theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Lens-Artists Challenge: Shadowed
Posted on March 2, 2026
There is a path that runs right along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. It’s not just a path, though (c’mon, this is Abu Dhabi we’re talking about), as interest is added thanks to fountains, underpasses and other features.
Also it being Abu Dhabi, it’s hardly ever cloudy and the sunlight is very strong; consequently, the shadows are well defined. In this section, the high wall is completely in the shade and a strong, dark shadow is cast by a lower wall and something else (I’ve forgotten what it was exactly) to the right. I’ve converted the original image to monochrome to produce this abstract, but definitely shadowed, image.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Juxtaposition
Posted on February 24, 2026
When i saw that this week’s challenge was ‘juxtaposition’, my first thought was of one or more human figures set against part of the colossal ruins of the city of Petra, but as I searched my photo library I happened to come across this one first.
It shows a team of window cleaners carrying out the (almost literally) uphill task of cleaning the exterior of the headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. I took it from my own office in that edifice, which was on the 23rd floor. I can’t remember how many floors there were exactly – about 36, I think, so these poor guys still had a way to go, in 40 degrees-plus heat and supported only by an individual safety harness.
Before I retired, at least they were given a safety cradle to use, but it certainly made me resolve never to complain about my own job again.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Unusual Crop
Posted on February 17, 2026
The challenge this week is to crop an image to provide a new slant on the subject. This is one of my favourite parts of the editing process; after all, isn’t it always good at least to try and find a new angle on a subject?
For this exercise, I’ve cropped and rotated the original photo, which is of the exterior of one of the smaller shopping malls in Abu Dhabi, to produce something that is at the same time structured yet almost abstract. For comparison, I’ve also reproduced the out-of-the-camera image below.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Shapes of things
Posted on February 4, 2026
It must be at least twenty years ago that I took this photograph, in the old fort at Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates. However I still recall thinking at the time that it was a very good example of symmetry.
The characteristic roundness of these old jars is mirrored in the circle of cobblestones on which they stood (and, for all I know, still do) and also the low stone wall that is visible behind.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Monochrome minimalism
Posted on January 20, 2026
‘What is it?’ you may ask.
The answer is: raindrops on the bonnet (hood if you prefer) of our car.
Lens-Artists Challenge: On the move
Posted on November 18, 2025
The Lens-Artists Challenge this week is all about means of transport. Well, here’s a rather unusual one.
This is a very large (look at the human figures) mechanical elephant, which gives rides to visitors in a theme park in the city of Nantes, in western France.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Landscape revisited
Posted on November 10, 2025
This aspect is about a two-minute walk from our house (our hamlet is pretty well surrounded by fields for a least a mile in every direction).
On a bright winter’s day, what made this particular view stand out for me were the strong leading lines provided by the tractor tyre tracks in the mud. With the sun relatively low in the cloudless sky, the reflections in the puddles in the furrows also increased the definition in the scene.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Ephemeral
Posted on November 4, 2025
“The only constant in life is change” – Heraclitus
This week, the challenge is to capture an image of something ephemeral: something here now, but gone probably well before tomorrow. My first thought was clouds: ever-changing, always moving.
My second thought was fireworks. I really enjoy capturing firework displays (feux d’artifice they’re called here) and with a bit of luck it’s possible to get yourself some really arresting images.
However, I decided to stick with my original inspiration. This is a view from the Caen-Portsmouth ferry just before it set sail one early morning in August this year. The clouds will soon roll by and the sea will flow with the changing tides. The view might look the same five minutes later, but in reality it will be different, unique – and transient.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Street details
Posted on October 27, 2025
Benches are a common enough street detail of course, but I’d never encountered one like this before: seen in the Welsh town of Pembroke and appearing to have been a repurposing of some old church pews (restored in 2020, according to the small sign on the left hand side).
Lens-Artists Challenge: Ancient
Posted on October 21, 2025
This towering bastion – all the more imposing for surmounting a rocky outcrop – is to be found in the mightily impressive medieval city of Chauvigny, near Poitiers in the Vienne département of France.
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