The Bedside Musketeer

Just sifting through the scads of photographs from recent trips, and of course I was drawn toward the selections from our recent trip to France. Having lurched from news assignments in a besieged Mexico City to sunsets and surf in peaceful Punta de Mita, it's a little odd to look back at the Paris pictures and think of this sort of calm-before-the-storm sojourn. 

Sylvie had booked our first night in Paris at L'Hotel on the Left Bank, a ruddy jewel of a place that saw a guest named Byron draw his last breath. The hotel is designed around a narrow, circular atrium and accordingly the rooms have bowed walls and doors, a surreal touch enhanced by the plush decor, all in red, gold and leathery browns. 

Of course it's nearly impossible to capture the feel of the room in a single image but I thought this shot of the bedside lamp might be a good try. That the lamp features the figure of a dashing musketeer examining his rapier is wonderfully representative of the panache of the place, and the leather-bound books bathed in the soft light make for a perfect backdrop. Not to sound like a broken record, but taken handheld with a 50mm on my 40D, at f/2.2 and 1/100 sec.