Hello Summer!

Posted on Jul 28, 2023Aug 2, 2023 Posted in Black and White Photography, Family Life, FranceTagged BBQ, beer, Biden, black and white, Black and White Photography, Canon 6d Mark II, France, French, friends, fuji x100f, guitar, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, meal, Music, musician, party, photographer, photographyLeave a comment

Hello Dear Reader. It’s been a funny old time lately. Something is not quite right. I can’t quite put my finger on it. It could be depression, or lowering of my mood, not too horrible, but not nice either. On the way to mass last Sunday I had a moment and cried. It could be because of work. New job, a transition from my old job that has been poorly managed, and has left me homeless in the factory. It could be because of good old-fashioned tiredness despite my super-duper sleep apnoea machine, and the holidays just being a week away. It could be lack of self-discipline; I have films to scan, and am having trouble getting the required results from my scanner, and therefore lacking motivation.

Hey, even with everything going on, I’ve managed to sneak out with my camera a couple of times and snap some awesome shots. I’ve got pictures of Nantes, the super cool Voyage à Nantes, a fun evening with friends, and even my buddy the barber doing his thing – cutting hair and beards like a pro. So, it hasn’t been all bad, you know? There are still moments of fun and excitement to be found out there!

It seems as though we are in a state of limbo. Killian and I have been doing a heroic job of holding down the fort while my wife and daughter have been away attending a wedding on our behalf and will be gone until Sunday. There have been no mishaps around the home and all the animals have been fed and watered. The dog and the two cats appear to be healthy as well!

Yes, a funny couple of weeks. On the news, or at least the BBC website, all we hear about is Ukraine, and how climate change is sizzling all of Europe, how fires are burning all over the place, and how it’s all due to climate change and how we must continue to worship at the altar of Greta, buy new and expensive electric cars to save the planet. The Vendée seems not have got the memo…

The photo was taken on my phone and edited in Snapseed.

As far as the photography is concerned, the photos were taken on the Canon 6D Mark II and the Fujifilm X100F.

Bastille Day 2023

Posted on Jul 14, 2023Aug 2, 2023 Posted in Family Life, Film Photography, France, Street PhotographyTagged 14 juillet, 14th of July, analog, analogue, Bastille Day, black and white, Black and White Photography, Canon, Canon AE1, canon AE1 program, day off, development, Family Life, film, film development, Film Photography, France, holiday, holidays, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, july 14th, lifestyle, lunch, photographe, photographer, photography, rollei, rollei rpx 100Leave a comment

It’s of course Bastille Day here in France so you have to imagine the pace of life in a 2CV, in first gear, driving along a farm track, at not a rapid rate of knots. One could even go as far as too say, slitgly more sedate than usual, pumped up on black French coffee.

This morning was very sedate. My alarm went off as if it were normal working Friday, and the pleasure I had turning the multiple alarms of and not going to work was almost obscene.

My shower wasn’t hurried and as I did my skin care routine (thank you Horace) I felt glowing, nearly as much as the sun trying to come through the shutters.

My cup of tea this morning was a pint of Darjeeling tea. I must have still had the glow-up as I actually filled the dishwasher before being yelled at to do by that woman who said yes 25 years ago so now has to put up with me full-time. I even made us all lunch.

My wife has an aversion to prawns so guess what I prepared for lunch. But I cooked them in olive oil and deglazed with lemon juice. So off to a good start. Sauce – half mayo, half Greek yoghurt, lemon juice, sweet paprika, and with the prawns, some chopped up four hard boiled eggs, one cucumber, and one red onion. All that served up on French “pain” as opposed to baguette, with baby spinach.

It was delicious and i now have to wash my t-shirt which has sauce on it. I also did all my dishes so I dont want to hear any nagging from a particular lady.

My original plan for the day was and still is do develop some films that have been waiting around and I have no idea what is on them, and some films that I must have started over a year ago but never got around to finishing. The idea is to have a fresh start and get back into doing some analogue photography.

We’re out at a friend’s house for dinner tonight amd admire the fireworks from afar. I think the word I’m looking for is delightful!

It would appear that I can still produce half decent negatives…

Friday afternoon in Nantes

Posted on Apr 29, 2023Apr 29, 2023 Posted in Black and White Photography, Café Culture, Nantes Photography, Street PhotographyTagged amateur photography, approaches to photography, architechture, art installation, babershop, bar, bar staff, barber, black and white, Black and White Photography, Bouffay, Café Culture, cake, camera, church, clouds, day out, drink, drinking, France, French, friend, friends, friendship, fuji, fuji x100f, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, fujifilmx100f, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Irish Pub, Nantes, photo walk, photographe, photographer, Photographic exercise, photography, sean tucker, street art, Street Photography, Street phtoography, streetphotography, teaLeave a comment

Today was a good day. I like good days. A mixture of barbershops, photography, cake and tea, and most importantly, friends. On this sunny Friday afternoon, I had the afternoon off from work, it would be a perfect day to go to the barbershop and get this beard of mine seen too. I knew it was sunny just by looking out the window, and thought, let’s go manual today.

