Chocolat
Oh que c’est bon! You know when they say you’re like a kid in a candy store? That was me when I came across this chocolate shop in St. Germain des Pres. And yes it smelled as good as it looked. The owner was very kind when I asked her (in broken French) if I could take pictures.
Click on the image to see a high resolution version (it really does look better) or to Purchase a Print.
Upstairs Downstairs
Happy Monday Everyone and a very Happy Easter for all those that celebrate. I hope you had an amazing weekend. I’m happy to report that it was a glorious weekend, weather wise. I think (and I hold my breath as I say this) that Spring is finally here.
Here’s another image for the Toronto Centre for the Arts. This was taken from the upper lobby level of the centre looking down on the multiple staircases that leads to the lower lobby. I love the contrast between the wood railings and the chrome of the staircases.
Click on the image to enlarge (it really does look better in high resolution) or to Purchase a Print.
Toronto Centre for the Arts
The Toronto Centre for the Arts, located in the north part of Toronto opened it’s doors in 1993 as the North York Performing Arts Centre. It’s name was later changed to the Ford Centre for Performing Arts after a major donation was made and later renamed to its current name…The Toronto Centre for the Arts.
Last week I had the opportunity to photograph the interior of the centre. Access was arranged by my photography club and I and 15 other inconspicuous, tripod toting individuals descended upon tho slovenly space. The unfortunate part was that the Main Stage was off limits as a show was being set up at the time. We did however have access to one of the smaller theatres and the lovely Art Deco lower and upper lobby.
The challenge in photographing in an interior space such as this, with close to 30 photographers, is that inevitably someone walks through your shot. As respectful and mindful as you try to be it just happens when you have that many photographers. On the flip side the advantage to attending one of these types of outings is that you can share ideas and techniques with like minded individuals.
Here’s one view of the lower lobby processed in both colour and black and white. What I love about this space this the Art Deco look and when I looked at all the converging lines and details I thought this would look great in B&W. Which do you prefer? I can tell you that I asked my son the same question last night and he unequivocally choose the colour. I’m undecided.
Click on the images to enlarge to see a higher resolution (it really does look better) or to Purchase a Print.
The Royal Promenade
So you thought the bridge was the heartbeat of a ship like the Navigator of the Seas…wrong. The Royal Promenade with its shops and bars and eateries is where its at. Nightly entertainment and well planned store sales ( 🙂 ) keep this place hopping. The Royal Promenade is located on deck 5. I shot this image from (I believe) deck 6. This was a bracketed exposure, tonemapped in Photomatix and then brought in to Photoshop for some minot adjusts.
Click on the image to enlarge (it really does look better) or to Purchase a Print.
The Elgin Theatre
I held off posting this because the brackets for this image were used in our most recent round of HDR Tennis on Facebook. You can click on the link and check out the other versions of this image from the many talented photographers that participated.
Click on the image to enlarge (it really does look better) or to Purchase a Print.
Back to the Theatre
A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre complex in Toronto. (You can see that post here.) The initial series were all images of the Winter Garden. While the Winter Garden Theatre was designed to look like a botanical fantasy, the Elgin Theatre is much more grand and traditional, filled rich fabrics and gold leaf. You can see from this image how ornate the opera boxes are.
Click on the image to enlarge (it really does look better) or to Purchase a Print.
Edith Levy Photography 