theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Lens-Artists Challenge: In the details
Posted on November 11, 2024
This week’s Lens-Artists Challenge is a slightly unusual but very interesting one. We are asked to provide three images of a subject, showing progressively more detail.
To begin with, here is a conventional shot of the huge neo-gothic cathedral of Albi. It is massive: the walls are about twenty feet thick at the base. Begun in the 15th century, is is still the largest brick-built edifice in the world.
The main door is on the left, through the portico which is just visible in the bottom corner of the above image. Closer to, it looks like this:
That’s impressive enough in itself, with the human figures conveying an idea of the scale, but when you get to the actual doorway itself, you find it surmounted by this amazingly complex stonework.
(It occurs to me that it would be perfectly possible to continue the process of increasing detail by zooming in to some of that elaborate carving, like an almost endless set of Russian dolls.)
Lens-Artists Challenge: Sound
Posted on February 18, 2024
This is the organ of the massive cathedral in the city of Albi, in southern France. The human figures give an idea of the scale. I can only imagine the sound of it filling that enormous space.
Lens-Artists Challenge: favourites of 2023
Posted on January 7, 2024
The first Lens-Artists challenge of 2024 is to select some favourite images from 2023.
Madame and I visited the city of Albi in October last year and I took rather a lot of photos, partly because it is a very photogenic place but also because I wanted to put the camera of my (relatively) new smartphone – an iPhone 14 Pro Max – through its paces.
I’ve already featured quite a few of the pictures I took on this blog, but not this one before. It was taken in one of the stunningly decorated rooms of the Henri Toulouse-Lautrec museum and features yours truly being unable to resist the slight ‘weirdness’ of the reflections in the large mirror over the fireplace.
You could call it ‘portrait of the artist completely out of his depth’.
Cellpic Sunday: Michelangelo, eat your heart out
Posted on December 31, 2023
It’s not just the Sistine Chapel that boasts a fancy ceiling. This one is in the Henri Toulouse-Lautrec museum in Albi, which is housed in the former Bishops’ Palace, just a step away from the Cathedral.
Relics
Posted on December 28, 2023
This somewhat macabre collection of gold and silver items are to be found in the trésorerie of Albi Cathedral and contain the relics of its patroness, Sainte-Cécile.
Allegedly.
Cellpic Sunday: Seismic Shift
Posted on November 20, 2023
I took this photograph from one of the bridges over the River Tarn in Albi, as we were walking back to our hotel. There is a weir at this point in the river and I couldn’t help but notice the effect this had on what would otherwise have been a perfectly nice, but pretty ordinary,reflection.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Looking Up, Looking Down
Posted on November 19, 2023
This week’s host. jazziBee, is bang on the money when he writes about shifting perspective making all the difference when it comes to producing images that would otherwise be no more than ordinary snapshots.
Looking Up
Yes, we are back in Albi for this one (what can I tell you: it’s very photogenic and I had just got a new smartphone). This is a view of the cathedral looking up, giving some idea of how imposing the massive edifice is. I used the front camera for this and just held it right up against the wall, pointing upwards.
Looking Down
This is not Albi, but rural Oxfordshire and more specifically my son’s back garden. I used Lightroom to eliminate the distractions of the ground cover in order to make the flowers themselves (no idea what they are, but that’s quite usual) stand out.
Lens-Artist Challenge: Asymmetry
Posted on November 6, 2023
Last week’s challenge was all about symmetry, so it’s quite logical that this time we should consider asymmetry.
I featured an image from Albi cathedral last week and I’m staying there this time. I was struck by what I saw in one of the many side chapels that line the nave. The only natural illumination comes from that stained glass window, but there are two electric lights shining on to that suspended dove. They cast a very striking – and asymmetric – shadow.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Symmetry
Posted on November 2, 2023
This is the organ of the cathedral in Albi, in southern France – never knowingly understated, in terms of either scale or symmetry.
The Penitent
Posted on October 30, 2023
As you can probably tell by the name this blog goes under, I’ve got a keen interest in photography and some of the kit to prove the old adage “all the gear, no idea”.
However, I’m sure that I’m not alone in finding that, these days, the vast majority of the photos I take are captured not on a digital SLR but a smartphone (in my case an iPhone 14 Pro Max). The built-in camera produces results that, in all but the most specialised situations, are just as good as I can get from my old D800 and It’s certainly a much more convenient size. And you can shoot in RAW, which is a huge plus.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that I thought I might start playing along with the ‘Cellpic Sunday’ challenge hosted by John Steiner.
So here is my first contribution: a carving of a penitent monk that is on display in the Treasury of the massive cathedral at Albi, in southern France.
Apart from a little cropping, darkening the background and bringing up the texture (all done in Lightroom Classic), it’s pretty much as shot.
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