Clisson

Posted on Jun 2, 2023Jun 2, 2023 Posted in Architecture, Café Culture, France, History, Landscape Photography, Street Photography, Travel photographyTagged bridge, Castle, chateau, church, Clisson, color, colour, colour photography, countryside, day out, eglise, France, French, french countryside, fuji, fuji x weekly, fuji x100f, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, fujifilmx100f, historical, History, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, live in France, Loire Atlantique, Market, Market town, nature, park, Photo editing, photo reportage, photo shoot, photo walk, photographe, photographer, photography, rural, Street Photography, Street phtoography, streetphotography, summer, town3 Comments

Have you ever come across the articles named “The 10 Prettiest Villages in France,” “The 10 Prettiest Villages in Yorkshire,” “The 10 Prettiest Villages in Northumberland,” or “Some Other Dream Spot in This Beautiful World?” No? The one closest to us, is about 15 kilometres away and not in the south of France, which I believe to be completely overrated. Like most contenders for this type of little town, there is a bustling market every Friday morning (which is actually pretty wonderful, if not a touch on the pricier side), a park that hugs the river and lets you unwind while taking in the gentle sound of the water. A castle stands watch over the entire town. Meandering streets wonder up and down hills as do the locals. It is in wine producing country surrounded by vineyards who would be more than happy to flog you some wine…

Yes, it is one of “those” places, Dear Reader, but it is still beautiful. Clisson is also aware of this. Of course, I’m simply jealous because I don’t live there but wish I did.

In this series of photographs, I also chose to maintain the film-like appearance of my digital photography. It appears that summer is rapidly approaching. The days are already warmer and sunnier, but are not yet unbearably hot. And such weather is simply God’s way of encouraging you to go have a refreshing pint!

A Breath of Fresh Air

Posted on May 16, 2023Aug 15, 2023 Posted in France, Landscape PhotographyTagged classic chrome, countryside, fields, France, French, french countryside, fuji x weekly, fuji x100f, fuji XT2, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, fujifilmx100f, hedgerow, holiday, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Koda Chrome, Kodachrome, Nantes, photographer, photography, rural, vacation, X100F1 Comment

It’s 15h31 on a Monday afternoon, and I’m laying in my bed writing this whilst listening to Bach played on the guitar. Molly is sleeping (and snoring) next to my bed and has just had a belly rub. I was out this morning with the Fuji X100F, driving around the countryside. Why wasn’t I at work, I hear you say, Dear Reader. Because I’m on holiday for the week. The weather has been dismal and verging on English! But today, the sun was, and is still, out. It was lovely just being in the countryside, just soaking up the sun and being at peace with the world. Even if I wished to I can’t handle drama or conflict at the moment, so it’s a self-preservation thing.

If you follow me on Instagram could be forgiven for thinking that I only deal in Black and White Photography, which appears to be my natural niche, but over here I have the freedom missing from the ‘Gram, and don’t have to worry about staying on brand or faffing about thinking about the infamous algorithm, which is the “baddie” that everyone loves to hate. A little like our French Président!

I’m not watching as much YouTube as I used to and am thinking about going back to it, for instruction, inspiration, and as a resource for a way of advancing along my photographic journey. I’ve been getting back into using the X100F in a big way too. Lightweight, and gets the job done, and continues to be slightly less conspicuous when on the street. But I think I’m becoming guilty of rehashing the famous review of the camera that I wrote last year.

One of the reasons for getting the X100F was the film simulations. At the time, I was moving from film back to digital and remember loving the results people were able to achieve. Those desaturated colours, warm tones, and a feeling of timelessness. I think I have mentioned Fuji X Weekly, and their recipes that one can use to get a feeling of various film stocks. You can tell me what you think looking at the photos below.

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!

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!

The American Concert

Posted on Nov 18, 2022Nov 18, 2022 Posted in Music, ReportageTagged American, Arabesque, Canon 6d Mark II, concert, France, French, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, fujifilm xt2, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Music, photographer, photography2 Comments

“Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.” I, like most people, used to think that this was pure Shakespeare. Well, it is not; it is actually from the play “The Mourning Bride” by William Cosgrove, which was first performed in 1697. No, I cannot be having you say that you learn nothing from this blog, right?

So you get a free fact of the day. First, I don’t have breasts, but man boobs, and second, they’re not savage either! Trust me! As suggested in the title, this article is about a concert, and surprisingly the music was American, hence the name of the American Concert. Mind-blowing I know, right?

