Guy Davies, EPSA  

The Statue and The Towet by Guy Davies, EPSA

November 2025 - The Statue and The Towet

About the Image(s)

How I Did It:
Unfortunately I have not been able to get out with a camera this year so I am pulling images out of the archives.
This was taken from the deck of our river cruise ship on the River Seine in Paris in June 2019. It is a straight shot with no compositing. I don't know the full story but apparently the original Statue of Liberty was made in France and given to the USA. Some time later the USA had a smaller replica made and gave it to France as a gesture of friendship. The tablet she is holding carries the dates 4th July 1776 and 14th July 1789. I grabbed this shot as the cruise ship passed. It was very much a grabbed composition and there was a large out of focus head at bottom left of frame. I managed to crop this out but decided to leave the other head in as it formed a nice diagonal line with the top of the tower and the head of the statue. Other than that, all I did was to use NoNoiseAI in ON1 and add some vibrance into the sky. Camera was Lumix G9 with the Leica 12-60 lens set at 60 mm. Exposure was 1/640 at f/8 with 800 ISO.

8 comments posted

Erik Rosengren   Erik Rosengren
A good grab shot Guy, I agree that leaving the man in provided a strong diaginal. Thanks for the history lesson, I didn't realize that the U.S. gifted a replica of the statue to France.   Posted: 11/10/2025 15:08:09
R Gary Butler   R Gary Butler
An additional piece for the history lesson. As we all know, the declaration of independence was signed by the continental Congress on July 4, 1776 or thereabouts. The constitution of the United States was ratified, approved by the ninth of 13 states in June 1788. The statue, of course, was not cast until almost 100 years later.

I'm going to go the other way than Erik. There's a real neat chart around and I'll send you a copy if you don't have it of acceptable places to cut off a body in an image. I believe this is not one of them. I do feel that you could've gotten the same diagonal by removing the head shot and both street lamps and allowing the car on the bridge to be the diagonal. It's not really the item you'd want, but I think it also provides the line.   Posted: 11/11/2025 21:10:53
Dr Isaac Vaisman   Dr Isaac Vaisman
Gary, I would also like a copy of the chart   Posted: 11/19/2025 01:57:33
Ian Chantler   Ian Chantler
Hi Guy
I knew the statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to America I never knew the Americans reciprocated the gesture.
I really like the juxta position of the statue and the Eiffel tower it works so well and either the early morning or evening light adds a mellow pleasing tone to the image which I enjoy.
As for the head bottom right I would not have noticed it if I did not read your write up first as I was drawn straight to the main topic of the picture.   Posted: 11/13/2025 18:43:12
Bill Buchanan   Bill Buchanan
You have a very interesting composition. Having never been to France before my first reaction was that this was a composite photo. Personally, I would definitely remove the distracting elements. The changes were made using Lightroom Mobile on my iPhone. Yes, AI also removed the auto behind the fence. I   Posted: 11/15/2025 16:08:23
Comment Image
Guy Davies   Guy Davies
Interesting modification, Bill. Personally, I don't like removing fixed items in an identifiable scene (streetlamps), although I have done occasionally. Your increase in saturation works nicely.   Posted: 11/16/2025 17:00:55
Dr Isaac Vaisman   Dr Isaac Vaisman
Guy, it really puzzles me as why the USA gave a copy of the Statue of Liberty back to France, when they were the ons giving it to the USA ?? Anyways, I tend to agree with bill's PP> Image is sharp.   Posted: 11/19/2025 02:01:02
Vella Kendall   Vella Kendall
I actually like the person and light poles in the image. It gives a sense of time. The flame matches the color of La Tour Eiffel and both have flickers of light.   Posted: 11/19/2025 15:29:16

 

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