Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth
Posted on January 4, 2018
This particular specimen of one of the flowers that came from the wild flower mix we sewed last summer rapidly outstripped – outgrew – all the rest. Shooting it from below – not that I had much choice – as it reaches for the sky reinforces the impression of ‘growth’.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Recycle
Posted on January 2, 2018
Frank’s theme this week is ‘Recycle’, so this image works on two levels, I think.
Firstly, it’s an image of a poubelle – a rubbish bin – left out for emptying, and presumably recycling, in the next hamlet along from here.
Secondly, the image is itself recycled, because I’ve used a monochrome version before, in a post to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge a year or so ago.
Mundane Monday: Bottles
Posted on January 1, 2018
I thought I’d return to the Mundane Monday Challenge hosted by trablogger.com. In a new departure, we’re to get a theme for each week, starting this time with ‘Bottles’.
This display outside a shop in Sarlat, in the Dordogne, is certainly colourful, although I prefer the colour of the bottles to their contents: an aperitif flavoured with salted caramel. I think I’ll stick to pastis, thank you very much.
The Weir
Posted on December 28, 2017
A different angle on the River Vienne as it flows over the weir in the middle of the town of Chabanais.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Quotidian
Posted on December 27, 2017
For this week’s Tuesday Challenge, Frank at Dutch Goes The Photo! has set the theme of ‘quotidian’, in the sense of the normal everyday that could, in photographic terms, repay a closer view or a different perspective.
What could be more humdrum than a drain, you may wonder? But this drain-cover in the gutter of a street in Chabanais is surely worth a second glance, not only for the interesting structure of the ironwork, but also for the contrast provided by the autumn leaves that have become trapped in it.
Domes
Posted on December 22, 2017
So is it arches you want for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week? Or domes?
Here’s an image with plenty of both – from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. The figures at bottom right give an idea of scale.
Thursday Doors: Doors Of The Year 2017
Posted on December 21, 2017
As this will be the last instalment of Thursday Doors in 2017, with Norm taking a well-earned festive break until 11 January, it seemed like an appropriate time to review some of my personal favourites that have been posted here over the last twelve months.
With the exception of my ‘official’ Door of the Year these are in no particular order of preference and are just placed chronologically. A full ranking of the 300 or so doors that I’ve put up here in 2017 wouldn’t be possible but would be pointless.
This first one – a striking and well-cared for door in the town of Saint Junien – appeared last February. You could hardly miss that mustard-yellow paint.
By way of contrast, in March I started posting doors from the town of Confolens. This was one of the first I came across on my initial excursion and it’s hardly been bettered.
Both Confolens and Saint Junien are about a 30 minute drive from here at Tranquility Base, but this third door, from June, is much closer – a mere ten minutes away in the village of Saint-Martial-sur-Isop. It’s irresistibly bijou
It’s not just France that has interesting doors. This elaborate example, originally posted in July, can be found in Rodney Street, Liverpool:
In September I made another visit to the national monument of Oradour-sur-Glane, where this door can be found in the church:
However, this is my personal choice for Door of the Year 2017. Posted in October it’s to be found in the medieval village of Saint Cirq Lapopie and I’ve never seen anything like it as an example of making the door fit the hole:
Thursday Doors 21 December 2017
Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflecting on 2017
Posted on December 21, 2017
The final WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge of the year is to post the ‘most meaningful’ photograph that we’ve taken in 2017.
I was surprised to discover that my Lightroom catalogue has expanded by well over 2,000 during the course of this year, so there’s plenty to choose from. I wouldn’t describe any of them as being particularly ‘meaningful’; I just enjoy ‘spotting’ images and capturing them in photographs.
Probably my favourite subject, though, is reflections, so here are two images (I coudn’t choose between them) that haven’t been posted before.
The first was taken from a boat on the River Lot in the town of Cahors and is of a buoy, which has the inestimable advantage of constituting a red foreground object. I also like the contrast between the sharpness of the buoy and the blur of the reflected trees and buildings. With a bit of post-processing, it’s also possible to see why it’s there.
The second is of the River Vienne in the town of Chabanais on a peerlessly calm and sunny day: in October, no less.
Tuesday Photo Challenge: Pets
Posted on December 20, 2017
Frank’s theme this week is ‘Pets’. I don’t have pets, but my children do. This is quite possibly the most pampered dog in the world. Her name is Monza, she’s a mini Schnauser and she belongs to my son and daughter-in-law, who dote on her.
Off The Road
Posted on December 15, 2017
This old Renault just up the road (i.e.three miles away) in the village of Saint Barbant hasn’t moved in all the five and more years that we’ve been living here in France. I think it’s been abandoned.
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