Day in Cannes, night in Nice

We’ve seen people working on the installation for a couple weeks now, but we didn’t know exactly when the Nice Carnival would happen. We spent the afternoon in Cannes for business (and fun too!) and decided to head toward Nice for dinner and an evening walk.

After a good meal in Old Nice, we decided to walk to the water and start from there. What a surprise we had when reaching la Promenade des Anglais (right from the Arcades). It was there, happening before our eyes : the Carnival! But we were at least 4-5 blocks away from it. Still, the cars were so big we could see them very well. And hear the music too. I took the camera out as soon as we reach the event and started shooting. There were people everywhere but everything seemed under control. Everybody seemed to enjoy the event, the music, the noise, the cars, etc. I was quite amazed by the size of it and had a warm feeling inside. As if I was part of it. Maybe that’s because I managed to move between cars as they were passing slowly, taking shots of everything interesting and colorful, even interacting with personages/actors on the cars. They could see me right in front of them, at many occasions they looked me in the eye (err.. lens) and smiled.

I followed the cars like that until they reached Place Masséna where most of the crowd was waiting. I kept moving and shooting and being part of the show, so close, brought many photo opportunities. The only drawback is the complexity of shooting at night with lots of light sources, people walking in all directions and more specifically manage manual focus all the time. Still, beside a bit of noise (higher ISO necessary) and some blurred pictures, it was a great opportunity and a wonderful experience. Once again, it’s a proof that I should keep bringing the camera with me all the time. You never know.

For more information on Nice Carnival.

Good Light!

Norm

© Normand Primeau