Musee d'Orsay Boxed Sets (Gold & Silver)

Each card depicts an original B&W photograph of the interior clock of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. The big hand, number dials and peripheral facets of the clock have been embellished with fine glitter powder. Each card is blank on the inside and comes with a plain cotton A7 envelope (4 cards & 4 envelopes in the set). Each boxed set is presented in a clear sturdy plastic box and wrapped on the outside with a coordinating color bow. Keep and use for yourself or give as a gift to the Paris lover in your circle.

The gold and vintage silver sets are featured below with links to purchase as well as larger images of each set. To see more unique products, visit the ArgenticVision gift shop.

Musee d'Orsay Boxed Set of 4 (Gold Embellishments)
Buy d'Orsay Gold Boxed Set of 4



Musee d'Orsay Boxed Set of 4 (Vintage Silver Embellishments)
Buy d'Orsay Vintage Silver Boxed Set of 4

Video: B&W Fine Art Images of Paris

Going Postal: A fine art photo collage

I shot a series of images which were hung in the offices of a high profile L.A. area investment firm with a Mailroom theme. Below are some of the images from that assignment which have been arranged in the form of a photo collage:

Afternoon on the docks of the Seine

Every time I look at this image I'm transported back to the moment when I shot it. I'm able to enjoy reliving the peace and tranquility I felt when I composed the shot. On this particular afternoon I had just finished doing some shooting around the area of Notre Dame and decided to go down to the docks to take a break to just hang out and relax. The natural light and shadows were so beautiful I had to take out my camera to shoot a few frames - the icing on the cake was that the boat in the foreground came cruising by so I included it too.

Day Trip to Bruges: Quiet Contemplation & Spiritual Reflection

Whenever I'm in Europe, I always try to take a side trip to a nearby country, even if it's just for the day. It's so easy to do given the numerous high speed train lines that connect the various major cities and besides, I love train travel. During a recent visit to Paris, I decided I to take a day trip to Bruges, Belgium, which is just a few hours away. The train ride was beautiful and scenic and in no time at all I arrived in Bruges and started to wander around to explore, discover, etc.
For a Spring day, it became quite sunny and hot by the mid-afternoon so I decided to get some relief by ducking into a church (St. Magdalena/Magdalenakerk) which seemed to be significantly shaded by some extremely tall and beautiful trees. In stark contrast to the flurry of activity on its grounds and even on the doorstep leading inside, the interior of the church was so quiet and peaceful. In fact, it was so quiet that I tried to tread extra quietly so as to minimize the potential of disturbing anyone inside.
As I walked around, I enjoyed the beautiful architecture and the way that the stained glass windows cast such a beautiful glow on everything inside. In the foyer of the church there was a reflecting pool, which apparently is usually adorned with some type of art display created by some of the local artists. On this day, the reflecting pool was perfect in its simplicity, free from any obstruction. Given that I'm such a sucker for interesting images of reflections, I composed this shot. For a moment I thought about not doing it because I was afraid that the sound of my shutter would be too loud, but I'm glad I did.

Double Vision

Shadows are amongst my favorite compositions. I’m not sure exactly why I find them so appealing but in certain instances, I find them irresistible. Of course, not all shadows interest me enough to want to photograph them but the ones that do stand out in my mind long after I’ve captured them on film.

The photograph you see here was shot in London-I was walking through the Kensington area and happened to glance up for a moment which is when I noticed the shadow of the street lamp falling on the building. At that moment I couldn’t walk away without shooting a few frames.

Abre la puerta (Open the door)

I shot this image in Barcelona as I was walking along Gran Via one afternoon. In composing this image, I focused in on the door knocker since I found it to be so unique and visually interesting. I'm sure you're asking yourself if it's just a decorative element or if it's actually a fully functional door knocker...I wondered the same thing and after trying it found out that it works perfectly :)

Argentic Adventures in Europe: A Slideshow

Reflection Within a Reflection

Shot in Venice, Italy. Buildings on opposite side of Grand Canal reflecting in a mirror in a store window display.

Passage Souterrain

Night shot taken in Paris at the bouche de metro just off of Rue de Rivoli, near Jardin des Tuileries.

You Can't Rush Perfection

La Sagrada Familia, the famous cathedral in Barcelona, is considered to be Antonio Gaudi's masterpiece. He spent over 40 years of his life working on this massive project, dedicating the last 15 years of his life exclusively to it. Apparently when he was asked about the lengthy construction timetable he replied, "My client is not in a hurry." Considering the fact that the project started in 1883 with current estimates indicating a scheduled completion date of sometime in 2026, the circumstances support Gaudi's sentiment that it's really not possible to rush perfection.
During my visit to Barcelona last Spring, I had set out specifically to shoot La Sagrada Familia. On the day I shot this image, I tried to mask the scaffolding and construction equipment as best as I could by using a wider angle and incorporating the trees and shadows into the composition in order to achieve a more balanced and artistic image.

