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Rainy Day, Ile-St-Louis
I found myself in Paris for work at the end of last week, and despite having little time and the weather being uncooperative, I managed to get a shot or two. I look forward to returning in better weather.
My 2012: Photographic Year-End Review
It’s been a good year, again. A lot of travel (43 cities, 12 countries, 100K+ kilometers), a lot of laughs, a lot of good food. A promotion and the largest deal we’ve ever done closed at work. And, most importantly, a kind young lady agreed to marry me. I end 2012 feeling very fortunate.
NOTE If you are reading this in a news reader such as Google Reader, or inside Facebook on a tablet, you might want to open this in a dedicated browser window as the photo layout may work better.
JANUARY
In January I returned to Scotland in winter, this time to the Isle of Skye, accompanied by my good friend (and accomplished photographer) Corin Dimoupolous and guided by local expert landscape photographer David Langan. We spent a long weekend exploring the island, and, weather permitting, shooting a few landscapes.
FEBRUARY
The coldest month saw us on a mini-break to an even colder place: Berlin. Despite icy temperatures we had a great time exploring both the historic and modern aspects of this vibrant city. We ate well and drank better.
MARCH, APRIL, MAY
These months were fairly quiet, at least in terms of photography for me, as they consisted mostly of a series of work trips which didn’t allow much time for quality snapping. Must do better.
However, I did manage a few shots around London in the downtime.
JUNE
June saw another personal trip to France for a wedding in the Dordogne – but first stop was a few days in Paris. (More Paris shots can be found in the original blog post.)
After Paris we moved to the Dordogne and Limousin region for our friends’ wedding. This was a lovely few days in rural southern France, touring the medieval fortress towns along the river, and eating as much duck, pate, and Limousin beef as we could manage. Again, for more photos go and check out the original blog post.
JULY AND AUGUST
In the late summer, London was host to the 2012 Olympics and we were lucky enough to visit the Olympic Park as well as going to see the Men’s Hockey and the Men’s Basketball Final. It was a magical time in London, and I will always remember what it was like to be here in the thick of it.
In late August I went back to Paris for the first of a series of work trips there, and I managed to catch a perfect summer’s day along the banks of the Seine.
SEPTEMBER
We began September with a lovely late-summer break to the Cyclades: a two-part trip to Mykonos, famed for its maze-like streets and raucous nightlife, and Santorini, land of a million postcard views. More photos can be found in the original blog post.
The morning after I returned from Santorini, I boarded another flight to Bangkok for work. Fortunately I allowed myself an extra day there to get reacquainted with this city, and to sample some of the myriad food delights on offer in its street stalls and markets…
OCTOBER
Early October saw me on yet another work trip, this time to Ankara and Istanbul in Turkey, where I was fortunate enough to have a few free hours to myself here and there to wander the old town and the nightlife district of Beyoglu. It’s always good to return to Istanbul.
NOVEMBER and DECEMBER
November and December were all about our trip to Japan and Hong Kong. Though I am only about a third of the way through processing the photos from that trip, what I have gone through thus far is encouraging and more photo reports from this trip will be gracing this blog over the course of January. Of course, this is the trip that hosted the aforementioned proposal, so it has a special place in my heart.
First up: Tokyo
And, of course, the rural beauty of Hakone and Nara:
That’s about all for 2012, photo-wise at least. I am happy that we’ve had a fulfilling year. Here’s to 2013 being bigger and better!
Happy New Year
Luke Robinson
New Gigapan Panorama of Paris
I have uploaded my first panorama to Gigapan.org. This is relatively small, 68mp compared to 1gp that some of their panoramas can boast, but it’s still a great way to view a large panorama in an interactive way. Be sure to hit the full-screen button for the best experience.
My Paris Gigapan can be viewed here.
Visiting the Dordogne and Limousin, June 2012 – Photo Report
As part of the same trip that started with a few days in beautiful Paris, we travelled south to the Dordogne / Limousin area for a few more days of exploration, relaxation, and degustation before joining up with some friends in the region for a three-day wedding extravaganza.
Our route took us from Limoges down to the Dordogne river itself, which is festooned with medieval villages and chateaux hewn out of hillsides and perched atop cliffs. Many of the villages and chateaux were variously at odds with each other during the Hundred Years War, with the French hunkered down in one redoubt while just a kilometer away, on the other side of the river, Richard the Lionheart might have been planning his next conquest. We were able to variously visit or canoe past many of these during our first couple of days.
Click on any of the photos below to view larger versions on Flickr – and click them again once you’re there if you want to see full screen!
Castelnaud-la-Chappelle
Beynac-et-Cazenac
Panorama of the Dordogne from Chateau Beynac-et-Cazenac
Roses of Beynac-et-Cazenac
Interior staircase of Chateau Beynac-et-Cazenac
Over the course of our visit we moved North, away from the Dordogne river, and visited many quaint (and quiet) villages en route, including Bourdeilles and the very picturesque Brantôme, “the Venice of the Dordogne”.
Roses of Bourdeilles
Brantôme Panorama
Canalside door, Brantôme
Hungry Ducks of Brantôme
No Parking, Brantôme
More images can be found in my Flickr set “The Dordogne and Limousin – June 2012“.
A Quick Hop to Paris – Photo Report
Let’s just get something straight right from the start: it is possible to drop your camera on its shutter release and take a good photo in Paris.
That being said, I have been to Paris so many times, that to be frank my last couple of visits have seen me running out of inspiration a bit. I thought to myself, there are only so many photos of the Seine and the Eiffel Tower that you can take. Which is true, but it’s been a few years since I did the “proper” tourist Paris, and a chance to take my girlfriend to the City of Light for her inaugural visit on our way down to the Dordogne meant that I had the perfect opportunity to recapture some of the most hackneyed photo subjects in the world – but we were lucky enough to have nice light most of the time, so I didn’t feel too ashamed of myself.
So take a ride with me as I present my own version of the Standard Book of Parisian Photography.
Carvings in the facade of Notre Dame
Keepie-uppie in Montmartre
Montmartre Couple
Paris Panorama from the Tour de Montparnasse
Eiffel Tower from Below
Sevres Gate on the Boulevard St Germain
Ile de la Cité Panorama
Summer Days on the Ile de la Cité
Deep Discussion on the Ile de la Cité
Sunset over the Pont des Arts
"Love Padlocks" on the Pont des Arts
Sunset at the Louvre
Sunset at the Louvre
Louvre Pyramid at Night
Eiffel Tower from the Palais de Chaillot, by night
You can see more of these shots on my flickr set here.
There will be more to come from the South of France in a couple of days, a set of shots I very much look forward to reliving.
A simple door in the Marais, Paris
More to come. Still on the road till next weekend.
Mortal Coil 