Notre Dame Cathedral ~ Paris ~ Lee McLaughlin photographer for eTrips

This was the view from the top of Notre Dame Cathedral in January. A drizzling afternoon

that required a long exposure. I added contrast and saturation for dramatic effect. This is a

newer version than 6 months ago. Comments welcome.

Terrificante!

Exellent composition and colors. Great job.

I am surprised that I got this high a rating these days. Much appreciation. Lee

Perfect!

very well done work ! thank you! 7/7

Been done before of course, but rarely this well. Excellent work. The contrast adjustments in the sky are just right. Beautiful.

7 7

Very Interesting and great Drama here. Well done. But where is Batman ?

Looking at this image is like bringing a dark fantasy to life! I mean it totally as a compliment!

I appreciate the comments and support. It is a joy to get good feedback and know some enjoyment comes from these efforts. Cheers, Lee

Did you notice that someone gave this a 3/3? Amazing!

I have seen this shot attempted many times but the lighting here and capture are awesome.

Impressive! Looks alive.

Nice shot, Lee. Do not worry about your 3 by someone. I have noticed that with the new system of rating some people are rating in a funny way. That happens to me as well. To me this gives me more courage to continue on whay I am doin. Here in Spain we have a prover : A palabras necias, oidos sordos, which translated it could be "To stupid ratings, I feel blind"

Best regards

This picture has also been submitted on this site somewhere around one year, two years or so... Please come back with more recent postings.

 

Cristian Sirbu

Andrei/Christian Sirbu, please note that Lee stated that this is a reposting of an image from some time ago, but that the image has been reworked....he was totally upfront about this. That should be one function of this website: feedback to the photographer so that an image might be improved. It's good that Lee has accepted the feedback and has produced a terrific (and improved) image. Great work, Lee, and thanks for sharing this new version.

andrei -- the fact that you remember it after 1-2 years is a testament to its quality.

It seems you're a PN user since less than 6 months and here's your first comment. Welcome!

Lee, you've got such wonderful pictures in your portfolio, but dispite all the praises you receive for this, I think it is one of your worst. The reason is this absolutely obvious faked sky and the contrast enhancement, that IMO ripped the rest of the image appart. Your postprocessing introduced such a high amount of colour noise to the statue, that it can be easily seen, even at the small resolution the picture is offered in here (don't get me wrong, nothing wrong about the size). I've not yet managed to create satisfactory results with dynamic range compression by blending two different exposures of the same scene myself, so I know that this is tough. But I wouldn't published an image called "Paris Demons" that is altered in such an unfavourable way that makes the Eiffel Tower unrecognizable, either.

 

I think it is really okay to create new images out of existing photographs by utilising heavy postprocessing, even if a viewer knows that it is fake for logical reasons. But creating a perfect optical illusion is critical in such an attempt. And in this regard I feel sorry to tell you that your image fails.

This is only a humble offering of my first digital image. I appreciate the range of comments on this. The fact that some folks have taken the time to look and comment is gratifying.

However, The unchangeable factor with this image is that when I shot this, I was using a borrowed 2 meg camera. it was my first week in Paris and first experience with digital. So, the Eiffel Tower will never print well no matter what anyone does. The other factor is that it was raining this day and I had to brace myself to shoot a long shutter exposure. I am sure the moisture in the air (and haze) has degraded some of the detail in the far ground. Boo Hoo dangit!

Overall, I think it interesting that the implied content, or feeling of this image is subordinate to the granules and pixels. I am using here to compose an image based on the feeling I had when I first walked out onto the Gargoyle Gallery that day.

I would not, for example, throw a tirade at Van Gogh because the brush strokes and pigments vary in exactness. (not that I am comparing my talent to his, just an example to say the DETAILS are not the thing.) What is the thing for me is the content and voice of the artist. Even a minor photographer like me.

Thanks for the input. We all grow from this.

Cheers, Lee

Lee, well said.

I come back on the Martin's comment.

Of course, it's true there are some "defaults" on your shot. Digital noise can be easily see on the sculpture and the background near the horizon looks heavily manipulated.

And then? Must this shot bad for that? I don't think so but (it's important) there are many "artistic ways", as much as photographers.

Martin is right to say he doesn't like and his critique is rather well explained. PN allows us to say all what we think, and ratings to give a value (it's modern life...) to our words.

Perception we can have about a shot is so subjective that this kind of shared point of view is necessary.

Lee, I don't know if you expected such a "forum" but I find it interesting. I don't think you wanted with this shot getting a perfect one, rather difficult with a 2 Mpixels camera (I know it, I only own a 3 Mp one) but the "alterations" visible don't disturb me. The whole looks homogenic and works with the atmosphere.

I didn't see the first version, may be it could be interesting you show it us.

Very friendly - keep shooting! - Yann.

merci pour cette belle photo.

Many thks

thomas

Very original with a horror feeling...Nice lead in .

 

 

Cheers G.SteVe

super photo ...

 

very orginal wave...

 

well done ...

 

congants.