Le Boheme playing accordion at Montmartre
Montmartre has had a history of Bohemian artists creating new ideas that slowly made it to the mainstream. Maybe this accordion player will make it one day too.
Recently on in one of my favourite places of Paris (Montmartre) I came across this street musician in front of the cafe La Boheme, and it sort of fit quite well. A bohemian musician playing on the streets of Montmartre. It was a pretty cloudy day and for some strange reason I had a pretty hard time getting all my settings straight on my camera (probably running our of practice). So I ended up taking lots of images in order to get one or two right.
Something about the musician and the place was just right for a photo, him searching for potential customers in the rainy cold and the name of the cafe behind him fit for a expressive street photo in Paris.
Of course I did drop him some cash for “modeling” for me.
Street Photography tip for Paris:
If you’re out of practice, put your camera on automatic and keep the iso slightly higher than usual (even though 1000 is a bit much) you’ve only got a few seconds to capture the shot so put the odds on your side.
While having kids look straight in the camera is great, it’s not always the case with adults. Wait for them to look the other-way – it looks more “streetlike”.
Martin Soler Photography 
Nice image Martin. The flat, rather low light helped you get detail inside the café. I also like the elevated point of view. Not quite plongée but dramatic anyway
thanks a lot Jeff, a great compliment from someone with a site as rich as yours!
A great one, Martin! I was recently going through all those wonderful images you compiled here! Thanks a lot for sharing this.
The pleasure is entirely mine and getting these great comments here just makes me want to do more. My main problem is not doing enough. Thanks again.
Beautifully captured. It really conveys the romantic atmosphere. Also, it’s nice that you gave him something. I still feel bad for not giving a few coins to a street performer who turned into one of my best photos in my beginner days. Unfortunately, there were so many people, I was shooting everything in sight, and I had no idea that she would look so striking in the final shot. I’m rather shy about shooting strangers, so I often shoot with my camera in my lap or even on a strap over my shoulder. Once, when my kit lens was broken, I was confined to a 50mm lens and got amazing results. It really made me appreciate “fast glass.”
Yeah I know how it feels. The earlier musician I took (http://martinsoler.com/2010/07/27/jazz-photo-by-notre-dame-paris/) I didn’t give him anything and that wasn’t so cool. But luckily I found him on the internet later and managed to give him the photo for his use. 🙂
Super photo Martin, l’atmosphère est bien transmise au travers de cette excellente composition.
Wow,Magnifique composition et un véritable oeil de photographe ! Je suis ravi d’avoir découvert votre site sur Coolphotoblog et d’avoir voté pour votre talent . Je prends toujours autant de plaisir à venir voir vos photos. Bravo !
Mille merci Kevin! C’est encore plus un plaisir de voir des commentaires comme le votre. Je vais faire de mon mieux pour garder votre fidelite. 🙂
Now that’s a class piece of street photography Martin…
good capture!
I don’t quite understand why you would have to take many shots of this subject in order to get one or two right! It’s a non-moving object, tye musician is just sitting down so measure the light, adapt where necessary and concentrate on the angle, position etc.
Hi Raphael, yes I must admit it was a mystery to me too. Maybe I was just so out of practice that I had mis-set something totally basic. BTW, love your site and street photos.