theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Fences everywhere you look
Posted on April 15, 2016
This week, Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge is on the subject of fences. Well, in this photograph taken at the La Sagne Hippodrome you have:
- In the foreground, the fence dividing spectators from the race course
- In the background, the fence marking the border of the racecourse
- In the middle, two steeplechase fences, with their accompanying siderails (also fences)
The horse that’s actually jumping the fence is a bonus:
Tractor tyres
Posted on April 7, 2016
I see that the topic of ‘wheels’ has come around again (as it were) in this week’s Black & White challenge. The annual cavalcade of vintage agricultural vehicles at Lesterps guarantees plenty of interesting wheels.
Tattoo
Posted on April 1, 2016
For this week’s B&W challenge, Cee wanted a candid photograph of a person or a pet. We are a pet-free zone here, but this gentleman was snapped at the La Sagne Hippodrome last July 14th.
I don’t really ‘get’ tattoos, I must say, and I certainly don’t have any myself. And even if I did, I’d be very wary about having a screed in a foreign alphabet. For all I know – and probably him too – this could mean ‘Sweet and sour chicken with fried rice’.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Candid
Cour du Temple
Posted on March 25, 2016
In the old part of the city of Limoges, tucked away behind the tall façade of a terrace of buildings that are themselves quite old, is the Cour du Temple. Reached through a narrow, sloping covered passage, this is a small cloister surrounded on all sides by medieval buildings four or five storeys high. This is one corner:
[Taken more than one, but less than two, weeks ago so hopefully qualifying for Cee’s latest challenge – taking a new photo]
Bellows
Posted on March 18, 2016
This set of bellows hangs next to the wood-burning stove in our kitchen. The shape contrasts well with the brickwork.
Dried Ferns
Posted on March 11, 2016
These tightly curled dried ferns were in a roadside hedge just outside the hameau last December.
One Photo Focus: March 2016
Posted on March 4, 2016
This month’s One Photo Focus Challenge, provided by Nancy Merrill, had me thinking. Here is the original:
I felt that there were two possible approaches:
A matter of record
This first edit sees the image as a ‘record shot’ (absolutely no disparagement intended). Essentially, all this requires is a modicum of straightening and a sympathetic crop to highlight the sign and put it into some context – so here we can see the structure of the theatre and the fact that it is located in a green (or at least non-urban) area.
Abstract form
It looks like this theatre has been built along the lines of Shakespeare’s Globe in London (which I’ve been fortunate enough to attend for quite a few performances over the years). The key architectural characteristic is undoubtedly the black and white ‘mock-Tudor’ effect, which is a worthy subject in itself. Consequently, I cropped down to the bottom left quadrant of the original image, flipped it a quarter-turn clockwise, tweaked for sharpness and added a little grain and a vignette to produce this almost abstract interplay of light and shade, straight and diagonal lines.
Two curious fawns
Posted on March 3, 2016
A pair of curious young fawns in a Safari Park in the Vienne region of France
Weekly Photo Challenge: State of Mind
Posted on February 28, 2016
Like everybody else, I was looking forward to the display of birds of prey at a chateau in the Dordogne – and when it came, I enjoyed it.
But I couldn’t help wondering, as I mooched about with my camera before showtime, what the birds themselves might think about it.
Place de l’Eglise
Posted on February 25, 2016
Just over a year ago, I bought a book* about the history of the Haute-Vienne departément of France, illustrated by old postcards. It’s a fascinating series of snapshots of life a hundred years ago and more in what is still a very rural area of the country.
I had a fancy to find the locations of, and try to reproduce, these postcard images. This project, which I rather grandly call ‘Autrefois’ (literally ‘another time’), hasn’t really got off the ground yet, although there is one post extant in the thread. However, Cee’s challenge of posting a sepia image this week gives me an ideal opportunity to double my output.
Our local village is called Mézières-sur-Issoire, and this is an old postcard of the church, reproduced from the book:
And here is my take on it. As you can see, not that much has changed over the past hundred years or so, apart from the ubiquity of the motor vehicle and the related signage. The space in front of the church is now commonly used as a car-park, so I counted myself lucky that there was only one van (which actually belongs to one of the builders who did most of the renovation work on our house) there when I went along with my camera.
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Sepia
* Fabienne Texier & Paul Colmar: ‘La Haute-Vienne Il ya 100 ans en cartes postales anciennes’
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