Paris is easily my favourite city ever and I try to visit at least a few times a year. I've visited the city so much that I rarely take many shots or visit the obvious tourist attractions. However on a trip to Paris in early 2016 I wanted to set myself a challenge to only bring 1 lens and only use that for the duration of the trip. In doing so I made an effort to visit a few tourist attractions and places I hadn't been to in years to try to shoot it from a different perspective.
Around that I time had recently purchased the much hyped Sigma Art 50mm lens so it seemed like the perfect choice to bring. Worth mentioning I shot all these on my Nikon D810. They've had very little editing, just a bit of colour toning in Capture One.
Disclaimer:
Ok well 2 disclaimers, the first is this blog entry contains a gratuitous (you could almost say unnecessary) amount of shallow depth of field. I dont often shoot wide open but given which lens I was using I wanted to check out the much raved about bokeh!!
Second disclaimer, on a more serious note. This trip to Paris was in early 2016 and was just a short time after the terrorist attack at the Bataclan venue. I often pass through that part of Paris and curiosity got the better of me to stop by the venue while I was nearby. It really was a disturbing sight seeing the scene so fresh after what happened but at the same time I wanted to document it through my own eyes. I really was unsure if I'd ever post those shots but I was very cautious not to shoot anything that may be considered disrespectful. As you can imagine the area was full of mourners and a lot of very distraught people. I know you often see shots of these type of scenes from war zones and crime scenes. I'm not a photojournalist though and had no business photographing those people. I kept my shots to images of the venue, the alley beside it (you may have seen some video footage from that night taken in that alleyway), and some of the beautiful tributes left in front of the venue. The point of this long disclaimer is to say, if you are of a sensitive disposition maybe don't look any further. It was the scene of a horrific incident and I wouldn't want anyone to have to see it who didn't want to.
Now thats been mentioned, on with the shots.
Beautiful shots! I gotta ask though, did you try the Camels Balls?
It was tempting, but I had to resist.
Paris is amazing
It really is. Just looking at these shots makes me wish I was back again.
Great photos! Love one with the brushes especially. .Can't go wrong with f/1.4.. will make anything look great :D
I love that one too. Its a beautiful old art shop on a really nice quiet alley up near Sacre Coeur. Just across the road from a cafe that sells the nicest coffee I've ever had in my life.
I LOVE my Sigma Art 50!!!
Yep it really is a beautiful lens!! I'm looking forward to picking up the 85 Art soon.
Dude, great photos! I also have the 50mm Art. Such a fantastic lens. The colours are so rich and bokeh great. If I could choose only one lens, this would be it for sure. Thanks for posting these great photos. I’m going to have to check and upvote you’re other posts!
Its a great lens alright. Thanks for the kind words too, and you have some amazing work up here too.
Why would you feel sorry for the bokeh, it's amazing! That lens on a full frame makes a piece of art out of a cup of coffee. Nice rig and beautiful pictures, maybe one day I'll finally able to see Paris for myself...
I think its a hang up from years ago when I first began taking photos. Like so many others I got a cheap 50 1.8 and shot everything wide open. After a while I started to feel like that was cheating so I made an effort to upskill and learn more about composition, lighting, processing etc. I do still love some nice bokeh but I try to make sure its not the sole appeal of a shot, if that makes sense.
It makes a lot of sense :) Still, Bokeh is a great tool. Urban environments are often quite messy and you don't always have a good shot.
Yep absolutely, it has its place with a lot of styles. I mostly shoot portraits and to be honest its a pretty easy win to jump down to f1.4 and get a decent shot. I can definitely appreciate some nice subject isolation. I guess I just felt like when I was shooting like that my own shots were a bit of a one trick pony. I'll still shoot shallow depth of field these days but I'm just aware of having other appealing elements in the the shots too. I remember somebody telling me when looking at a shot you like with very shallow depth of field, if it wouldnt have been a good shot without the shallow depth of field then its being misused. I think that kind of stuck with me.
Some wonderful and provocative images there.
I need to get me one of those Art lenses!
Thank you. You can't go wrong with any of the Art series. I've owned the 24, 35 and 50 from the Art series and loved every single one of them. The only advice I'd give is get one of the Sigma dock's too. They're really cheap but its definitely worth it to calibrate the Art series lenses when you first get them. After that you'll never have a problem with them.
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