La Bruyle

Let me introduce you to 'La Bruyle'.

It is a charming guest house located at Colonjac, close to Saint Michel de Bannières, in northern Lot. 

In 2013, I was there twice to produce photographs which would be used on the future web site.

Now after quite some text and photograph editing the web site is on line. http://www.labruyle.com/

Let me tell you that I am rather proud about how the photographs came out.

I was not there as a paying guest but the way I was treated and my needs were met lead me to believe that a stay at 'La Bruyle' can only be a treat.

 

 

Oldtimer

Had you been this morning on Place de la Concorde in Paris around 10:00 you would have come across quite a few oldtimers. I mean cars from the days when driving was a pleasure.

Twice a year these wonderful machines gather in Vincennes (east of Paris) then drive through the capital stopping to be admired at a few locations before heading back to their quarters.

To-day I arrived on time to see most of them and also to take a couple of shots. The main difficulty I found was the crowds surrounding the cars on display. Some people use telephoto lenses. They try to avoid the onlookers.

I took another route. My camera was hooked to my Distagon T 1.4/35mm lens from Carl Zeiss. Its minimum focus distance is of 0.30 m so I could get very close. I could also get a global view of the scene. I do not have a 50mm lens in my Canon EF kit but I find that a 35mm is quite versatile. This specific one is a manual focus only lens. But after a few weeks of usage I got the hang of it. My first SLR's did not have autofocus anyway. And I found it was more in the spirit of the cars I was snap-shooting.

 

Goodbye Christmas

As I was walking down some busy upscale shopping street in Paris, I can across this forlorn looking Christmas tree. This in my opinion was calling for a black & white image. The idea of the tree being barred from entering the passageway would have been probably far weaker in colour.

I processed the raw file in Lightroom 5.3. Just a little contrast here and there, some very light darkening at the base of the tree, some overall 'clarity' as they call it.

I like the result. But do you ? Please let me know ?