Blog 21 05 28 The Towers of The Teeth

Carchost and Narchost stood either side of the Black Gate at the entrance to Mordor. Long abandoned by the Gondorians, they were occupied by the servants of Sauron and swung open at the end of the epic story, to allow his forces to face the Host of the West in the final, agonising, Battle of the Black Gate.

Today, instead of Orcs and Trolls, they protect the denizens of Société Générale Bank’s headquarters staff. I fear to utter its name and dare not speak of the deep secrets within, for I, myself, hammered and sweated there for 10 years.

Effect of Light

Which brings me to my photographic point. An overcast, Summer sky with steel-grey clouds can create a beautiful, yet moody effect, which transforms the architecture of the business district of La Défense, just outside Paris, into Tolkien’s vision of Hell.

It is a lifelong privilege to have inhabited fascinating places for enough time, that I could observe them in myriad lighting and weather conditions. Clearly their ever-changing nature offers magical photographic opportunities, no matter what the subject, but it is the addition of a longer time frame which permits the capture of infinite visual subtleties and effects.

Absent such a longer presence it is photographer’s luck which provides those moments of intense pleasure, when faced with a fortuitous lighting situation. Of course I can make my own luck by applying precise planning, such as researching the timing, angles and location of events such as an eclipse, or the dawn and sunset, for that matter.

Technical

The lens used on this capture is a Tilt/Shift lens, generally required for achieving optical adjustments of architectural subjects. On this occasion it was used more simply for the optical quality of its glass and the wide-angle available from using it as a short focal length, prime lens

Settings

Camera: Nikon D300

Lens: Nikon PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5ED

Focal Length: 24mm

Drive Mode: Single shot

Auto Focus-Area Mode: Single

Aperture: f/10

Shutter Speed: 1/250s

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority A/E

Exposure Compensation: 0.0 EV

Metering: Pattern

ISO Sensitivity: 250

Tripod Mounted

Format: Raw

Place : Esplanade de la Defense, Courbevoie/Puteaux.

Year: 2010

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