Weekly Competition #207 - France Competition

Thanks to all who entered. I think the entry count was pretty much on a par with previous country themes, so we did just fine. Here are my thoughts on an interesting selection:

Sandinista: Through The Archway

This is a fine Norman church, nicely framed. I like the warm light, surprisingly so if the clock is correct, and the sky is very attractive. The tower appears separate from the church, which strikes me as unusual. How do I feel about the converging verticals? I’m not sure, I think I might prefer them a little less converging, but I like this scene.

A Little Piece Of France: AsenAl

The French are very loyal to their car industry. So much that they are prepared to pay small fortunes continuously repairing them rather than be unpatriotic and buy Japanese ones that work properly. The fish-eye view and choice of yellow (yellowish?, couldn’t look more yellow to me) emphasises the fun nature of this shot. Good choice of subject.

Breakfast In Rue D’Alesia: David Trout

A Parisian café scene. A very typical little slice of life, nicely composed. I’ve tried to work out why the customer is reaching. I can’t quite make out, but that holds my interest just a little longer. I like the sepia treatment, it seems right. I like the appearance of the waiter in the window too. Nice scene.

Rouen: John Riley

Rouen for me is passing through the industrial bits on the way to Calais and getting lost. The French have a trick with roadworks - they put three deviation signs up until your are well away from the roadworks and then no more, leaving you to get completely lost. And Rouen is the French capital of roadworks. I’ve not seen the nice bits of Rouen so this is a little taster. A fine ye olde French shoppe. Nicely taken, nice little scene.

The Old Chateau: Doctor Jeff

The abundance of historic buildings are one of the things I really like about France. They aren’t all spectacular, but they just seem to make up the fabric of the place. A lot of the towns are smaller than the UK, so the ratio of old to new development is often less and the historic nature of the place seems more evident. This scene then is very typical of those unspectacular but very satisfying places. I find the sky just a little bright but I like the lush greens.

New Year’s Beach: Guy Savin

Hi Guy and welcome to the forum. I really like this photo of a New Year’s stroll on the beach. I presume it was taken in France but there isn’t any information, neither is there any exif data to tell me whether this was taken with a Pentax, so I can’t really judge it.

French Cuisine: Alexfilipov

Popular in the Eastern Bloc too? I can’t understand why they are popular, to me they taste of approximately nothing. In fact I don’t think they are that popular here in France these days. But of course this is a symbol associated with France (except for the French that is). There is a striking combination of primary colours in this scene - and I would consider a square crop to lose the top third of the shot and just leaving the three elements of frog, blue cloth and one red arc . I think that would look very good indeed.

Postcard From Paris: AxelLuther

Only the French could make a big pylon enigmatic. I like the near perfect symmetry of the shot and as always the amount of fine detail. In fact, reducing the tower to this abstract nature really concentrates the viewer’s attention on the intricacy of the ironwork. It’s not easy to come up with a different take on something so often photographed. Clever, I like it a lot.

Rural France: Oso

Very typical south-western architecture. I like the look of this scene. Everything’s bright but not overly so. The colours are strong but have a subtlety too. I suspect this is the kind of look that can only be achieved with film. This is a simple but very enticing scene. Very nicely done.

La Poste: RustyTheClown

This is a quirky scene. It has a strangeness about it, probably due to the lack of people. Also it seems odd to have the post office right on the sand. I quite like it but I’m not sure I can really explain why. I think the photo needs straightening a bit, which would also remove the little intrusion top left.

Picnic: Robertomaryan

The Arc de Triomphe is a very recognisable symbol of France. The arch is small in this scene and the flag very small, it’s difficult to make out. I like the blossom on the trees but the plain grass foreground doesn’t grab me. The flag is definitely a tricolour and there does appear to be some distinct blue which rules out Italy. So my guess therefore is that this was taken in Romania.

Le Tricoleur: Tammy

What a terrific interpretation of the scene. I’m not sure what the chap is doing with the braids, but I think the photo is better for that. The focus does appear to be on the lower forearm and I think it would be better on the hands where the centre of interest lies. But this is very clever, subtle and I like it a lot.

Rough Vineyards And Railways: MartynPrescott

Two good symbols that one associates with France. It’s not a TGV but France did a good job holding high speed records for a while, no chance now the Chinese are on the case though. The foreground vineyards look rather unkempt, hence the title. But that means they do make for a rather less distinct foreground. Nicely on topic entry though.

Modern Take Mona: VonBatCat

The world’s most famous painting, Italian but the French nabbed it. It’s a shame the hands have been cut off, and some of the edges look a bit iffy but the authentic background and the pose is excellent. A good bit of fun and really good interpretation of the theme. Hugely amusing.

