Reaching for the sun
Posted on April 2, 2024
This is the last photo I took in March. It’s a view from the back door of our house and I was struck by the way that the sunlight was striking the upper branches of these trees.
It could certainly benefit from some editing but the ‘Last Photo’ rules are clear: this is how it turned out.
Cellpic Sunday: The seat of power
Posted on March 31, 2024
This is the mairie (town hall) of our nearest town, Bellac. In France, even the smallest villages have their own mairie, but not many of them are as large or elegant as this. Our own local one is much more ‘functional’ – and smaller, unsurprisingly for a commune with a population of well under a thousand.
A Summer Morning At St Pancras
Posted on March 27, 2024
No, it’s not a church or cathedral. In fact, it’s St. Pancras railway station in London, the terminus for the Eurostar train service. Plenty of ‘A’s there for Cee’s latest Midweek Challenge.
Lens-Artists Challenge: People
Posted on March 25, 2024
This week’s Lens-Artists Challenge has the theme of ‘People: Here, There And Everywhere’.
That’s certainly a challenge for me, because as a general rule I tend to avoid photographing people, apart from snaps for the family album. I just don’t feel comfortable about the implicit invasion of privacy, quite apart from the risk of being pursued by an irate ‘subject wielding a baseball bat.
Sometimes, though, my interest will be piqued by somebody rather than something. I captured this image in one of Dubai’s smaller shopping malls while passing a barber’s shop. It was one of those times where I could imagine something a little less mundane than simply a random bloke getting his hair cut. What was the hairdresser thinking at that precise moment?
Cellpic Sunday: A Busy Bee
Posted on March 24, 2024
The Collegiate Church of St Junien
Posted on March 22, 2024
It’s easy to forget that when the majority of ‘medieval’ churches were built, they would have completely dominated the surrounding area.
In France, this is perhaps especially obvious in the northern half of the country, which contains vast tracts of flat farmland. The great cathedral of Chartres, for example, can quite literally be seen for miles around.
In modern times, of course, whole towns and cities have developed around the older churches, diminishing their visual impact. However, in the nearby town of Saint-Junien, the Collegiate church (not, in truth, an exceptionally large edifice) still has some open aspects.
I took this photo while standing outside a Chinese takeaway, which definitely wasn’t there when the church was built.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Cityscapes
Posted on March 17, 2024
Way back when, we found ourselves in Sydney on New Year’s Eve and so were able to experience the world-famous fireworks display for ourselves.
Cellpic Sunday: Double rainbow
Posted on March 17, 2024
Last weekend, I could hear the rain battering against the windows, but when I looked out, the sky was bright blue.
We all know what that means : rainbow. Or, in this case, a double rainbow.
Perspective: Compression
Posted on March 12, 2024
I took this photo a few years ago on a coach trip to the town of Pompadour (home of the French National Stud). There’s an extravagantly-decorated chapel (The Chapel of St Blaise) in a nearby village and while inside I pointed my camera through the open door.
It looks almost like a framed two-dimensional picture, but the optical effect of using a long lens compresses the perspective so that in fact there are at least four ‘planes’ in the image. Beyond the door there are two unseen sidewalks and a road before you get to the steps, at the top of which is a narrow terrace before you get to the wall and the front door.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Circular Wonders
Posted on March 11, 2024
Confession time. This is, in fact, a photograph of a painting. However, it’s a very striking piece of art with an image of three dandelion heads.
It was actually hanging on a bedroom wall of a holiday cottage where we were staying a couple of weeks ago, but it certainly fits the brief of ‘Circular Wonders’ for this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge.
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