Tuesday Photo Challenge: Our World
Posted on September 27, 2018
You may think that in this part of the world – deep in rural France – you’d never see a traffic jam.
Oh, but you do. Just wait until that big tractor pulls out right in front of you on a narrow road and proceeds to dawdle along at 15 miles an hour halfway to the next town.
Somehow, though, when it’s one of the local farmers moving some of his sheep from one field to another, it doesn’t seem so bad. There’s always time in our world.

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Our World
Subliminal Advertising
Posted on September 26, 2018
After last week’s call for vibrant colours, Cee is looking for pastels this time.
This is a very large – and circular – electronic display screen which can be found in Dubai Mall. The colours can and do vary considerably, but I managed to capture this image when it was in a more restful mood.

Stillness
Posted on September 21, 2018
Another image – this time in monochrome as a response to Cee’s latest Black & White Photo Challenge on the subject of ‘trees’ – from a preternaturally still and sunny day in the town of Chabanais.

Thursday Doors: Cahors (almost done)
Posted on September 20, 2018
Remember Cahors? Well there are still a couple of week’s worth of doors to see. The previous Cahors post (way back at the end of May, would you believe?) featured ornately carved doors, so for the sake of continuity, here’s another one:

In similar, if plainer vein:

And a few steps to add a little interest:

Here’s a rectangular door that’s been jemmied into an old arched frame:

Nothing so fancy in this example:

And finally, this is quite possibly one of the best doors in Cahors – and that’s really saying something:

Thursday Doors 20 September 2018
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Light and Dark
Posted on September 19, 2018
Capturing the detail in his old window at the Abbey of Noirlac was quite a challenge, particularly with the strong sunlight shining through the leaded glass into an otherwise very dark room.

Scene through an archway
Posted on September 18, 2018
The nearby town of Confolens abounds with photographic opportunities, especially on calm, cloudless days that produce almost flawless reflections on the River Vienne.
On the right bank of the river there are a number of these archways that provide interesting frames for the vibrant colours.

The clogmaker
Posted on September 14, 2018
Less than a hundred years ago, the standard footwear of rural France was the wooden clog (part of our house used to be the local clogmaker’s workshop). Today, though, traditional clog-making is only seen at expositions of years gone by – as in this example, seen at the Christmas Fair in nearby Lesterps.

Thursday Doors: Birkenhead
Posted on September 13, 2018
This is my home town. I lived there until I was 22. To be honest, it’s not the greatest place on earth and I can’t get sentimental about it.
The heart of it was ripped out many years ago to improve road access to the Mersey Tunnel and to construct a soulless shopping centre. When I was growing up, apart from bingo halls, a few insalubrious cinemas and the kind of pub where even the police needed a police escort, there was very little on offer. On the rare occasions I ‘went out’, it would be far more likely to be over to Liverpool.
I was back recently, however, and had time for a wander round downtown. The cinemas have gone but not much else has changed. This gives you a flavour:



But to finish on a positive note, there’s still a little life and colour in the old place, like this restaurant:

Thursday Doors 13 September 2018
Red railing
Posted on September 12, 2018
You could argue all night about what is the photographer’s greatest friend, but I’d have to say that a red foreground object must be among the frontrunners.
Imagine how dull this picture would be without that red railing.
[Taken in Oman in about 2004 with my first ever digital camera, a plucky little Olympus 3mp compact]

Photobombed by a seagull
Posted on September 7, 2018
This detail of a water feature in Sydney could stand on its own as an abstract or geometric image, but the curious seagull brings life to it (quite literally).