The Louvre: From Impregnable Fortress to Palace & Museum

The Louvre is one of the most well known and important museums in the world but long before it attained such a status, it was a fortress built to protect the King and the inhabitants of Paris. The modern-day Louvre traces its architectural origins to the 12th century and was built by King Philippe Auguste. The medieval fortress included a thick cylindrical dungeon surrounded by towered walls.
Over the course of the centuries since it was first constructed, the Louvre has been transformed by events of French history as well as by the architects and decorators who have left their mark on it.
One of the things I like about this depiction of the Pavilion Denon is that it appears to be reminiscent of a haunted house. Who knows...perhaps it was influenced by the ghosts of the dungeon captives who are rumored to inhabit the Louvre, a belief which is held by some Parisians to this very day.

I Like What I See In Your Rear View

During my visit to Paris last year I had made it a point to make time to shoot the sculpture at the Palais Royale-Musee du Louvre Metro station, known as Le Kiosque des Noctambules (created by the artist Jean-Michel Othoniel). The entire bouche de metro is enveloped by two huge crown-shaped sculptures made of aluminum and colored glass. While it’s a bit odd-looking it’s incredibly cool at the very same time.

When I finally got there I encountered huge masses of people gathered around to watch a group of street performers. I made numerous attempts to maneuver around the crowd for quite some time in the hopes of getting a clear shot of the sculpture but it became pretty obvious that it just wasn’t going to happen.

As I walked away from the crowd to head across the street for a coffee break, I had to pass by a row of scooters and motor bikes which were parked along the curb. I caught a glimpse of part of the sculpture reflecting in the rear view mirror of one of the parked scooters and I decided to take the shot so that’s what you see in this image.

Aside from being a fun experience it was a learning lesson too because it taught me that there is more than one way to get the shot you want, you just have to be creative, patient and persistent. As it turns out, this is one of my favorite images and each time I look at it, I remember the circumstances that led me to be able to capture it.

Pigeons care about time management too!

This sculpture is located right outside Gare St. Lazare (train station) in Paris. I remember wanting to venture to that part of town just to shoot this sculpture which is the creation of Armand Pierre Fernandez titled "L'heure de tous". When you get up close to it, it's hard not to notice the significant amount of urea from the birds which is all around the sculpture itself as well as on its base. I was trying a few different angles to get a clear shot of the sculpture as well as of Gare St. Lazare in the back and at that moment a pigeon flew into the shot (center foreground).

Enjoy the Fun in Acquiring Different Perspectives While Traveling the World

I haven't posted here in a while mainly because in the past few months I've been concentrating exclusively on my core business, which has nothing at all to do with photography.

As the current busy season in my industry prepares to wind down slightly, I'm developing some thoughts and ideas related to my photography and increasing its visibility and presence online. While going through my images, I found myself continuously going back to one in particular, which I shot in Venice in the Spring of 2009 so I thought I'd share it here:

Many people who've seen this image up close have had a positive emotional reaction to it and it is one of my favorites too because it represents a familiar Venetian scene of gondolas on the Grand Canal, but it's presented through a different perspective.

I think when one travels, as well as in life, it's important to keep our perspective open and to challenge our view of what "is" because when we do so there's always an opportunity to learn something new and that's always a good thing.

Back in the US after Shooting Europe....

I've just returned from a wonderful trip to Europe. I visited several cities and had a chance to do quite a bit of shooting so I will be sharing some of the images from the recent trip on this blog over the course of the coming weeks.

Also, a quick plug for an awesome camera shop, ProCamera in Thousand Oaks. I was so busy prior to my scheduled departure that I didn't have a chance to take my camera equipment in for a good cleaning until literally the Friday afternoon just before my trip (I was leaving early on Tuesday). I've gone to this camera shop before and they've always been wonderful but in light of the pressing schedule, they managed to provide their usual exemplary service in an expedited fashion without charging me the equivalent of highway robbery prices. I'll add them to my list of favorite photography resources (Los Angeles/SoCal)...if you happen to be in the area and need your camera repaired, cleaned, etc., stop in and ask for Wayne.

In the interim, I've posted a few images...I will upload more images from my recent trip as often as possible.

Medium Format Experiment Yields Ethereal Results...

I usually shoot on 35mm film but I had always wanted to experiment with medium format photography as well. I picked up a little Holga one day and took it out to do some test shooting locally in Santa Monica. I happened to be in the vicinity of Santa Monica college and was looking for a place where I could shoot with relative peace and concentration yet somewhere which would be a source of inspiration at the same time. I stumbled upon Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery. I had to think about it a little bit since it wouldn't have been my natural first choice as a shooting location but the more I thought about it I realized that it was the perfect location....quiet, a place where I could be pensive and tap into my intuition, yet be surrounded by plenty of other-worldly inspiration. I didn't spend much time there mainly out of a sense of respect...there were others in the cemetery and I didn't want to spend too much time walking around with my camera shooting epitaphs, mausoleums, etc. I think another photographer would definitely understand but I don't know if the average non-photographer would be quite so nonchalant about it...I do love the medium format camera, however, and as I post this I am realizing that I should probably experiment with it a bit more. Just a few images from that day are included below...

(images copyright of Lili Rahmati; http://www.argenticvision.com/)