Another Type of Perspective

When taking touristy photos of famous places, buildings and structures, I have always sought to isolate that famous place. You know, wait for the moment when there are no tourists in the scene. On a recent trip to Paris, I found that impossible. It was so crowded that in most cases, I would still be waiting for that exact moment. I did make an important discovery though.

We were at Versailles and at the back of the property is the Petit Trianon, a home given to Marie Antoinette by her husband King Louis XVI. Much less crowded, I had a chance to take this image. I loved the scene with the tile floor leading into the frame and the door opened at the far end. I loved the light shining through and the repetition of the pillars.

Here is the same image with a person just entering the scene. There was a time when I would have discarded this image because I didn't know the person, I was just trying to capture the famous place, whatever... Not so now. To me, having the person in the image increases interest in a number of ways. It adds:

• motion
• gives perspective to the size of the building
• human interest

 

Here is another example from a shop window in Paris. I loved the colors of the shop (They sell the best macaroons in Paris!) but it was raining and I didn't want to stand there waiting for the people to pass, which would have been like NEVER.  So snap I did and look at this. Two girls sharing an umbrella peering into the shop. The other pedestrians are blurred because they were walking fast and I used a lower shutter speed. I love this image. 

So my lesson here is to capture people in the images, even if you don't know them. The result is a stronger human interest story.