and dropped some on the table while I was adjusting my macro shot… I just loved the difference of dimension, surreal of the cards and the chips… I usually do not like to “compose” photos, I like them to be natural… but in this occasion I did place the chips in different ways to have different angle.
Kitchen at Xmas May 30, 2008
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France, December 2007
Late in the familly christmas diner at my aunt’s house I just looked at the open plan kitchen and… well… just loved the light. Dunno why I like this photo and why it made it to my bestof, but I just do! 
There were probably more interesting shots I took that night, actually, I will post a few more tomorrow as I feel Christmassy Somehow, this photo is a true “stolen moment” in the life of my aunt kitchen
A touch of green May 29, 2008
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Barbados, December 2007.
While staying on the west coast of Barbados there was a lot of palm trees you could see outside the terrasse… one evening, enjoying a well deserved glass of rhum coke I saw this lezard/gecko climbing on the tree, I was lucky to spot it first on the tree and then on the branches of the tree because once there you could almost not see it!
It stayed there for quite a while so I managed to take my 300mm lens and take a shot, I was never sure if he was going to go away or not as although he was staying on the branch he was moving all the time. After I secured a few quick shots to “capture the moment”, I then started to take a bit more “artistic” shots. Which mean I started playing with the different layer of green in the background.
Crystal door May 28, 2008
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Paris, France, March 2008
While walking on my way to the Louvre museum I had to cross a road and enter a surrounding building which acted as some kind of alley way to the main entrance to the museum. There were many people and just liked the contrast of the dark inside of the building and the bright glass of the pyramide outside… The shadow of all those tourist (which I was part of) made all this more interesting… everyone was moving forward and I didn’t have much time to stay still and taking many shots. I think I took a total of 5 shots while moving toward this pyramid but only one came up as I wanted!
Downhill in Paris May 27, 2008
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Paris, France, March 2008
After visiting “le Sacre Coeur” I was on my way down some small side street trying to go to the river. I say trying because I got lost! I noticed this small street going down hill and liked the different contrast in lights and shadow.
The icing on the cake was while I was playing with the settings a small Vespa motorcycle went past in front of me and down that road. I wanted this Vespa on the photo but taking it just before it disapeared downhill. As I did not know when this would happen I took several shots, there was also a car coming through the road just before that shot was taken, I coudn’t wait any longer
Falling grace May 26, 2008
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London, May 2008
I was in London with a friend and I have to confess it is her who pointed at those statues on top of that building. This is in between Piccadilly Circus and Leistecer Square, I must have walked there thousands of time and I never noticed it! it takes someone who hardly come to London to see certain things
The fact it was a very stormy day helped getting the golden “ladies” stand out more. And it almost make this photo looks like a black and white photo with a touch of gold!
Mystery mountain May 25, 2008
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July 2007, Canada, Whistler.
Staying in Whistler, this photo was taken while being “lifted” to the top of the mountain.
The fog was very thick and you could almost see nothing, now and then though you could see through a patch of clear sky. This is one of those moment!
Although I also took some photos in color, I think when you have fog black and white just looks better!
Going nowhere May 24, 2008
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July 2007, Canada, Whistler.
Although it started as a very sunny day, once at Whistler some fogs could be seen at the top of the mountain. I came there by train, and only had about 1h to walk around Whistler resort. I really wanted to take that “cabin lift” to go at the top, but the woman at the ticket desk said that wearing shorts and a t-shirt would be a very bad idea…
So I spent 30 minutes buying new clothes! took the “cabin lift”, ran around at the top, took a few photos, bought a drink and ran back to get a lift back down… must have staid no more than 5 minutes at the top! I could have even been wearing swimming shorts and no top as I staid so little time!!! Instead, I spent 30 minutes shopping
Oh well, at least I got some nice photos while going there and have new top and new jeans out of that trip to Whistler
Dead End Wall May 23, 2008
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March 2008, Paris, Arabic Center
Last photo from that place for this week
This is actually what was at the bottom of the alley from the shot I published yesterday. Just a dead end. 4 weird looking walls and a bench (I think).
As you may have started to notice, this building is quite amazing! not only to look at but also to photograph. If you ever go to Paris I would recommend to go and take a look at it!
When I look at this photo it makes me think about the 2001, Space Odyssey movie. Somehow those walls looks to me like a giant computer. Maybe it is time for my pill and going to bed!
Walking alone May 22, 2008
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March 2008, Paris, Arabic Center.
This photo was taken from a small bridge inside the Arabic Center building, between the main building and their cafe. I did notice this small alley when I first went into the cafe and thought it could be an interesting photo.
As I was leaving the cafe I saw a couple walking down that alley and loved that sense of narrow path and grey color but I was too slow to get my camera out in time and missed the shot. The problem was at the bottom end of that alley it was a dead end, just 4 walls and a bench I think. This was getting very late at night and had little hope someone else would just be wondering along in that dark alley…
I still decided to take some shots of, this time, an empty alley. I really liked this false sense of symmetry, although both sides are made of glass (if I remember well), only the one on the left seems to be reflective and has some lights on. I was also interested by this random pipe running in the middle, it has something almost organic about it with what looks like vegetation on the tarmac.
I spent quite some time shooting at different angles and trying different exposures. As I was almost finished, this person came out of nowhere!! what a luck!! I thought I did look at the dead end and did not see anyone nor did I see anyone coming from the other end! nevermind! this time I was ready!! I had been ready for the last 5 minutes!
I actually think it is very important to have someone on that photo, this gives a sense of scale. Another lucky shot I guess
