Disneyland Paris, just before Halloween

Something that I didn't talk about on the previous post, was the fact that Disneyland is expecting Halloween and is decorated accordingly. Even though I'm not a very big fan of such days where everyone is supposed to do something specific etc, I couldn't help feeling fascinated, just like in the x-mas market at La Defense last year (we'll have some photos of that in late November!)

Anyway, some more photos from Disneyland.

Yeah, sorry about that. I just wanted to continue with the water effect from the previous post, because it looks so nice.

As usual, click on it and check it out in all its detail and glory. Isn't it very nice? 

This is a Disney castle. Some princess is supposed to be there. You know, one of those who find their heads rolling in a big coffin, because Bastille is not far, baby!

Now that I see it edited, it looks more like a Game of Thrones castle. Still, the ending will be similar. This time the head will be on a stick.

Here, what was I saying? They started already. The first victim of the revolution was princess Minnie Pumpkinface, the first of her name. Look at that frozen smile. Oh, the horrors she must have seen.

I'm kind of worried for my mental health. On a post about Disneyland and Halloween, I see Game of Thrones and brutal executions.

Birds, flowers and insects

A few more photos from previous week, when we went near to the park behind Notre Dame. There are some more, we're not done yet!

In other news, hopefully tomorrow (Aug 21), the 18-55 mm lens will be here, which means that I'll be able to take other kinds of photos as well as portraits, which I'm planning on starting quite soon. Off to today's photos now.

The pigeons were around the people, waiting, almost forcing for some pieces of bread. This little guy came, took the remains of an ice-cream cone and left. Kind of a lonely eater, I suppose.

Nice brown colour that looks better after the editing.

Now for the hardcore stuff. Bees, wasps, hairy or bald, there's enough yellow dust for everyone in the garden!

Let's lighten up the colours a bit, shall we? Yeah, much better now.

Various representatives of the bee-like insect family (And I'm not even an entomologist!) are keeping two flowers busy. The shallow depth of field makes the image look almost like fake.

Some colour enhancing and the result looks even nicer. Great stuff. Just great stuff. Remember to click on the photos in order to see them bigger and in more detail.

Back to Notre Dame, equipped like a boss

After almost two weeks, we found ourselves back to Notre Dame. More specifically, in the little park behind the church, where the pigeons are all overweight have almost no fear of humans, since they eat the weight of one sandwich in breadcrumbs every day, each. And the flowers were full of bees. All those nice places were there, but this time we had the 650D with us! Here, let me show you a small sample of what I managed to take today!

I remind you that I haven't yet received the 18-55mm lens. Every picture so far is with the 55-250mm telephoto lens and sometimes this makes my life a bit hard. But some other times, it makes it so freaking cool! Like in the cases you're about to witness!

Yeah, the telephoto magnifies as well. And look at the detail in this photo. And this cute, fluffy... ummm... bee? A fluffy bee? I don't know if I'm comfortable with this!

The editing makes almost no difference. The hair is still there!

This one is beautiful. The bee is more like a wasp and it's not that hairy, while there is a small bee about to land on the flower. Anyway, there is enough for everyone!

Here the editing makes a difference. Slight, but it does. Don't forget to click on the photos, to see them bigger and more glorious!

The beach volley doesn't stop. As long as the weather helps, there are teams to play and spectators to watch. Here I took a nice snapshot of a spike. As long as these people aren't professionals, sports are fine.

Editing, editing, editing. Better colours, sharper image. Because we're awesome!

And now, for something different!

It's here. It arrived in the morning. The Canon 650D. The dream, the little monster, the super tool. Of course, since it's important for things not to go very correctly, the seller forgot to put in the pack the 18-55mm lens and until I receive it, I will only have the 55-200mm to play with. It's OK. I already started experimenting and there's still a lot to be done.

Of course, in order to be able to buy the camera, we got a bit out of budget, so, you know what you can do! Let's go to three of the pictures I took today!

First, one from the balcony. Focusing on the top of the tree whose leaves fall off when the weather gets fucked. That is, when it's not summer.

And since I cannot go without editing, here is the same pictures, with more saturated colours.

Later we went for a walk. And we saw these window cleaners while they were, well, cleaning some windows. La Tour Montparnasse Infernale came to mind and if you haven't watched it, do yourselves a favour and watch it.

Here's the same photo with a bit more blue. The guys were on the 30th floor or something like that.