Now I can hear you saying this blog is about this man’s depression and photography, and possibly tea and cake. Give me some time and I’ll get there. My mental health is on the melancholic side due to rain, and teenagers at home, but it will get better.

My friend Hervé, who has already starred twice on my blog, is part of a Brass Quintet called Arabesque who have only been mentioned once on my blog. This lovely chap asked if I wanted to take some photos of their American Concert and I, of course, said yes, that would be great fun! They are revamping their website and wanted some photographs for it and after the success of the last shoot I did for them, they asked me to come back.

This would be the first concert I would photograph with stage lights. And when you photograph a concert, you have to get it right and not mess it up. I, of course, messed quite a few photos up, but it’s all a learning process, isn’t it? “They” said to use your fastest lenses, which is photographer lingo saying that you need the lens to have the widest opening possible to let in the most light and still have a relatively quick shutter speed. “They” seem to give out some good advice so I took my very fastest lens, an f1.2 35mm lens for my XT2 and because it has focus peaking, you can’t go wrong. That’s what “they” said. I proved “them” wrong and wasted about 60 photos. That’ll teach me to listen to “them!”

Fortunately, I had my Plan B (Canon 6D MarkII) with me, which worked a treat. What did I learn from this precarious situation? First, I was the only one who knew that I had messed up. Second, the importance of having a Plan B. Thirdly, using both cameras and thus still getting the shot, and fourthly that using a manual lens usually provides no worries during the day, but autofocus can be quite a good friend, especially for a concert. No need to be a purist. You can save that for later. What you need is to get the job done. So leave your pride at home and get some decent photos.

The entire show was splendid, and the music was first class too! If you have time to see Arabesque in concert you’ll definitely enjoy yourself, and you’ll be supporting live music and a great bunch of guys too! I would also like to thank them for the restaurant meal after the concert. What a delightful way to spend an evening!

Back to the Côte Sauvage

Posted on Nov 4, 2022Nov 3, 2022 Posted in Black and White Photography, France, Landscape Photography, Travel photographyTagged beer, benedictine, black and white, Black and White Photography, Bretagne, church, cote sauvage, France, fuji, fuji XT2, Fujifilm, Fujifilm X Series, fujifilm xt2, ijm photography, ijmphotography, Landscape, mass, mother in law, peace, photographer, photography, prozac, Quiberon, rocks, sea, shore, solitude, waves, wife, wild coast3 Comments

Sometimes you just want to spend time alone, not because you hate other people, even if I sometimes find it difficult to love my fellow man. People, or too many people, or people that are too intense just leave me shattered, and ready for an emotional breakdown. My mother in law is one of those people. She is the polar opposite of me. She loves people, loves the gossip, can’t stand her first husband or any other of her ex’s, and her opinions on everything are the exact opposite of mine. Could this be her calling in life? Is she there just to make me question my own beliefs and reinforce them, or is she just a pain in the arse? Possibly both…

Last weekend the idea was that we go up and see her. At first, it was going to be my wife and son, but not my daughter, and then it became my wife and I without the children. I must be a glutton for punishment. Killian had been using my car as an extension of his room to store his crap in since he left the girlfriend. I was getting sick of the whole thing and said if he didn’t get my car sorted then I wouldn’t be going either. The little bugger got all the stuff in my car out, and so I had no choice. Shit!

I have talked about the way I either need 10 pints worth of Heineken (other beers do exist) or Prozac to be able to deal with my mother-in-law. And how this technique has evolved into being stone, cold, sober. Not as fun but allows me to get in the car if things get too intense, escape, leave, and do some photography.

As it was Sunday, I went off to mass at the local Benedictine monastery. This is because I genuinely wanted to go to mass and fulfil my domincal obligations to keep the Sabbath holy. It was also my Dad’s birthday, so I would be able to call and sing him Happy Birthday.

No, I would not be back for lunch as I would be out doing some photography, and having some Ian time, to partake in my number one solitary pastime; photography of course, what else? But don’t worry about me for lunch, I will look after myself…. On the Quiberon peninsular, they have what they refer to as the Côte Sauvage, or the Wild Coast. Despite the high temperatures, we have to pinch ourselves to remind us that it actually autumn, and the end of October. However, on this Wild Coast you were left in no doubt which season we were in despite the warmth. Very slightly breezy, so I really did need my cane, and I found the white horses on the waves as they came crashing down on the shore against the rocks so beautiful. You can really feel the power of the ocean as those waves come in. It reminds you on how small you are, compared to God’s creation.

Despite the wildness of the coast, the ocean, and the waves, I managed to find my peace…