Countryside in October

Posted on Oct 11, 2019Nov 23, 2019 Posted in Black and White Photography, France, Landscape PhotographyTagged black and white, Black and White Photography, blog, Canon, Canon 6d Mark II, clouds, country, countryside, crops, farming, fence, fencepost, fields, France, French, french countryside, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Instagram, Landscape, life, nature, photo walk, photographer, photography, rural, sky, tranquility, tree, VendeeLeave a comment

The weather today is officially depressing and even more so because it’s a Monday. I was so annoyed with life that it now is Friday afternoon. 5 days to get to the second sentence is possibly a sign. Of what, I don’t know…

The tree that is in the photo is “my tree” that I pass every day to and from work. I’d taken photos of it on film, and in digital but hadn’t been back to see her for a while. I’ve just checked Instagram and the last photo I took dates from February 2017! It’s as if I had neglected a friend that I had not seen for ages but still pass in the street just exchanging glances and a swift hello.

It was time to remedy the situation. I had left her in black and white, and returned to her in black and white. She didn’t have much to say for herself. Being a tree might have something to do with that, but she was still there. Still covered in ivy. Still with all her branches. Still a part of my workday.

The field of maize was still there. The maize replacing the wheat harvested in Summer. By Tuesday it had been harvested and all you could see in the field were the remains of stalks not over 6 inches high, and yet the day before had been as high as a man. Time goes on and the field will be used to produce a winter crop. Such is the way in the countryside.

Some fields had be let to fallow and recover from growing our food. Nature reclaims them for herself and plants grow up the fence posts and in the ditches by the sides of the road. At least they’ve gone back to green instead of the drier washed out colours of a hot summer.

It’s now Friday afternoon and I was only at work this morning. The sun is out, I’m in a t-shirt, and it’s 19°C. The rain has done its job, and isn’t there to dampen the earth or my mood. When I was a child I imagined the rain being God having a shower. I couldn’t bring myself to think of Him having a wee on creation.

I think He’s out of the bathroom.

Nantes in September

Posted on Oct 6, 2019Oct 7, 2019 Posted in Black and White Photography, France, Nantes Photography, Reportage, street photography, UrbanTagged atmosphere, black and white, Black and White Photography, blog, Bouffay, City, Close up, France, French, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, gendarmerie, gendarmerie nationale, Gerndarme, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Loire Atlantique, Nantes, photographer, photography, Pierre Ramette, Police, pubs, root, root police, statue, street, street photography, Tear gas, Urban, X100F2 Comments

I’d been wanting to get back into Nantes with the X100F to try and do some old fashioned street photography. I’ve been experimenting with colour and have had some interesting feedback. Maybe it was a case of getting it out of my system.

With the Canon I have a few interesting lenses and although it’s great having the options, it’s equally challenging to go without.

Now I have to explain something to the non-French readers. Basically the whole of France is on holiday from mid July to the end of August. My firm litterally shuts down for the month of August and we get four weeks off work! Between you and me, it’s also the best time to visit Paris, because all the Parisians have buggered off on holiday elsewhere!

The obvious consequence to this mass migration is of course the return to every day life in September. This return to work is called the Rentrée and sucks big time for everyone, even more than a small child sucking juice though a non plastic reusable straw, because single-use straws are the spawn of Satan and mess up the environment.

We have the children that go back to school, the TV shows that start again, the MPs that go back to Parliament, etc. You get the picture. Can you remember the Gilet Jaune demonstrators? We’ll they’re no longer in holiday, and are back to demonstrating. Their Rentrée was the 14th of Spetmber, and they all decided that it would be a really good idea to come to Nantes and cause a bit of havoc and make sure that the police knew that it was the Rentrée too!

And, (there I go using And as a beginning of a a sentence) this pillock thought it would be a good idea to go along into town, and thought it would be fine. And to be honest I have seen worse, but it allowed me to get some interesting photos.

Course de Serveurs et Garçons de Café, Nantes 2019

Posted on Sep 28, 2019Sep 28, 2019 Posted in Café Culture, France, Nantes Photography, ReportageTagged architechture, bar, bar staff, bars, blog, Bouffay, Café Culture, Cafe, cafes, colour photography, France, French, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Irish Pub, John Mc Byrne, Loire Atlantique, Nantes, passage pommeraye, photo reportage, photographer, photography, pub, pubs, Reportage, waiter4 Comments

It has been know for me to frequent a certain establishment in Nantes now and again, he said whilst competing for the understatement of the year. That establishment, aka Daddy’s happy place, aka mes quartiers à Nantes, aka the pub, aka home from home, is the John McByrne Irish Pub, 21 Rue des Petites Écuries , Nantes.

It is a place for which I have a great affection, not only because they supply me with Guinness, and Taytos imported from Ireland (and I’m going to be really controversial here, I prefer the salt and vinegar, but even the cheese and onion are perfectly palatable), but most importantly, the bar staff, that started out as just people, have ended up being friends. And that Dear Reader, is the most important, and wonderful outcome.

And, (you should never start a sentence with And, but I’m feeling a little rebelious here about gramatical conventions, oh my life has such depth, and what was I going to say again, ah yes, no, it’s gone again…)

Oh yes, back on track there… And, as a friend, I want to help and offer support. And, (oh there I go again) this time I did it by not just buying them chocolate, and other rather naughty things to eat, but by coming along to support them in the annual Course de Serveurs et Garçons de Café, Nantes 2019.

Wow, only took me four paragraphs to get to my subject. I’m doing well today!!

Here is Eydie with the official tray with a coffee cup, energy drink, sparkling water, non alcholic beer, and an orange soda.

