Lens-Artists Challenge: Tools of Composition

The house opposite my daughter’s has just got a new roof…

Cropping in to exclude everything but the tiles themselves not only removes distractions but also brings out the texture of the tiles as well as the patterns they form – obviously all helped by a bright, sunny day.

Lens-Artists Challenge #289

Cellpic Sunday: Michelangelo, eat your heart out

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.

Cellpic Sunday 31 December 2023

Geometric symmetry

The geometric forms in this half-timbered house in Chabanais chime well with the image that Cee has chosen for her latest Midweek Challenge.

I wonder if the house number is 29 (XXIX).

CMMC 27 December 2023

Cellpic Sunday: A room without a view

A few weeks ago, my entry for Cellpic Sunday was a rather attractive view from a hotel room.

This is also a view from a (different) hotel room. Rather less prepossessing, but with a little judicious cropping and straightening in Lightroom it’s possible to produce a rather more interesting image.

Cellpic Sunday 17 December 2023

Lens-Artists Challenge: Symmetry

This is the organ of the cathedral in Albi, in southern France – never knowingly understated, in terms of either scale or symmetry.

Lens-Artists Challenge: Symmetry

The Paraglider

This image of a paraglider at the summer Airshow in Blond provides a pleasingly symmetrical combination of circles and curves.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Circles And Curves

Matching Tiles

The white tiled background gives you a fair idea of which room in a Scottish hotel this particular example of decorative carrosserie is to be found.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Matching Things

52 Week Smartphone Challenge: 35 Symmetry Portrait

This week’s Smartphone Challenge required a bit of lateral thinking. This is what was asked for:

“Symmetry is a strong compositional technique most often used in landscapes and architecture. So break the mould by using Symmetry in a portrait”

This posed two difficulties, the first of which is that I don’t really ‘do’ portraits. Secondly, other than a reflection, I struggle to see symmetry as a natural element of a portrait. I’ve seen images that have been doctored to make the two halves of a face look absolutely symmetrical (in essence, the right side is a flipped duplicate of the left side). The effect is vaguely unsettling and certainly unnatural.

But then, so you could argue, is this. I took a selfie (in front of one of Madame’s more colourful quilts) and then used the kaleidoscope effect in Pixelmator to create what, it’s fair to say, is quite a striking image.

But it’s nothing if not symmetrical.

52 WeekSmartphoneChallenge: 52 Symmetry Portrait

52-Week Smartphone Challenge: 5 – Symmetry

Week 5 of Khurt’s 52-Week Smartphone Challenge has the theme of ‘symmetry’. Reflections are always a good place to start when seeking symmetry, and bodies of water are always a good place to find reflections.

This pond is just across the road, about a hundred feet from our front door. It was completely dry back in the summer, but it’s done very little except rain here since late August, so it’s now an impressive little body of water.

52WeekSmartphoneChallenge: 5 – Symmetry

Somewhere to lay your head

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week has the theme of ‘Any kind of house’.

Well, I suppose everyone needs somewhere to live – although probably not in such a grand edifice as this at Chateau Villandry.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge : Any kind of house