theonlyD800inthehameau
Photography by theonlydeadheadinthehameau
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.
Cellpic Sunday: When life gives you lemons…
Posted on July 20, 2025
Lens-Artists Challenge: Quiet Hours
Posted on July 14, 2025
This week’s challenge is to post an image that captures the idea of ‘quiet hours’. Clearly, there are many interpretations: the ‘hours’ element can refer to a particular time of day, while ‘quiet’ could be just something conveying tranquility or serenity.
I’ve gone with the latter, with this photo having been taken in the late morning on an inlet of the River Creuse. Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of wind, scarcely a ripple to distort those crystal-clear reflections. It was very quiet….
Cellpic Sunday: Canoes at Crozant
Posted on July 13, 2025
The photographer’s dream scenario: a leading line, reflections and red foreground objects. An idyllic summer’s day on the River Creuse at Crozant.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Reflections
Posted on June 23, 2025
Ah, reflections. What photographer worth their salt could resist capturing an example of nature’s best BOGOF deal?
This reflection was captured in the charming Belgian city of Bruges, so famous for its canals that it’s often been described as the Venice of the north.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Break the rules
Posted on May 6, 2025
I have posted a similar image before, but this is a more recent photograph.
On a very still but cloudy day, the reflections of the trees in the little pond we have here in the hamlet were almost perfect. So perfect, in fact, that you may not realise at first glance that I’ve flipped the original image vertically, so you’re actually seeing the reflections at the top of the screen. I thing it adds a dimension of dreaminess to the image.
Cellpic Sunday: Play Misty For Me
Posted on March 30, 2025
On a misty day with not a breath of wind, the reflections on the surface of the pond here in what I call Tranquility Base, are almost perfect. And you’ve got to love those leading lines…
Lens-Artists Challenge: Last Chance 2024
Posted on December 27, 2024
As I recall it, there was nothing that particularly stood out about this shot when I took it, about a week ago, but a closer look on the big screen rather than the smartphone made me think it’s actually a half decent composition.
It was taken down by the river in the old part – the quattiers pittoresques – of Bellac, our nearest town, when I was standing in the middle of a (very) old stone bridge.Apart from the tranquiity (it’s an area that isn’t that easy to access by car, so is usually quite quiet except in the tourist season), what stood out for me was the multitude of leading lines that draw the viewer in.
There’s the river itself, disappearing into the downstream distance, as well as the ripples in the bottom right, caused by the water flowing through the arches of the bridge. Additionally, there’s that low wall on the left. Mainly, however, it’s those trees and especially their reflections.
Well, I like it anyway…
Lens-Artists Challenge: Water In Motion
Posted on April 2, 2024
This is the weir on the River Isle, which flows through the picturesque city of Périgueux, in the Dordogne département of south-western France.
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’.
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