Monday, July 6, 2009

Of Technicolor Sunsets and Pink Lace Socks . . .

After a few black and white photos there, it's time for a little color ! For the second Friday night in a row there was quite a light show visible out my office window as the sun was setting. I'm starting to wonder if these sunset light shows by Technicolor aren't maybe linked to that massive volcanic eruption that got very little press coverage back in June on Matua Island, between Japan and Russia, where the Sarychev Volcano blew out a huge plume of ash, causing flights to divert around it, adding three to four hours flying time for some of them. Maybe there's a little more light diffraction or diffusion going on in the atmosphere these days thanks to that dose of high altitude grit ? Any atmospheric experts out there care to comment ?
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And still in the realm of bright and appealing colors, this pair of pink lace socks caught my eye the other day on a trip in to Paris to meet a fellow blogger in the Tuilleries gardens. This is not she, this is simply a passerby who happened to wander into the range of my viewfinder, and my shutter finger suddenly twitched. . . one sees the most amazing things walking around Paris !
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26 comments:

Patricia said...

We had a lovely sunset tonight...pearly gray clouds with the tiniest bits of peach light at the bottom intermittently dispersed. It was not the most dramatic sky that I had ever seen, but it was elegant.

Josephine Tale Peddler said...

Totally dramatic lush sunset but I am totally in love with those hot pink lace socks! That is what I love about the streets of Paris - you are hit like a tidal wave with so much visual, creative stimulation!

Steve said...

The sunset works for me but not sure about the pink socks... I know they're pink and the legs belong to a woman but there's something bank managerish about them!

desi said...

WOWEE! I would like to order the sunset AND the pink socks please!!
:D

joo said...

We have recently ennjoyed such spectaculous performances on the sky that I think that you might be right!
The first photo is just breathtaking, but the second - wow, I'm relly impressed:)
Have a nice week

Country Girl said...

Well, I don't know what's contributing to the light show but it sure is beautiful.
And I love it when your shutter finger twitches!

The Panorama said...

Really nice post and lovely pictures.

Lynne with an e said...

Oh sock it to us, babee! I love the lines of the parkbench photo--how the eye is drawn into the frame by the angle of the bench coupled with the way the girl's feet & legs are facing, all subtly emphasized by the lines on her shopping bag. And I do like the socks. An excellent example of your roving eye...er...roving reporting!

Anonymous said...

Great shot of the lace socks! I didn't see those in Paris this weekend, but maybe it was too hot?
Lovely pictures all around.

AB said...

I see a new marketing ploy: buy socks, get free colour-coordinated sunset

AB said...

I see a new marketing ploy: buy socks, get free colour-coordinated sunset

Alexandra MacVean said...

What an incredible photo of the sunset. Wow! There were some amazing colors in the sky here this past Saturday night...I tried to capture the color myself. Not much xp with taking photos near dusk or after dark.

And I LOVE the socks! Seriously!

Anders Enochsson said...

Volcano eruptions’ do the strangest things to the atmosphere. I come to think about the “Orange skies” which Arthur Lee sings about (Love). In that case it was the smog of LA of course.

Margaret Pangert said...

The sky and the stockings are beautiful, but nothing beats the night sky of Mathew Arnold from your bird's-eye aerie.

Owen said...

Hi Patricia... hmmm, so I'm not the only one seeing colorful sunsets these days... Really like your piece about Eggleston, he was something else again...

Josephine, glad you like those socks ! They were just crying out to be photographed. And yes, definitely, I get into sensory overload territory in Paris... there is just so much going on wherever you look...

Hey Steve, funny how different people see different things... I'm not sur I would have thought she was a bank manager; she seemed more an art student maybe to me... but who knows, I didn't ask her...

Desi, ok, coming right up, one sunset and one pair of pink socks, will try to get the order out tonight :-D

Hi Joo, many thanks !

Country Girl, well, there's no telling what might make a shutter finger twitch, but I guess the trick is to be relaxed at all times, so the twitch can come naturally...

Panorama ... thanks !!!

Lynne,... there's a song I like a lot from Australia that starts out :
"When I was a young man I carried my pack, and I lived the free life of a rover..."
Which sort of applies to me too, so I guess there's no help for having a roving eye... :-D
Glad you like the lines in the photo, there are some suggestions of curves as well... but remember, the focus was on the pink lace, I'd honestly never seen a pair of socks quite like those before...

Dedene, keep looking, they're out there somewhere... :-D

Hey AB, you may be onto something, maybe the sunset could be silkscreened on the socks ???

Hi Amelia... those socks look lovable to me too... keep trying with shooting at dusk, play around with the settings 'til you find some that work...

Bonjour Margaret, indeed, indeed, Matthew Arnold is hard to beat, a tough act to follow... hope all is well with you...

cieldequimper said...

Vendredi it was amazing. J'ai posté ce que j'ai vu du périph' sur here there everywhere, je n'en croyais pas mes yeux. J'ai rarement roulé à 30 à cette heure là, juste pour en profiter entre la porte de Versailles et la Seine. I love, and I mean *love* the second shot!

Batteson.Ind said...

hAVEN'T SEEN A SUNSET FOR AGES.... (caps off).. Mainly because it sets behind the trees, but also the weather here has been utterly sheet! I had no idea that there had been a volcanic eruption!..... but that's not a surprise, we haven't seen the news for weeks either...
Love the fact that the socks match the stunning pink in the sunset... they're lurvely... If I didn't have legs like a rugby player I'd be tempted to buy some! Might get some for the ronald though.. !-)

Owen said...

Ciel, wow, tes photos sont maginifiques ! C'était un sacré coucher du soleil quand même... et une sacré paire de chaussettes

H2O Cats, If you'd like to see even more sunset photos from last Friday, click on the link to CieldeQuimper's profile just above your comment, and then click on her "Here There and Everywhere" blog. She took some stunning shots, on the edge of Paris. Well, I hope you will post a picture of the Ronald when he gets his new socks ! LOL !!! That will be lurvely too, I'm sure ! The volcanic eruption in June was pretty big, but didn't get much press coverage... Cheers and bottoms up !!!

The Sagittarian said...

Love that sunset! Mind you, there isn't much I wouldn't do to see even a sliver of sun at the moment! I'd even wear funny pink sox and stalk bloggers in Paris....

jeff said...

Tu pourrais dire à tes collants rose de pas jeter la rondelle en plastique de sa bouteille d'eau parterre !...
Bien belles photos colorées qui changent de tes traditionnels clichés ! J'aime beaucoup ! Tu peux continuer ! Tu as mon aval !
...;)

Amy said...

Lovely, the stockings match the sky. :) I need a pair of those.

Roxana said...

wow - i am neither a weather expert nor a fashion one, but you have certainly woven a red-pink magic here, i love it! the socks picture is so fresh and sweet, nicely done - and now i am off to try to find something like this in the next shop (noooo - pink is not really my style, but for a moment, your pic made me wish it were! :-)

Roxana said...

ps. and i forget to say: sexy too, this second pic :-)

Unknown said...

The photo of the girl in Paris, the one with the lovely pink lace socks, could have been taken during nearly any year since the early 20th century. Well, you know, except for the plastic! ;)

She's timeless and great style never goes out of style. Big cities + people watching = a lovely time.

Adam said...

There's something very Japanese about those pink socks, but the dress is definitely French. Very sexy anyway!

ladydi said...

The sunset photo is magnificent! I love any sky photos - God's most amazing art show, a little different every day. I wonder how the wearer of the socks would feel knowing her legs are adorning your blog??