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Posts Tagged ‘France’

PHOTO OF THE DAY #297

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on February 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

“Surrealist Hotel” : Lyon, France, 23rd August 2011

I didn’t actually stay in this place located right in the heart of Lyon, but I almost wish I had. I’ve absolutely no idea what possessed the owner to suddenly decide to stick a load of chairs in random locations all over the front. Or, rather, the reason it was done is obvious – it draws your attention immediately – but what I’d like to know is what led to this particularly eccentric form of publicity in a business not known for its sense of humour.

Nevertheless, it’s great fun, and fits in with one or two other amusing examples of what we might term ‘street art’ that are dotted about this often disregarded, but very interested French city.

Check out the larger version of this photo which is available here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #191

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , on November 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

“The Colour of Summer” : Strasbourg, 31st August 2011

We can’t all live in beautiful cities, but it would be nice if more local authorities took the trouble to spruce things up the way they do in Strasbourg, where most of the bridges are lined with flower beds brimming with vibrant, colourful and well-tended flowers…

A bigger version of this photo can be seen here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #189

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , on November 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

“Picture Postcard Perfect” : Colmar, France, 30th August 2011

Well, this is me admitting my hypocrisy, since this is precisely the kind of touristy shot I was turning my nose up at somewhat in my post of November 6th, but hey, if a place is as amazingly beautiful as this, then there’s nothing wrong with it, as long as it’s done well.

And while we’re at it, let’s throw in another shot of the same splendid construction taken from the other side featuring this carved wooden bloke gazing out in despair at the all the unimaginative camera-wielding fools like me thronging past ;-)

Check out the larger versions here and here…

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #185

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on November 6, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

“Escaping Statue” : Colmar, France, 30th August 2011

Colmar is a picturesque and historic Alsatian town close to the border with Germany.

It’s touristy as hell, but there’s a reason for this : it’s a magnificent place to wander around and revel in its medieval splendour.

It’s hard not to take good photos here, but it still takes a little imagination to find something outside of the perfect picture postcard type shots (not that there’s anything wrong with those…).

I spotted this stone fellow seemingly trying to squeeze himself out of this unusual building, rather like an escapologist.

What a fantastically eccentric decoration to have on your house!

As usual, you can check out a larger version of this photo here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #181

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on November 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

“Night Flowers” : Strasbourg, 29th August 2011

After an amazingly productive night of photography in Strasbourg I headed back to my hotel on the periphery of the old town and just happened to notice these overflowing flower beds on the side of the bridge I was crossing.

Actually, I’d noticed them before in the daytime, as I’d used this bridge frequently, and although the flowers were a nice touch to the iron span, they hadn’t really registered as being worthy of immortalising in a digital format.

But at night, with the distant lights casting reflections on the river and the flowers spotlit by an overhead street lamp, a magical transformation took place…

You can see a bigger version of this image here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #171

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , on October 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

“Strasbourg Cathedral” : 29th August 2011

Europe has plenty of impressive architectural monuments of a religious nature, and Strasbourg’s cathedral is up there among the finest.

The only trouble is, such is the size of this reddish giant, it’s virtually impossible to get it all within the camera’s viewfinder.

It’s quite amusing to watch the tourists backing up as far as is humanely possible on the square to squeeze the beast into their snaps.

Me, I pulled out my 10-24mm wide-angle lens to produce this heavily distorted and surreal-looking shot.

Kind of reminds me of Breughel’s ‘Tower of Babel.”

I actually made several attempts at capturing this edifice: here are two more, vastly different approaches. You can decide for yourself which one you like best…

HDR version, in which three shots of differing exposure were combined, giving an arty, unreal feel.

Another wide-angle shot, this time with duplex processing applied to create a warmer, less harsh rendition.

You can see bigger versions of these photos here, here and here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #167

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , , on October 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I don’t know why, but on this trip to Europe clouds seem to have dominated my photography.

I always have an eye out for them, but Italy, where I spent my previous two holidays, just doesn’t seem to produce the amazing scenes I witnessed in France.

This shot was taken around midday, and appears much darker than it actually was, since I had to set the camera’s exposure for the sky to avoid the brightest parts of the clouds from becoming burned out. The result is that the foreground buildings became mere silhouettes, which in this case enhanced the overall picture.

Cameras just don’t have the dynamic range of our eyes, a fact which eludes many casual photographers and causes disappointments, but this drawback can actually used to great artistic effect….

As an aside, I’m beginning to wonder if I should keep posting the fruits of my recent trip sequentially, as I have been doing this last month, or start dropping in older photos from my back catalogue (as I was previously doing), to provide greater variety. Can my audience stand another shot of clouds over a French city, or would the monotony be relieved by a few more abstract pieces? Hmm…have to think about that tomorrow….

Bigger version of this cloud shot here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #166

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , on October 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »

I was a bit disheartened by what looked like the onset of bad weather as I explored the streets of Strasbourg last August, but I need not have feared.

The rains didn’t come, and the heavens became filled with another amazing display of clouds.

I was walking across a small bridge and just happened to turn my head to see, once again, that an otherwise unremarkable scene had been transformed into something special by the alignment, the weather, and the still qualities of the water in the canal.

The flowers in the foreground just cried out for the selective colour treatment, but I’m not entirely convinced: perhaps the purely monochrome version I also worked up would have sufficed.

Have a gander at a larger version here.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #165

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , on October 17, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

It’s not every day you chance upon a sundial, and when you do, it’s usually a stone one in an ornate garden.

Here, in the back streets of Strasbourg’s old town, I found one painted onto this fine old building whose beautiful hue (orange? pink? brown?) contrasted so nicely with the sky.

Take a closer look, and you’ll find it’s not only the ancient timepiece which is painted on: the pillars on either side of the windows are but two-dimensional renderings of real stonework.

What cheapskates!

A larger version of this photo can be seen here…

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PHOTO OF THE DAY #164

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged , , , , , , on October 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Wandering around aimlessly is a great way to discover Strasbourg, just as it is in many other cities that have old quarters stuffed full of architectural delight.

Dispensing with the tourist map after a quick initial glance or two and just diving in also allows one to find intriguing little things that are not necessarily in the top ten sights, but are nonetheless perhaps more representative of a particular locale.

In this shot the sun is still quite low in the sky, illuminating only the top half of the buildings. Not that it was particularly early – probably around half past nine in the morning – but for a night-owl like me, this is as close to sunrise and its gorgeous colours as I can possibly get!

As usual, you can see a bigger version here.

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