Balustrade, Service Stairs, Versailles

Very nice. I like the shallow dept of field.

Nicely captured. It's always difficult to get a right angle for the shot, without dangerously hanging over the balustrade or using a ladder for a good perspective. The square format is my favorite and works well with this image. And I too like the use of DOF. I first thought it to be a B&W image but then saw you used Portra 800 colour film. I like that.

Yes, the color is so subtle that it almost appears black-and-white. The giveaway is the lamp on the descending staircase in the lower right. Composing this was a challenge - getting the railing to come in and out of the frame at the right spots, and to play in and out of the depth of field took some time. The shallow depth of field is also an artifact of the low light situation - even though this was Portra 800, the exposure on this was something like 1/15th @ f4. 1/30th at the very most.

Quite a contrast to a stairwell in a modern building. Elegant, even if it is the 'back stairs'. The choice of focus point was just right. Any closer and the foreground would have merged. Any further away and the mood would have changed.

well-done!