Madame Pin de la Corse

Once, the Mesdames, the daughters of Louis XV, were the grand ladies of Versailles. Today, the grand Madame of Versailles is the Corsican pine. Yes, she grows in Bosquet de la Reine, but there can be no doubt that Madame towers over the gardens.

In August, shots like this can be difficult as the conditions can be so good. Even after 7 PM the sun is still relatively high and very bright, blowing out vast areas of photos, while making the foreground dark. I practiced capturing this photograph of my favourite lady of Versailles countless times. I tried shooting into the sun, moving to ever increasing angles from it, using single exposures, exposure bracketing, ever increasing apertures up to F22, and all possible combinations of the above.

The shot I wanted was one where the last light wasn’t too dominant and was instead softened by the grand Madame, creating a warm, soft setting sun. And then this happened. The sun was in the right place and I could see the sun star happening on screen. As the sun fell, I shifted position slightly to keep up, taking shot after shot, until this happened. This was one of those rare moments where you don’t get exactly what you were looking for, but it’s still magical. I knew the sun star was there, but it was’t until I looked closely in Lightroom that I saw it was a double sun star effect.

A photo that truly came alive in Lightroom, I can’t quite choose between the two versions. The portrait is the most heavily cropped which draws attention to what should be the centre of attention. The landscape is a slight crop and makes more of the overall scene, though it perhaps lacks the focus of the portrait. Whatever the case, taking the shot and then seeing it come alive in the edit is a joy.

And I’m naturally gratified to portray my favourite Madame of Versailles in such flattering light.