Friday, May 14, 2010

At the top, at last!


I took this photo in one of the many staircases that surround the Butte Chaumont in the 19th arrondissement. The kid started climbing the stairs and I immediately thought of the photo I could take when he would reach the top! I'm still debating whether the presence of the plastic bag is a good of a bad thing though!

34 comments:

  1. Great shot! I like the bag. It adds some additional texture.

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  2. somehow it reminds me of the movie "Rocky". I vote no plastic bag to give a less distracting , cleaner look.

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  3. It's a very cool photo! At first I thought the plastic bag was some kind of flag.

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  4. Alors là! This is a shot I do like very much, Eric. Your title is pretty humoristic and I love it too for I think it is really well appropriate.

    With or without the plastic bag?? Hmm. I think I'd prefer without it on this picture, but this is really not bad with it though!

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  5. BTW - it's still the 13th here in California. Happy 2009 PDP picnic anniversary. I'm really missing my short time in Paris today. It was fun being the surprise guest!

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  6. I found myself trying to see the name on the bag. I guess it's your own bag if you like bags or not. Philosophically speaking, we're all growing bags as we age, non? But that's reserved for another discussion. ;-)... but then there's the matter of tea bags and...okay, good night Gracie.

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  7. It's a terrific capture, even with the plastic bag.

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  8. I like the bag. Everything else in the shot is dark and heavy -- kind of attached to earth. The bag is light, like a balloon, and shows a nice contrast.

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  9. The bag goes well with the grungy graffiti, and plastic shopping bags on bicycle handlebars was how I often used to go shopping. The bag adds some life. Without the bag the photo would be more sculptural and therefore a bit dead. But, to paraphrase Coltraine, “Different spokes for different folks.”

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  10. It is a "slice of life" photo..my favorite! The bag is a part of the moment...nothing phony or styled, just the way it is. C'est la vie et j'adore ça! Merci!

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  11. The bag makes the photo come alive with a bit of color and asymmetry.

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  12. The bag is unfortunate, but hey you can't win em all

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  13. Love the framing and don't mind the bag.


    I am signed up to cycle from Londton To Paris in September so at the moment my mind is occupied with all things velo, glad to see that I am not alone. I am also visting in June ( by plane ) but sadly too weeks too late for the paic nic.

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  14. Eric, did you climb all the stairs behind the kid??
    ;-))

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  15. Gosh I do need to proof read all this cycling must be affecting my typing that is before I even considered carrying the bike up Les escaliers de la butte

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  16. Love the shot. The bag looks kinda like a flag a mountain climber would place at the summit. :)

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  17. Thib, somehow I think Eric's zoom lens might have come in useful!

    This reminded of the first time we got off the metro at Abbesses. There was a queue for the lift (elevator) and I persuaded my wife that we should go up the stairs.
    400 plus steps later, she was not amused, but luckily too out of breath to complain!

    Leave the bag, it's a sign of the times.

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  18. Love the photo.
    And like Lydia, it reminds me of mountain climbers. On a minor stage, I remember when I was a child and used to have long walks in mountain. My father often showed us a cross somewhere in the scenery and told us "what about going up there?". The problem was that the cross was rarely where we thought it was at first but really further. That was a nightmare for me specially at my teenager age for I would much prefer spending time with my friends, like do all teenagers, than climbing! I think it is still true :)

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  19. @ Drummond : what you don't say us is that not only she did not complain but she also fell in your arms, exhausted, voiceless and happy to be with you anyway, didn't she? ;)

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  20. Flore, my wife is always happy to be with me - or at least, that's what she tells me!

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  21. I like it! I can't believe that the biker would carry his bike up so many stairs. Very cool. The bag is useful for the rider, part of his bike in his world. I'm glad it is there. :)

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  22. A very special PPD for me. Most days I view your images from Boston but today from Paris. Walked by a few of this weeks images already. Did I say I love Paris?

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  23. Drummond, I so believe you!!!
    Keep it up for a very, very long time, then :)
    Cheers!!!

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  24. Flore & Drummond -- that was so funny and so sweet all at the same time! : )

    Jaq -- good luck on the road - I've just been watching CDs of past years in the Tour de France and have nothing but admiration for long distance bikers. (I hope your bike is a little lighter than this guy's!!)

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  25. Don -- I'm so jealous right now because your post took my mind right back to being in Paris! I wish you a wonderful time. I've been having serious Paris cravings lately, but, I don't think I'll be able to go back for a long time. So, merci -- its nice to be a vicarious visitor, too!

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  26. What are the broken strands in the top right corner? A clue to the area?

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  27. Woooow, what a comfort I wish him after those efforts to the top !!!
    Well caught, Eric.

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  28. Don: enjoy Paris. Have a glass of wine at Les Deux Magots for me. Or Café Flore. Expensive, yes, but to repeat: you're not paying $15 for a glass of wine, you're renting for short time a small piece of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Salut!

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  29. I have only one thought on your plastic bag pros & cons:

    Don't think even. The brain's a bit dangerous. by Henri Cartier-Bresson

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  30. With today's advantage of PhotoShop, I would just get rid of the plastic bag. It would certainly enhance the strong graphic silhouette, since that was the motivation for your making the image. You pre-visualized the image that way, now with PS you can actually do it. Just like a painter, we can choose the final result.

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  31. It is what it is, Eric. Perfect in its imperfection. Old world and new. I love it.

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