There is a rule in photography called sunny 16, that says when it is sunny, and not a cloud in the sky, you can put your camera at F16, the shutter speed identical to the ISO, or film sensibility, and all your shots should come out fine or at least well exposed. It means that all you have to do is to concentrate on the moment and press the shutter when the moment is right, and by that I mean, when you have the composition that you want from a scene.

Sean Tucker did a whole video about it and I thought, well, you’ve taken his advice in the past, so why not now. I was a bit of a sissy, and didn’t use a film camera, but instead used the Fujifilm X100F so I could see what I as getting, but to be honest, I didn’t really need to. I must have more self-confidence in photography, I must have more self-confidence in photography, etc. I didn’t go F16 but stayed a little more conservative at F11.

Right, the geeky, photographer part of this article is over. The rest of you can join in again.

So first the barber shop with a couple of photos along the way as my photographic warm-up. This visual warm-up is as important as the muscular warm-up is for a runner or any other sportsman. You get your settings right. F11 because there were a couple of clouds in the sky but not enough for F8. Remember the sunny 16 as a guide to this outing.

My goal was to go and get my flowing locks of hair shaved off, my beard to be transformed from a homeless guy into a dashing older Dude, and then get to Church, pop in to say hello to Jesus since I was too early for confession, and head off to the pub.

With less hair than before and having to battle away throngs of female admirers along the way, I eventually made it to the pub. It was a quiet day at the pub. Rob, or should I say the legend that is Rob, was standing outside ready to jump on any unsuspecting client that might come by and sit down on the terrasse. He’s a good man, and we share a love of being daft and talking utter bollocks. Our jokes are amazing, at least to us. Others might disagree, but under torture will admit they were slightly funny despite being awful!

After a couple of pints of water to quench my thirst and some awful jokes I needed to pee. On my way back up I fancied a little something to nibble on.

Rob, do you fancy some Pringles and some dip?

Not really.

Do you know what I really fancy Ian?

No Rob?

Some shortbread…

I wasn’t going to make it from scratch but I knew a place where I could acquire some for a reasonable price. So off I went to the Comptoir Irlandais. An establishment where you can find some of the world’s more comforting produce, tea, and shortbread included. Back to the pub.

Rob who is half Scottish let me know what a great fan of Iron Bru he is. Guess what I found at the Comptoir Irlandais? Yes, you’re right Dear Reader! Scotland’s number one hangover cure, not that I’m suggesting in any way at all, that the Scots would ever need a hangover cure, but if they did, this might be it. It’s a Marmite thing. You love it or you hate it. Judging by Rob’s little eyes when I came back with the shortbread fingers, and that special drink, I think we can safely say he likes it! We of course made a tonne of finger jokes, asking our Irish friend if she would like a finger. Yes, we were at that level. Fart jokes would have been a great leap forward. And I think the phrase, that’s what she said, was uttered a few times too! So all in all, yes, it was a very good day!

A Sunny February Afternoon

Posted on Feb 24, 2023Feb 24, 2023 Posted in Architecture, Black and White Photography, Nantes Photography, Portrait, Street Photography, UncategorizedTagged 16-35mm, 16-35mm lens, amateur photography, Architecture, black and white, Black and White Photography, bourgois, Canon 6d Mark II, day out, distortion, editing, France, French, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, lens, Nantes, park, photo shoot, photo walk, photographe, photographer, Photographic exercise, photography, portrait photography, Portraits, sculpture, statue, street, Street Photography, Street phtoography, street portrait, streetphotographyLeave a comment

Sometimes you have brunch and just feel that all is well with the world. Well, that Sunday, all was definitely well with the world, or at least, well with my world, which isn’t a bad way to be on a delightful sunny February afternoon. Out in town with my camera, well-fed, and just wandering around, seeing what would turn up in front of my camera.

If I were to be honest, I know that if I go to such-and-such an area, I will get such-and-such a kind of photo, so we can’t about wandering around aimlessly, but there was a sort of randomness… Sort of.

Get ready for some technical information, which will hopefully explain the style of photos that I am presenting to you today. When converting my images to black and white, I edited as if I had a red filter on my camera and as if I were using black and white film. When using this red filter, anything that is blue comes out in a darker tone. It’s going to be easier to use an image instead of a thousand words…

Basically, anything that is a deep blue turns almost black and makes for a powerful image. Some people love it (I do), others don’t (ah well), and that’s all fine too! You get the picture!

A lot of the photos that follow will exhibit this effect as if they were case book studies. You need the sky to be a certain way or it just won’t work, but when it does, you get the kind of image that jumps out at you. That and the 16-35mm lens, you can’t really go wrong. Mind you, after that delicious brunch, not a lot could go wrong…

Ode to January

Posted on Jan 20, 2023Jan 20, 2023 Posted in Black and White Photography, France, Mental Health, Nantes PhotographyTagged 16-35mm, 16-35mm lens, black and white, Black and White Photography, blue monday, Canon 6d Mark II, depression, hangover, January, Nantes, New years résolutions, photographyLeave a comment

January, with its terrible reputation as being the shittiest month of the year, is 11 days from being over. Some will say good riddance to bad rubbish, others won’t care, and others will be happy it’s just over and done with. Does Blue Monday ring any bells, even alarm bells? The concept of Blue Monday (the third Monday in January) appeared in 2005 during a press release from British travel firm, Sky Travel during a publicity stunt. A formula described this specific Monday as being the gloomiest of the year.

