Dominique’s old stones (mostly)
- Thread starter Blue439
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Blue439
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Not Hobbiton (2015)
Old farm buildings in Basilicata (southern Italy), buried under a hill with a chimney tip emerging... It could be cute and remind one of Hobbits’ dwellings in The Lord of the Rings... alas! this was used by real human beings out of sheer poverty and inability to build a real home, so they just dug into the hillside and built one wall to close it off, which was all they could afford.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 300mm, ƒ/4 PF E lens, handheld.
Old farm buildings in Basilicata (southern Italy), buried under a hill with a chimney tip emerging... It could be cute and remind one of Hobbits’ dwellings in The Lord of the Rings... alas! this was used by real human beings out of sheer poverty and inability to build a real home, so they just dug into the hillside and built one wall to close it off, which was all they could afford.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 300mm, ƒ/4 PF E lens, handheld.
Blue439
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The Castle of Peyrelade, or How to Make the Most of Your Surroundings (2015)
Peyrelade in southern France was a small fortress built between the 11th and the 14th centuries. It made the best possible use of the terrain, especially for the keep, as you can see here. Obviously, space is a a premium and there was no water in the keep, but it was almost impregnable... Of course, one only had to lay siege and wait patiently until the occupants of the castle ran out of supplies...
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Apo-Sonnar T* 135mm, ƒ/2 ZF.2 lens, manual focus. Handheld.
Peyrelade in southern France was a small fortress built between the 11th and the 14th centuries. It made the best possible use of the terrain, especially for the keep, as you can see here. Obviously, space is a a premium and there was no water in the keep, but it was almost impregnable... Of course, one only had to lay siege and wait patiently until the occupants of the castle ran out of supplies...
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Apo-Sonnar T* 135mm, ƒ/2 ZF.2 lens, manual focus. Handheld.
Blue439
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Fury Inlet, southern Italy (2015)
Cala Furore, or “Fury Inlet”, so named because when the wind is strong, it rages noisily through this narrow slit between rock walls. As I said before, while on vacation, Italians like to be piled up onto one another... ;o)
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 15mm, ƒ/2.8 ZF.2 lens, manual focus, handheld.
Cala Furore, or “Fury Inlet”, so named because when the wind is strong, it rages noisily through this narrow slit between rock walls. As I said before, while on vacation, Italians like to be piled up onto one another... ;o)
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 15mm, ƒ/2.8 ZF.2 lens, manual focus, handheld.
Blue439
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The Ruins of Hérisson (2016)
The Mediæval castle of Hérisson (central France) was first built during the 1100s, and subsequently added to during the following centuries until the late 1300s. A first castle had been built there around 990, but none of it remains visible, except to the trained eye of archæologists. The castle was dismantled in the 17th century because its owner had rebelled against the Crown.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 24mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens, handheld.
The Mediæval castle of Hérisson (central France) was first built during the 1100s, and subsequently added to during the following centuries until the late 1300s. A first castle had been built there around 990, but none of it remains visible, except to the trained eye of archæologists. The castle was dismantled in the 17th century because its owner had rebelled against the Crown.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 24mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens, handheld.
Blue439
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The ruins of Pagax (2016)
Somewhere in the middle of France, Pagax is a very nice, small Mediæval castle that was remodeled during the Renaissance, like so many others. First mentioned in 259, it was inhabited until the mid–1700s, then slowly fell into disrepair, then ruin. Acquired in 2005 by a new owner, it is (equally slowly) being repaired and restored. The ruins as they were in 2016 looked very romantic.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 24mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens, handheld.
Somewhere in the middle of France, Pagax is a very nice, small Mediæval castle that was remodeled during the Renaissance, like so many others. First mentioned in 259, it was inhabited until the mid–1700s, then slowly fell into disrepair, then ruin. Acquired in 2005 by a new owner, it is (equally slowly) being repaired and restored. The ruins as they were in 2016 looked very romantic.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 24mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens, handheld.
Blue439
New member
A mountain village church (2015)
Built at an altitude of 1,162 meters above sea level, this Romanesque church in the village of Montarcher claims to be the highest in the Old province of Auvergne (central France). The church as we see it today is enlarged from a Year 1000 castle chapel, as this mountaintop was fortified back then. The fact that this is a “mountain” church is also attested by the sole entrance being on the south side of the nave, and deeply recessed to provide some shelter to the congregation (see second photo below).
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 15mm, ƒ/2.8 ZF.2 lens, manual focus. Handheld.
