Ian - Charlie Wrights International Bar

Bit of an advert for the band Realta who had diversified from playing in Soho and were, in this case, in Hoxton at Charlie Wright's International Bar.

Fernandes is doing his thing here and, I noticed, hogging the best light on the stage. Guitar player in background. Very little light so used a fast, prime lens and a wide aperture. Keep it up guys.

1/100s at f/2.2 ISO 1250 100 mm

Chateau de Chenonceau

OK long time since an update, so here we are with "The western face of the graceful arches of Chateau de Chenonceau reflected in the gentle waters of the River Cher. The grand Florentine gallery was added by Catherine de Médicis. Loire Valley, France." It's a standard shot of this chateau, yes, but you can also see why. The famous gallery which extends across the river though is actually pretty empty which is somewhat of a surprise. Apparently it was used as an escape route between Vichy and German controlled France.

Sunset brought great light and also a reduction in crowds and boats on the river. Well worth the visit, though I remember they charge you through the nose for it...

1/40s at f/13 40 mm ISO 100

Chateau de Chambord

Tourists in a rowing boats on the River Cosson looking southeast towards the northern façade of Chateau de Chambord at sunset, Loir-et-Cher, Loire Valley, France. Chateau de Chambord, famous for its size, a double helix staircase and the 365 chimneys on the roof. It's in the middle of a huge park and on the northern face here three of the four large towers can be seen.

Light, as you can see, was excellent, taken at 1908. Though the price was that we arrived too later (around 1800) to be able to go into the chateau itself. Still, you are free to wander through a lot of the grounds which is good.

1/50s at f/14 47 mm ISO 125

Bourges Cathedral Sculpted Portal

This is one of the five sculpted portals on the west front of Bourges Cathedral in the Loire Valley. The projections are gargoyles. Though you can't see it here the cathedral is famous and unusual for having four large side aisles, a lack of transepts (the projecting areas to the left and right of the nave that make a church cross shaped), lots of flying buttresses and an asymmetric west face.

This photo was taken mid afternoon, the sun is quite harsh but the light reflecting off the cathedral gives it more of a warm feel. Taken lying on the ground.

1/50s at f/14 24 mm ISO 100.

Azay-le-Rideau

Azay-le-Rideau, described as a jewel on the river Indre, I think it looks better on the outside than inside. It feels quite small but from the river side it looks very good, the water is so still that you can get good reflections. This photo was taken late, late afternoon when the light was golden, being very considerate, the architect obvioulsy positioned the building to receive the western afternoon sunlight on the river side. Trees frame it quite nicely and the boat leads you in. This angle also reduces the likelihood of other tourists getting into the shot.

1/50s at f/11 ISO 50 24 mm

Chateau Villandry - Love garden

Chateau Villandry is one of the main chateaus in the Loire Valley and famed for its formal gardens, especially the potager or vegetable gardens. There's a whole collection of others though, music, water, herb and in this case the love gardens.

A Maltese Cross can be quite clearly seen here on the mid right hand side of the frame, the other two are the Pays Basque and Languedoc crosses, though in this case you need to close one eye stand on one leg to make it out. The splashes of lilac at the back of the frame are the lavender bushes of the music garden.

Even if you are not a massive garden fan (esp. formal gardens) the layout, scale quality is quite amazing. (It's also a pretty convenient drive from Tours airport.) We spent a good few hours here and were rewarded by the sun breaking out in the afternoon.

Should have stopped down the aperture a bit more here though had a circular polarizer on.

1/80s at f/9.0 65 mm ISO 100

Flying Off

Well the market is going south and photoshelter has also gone down (pemanently) which means all the links from the previous posts need to be redirected...

Took this leaning out of the window of my flat when I noticed that the clouds were turning an amazing pink during the sunset. Luckily the day was good for contrails as well which allowed me to get this jet on heathrow approach against the pink contrails.

1/100s at f/ 7.1 100 mm ISO 200