In May of 2011 I took a trip to France. The main reason was to visit the South of France with an instructor, Gene Turner, but I also spent a week in Paris.
Dick Stahlke suggested that I go here and photograph it. I made several interesting images. For this one, I followed Sam Abell's rule: Compose and Wait for something to happen.
I had to stand in line for about three quarters of an hour to get in, so I figured I had to shoot something. This a five-exposure hand-held HDR shot. I used Topaz Adjust to make it a little sharper. The windows on the left are really darker than those on the right, so they aren't as interesting.
Apt is the bigger town close to Saignon, where I was staying. We had to go there for gas or groceries or whatever, and to go past this mural to get almost anywhere in Provence.
When we were wandering around the Luberon we found a wonderful field of poppies and the vineyard shown above. While we were setting up a young woman drove up and placed this chair in the field, put the accessories on it, and proceeded to photograph it from several angles. Since a red chair is a Contra Costa club tradition, I couldn't resist a few shots.
This should have been shot as HDR but my tripod wasn't handy so I just did a lot of work in Photoshop to get it right.
I liked this street, and was starting to shoot in when first one and then two women in different clothing appeared. That was great, and then a little work in Photoshop brought out the colors.
In the Luberon, using the technique of "shooting thru." It was suggested by Gene Turner, who was guiding me on this trip.
