Connie Hanks Photography

formerly Clicky Chick Creates

Paris in Motion, Part Deux

Champs-Elysees light post with Arc de Triomphe in background, Paris, France
1/1000 sec at f/4.0 ISO 100

Yesterday I posted a photo of a very cold and snowy Paris, with trees covered in snow, a man walking, a car in motion, and a plethora of busy visual lines contrasting with the starkness of the photo. Yet as I continue to go through my Paris photos, I realized I had quite a few photos with lots of motion.

When I captured the photo above, I was taken with the beauty in the light post. A simple light post on the Champs-Elysees, yet gloriously adorned as a mini sculpture. We were headed to the Arc de Triomphe (in the background) and the street was bustling with visitors, locals, shoppers, performers. Busy, busy, busy.

Esplanade des Invalides, Paris, France
1/6 sec at f/5.6 ISO 250

As we headed to the Eiffel Tower, I just couldn’t put my camera away. So many beautiful sights to take in. As it was dusk, the sky was a beautiful and deep blue, and the building lights were coming on, I just had to try for some motion blur shots. Although I wanted to take a tripod on my trip, I just didn’t have the space in my luggage. These types of car motion shots are best with a tripod and a super slow shutter speed. But alas, I wanted to try to get the shot, albeit handheld. I knew there’d be a bit (okay, a lot) of camera blur, but I liked the overall effect. Using a tripod would have given me a clean, crisp, sharp image of the building and light posts. Same with these images:

The American Church in Paris, Paris, France
0.4 sec at f/3.5 ISO 250
Image
En route to the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
0.5 sec at f/4.5 ISO 250

Lots of camera blur with the Eiffel Tower shot, but it’s Paris, so how could I not post these?! Have I mentioned what an amazing trip it was? Can’t wait to go back… one day!

So my tip to you? Make room for a tripod or a monopod if you’re hoping to get some good, crisp, sharp motion blur photos!

Thanks for stopping by and have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

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8 responses to “Paris in Motion, Part Deux”

  2. Lovely shots! I like motion shots too. I took one in a London underground once, started the shot just before the train came through, stopped just barely after the front passed me. The end result was that i could see the people on the platform across from me and got a transparent blur of the train. Luck of the Irish and a fairly short shutter speed.

    Have you tried traveling with those bendy tripods, the Gorillapods I think they are? You can clamp them to fence posts and odd shaped surfaces. The SLR sized ones are heavier and a bit bigger but they’re still carryable in a big purse or in a backpack. Very useful at times.

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    • I had one of the first Gorillapod thingys for my point and shoot – back when they were heavier and bulkier than now. And i definitely like it. I tried using it with my Rebel XTi and it just flattened like a pancake! I hadn’t considered getting a newer one made for DSLRs – great suggestion!

      And your London Underground shot sounds fantastic! Do you have it posted online? I’d love to see it!

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  4. It’s cool how themes emerge when going through photos from a trip. Your photos are very appealing and if you hadn’t pointed out the blur, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Thanks for sharing them despite their imperfection. I’m glad I got to see them 🙂

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