This is a southern view of the church. The recessed and sheltered part is, in some regions of France, called a caquetoire, a name I have always found hilarious: it literally means “cackling place”, which says a lot about the sort of cackling, babbling and prattling on about the neighbors and the village affairs that took place there before or after Mass...
Nikon D810, Nikkor 24mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens. Handheld.
Built at an altitude of 1,162 meters above sea level, this Romanesque church in the village of Montarcher claims to be the highest in the Old province of Auvergne (central France). The church as we see it today is enlarged from a Year 1000 castle chapel, as this mountaintop was fortified back then. The fact that this is a “mountain” church is also attested by the sole entrance being on the south side of the nave, and deeply recessed to provide some shelter to the congregation (see second photo below).
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 15mm, ƒ/2.8 ZF.2 lens, manual focus. Handheld.
This is a southern view of the church. The recessed and sheltered part is, in some regions of France, called a caquetoire, a name I have always found hilarious: it literally means “cackling place”, which says a lot about the sort of cackling, babbling and prattling on about the neighbors and the village affairs that took place there before or after Mass...
Nikon D810, Nikkor 24mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens. Handheld.
Blue439
New member
Falling into the southern Italian N’drangheta Mafia love trap..? (2015)
Photos of a wedding taken in Ravello, one of the most picturesque (and wedding-perfect) places on the Costa Amalfitana (southern Italy). To the casual observer of things, this looked surprisingly like a death trap into which an unsuspecting English rose was walking as she was getting married to some up-and-coming N'drangheta heir. On this photo, you see the sacrificial lamb with her brother (looking uneasy) and two other English guys at the back, while the two Mafiosi brothers frame the shot: the groom next to the bride, and his own brother to the left. Of course, all of this is probably just a figment of my imagination... And yet...
And in the one below, you see our unsuspecting (and if so, very naive!) English rose in a brotherly embrace with the groom's younger (and much less tough-looking) brother, the only one of the Italians who genuinely seemed to care for her, as if he knew what she was walking into and knew he would do his best to protect her, however unsuccessful he thought his attempts would be... As before, this is probably only my Agatha Christie imagination at work... Probably.
I wonder what has become of those people, almost 10 years later. The fact that the wedding should take place on the groom’s territory and not the bride’s should already have alerted those guys...
Both photos Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Apo-Sonnar T* 135mm, ƒ/2 ZF.2 lens, manual focus. Handheld.
Photos of a wedding taken in Ravello, one of the most picturesque (and wedding-perfect) places on the Costa Amalfitana (southern Italy). To the casual observer of things, this looked surprisingly like a death trap into which an unsuspecting English rose was walking as she was getting married to some up-and-coming N'drangheta heir. On this photo, you see the sacrificial lamb with her brother (looking uneasy) and two other English guys at the back, while the two Mafiosi brothers frame the shot: the groom next to the bride, and his own brother to the left. Of course, all of this is probably just a figment of my imagination... And yet...
And in the one below, you see our unsuspecting (and if so, very naive!) English rose in a brotherly embrace with the groom's younger (and much less tough-looking) brother, the only one of the Italians who genuinely seemed to care for her, as if he knew what she was walking into and knew he would do his best to protect her, however unsuccessful he thought his attempts would be... As before, this is probably only my Agatha Christie imagination at work... Probably.
I wonder what has become of those people, almost 10 years later. The fact that the wedding should take place on the groom’s territory and not the bride’s should already have alerted those guys...
Both photos Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Apo-Sonnar T* 135mm, ƒ/2 ZF.2 lens, manual focus. Handheld.
Blue439
New member
The towers of Peyrusse (2016)
During the Middle Ages, Peyrusse was a fair–sized town with more than 3,000 people. It was located at a major crossroad and featured several significant commercial fairs each year. Nowadays, it is a very small landlocked village of a precious few hundred, far from any main road, much less a freeway, in the Aveyron region, one of the most sparsely inhabited of central southern France.
All that remains from a glorious (and largely forgotten) past is those two towers that a small group of dedicated people seek to maintain and restore. What a glorious setting, though! And a memorable sight if there ever was one.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 35mm, ƒ1/.4 G lens, handheld.
During the Middle Ages, Peyrusse was a fair–sized town with more than 3,000 people. It was located at a major crossroad and featured several significant commercial fairs each year. Nowadays, it is a very small landlocked village of a precious few hundred, far from any main road, much less a freeway, in the Aveyron region, one of the most sparsely inhabited of central southern France.