Oh, I couldn't just let this one go without  taking a photo. There were at least three of these insects that look like bees on steroids, with all the extra volume and the hair and maybe the zits and the shrunk genitals.

More colours, please! Thank you!

So, yeah. The next photos will be taken with the 650D. Hopefully it will get better now.

Back to Notre Dame

...or, to be precise, back to the park behind Notre Dame. Some pictures that I didn't publish on Saturday are today's post. It was very nice, I was just standing there checking the birds bathing and sitting on the grass. If only I had a better camera! But, hopefully, this will change soon. Until then, check this.

Lots of sun. Great colours. Maybe a bit too bright? No problem.

Editing to the rescue. Now the flowers look much better and separated from each other.

This guy was huge. When I saw him going to the fountain I thought he was a duck or something.

But he's too small to be a duck, even if he's a bit too big for a pigeon. Anyway, I managed to take some photos of him.

A long day out

Friends came today. And there was a long walk. I mean, really long. From Notre Dame to Concorde and back. That's like five or six metro stations. And with all the sun, my head was killing me. After about two hours of sleep and it's still messed up. I will continue as soon as I finish with the post.

While I was waiting for them, I took a walk around the area of Hotel de Ville. First of all, they have installed sand and beach volley nets in front of the Hotel de Ville. Paris has no sea, but who cares! Lack of sea doesn't mean lack of creativity!

Yes. In the middle of the city. This place changes every week. Once they install tennis courts and a big screen to watch Roland Garros, another time they have a whole garden with flowers and chairs, they had a music festival about a week ago, now this. We can't say that the people responsible for making the area great are lazy.

What I said earlier, but with more intense colours.

Near Notre Dame there is a park. All the benches were taken, at least the once in the shade. And I was there, taking photos of the pigeons bathing in the fountain and sitting around on the grass. A very nice image overall.

Of course, there were many tourists and most of them were interested in taking photos of the back side of the church.

Did I take any picture of the church? Well, no.

Not at the zoo this time

Yes, it's time for something different for a change. Yesterday we were going to a big park, but it started raining and we didn't want to risk getting in the middle of a summer storm, so we turned back. And then we saw a smaller park and we went there for a few minutes. Enough for me to take my superhuman phone and take some photos.

It was a nice park, with very thick vegetation. Here, the sky and the white buildings are burned and impossible to retrieve.

The colours were corrected, but the white remained white. You can't have it all, unfortunately. Unless you have a good camera!

And, for the first time in the history of ever, flowers! Yes, I decided to make an exception today.

The colours are more intense and nice, but there's always a burned part to remind us that we are all humans and nothing can change that, no matter how rich or poor or with a DSLR we are.

Last night I had a huge disappointment when I lost a very nice used Canon 500D in a very good price. But I keep on searching, what can I say?

A statue for Facebook...?

The beautiful days go on in Paris and if the weather remains warm until September, it will be just great. During a short walk at La Défense, I managed to take a few photos, two of which I present you right here. And I begin with a statue in honour of the "Like" button on Facebook. Or, at least, something like that.

Among the huge buildings and the commercial centers, the thumb of La Défense.

Oh, editing. What was the purpose of my life before meeting you?

Now, this was taken near the thumb and has great potential. It's impressive that the humble Android phone can take pictures with focus.

It looks like I'm attracted to pictures of flowers after all. Who wouldn't? Look at them! They are beautiful!

And once again, the trick where I keep only one colour, because IT'S FREAKING AWESOME!

Flowers again

OK, today the heat is not boiling us in our skins but it's still very nice and I had the chance to take a few interesting photos just outside the house.

Yellow and red little flowers and a few meters ahead there's a Porsche mechanic. The tall buildings that appear to be far at the top right corner, are near La Défense.

After the editing, the photo kicks ass.

This is a yellow flower. With a bee at its center, doing its bee stuff.

I like how the flower and the leaves are in focus while the soil looks blur.

Yes, I like to take pictures with flowers

These days it's real summer in Paris. And, according to the weather forecast, it will remain like this for a few more days. That's great news! These pictures from the garden are very fresh and full of summer.

I don't know how they are called. But it's nice to have them around.

The big bunch at the center and a bit to the right, is the only one in focus. The rest are a bit blur. It's not like a DSLR, but it's a substitute, even if it's inadequate!

I don't know their name either.

The colours have become more intense but I still don't know the name of the flower.

I know I did this before, but I like it. Probably I will do it again in the future.

It's a shame that such nice days are not the rule in this great city, really.