Page 1: Paris

Ah, Paris! Photos were taken using an iPhone 14 Pro Max and, umm, special software. Standard and high dynamic range renderings were then made using Adobe Camera Raw 15.4.

 

Musée d'Orsay. HDR renderings look great only if the underlying photo is not over-exposed. In this case the far glass wall is slightly blown out.

 

In this shot of the museum's cafe, care was taken to avoid over-exposure. The strong light flooding in through the clockface makes for a dramatic photo.

 

In this art nouveau room, the light coming in the windows is produced by large light bulbs, not real daylight.

 

Gustave Caillebotte's recently donated impressionist painting. Since oil paints have naturally low dynamic range, only the picture frame shows an HDR effect.

 

Hôtel National des Invalides. The gold guilding on the dome glows in the HDR rendering.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb under the dome.

 

A scale model of Mont-Saint-Michel, in the attic of the Musée des Plans-Reliefs. Many of these models were commissioned by Marquis de Vauban, military architect to Louis XIV. It was very dark in this room.

 

A flintlock musket from the Napoleonic era. Note the flintstone, which generates a spark when struck against metal.

 

A despondent Napoleon, pictured at Fontainebleau after his abdication in March 1814.

 

The Basilica of Sacré-Coeur at sunset

 

Interior of the Basilica. Note that the HDR rendering conveys the brightness of the stained-glass windows, while also preserving their color.

 

The apse. The altar and reliquary display really were that bright!