Long live the Queen....3: the people

Of course the people celebrating Britain are the Brits (and everyone else who's in town).  I was struck by the positive attitude and festive mood.
 
The colour crimson/purple seemed to be everywhere.  It cropped up in more of my pictures than I could believe.  I don't know if there is an official colour to this jubilee, but I know I've got my version.

Here are some folks being....well.....Brits.

Long live the Queen....2

I had processed many of my images from Belgium, France and Amsterdam; they fell into place nicely, sepia, sombre, symbolic.  But I hadn't a clue about England.  I enjoyed London so much this trip.  It was colourful, lively and festive.

Then the key to the images dawned on me: GIVE E'R.  So I did.

Long live our noble Queen

In all the excitement of getting home, I nearly forgot to mention the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth.  We were there the week before and London looked splendid; flags and festive colours everywhere.  It was in the air.

I love the queen: she is a safety valve against prime ministers who can't tell democracy from dictatorshit.  If push comes to shove, she can be a real ally when you're under pressure from some cheap trick who has nothing but disdain for parliamentary democracy.

But enough of that.  Party on Britain. No one does it better!

Who knew Bruge was so .......huge?

On the recent Europe trip,  I was literally like a kid in a photographic candy jar,  right in, up to my eyes, with delight.

Here are horses, main square, grand canal, church with Michelangelo statue (commissioned by the town) and I presume the air plane is modern art and not drunk vicar/bad landing.

Paris and the Seine....part 2

If a software program will help me realize what I envisioned when I made a photo, I use it without reservation.  These images were process in Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software.

I find they come up like film processed in Rodinal developer from Agfa.  That's darkroom talk folks, from another era.

Still, I like the results. These are from Place de la Concorde, National Assembly, Champs Elysee and Notre Dame.

Paris et la Seine...part 1

We had great weather for our entire two weeks.  In Paris, it was overcast when it needed to be.  I love shooting water in overcast weather.  Thank you gods of the river!

Did I mention the Belgian waffles?

Yes well, the second quickest way to a diabetic coma in Belgium, are the waffles.  (the first is of course, chocolate).  The waffles are a visual and sensory bud delight.  The scenery isn't bad either.

Divine light on the Champs Elysee...part two

Here are the files cleaned up in LightRoom 4

Fujifilm X Pro 1 sings my tune.....

The iPad, which I took for the size and convenience, was corrupting my memory cards.  So I had to stop loading files into iPad.

Now that I'm home, here are the files as I saw them, using the new LightRoom update with the Fujifilm X Pro 1.  I like the clarity and character of this camera.  It sings my tune.

Divine light on the Champs Élysées

We were heading to Montmartre but it was getting late and the Subway ride from Montparnasse was all the way across town. Since Place De La Concorde and the Champs Élysées we're on the way, we stopped. The light was a gift.

Paris glass plates

I still can't put up processed images, so these are just an iPod screen shot from the X Pro 1 display. I think the images will be interesting when processed but these are what they are for now.