Weekly Photo Challenge: Beneath Your Feet
Posted on August 8, 2015
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”
– Oscar Wilde
In nearby Le Dorat, some council workmen were marking out parking bays in the main square, using these shiny metal studs. In their pristine state, they provided some lovely reflections.
Sabots
Posted on August 6, 2015
Until well into the last century, the ‘ default’ footwear in rural France was wooden clogs, made by the local ‘sabotier’ (the French word for clog is ‘sabot’ – from which the word ‘saboteur’ is also derived). Indeed, part of our house was once the local sabotier’s workshop, as shown in the second image at the bottom of this post.
Nowadays, clogs are mainly used for decorative purposes (we have a couple of old pairs ourselves), but they are still used by a local traditional dance troupe, as shown in this image.
(On this occasion I decided to use a sepia tone as it seems more in keeping with the ‘retro’ subject)
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Hands, Feet or Paws
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This room is now our entrance hall. It’s been done up a bit since this was taken.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Inspiration
Posted on August 1, 2015
Having a camera means seeing the world with a photographer’s eye. It can also mean being able to see things that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. That’s inspiring.
This photograph illustrates the point. Last weekend was the annual airshow (‘estevol’) at Blond. It was a cloudy, overcast day which at least meant that the sky provided a good neutral background. It was also very windy.
One of the regular features of the estevol is a very colourful display of kites. The wind was perfect for flying them, but it took a camera – and only 1/8000 of a second – to ‘freeze’ this particular ‘cerf-volant’, which otherwise would have been just a blur.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Close Up
Posted on July 25, 2015
The heart of a poppy in Monet’s Garden at Giverney. I hadn’t spotted the flying creatures until I zoomed in on the image
Weekly Photo Challenge: Half and Half
Posted on July 18, 2015
Against the background of a clear blue sky, rows of vines run up to the horizon near the village of Äy, in the Champagne region of France.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Half and Half
Classic Citroen
Posted on July 17, 2015
A beautifully restored classic Citroën car, certainly more than 50 years old, displayed at the annual Lesterps exhibition of vintage cars and agricultural equipment. The clouds reflected in the glossy bodywork, give an extra dimension to the image, while the dappled sunshine on the ground behind adds depth.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Older Than Fifty Years
Weekly Photo Challenge: Symbol
Posted on July 10, 2015
Next Tuesday, July 14th, is France’s Fête Nationale – National Day, or Bastille Day – so it seems appropriate for this week’s ‘Symbol’ challenge to show an image that symbolises our adopted country.
Accordingly, here is a detail of the Mairie (town hall) of the commune in which we live. It’s worth pointing out that administrative power in France is heavily devolved down to the local level, and pretty much anything you want to get done – from getting married to having a new garage built – needs to be approved by, and go through, your local Mairie.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Symbol.
Monumental
Posted on July 10, 2015
Large? You want large? Take a look at the human figures at bottom left of this image from Petra and you’ll get some idea of the scale of this monumental work.
Art in the service of religion
Posted on July 3, 2015
In response to this week’s Black & White Challenge from Cee, here is an image of the extraordinarily intricate carving above the great door of Chartres Cathedral.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Muse
Posted on June 27, 2015
This week we’re asked ‘what subject do you turn to frequently, more inspired each time?’
Well, I don’t know about the ‘more inspired’ bit, but I do like a nice reflection: as I’ve described it before, Nature’s best buy-one-get-one-free deal. So, here are three images I’ve captured over the past couple of weeks.
The first was taken from a boat on the Dordogne River:
Dordogne riverbank
The second is from the same boat trip, but I flipped the image 90 degrees clockwise for a more dramatic efect
A different perspective
And finally, taken at a display by the Cadre Noir elite team at France’s National equestrian School in Saumur, a rider passes in front of a mirror
Cadre Noir
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