Each competitor must carry this tray over nearly three and a half kilometres, with time being deducted for spilt drinks. They are not allowed to run, only walk, and of course they have to go up the stairs in the Passage Pommeraye, twice. I’ll just let that sink in for a few moments. Take the time to imagine them going up all those stairs with a tray, looking slightly odd in fancy dress costumes. Is that image in your mind? You’ll see it in the photos anyway!

They didn’t end up on the podium, but they did win best costume and won best team spirit, which is even more important.

Here are the photos taken on the X100F which was perfect for capturing the whole atmosphere of the day.

Honfleur, Daytime

Posted on Sep 18, 2019Sep 9, 2019 Posted in Architecture, Art, Black and White Photography, France, Normandy, Reportage, street photography, Travel photographyTagged 16-35mm, 16-35mm lens, architechture, Art, black and white, Black and White Photography, blog, boats, Café Culture, cafes, Calvados, Canon, Canon 6, Canon 6d Mark II, Erik Satie, France, French, fuji, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, Honfleur, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Normandy, photo reportage, photo walk, photographer, photography, seaside, statue, street, street photography, summer, tourism, tourist, Travel, Travel photography, X100F4 Comments

I’ve been trying to “find myself” lately as far as photography goes. Different editing techniques instead of always doing black and white. Maybe it’s time to get back to basics for at least one article. You’ve seen Honfleur in colour and at night in my last article. However, I did take my camera out during the day! Yes, that can happen sometimes.

You’ve already had the witticisms about Normandy and the like, so this article is somewhat shorter. It’s about exhibiting some black and white photography of a very pretty little town in Normandy without the distraction of colour. They were taken whilst walking from where I had parked the car, to the house that we had rented for the week. They were taken whilst meandering through the streets, getting lost, trying to see what the place looked like in daylight. They were taken whilst I just let my mind wander off and just take in the beauty of the place. Quite typical for me really, and probably the best way to photograph a town.

The photographs were taken over a period of three days using both the Canon 6D Mark II, with the 16-35mm lens, and the Fujifilm X100F.

Commonwealth War Cemetery, Ranville

Posted on Sep 4, 2019Sep 8, 2019 Posted in Black and White Photography, France, History, Normandy, Travel photography, UncategorizedTagged 16-35mm, 16-35mm lens, 6th Airborne Division, black and white, Black and White Photography, blog, burial, Canon, Canon 6d Mark II, cemetery, d day, death, France, grave, graveyard, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Normandy, Parachute Regiment, photo reportage, photographer, photography, tourism, tourist, Travel, Travel photography, World War 2, WW2Leave a comment

In my last article I talked about Normandy and the battle to take Pegasus Bridge, and in this article I want to talk about the soldiers that didn’t come back. Ranville is a town, not too far from Pegasus Bridge and the men that fell in that engagement are buried in the Parish Churchyard. Just next to the chuchyard is a Commonwealth War Cemetery.

The cemetery contains predominantly British soldiers killed during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy. A large proportion of those interred were members of the British 6th Airborne Division. These places are always very moving, even more so when one looks at the ages of some of those that died in June 1944. My son is 20 and the same age as so many of those soldiers.

Even when dead they are still on parade in ranks with perfect dressing. They died as soldiers and even in death they remain soldiers. When you look through the photos you will notice certain anomalies. One was a tank crew that was buried together, as a crew. One is a grave of a German Jew who escaped to join the British army, and was given a pseudonym so if he was captured his name wouldn’t betray him, One grave is of a parachutist and his dog who were buried together.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Extract For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon

Yoga in town

Posted on Jul 3, 2019Aug 25, 2019 Posted in Nantes PhotographyTagged babyyogini13, blog, Canon 6d Mark II, Ian Myers, ijmphotography, lifestyle, model, Nantes, Urban, wellness, yogaLeave a comment

This was my first go at doing a photo shoot and as any perfectionist worth their salt I wanted it to be as perfect as possible. I’d done my homework about how to approach working with a model. I’d looked up so many tutorials you can’t even begin to imagine how much footage I must have seen or the quantity of articles read.

There are some basic rules that seem self explanatory, but are worth following:

Listen to the model.
They have a message to give to their audience, and you need to know what it is, and discuss what kind of photos or video they want doing, and how this will help them to portray this message.
Do your homework.
Preparation is everything. Know what kit you need, or might need. This can include batteries that have been charged, memory cards at the ready, or enough rolls of film for the purists out there. This also includes a back-up camera… Murphy’s Law and all that!
Be a gentleman.
Avoid any type of douchebaggery. Your model is human being and deserves all the respect you would want them to show you. When I did this shoot we were both equals, and most definitely on equal footing. She wasn’t my thing to play around with and take photos as if she was a potted plant. I’m fine for giving direction, but there are limits. Apparently some photographers forget this very important rule and come over as really creepy and sordid.
Show some of the images so the model can have an idea of how the shoot went.
Editing.
Go home and start the editing process, or get you films to to the lab, and hope they don’t screw up the development and that you negatives arrive without scratches, which once happened to me. Choose your photos from the huge amount you’ve taken because you wanted to be sure and gt at least one reasonable photo. I took one of the chosen few photos and edited in about 5 ways and showed it to the model,so she could give me her opinion and it would also give me a process to follow for the rest of the editing.
The Model is a Human Being!!
I’d really like to come back to remembering the model is a human being and must be treated with the upmost respect. That person in the viewfinder is somebody’s daughter, sister, mother, spouse etc. Don’t be a cad and even if you are not, you must act always as the perfect gentleman.

My research on how to approach photography with a model took me through many articles found on Google and a good few videos on YouTube. There was one in particular that stood in my mind and was more about a certain philosophy instead of just technique. And here’s a link to it!

https://spark.adobe.com/page-embed.js