How could this reputation come about? Could it be that so many seem to start this month with a hangover? Or at best, with a dry mouth, feeling slightly tired, and having a slightly delicate tummy? Is the fact of going back to work after the celebrations of Christmas, and suffering the anti-climax that is January a cause? A jolt back into a reality that we feel we no longer desire? Is it because we feel guilty about making so many resolutions to better our lives and start anew as the new year begins, and then feel dreadful when we fail after just a couple of days? Could the answer just be drinking slightly less and not giving a shit about the new year, and therefore an eventual new me?

Mind you, Dear Reader, the weather is usually not the best that one could wish for, but if it were 20°C outside with warm sunshine, then the climate change people would be up in arms. Whatever we say, we will, somehow, somewhere, annoy a climate activist. Am I a follower of Saint Greta? Not really. Am I just boorish and refuse to sort my rubbish? No, but I’m not convinced either. I have problems believing that if I don’t put an apple core in the compost bin that I will go to ecological hell for all eternity…

However, as you will see from the photos in the traditional end of the article gallery, there is light and shade and therefore sunlight, therefore sun… In the ones taken after sundown, you won’t be able to see the sun, not because of a climate crisis but because the sun tends not to shine during the night. Mind-blowing, I know.

So, after dissing January, I feel the need to defend it. Within 11 days I will have had my 51st birthday and will celebrate not being dead yet, and being the oldest that I have ever been! Wouldn’t it be ironic if I snuffed it before then? It would certainly be a shame. With my children and wife, the plan is to have a pizza, film, and beer night! Not the done thing to miss that! During childhood, I would have the first of a long line of birthdays throughout the year. Sometimes for Christmas, I would have a “big” present and be told that it was also for my birthday. I don’t blame my parents at all, and this is not part of my childhood trauma. I have a son who was born just before Christmas and find myself doing the same thing. He’s no more messed up than I am. Differently messed up, but not because of that. I have people in my family born on Christmas Day, some on Boxing Day, and someone born on the 27^th of December. Ah well, it could happen to anyone, and they all seem perfectly imperfect, just like me!

Welcome to 2023

Posted on Jan 6, 2023Jan 6, 2023 Posted in Black and White Photography, Family Life, France, Nantes Photography, Street PhotographyTagged 2022, 2023, black and white, Black and White Photography, Catholic, Christmas, church, covid, dog, family, Family Life, fuji x100f, fuji XT2, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, happy new year, Irish Pub, January, John Mc Byrne, mass, molly, Nantes, niece, Pope benedict, pro life, pub, roe v wade, russia, Street Photography, UkraineLeave a comment

First of all, Dear Reader, I wish you a very Happy New Year for 2023! May it be better than 2022 and may it bring you everything you need to continue your life journey. At this time of year, we all tend to look forwards and backwards, and it seems fitting that Janus, the two-faced god, gave his name to January. We look backwards to the preceding year to see what we can learn from our experiences, good or bad, and forwards to the new year with hope and an expectation of change.

2022 saw my first contact with Covid back in March. Not the most pleasant of experiences, and I think I gave it a 1 out of 5 rating… It saw the war in Ukraine, and our fears of Russia going mad and destroying the entire continent. This, despite prayer, seems to still be the case, except at the cost of so much human life. Roe v Wade was overturned in the US and hope was given to the Pro-life movement. It saw my first trip back to the UK since 2019, and it was wonderful being back and seeing family after such a long time. In the final days of the year, it saw the death of Pope Benedict XVI, one of the most misunderstood popes of these times. On a personal note, we were so worried about Molly, our family dog, and feared losing her in December. Fortunately, she is a lot better but it was a close shave. It might sound silly to some, how one can get so emotionally attached to an animal, but I swear I was writing her obituary in my mind and crying about the whole thing.

For Christmas this year, I am happy to report a total lack of drama, and on the contrary, think the whole shebang went off wonderfully. This was in part thanks to the visit of two of my nieces who came to spend this special time with us. One of the nieces even came to midnight mass with me and the next day, Christmas Day, the six of us were together for mass which just shows how special Christmas is. It just shows how the simplest of things can have so much meaning and how they can bring us such joy.

I was on holiday the week before Christmas and the week after Christmas. It would appear that I might have even lost a tiny amount of weight, and some of my t-shirts seem to be less tight. It might not last, but for the moment I’m just going to enjoy it.

It was just so special to have time with my family and have them around me. I took the girls into Nantes to share some of my world with them, and believe it or not, I had a camera with me, so I might just have to share some of my world with you, too! The weather was abysmal, but on the last day before the return to work, the sun was out and I went into town to have some special Ian time, and just wonder the streets between confession, and missing the pub being open. It is likely, however, that I pop in this weekend to wish my friends a Happy New Year too!