Don’t get me wrong: I love Rome and if there were one place in Europe where I could live, Rome would be it… And then there’s Petra, ancient capital of the Nabataeans in Jordan. Never in my cultural life have I understood George W.’s “shock and awe” better than when viewing the Treasury for the first time just after daybreak. From there to the Monastery and back, climbing and descending Petra’s mountain tops for 10 straight hours, meeting its charming inhabitants, I feel I can safely say: Rome is for sissies.

Yup, the Mack is Back. Kind of refers to the fact that my own internet connection will arrive shortly; in the meantime I’m virtually exploring the local community by illegally tapping into an unsecured wifi connection of some neighbour. The past months brought me to our new home in Brussels, a private air show by Saab in Sweden and the northern parts of Italy, amongst others. The 25 second exposure that you see above and which has been made a gazillion times before, is obviously taken in overcrowded, noisy, smelly, hot and humid, but oh so beautiful Venice. I’ll try and post an accompanying “been there, done that” image of Tuscany sometime next week…

While you are still whistling to the tune of French chansonnier Jacques Dutronc’s hit, I present you with another installment in my «Paris s’éveille» series: it’s 05:51 and the old Conciergerie on the Île de la Cité glows in the early morning light, some 10 minutes before sunrise.

Many of the readers of this blog will immediately start to whistle to the tune of French chansonnier Jacques Dutronc’s hit when reading the title of this post (translated: it’s five o’clock, Paris awakens). Last Saturday I too woke up at five to shoot awakening Paris and from the stark beauty of the city that sparkles in the first rays of sun to the sidewalk cafés getting ready for business, from the lone man sitting contemplating in an empty square to the young and frivolous adolescents who are finally admitting the night has come to an end: it’s spectacular. Expect more of it in the weeks to come and in the regional Dutch newspapers, accompanying a story of friend and journalist Olivier van Beemen, sometime this summer.

Summertime / and the living is easy / fish are jumpin’ / and the cotton is high.

It’s one of those quintessential songs, like Autumn Leaves, made immortal by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong on their classic “Porgy and Bess” album. Especially the “fish are jumping” part made this a favorite when I regularly went big game fishing with my father in the early 90′s. I thought of it yesterday when I saw all those people taking it easy during the first day that had that leisure summerly feeling to it, with temperatures reaching a bit above 20°C (70°F). Today I’m afraid “Here’s that rainy day” is more appropriate.

Megalomanic structures are a part of daily life in Paris. From the sheer size of the Louvre and the harrowing height of the Eiffel Tower to the colossal columns of the Pantheon (shown above): there’s always a magnificent monument to leave you in apprehensive awe. And thus I conclude my bright bout of artistic alliteration. A wonderful weekend to absolutely all of you!

From the same series as last week: the Champs Elysées with Christmas lighting. Why everybody who visits Paris wants to stroll along this most polluted, busiest and extremely touristy avenue in town still is beyond me, even after 4 years, but you sure can take some nice pictures over there. I think I just might have answered my own question…

Place de la Concorde, the special end-of-the-year ferris wheel and a slow shutter speed make for fun photography. Paris always seems to be on the move, except for the tried and trusted old architecture and monuments that remain a safe haven. You can see them here, steadfast among hectic city life. Paris, ça bouge!

After being busy shooting weddings and events it was fun to just head into Paris with a new filter I bought a month ago but didn’t have the time to try out yet. It’s a 10 stop neutral density filter that makes it possible to shoot long exposures in daytime like the 15 second exposure here above. Be prepared for more of this in the weeks to come.

Yesterday evening at eleven o’clock I passed the Louvre and went berserk with my new 24mm tilt-shift lens. This is a four second exposure of the glass pyramid in front of the old and vast museum that once housed the royal family. It’s not that hard to understand the French revolution when you see what royals built for themselves back in the days.