On the French Riviera

After leaving Paris, I travelled to my hometown of Cannes, famous for its festival, the beaches and its beautiful weather.

It did not disappoint its son. The weather was perfect, mostly bright blue skies all the time and a far warmer climate that Paris (or London).

Cannes also boasts two main harbours, filled with oversized yachts but also with fishermen’s boats as in the two pictures above showing some traditional fishing boats called “pointus”.

The end of the bay on the east side is called la Pointe Croisette and hosts the casino named “Palm Beach”, whose name is sometime used to designate the area. The casino is under renovation, and for those with a culture in French cinema, the crane you see is located where the famous swimming pool of “Melodie en Sous Sol” was located.

Cannes is not just for stars : locals still play the “petanque”

And not all drive Rolls Royces.

A tiny Autobianchi can be found on the harbour (in excellent condition)

And a 1950’s Peugeot 203 can be found driving around (slightly less good condition).

There was a lot of activity along the beach this year. Some relax, some have to work, thats life.

The sunsets on these winter days were often breath-taking.

All shots with Leica M262 and 35mm Summicron Asph v2 or Elmar 50mmF3.5 ltm, what else do you need?

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Hoi An – The fishermen

Basket boats

During the Vietnam trip we stayed 3 days on the coast between Hoi An and Danang. We drove all the way from Hué, through the “cloud pass”, through Danand, and passed the Marble mountains to the hotel; all in all a 3 hours drive. On this part of the coast fishermen are using round basket boat; I saw a few or our drive but they were a bit far off or we did not have the possibility to stop to investigate and take some pictures. So I was a bit frustrated when getting to our resort; I’m not too much of the sea-side photographer and anyway the weather was not so good.

Walking along the beach, what was my surprise after getting out of the resort to see a group of these basket boast ashore; I had to ran back to the hotel get a camera and snap a few shots. The next morning I was back and so the next evening; in both occasions when I spotted the guys rowing back to the beach. They have me pay for my taking picture by asking me to help carry their boat out the water, which I found a very fair trade.

Shots on this page are made either with the 50mmF1.8D or with the Angenieux 70-210F3.5AI

The return of the fishermen – Fort Galle – Sri Lanka

While in Sri Lanka I missed the fishermen on stilts, which can be found in many places along the coast  and actually not too far from Galle (pronounce Goal). I have been warned by different people that the are mostly doing for the tourists now, as my guide put it, they do it for real and may not be here when you go there, or it’s just for the show. Anyway I would not have mind taking a few shots for a few rupiahs, but I just missed the show.

However when arriving in Galle I noticed that there are quite a few fishing boats along the shore and I went for a stroll on the morning of our departure for Colombo. This is just outside of the walls of the Fort when to the east. Just 10 minutes walk from the Amangalla hotel (see my TripAdvisor review )

Fishermen return from the sea with fish when they are lucky, here are some of the catch.

I was a bit stressed to have wandered away before the imminent departure so I did not pay too much attention at my shooting : fatal mistake.  Only the first picture is ok grade I think, but I like sharing.

Nice – Le Port – Juillet 2011

Le Port de Nice

One of the first films in Cafenol; nice harbor under July mid-day sun. I’ve been walking around nice with the Hassie and the d700+17-35 for the last two hours, I definitely looked like a sweaty tourist. This is the last shot of the film, I put a Portra in just after and make a couple of very similar shots.. maybe another post tomorrow?

Camera: Hasselblad 500CM, Planar 80mm F2.8
Film: Kodak TMAX 100
Processing: Cafenol
Scanning: EPSON V500, Lightroom 3, PSP Elements 4

The Little Girl paddling on Lake Inle

Probably my best picture of Burma. The D700 makes wonders! or maybe the magic air of Inle? I like the quality of the image, that one feels like a slide.

[FR] LA petite fille qui ramait sur le Lac Inle.

Probablement ma meilleure photo be Birmanie. Le D700 fait des merveilles, ou alors c’est la magie de l’air du Lac? J’aime la qualité de l’image, on dirait une diapo.

 

Camera:Nikon D700
Lens: Nikkor 80-200 F2.8 D
Retouches: Lightroom 3