Dessert In The Desert: AlienGrove

Another from that eerie world, a little slice of France in Doha. To be honest I think I have seen better in this series of shots, I don’t think the figure is ideally placed and the distortion on the building housing the café looks a little odd. Mind you, the whole idea strikes me as odd. I wonder of the skies change or if the fake weather stays the same. The floor is just too shiny, the whole place is just too shiny. As a depiction of a weird world this succeeds. There must be a middle-eastern Truman Burbank in there somewhere.

Eating In The Backstreets: Hyram

I was wondering how you achieved this angle for a while before reading the description. St Malo is a nice town and I guess these were taken from the impressive ramparts. I quite like it because of the rather different view and the strong colours. It has something of a PI shot about it.

Citroen 2CV: Malcolm Leader

An icon indeed which needs no explanation and a very good interpretation of the theme. I think you find as many of them in the UK as France these days. I like this take on it showing just the ‘face’. The symmetry isn’t quite perfect and I wonder if mono might have softened that just a little bit of background distraction. Good though.

Perigord Vert: Gary John

Plenty of expats down that way, it’s a nice part of the world. A shallow depth of field for such a scene, I think that idea works although I think it might work a bit better with the flower heads a bit more prominent and a bit less stalk and leaves. Nice enticing scene to whet the appetites of the hordes of holidaymakers soon en route, shame a few more of them didn’t choose to stay in the Limousin this July.

Wine Box: Geordie01

A nice drop of claret and a nice abstract take on the wine theme. I don’t need to say very much about this photo, it speaks for itself, simple and effective.

Old Postcard Stand: Ben76

I like the idea of postcards from French holidays. It is my impression that all the French go on holiday in the same two weeks of August to the beaches of the Atlantic Coast from and it would be nice to see more detail on the postcards to confirm whether this has always been the case. I think I’d prefer to see the postcards face on rather than a slight angle. Enjoyable.

Classic French Transport: Drofmit

Another 2CV and either an agricultural cart or a prisoner transportation device. A tumbril filled with geraniums is a very common sight in the villages of France. My wife is a local councillor and every year there are protracted discussions on which plants to choose for the summer adornments. A few weeks later the cart gets filled with geraniums, as always and as every other cart in the land does. So this strikes me as very typical. I just think here the view could be a bit closer, straighter and eliminating much of the sky as there are large patches of blown highlights.

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: Dodge69

This is a terrific view of the statue of liberty in New York. I really like the tones and the texture of the sculpture. The edges don’t quite look 100% right - some manipulation, but the background is a very clever touch with the graduation from dark to light. That sets off the statue really well. If I take a few steps back from the screen this looks brilliant. This statue was French designed, French built and gifted to the American people who, a few years later, gifted a small version of the same thing back to Paris where it now looks frankly a bit silly. The original though is one of the finest examples of French design.


1st Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: Dodge69
2nd Le Tricoleur: Tammy
3rd= Postcard From Paris: AxelLuther, Modern Take Mona: VonBatCat

HC’s Davidtrout, JohnRiley, Oso, Geordie1

Well done Sean, and the placegetters and HCs also, of course.

A good idea for the comp Adrian, and apologies for not supporting the cause on this occasion.

Congrats to all the winners!

Doc did a great job, as always


JA

Congrats to dodge and all the podium places and thanks to Dr O for the H C.
I could not believe that i did not have a photo of France as we as we have been going there two or three times e year for the last ten years but i was using different systems then.
But that will change in the next three weeks as we are off again for a month in our motorhome can't wait.

Dodge69, excellent, nice idea and well done for your win.

I wonder what you have in mind for the next one?

Many thanks also to DrOrloff for the very prompt and well thought through judging.

Dodge69 - a very worthy winner.

Many thanks to DrOrloff for the competition and judging.

You are right - mine was taken looking down from the old city ramparts.

The problem is that much of the inner city is in shadow in mid December.

Great idea for a comp and well judged by Dr Orloff. Congrats to the winners.
David

Well done Dodge69 a great shot. Many thanks for the judging and the placement DrO.

(Have redone my image with some feathering and edge burn on the iffy bits... was not as obvious on my laptop but very obvious on large screen, I just left it in to test the judge....:lol

Well done to all!

Wow that's a surprise! I loaded this on a whim at the very last minute (my other half had talked me out of it as it reminded her of NY rather than France). However I was brought up in the USA and it is drummed into you very early about the proud links both countries have particularly the philosophical accord regarding liberty that this iconic gift symbolizes.

Enjoyed the informative judging (thanks for letting me off with the edges, it really was a last minute job, guess I have to go tidy it up now it's a winner!)

Some good shots everybody on what turned a out to be a rather trickier subject.

Many thanks all!

Congarulations Sean, an excellent shot and worthy winner. Well done places and HCs and another fine job of judging DRO

Congratulations Sean, the other podiumss, and the HC's!

Gosh what a surprise - this is the first competition I have entered so I'm really pleased with the result. Thank you and congratulations to Sean - fantastic picture.
Tammy