All that remains from a glorious (and largely forgotten) past is those two towers that a small group of dedicated people seek to maintain and restore. What a glorious setting, though! And a memorable sight if there ever was one.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 35mm, ƒ1/.4 G lens, handheld.
Blue439
New member
My own personal favorite chapel (2017)
This is my favorite pre–Romanesque (or early Romanesque) chapel, built around Year 1000 and standing obstinately on its lonely hilltop since then, facing innumerable sunsets for over a millennium... I have photographed it many times; this time, I planned the shoot with the help of the PhotoPills application and went on the right day at the right time. Luckily, it was a clear evening. I lit the apse with a Phottix Indra500 studio strobe high up on a light stand. There was some wind that evening, and I had to use a heavy sandbag to stabilize the stand, as I was also using a large octabox (ideal to catch any breeze and topple the whole thing) to soften the light. I ended up using a radio remote to trigger the camera while I was holding the light stand for extra stability!
Nikon D810, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Mix of ambient and single strobe lighting, single exposure.
This is my favorite pre–Romanesque (or early Romanesque) chapel, built around Year 1000 and standing obstinately on its lonely hilltop since then, facing innumerable sunsets for over a millennium... I have photographed it many times; this time, I planned the shoot with the help of the PhotoPills application and went on the right day at the right time. Luckily, it was a clear evening. I lit the apse with a Phottix Indra500 studio strobe high up on a light stand. There was some wind that evening, and I had to use a heavy sandbag to stabilize the stand, as I was also using a large octabox (ideal to catch any breeze and topple the whole thing) to soften the light. I ended up using a radio remote to trigger the camera while I was holding the light stand for extra stability!
Nikon D810, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus. Gitzo tripod, Arca-Swiss Cube C1 geared head. Mix of ambient and single strobe lighting, single exposure.
Blue439
New member
Au rendez–vous des pêcheurs (2017)
The village of Saint-Maurice-sur-Aveyron in central France features something most unusual nowadays: a river running over the road, creating a ford in the middle of the village! The restaurant that sits right there is aptly named “The Fishermen’s Meeting Place”; it offers nice village cuisine and fine views... if you manage to find it open (the owners are often gone fishin’), and if they still have a table available...!
Nikon D810, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, handheld.
The village of Saint-Maurice-sur-Aveyron in central France features something most unusual nowadays: a river running over the road, creating a ford in the middle of the village! The restaurant that sits right there is aptly named “The Fishermen’s Meeting Place”; it offers nice village cuisine and fine views... if you manage to find it open (the owners are often gone fishin’), and if they still have a table available...!
Nikon D810, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, manual focus, handheld.
Blue439
New member
Salers (2017)
The small town of Salers in Auvergne (central France) has this lovely late Mediæval town square with a couple of very nice period houses. The region of Salers is famous for the eponymous breed of cows that are raised for their excellent and tasty meat.
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 15mm, ƒ/2.8 ZF.2 lens, manual focus, handheld.
The small town of Salers in Auvergne (central France) has this lovely late Mediæval town square with a couple of very nice period houses. The region of Salers is famous for the eponymous breed of cows that are raised for their excellent and tasty meat.
Nikon D810, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 15mm, ƒ/2.8 ZF.2 lens, manual focus, handheld.
Blue439
New member
Do you feel lucky today? (2016)
More than 100 meters above the valley floor, the Châtelet bridge crosses the valley of the Ubaye River in the eponymous valley of the French Alps. It is single-lane, 3 meters wide only with a low parapet, and is the only road access to the village of Fouillouse.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 35mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens, handheld.
More than 100 meters above the valley floor, the Châtelet bridge crosses the valley of the Ubaye River in the eponymous valley of the French Alps. It is single-lane, 3 meters wide only with a low parapet, and is the only road access to the village of Fouillouse.
Nikon D810, Nikkor 35mm, ƒ/1.4 G lens, handheld.
Blue439
New member
The Van Gogh bridge (2010)
This bridge, over a narrow canal near the city of Arles (southern France), is officially named the Langlois Bridge, after its inventor and builder. Van Gogh painted it from several different angles. It is now a Historic Landmark and the site around it is protected so that it remains just as the painter saw it in 1888.
Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm, ƒ/2.8 G lens, handheld.
This bridge, over a narrow canal near the city of Arles (southern France), is officially named the Langlois Bridge, after its inventor and builder. Van Gogh painted it from several different angles. It is now a Historic Landmark and the site around it is protected so that it remains just as the painter saw it in 1888.
Nikon D3, Nikkor 24-70mm, ƒ/2.8 G lens, handheld.