Previous
Next
Ian Bramham's Photoblog
Photographed just after dawn at Christmas in the mist and falling snow.
This is certainly the most romantic and beautiful of all the bridges across the Seine in Paris and I've been trying to get a decent photo of it for a while now. This is probably my best attempt to date.
The 400 year old Pont Neuf is my second favourite bridge and you can see it in the background shrouded in the mist.
I waited for this lady to cross the bridge to give it scale and the human touch. Although she is tiny compared to the bridge you can still see how her head is bowed against the freezing wind and swirling snow.
Like what you see here and are interested in photographic composition?.....the blog section of my website now has a complete set of 5 articles covering my personal approach to the subject: Ian Bramham Photography - Blog
For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to my website Ian Bramham - Fine Art Photography where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
@GJC: Thanks GJC....I've been trying for what seems ages to try and get a decent photo of this bridge so I'm quite pleased with this one. I was lucky that the falling snow gave the scene a misty appearance getting rid of a lot of the background and simplifying the composition.
I also took some from a higher vantage point before dawn which I'm pleased with (in colour) but they are not as strong as this compositionally.
@ordinaryimages: Thanks Jerry...what a lovely thing to say!
All I need now is a publisher who thinks the same way :-)
@Paco Díaz: Thanks Paco....before we left the UK I was hoping for some mist in Paris with just this shot in mind so you can imagine how pleased I was that I was up and about, camera in hand, at dawn to catch it!
@Mike: Thanks Mike!...I was pleased with the way it turned out but I know that there's a better photo of this bridge to be had in time.
I greatly admire the work of the fine art photographer Michael Kenna and his photo of this bridge is one of my favourites: http://hlr.imagekind.com/ShowArtworkMuseum.aspx?imid=IMA_K280
@IanSmith: Thanks very much Ian....I can't tell you just how many rubbish photos of this bridge I've got. It's infuriatingly difficult to photograph in a simple way due to all the 'clutter' of a major city that is going on around it.
@dan: Thanks Dan...as you know how difficult it is to photograph I take that as a big compliment. Thanks very much!
@missparis: Thanks very much....I've pretty much explored every possible angle for photographing this bridge now but I'm still convinced that I can do better than this...we'll see.
@Giovanni: Thanks Giovanni...I'm glad I waited around in the snow and cold for a variety of people to cross the bridge. It was hard to decide between this lady with her head bowed down or the people who crossed carrying umbrellas - it's strange how such a small thing can alter the whole feel of a photo. The umbrella ones seem much more upbeat somehow and I nearly processed one of those instead.
@Tilala: :-) no, I wasn't in the water even though it may look that way! I was stood on the lower waterside pathway which is a good 5 meters below normal pavement level.
@Mike: This one was taken from the lower river bank walkway Mike but if you google image search the bridge looking for Cartier-Bresson and Michael Kenna you´ll see some great photos taken from the nearby bridges. (at least I think it was Bresson or Atget who first took iconic photos of the bridge).
Example here: http://www.michaelkenna.net/gallery.php?id=24
The tip of the Ile de La Cite is another good vantage point.
NIKON D40
1/30 second
F/4.5
ISO 720
105 mm (35mm equiv.)
