Mundane? The Gatepost
Posted on December 26, 2016
It’s only an old gatepost – from a little further along the road that runs through our hamlet – but there’s a lot going on with it.

Mundane Mondays
Weekly Photo Challenge: Path
Posted on December 24, 2016
The path shown in this image, taken in the nearby village of Bonnefont, is certainly a literal interpretation of the challenge for this week.
However, with Cheri hinting that more figurative interpretations of the subject could also be appropriate as we near the end of the year, I might point out that it shows two clean, straight and close parallel lines heading together into the frame before disappearing – still together – to whatever lies beyond that bend.
And a Happy New Year to you too.

Fishing Boat At Anchor
Posted on December 23, 2016
On a very calm and sunny day in the harbour of St Andrews, this little fishing boat was reflected almost perfectly in the still water.

Thursday Doors: Lesterps (Part 1)
Posted on December 22, 2016
Lesterps is yet another of those charming old villages that surround Tranquility Base at a distance of an approximately twenty-minute drive. It’s best known for its very large 11th century church (more specifically, it’s an Abbatiale, which means there must once have been an Abbey there), which dominates the village, to the extent that it’s virtually impossible to get a proper photograph of the whole edifice. The image from Google Earth at the bottom of this post gives some idea of its relative scale.
This is the main door:

and this is one of three substantial archways, which I think qualify as doors for this purpose:

This walled up doorway on a building just acrooss the road from the church could well be a remnant of the accommodation of the monks who must once have lived here:

Elsewhere, this house (also opposite the church), with its massive beam, looks like it might once have been a byre, housing livestock:

We visited Lesterps last weekend for the Marché de Noel, so here’s something in the Christmas spirit. You’re welcome.

And this is quite possibly the smallest door in the entire commune. It’s at about head height but it certainly doesn’t look like a shutter, and I can’t imagine it’s the meter cupboard:

Next time, more from Lesterps – including some very strong contenders for Ramshackle Door of the Year.
Thursday Doors 22 December 2016
PS here’s that screenshot from Google Earth:

Macro Moments: Week 23 – Purple
Posted on December 21, 2016
Don’t ask me what plant these berries are from. All I know is that this photograph was taken a few years ago in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney.

Nikon D300 with 18-55mm kit lens at 55mm, 1/100 at f5.6 ISO 200. Cropped and edited in Lightroom.
Macro Moments Challenge Week 23
Tuesdays of Texture: Rope
Posted on December 20, 2016
I really liked the contrast between the black and white plaited ropes and the stainless steel whatever-it-is-that-they-wind-rope-round on this catamaran, moored at Sir Bani Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. We were about to embark on a sunset cruise, so the low evening light also enhanced the texture.

Tuesdays of Texture Week 52
52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 20 – Coffee
Posted on December 19, 2016
Confession time: since my photo library is not exactly bulging with pictures of coffee cups, here’s one that I’ve posted before, albeit in a different (monochrome) edit.

52 Weeks Photo Challenge: Week 20 – Coffee
Mundane: But Who Will Frame The Framers?
Posted on December 19, 2016
The’Mundane Mondays’ Challenge asks us either to find a kind of beauty in, or find a beautiful frame for, the commonplace. This one might be a bit off-piste, as it were, but for a challenge where framing is important I couldn’t resist this sign, outside a picture-framer’s workshop (‘encadrerie’) in the village of Gargilesse, in central France.

Mundane Mondays
Weekly Photo Challenge: Anticipation
Posted on December 17, 2016
With its half-closed eyes and its nose working overtime, this giraffe in the game rerserve on Sir Baniyas Island in Abu Dhabi appears to be looking forward to its next meal with great anticipation.

The Boxer
Posted on December 16, 2016
This Bonobo monkey at Valleé des Singes looks like it’s squaring up to the knotted rope:





