theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
Lens-Artists Challenge: Illustrate a Favourite Poem
Posted on January 21, 2024
Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,…
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
Keats: Ode on a Grecian Urn
One of my favourite poems by one of my favourite poets, John Keats. The entire poem consists of five stanzas of ten lines each and is well worth reading in its entirety.
The urn in the image is an authentic museum copy.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Dramatic
Posted on January 15, 2024
The stark Hajar Mountains form a dramatic backdrop to the mountain town of Hatta, in the emirate of Dubai but well away from the city.
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’.
Lens-Artists Challenge – Last Chance
Posted on December 18, 2023
Since I’m fairly new to the Lens-Artists Challenge, finding an image that I haven’t already used for it this year wasn’t really a problem. In fact, I haven’t posted this image anywhere before, although since I took it in August I’ve been itching for an excuse to put it in a post.
It was taken at a kiddies’ playground near my son’s home in Oxfordshire. Our two-year old grand-daughter gets taken there quite often. so will definitely have crawled through this tunnel many times.
Lens-Artists Challenge – Magical
Posted on December 12, 2023
This is a view of the pond that lies in the middle of our little hamlet. By the way, the reflection is at the top of the image. And that’s magic.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Unique
Posted on December 3, 2023
Clouds are like snowflakes: no two are ever the same.
This one was floating above The Corniche in Abu Dhabi when I snapped it from the terrace of our apartment as the sun went down. Until I pulled it out of my files for this challenge, I’d never even noticed the aeroplane. I guess that makes this particular scene really unique.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Empty Spaces
Posted on November 27, 2023
The Emirate of Dubai isn’t just the city itself – that’s probably the least attractive part of it – but quite a lot of empty desert and mountainous terrain, like this at the old Hatta Fort Hotel.
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-Artists Challenge: Filling The Frame
Posted on November 12, 2023
After a few days of almost constant high winds and driving rain, car parks everywhere were carpeted in newly fallen autumn leaves. Crop out the car tyre and my feet and you’re left with a frame-filling and colourful mosaic.
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.
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