St Nicolas Basilica, Nantes

Posted on Jun 19, 2019Jun 16, 2019 Posted in Architecture, Nantes PhotographyTagged 16-35mm, architechture, Canon 6d Mark II, church, gothic, Nantes, prayer, saints, St Nicolas Basilica4 Comments

Do you remember me saying that in one of my previous articles that I would show you the inside of the Basilica? Chose dite, chose faite. As I say, I will do! You may be a Catholic, you may not be. I’m not going to judge anyone. You may even be a convinced, and militant atheist. I am going to present a building to you that was designed by men for the glory of God. Everything in it was made to centre on God and the presence of God in the Tabernacle.

Even though you might not share those beliefs, a church is not an ordinary building. It is not just a place. There is something special, as there is in any place of worship. We see the hopes and wishes of men being handed over to something that is a power beyond them. These are the prayers represented by the candles in the Catholic tradition, and the statues to remind us of the piety of certain saints and the symbolism that is included in the representation in those statues. The same is true in the artwork. It is what it represents to the faithful. The stations of the cross which retell the story of Jesus’ final sacrifice here on earth, and the sacrifice of the mass.

It is a place of contemplation. So let’s contemplate…

Walkabout in Nantes with the lads from Instagram – Part I

Posted on Mar 23, 2019Mar 23, 2019 Posted in Architecture, Nantes Photography, UrbanTagged architechture, colour photography, Emiliano Sala, France, Fujifilm X Series, golden hour, Ian Myers, ijm photography, Nantes, photo walk, photographer, Street Photography, X100F3 Comments

Now and again I do some colour photography, especially with the colours you get from the X100F. Everyone goes on about it, but they really are good. A guy on Instagram wanted to get some people together of various photographic levels, some who know little, some who know a lot, some who have loads of gear, and some who have very little. This was the first outing.

We wanted to get into Nantes during Golden Hour, but somebody had the rather silly idea of making it the “morning” Golden Hour. I, of course, was late. The meeting place was Place Royale, where Kate’s favourite fountain its. Emiliano Sala had just disappeared on his flight from Nantes to Cardiff, and people had made a kind of shrine to him.

They all had DSLR’s with lenses and tripods and the whole shebang. Guys together having a competition to see who had the biggest… Camera… What else were you thinking about???? I turned up with my Fujifilm X100F. Yes mine was the smallest (camera) but I’m fine with that, and I own it!!

But I digress. I usually do black and white conversions and seem to have the process slightly sussed out. The colour film simulations are just great on this camera and I get why people wax lyrical about them.

When I got the X100F I wanted to have a digital camera that was the equal of my film cameras. I wanted something that could open up to F2 and go up to F16. I wanted something that looked good and that got the job done. It’s basically a compact camera, with a fixed prime lens, and is sold as the street photography photographer’s camera, or the travel photography photographer’s camera. Of course it it great for this, and just slips in a bag. It’s light and such an understated chic. I love it! There you are. I love my camera.

But back to Nantes who is the real star in this series. In this first part you see us going from the Place Royale, going to bakery for breakfast and a coffee (I always seem to find a place to eat wherever I am…), heading towards the Tour de Bretagne, which is Nantes’ version of the Tour Montparnasse in Paris, going across Cours des 50 Otages, towards the Castle via rue de la Marne, and having a look at some the of the streets branching off, and ending up on the rue du Château.

Greyfriar’s Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Posted on Mar 18, 2019May 30, 2024 Posted in Architecture, Black and White Photography, Landscape Photography, Travel photography, United KingdomTagged architechture, atmosphere, black and white, burial, cemetery, death, Edinburgh, ghosts, Ian Myers, ijmphotography, Scotland, Travel photography2 Comments

We’d both decided that before we even got here we would have to visit this Churchyard with many of Edinburgh’s famous and infamous residents who decided to stay on permanently… JK Rowling used some of the residents’ names for her characters in the Harry Potter books. See if you can spot where Tom Riddle is buried…

It’s a very “haunting” place and is supposed to be one of the most ghostly cemeteries in the UK. As you get closer to the (now closed) section where the Convenanters were imprisoned you can really feel the ominous pain and suffering that they endured at the hands of Mackenzie, and the hatred as you pass Mackenzie’s mausoleum.

Elsewhere there was a feeling of calm. The sun was just coming up over the hill and Edinburgh castle was so warm in the golden hour light.