Whimsical – a photography assignment
June 26, 2014
“For a June Photo Hunt, please show me whimsy!”, writes Karma at http://karmardav.wordpress.com/2014/06/01/in-want-of-whimsy/.
The deadline to submit your whimsy photos is Monday, June 30th if you wish to participate. I feel like sharing some pictures that may fit this definition of “whimsical” :
Here they are, I hope you enjoy them.
Two sculptures by Dutch artist Hanneke Beaumont in the courtyard of an old castle in Gruyères, Switzerland. Not whimsical enough, are you saying ? Just wait for the next picture… 
The same characters are visited by tourists. Do you think they enjoyed this sudden familiarity with a photographer and his mischievous son ? 😉 I did enjoy it.
How about this whimsical presentation of two pairs of red shoes ? No shop window here but the yard of a large farm. I like the surrealist look of this work created by the artist, Flaviano Salzani. 
“To affirm oneself” (or to assert oneself ?) is the title of this curious sculpture by Mathilda Raboud. A playful angel riding on a not so funny crocodile. Look at his eyes and teeth ! One of them certainly needs to affirm oneself 😉 
Thanks, dear Karen, for your June photo hunt which is really fun. I look forward to seeing the other bloggers’ whimsy pictures.
End of the earth – Photo hunt
August 20, 2012
How about photo assignement this month ? Here is one proposed by Karen at http://karmardav.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/photo-hunt-inspiration-and-early-announcement/
The deadline is August 31st and the theme is about the place(s) that would represent the “End of the earth” for you. Karen explains all about it in her blog (see above link, please).
Looking through some of my recent and older pictures, I found some images that I thought would show you my vision of the end of the earth.
A hamlet up in the Swiss Alps. About 15 people live there all year round. Both sides of the mountain slopes seem to close in front of the small village. On a foggy day the chalets look isolated, almost lost in the forest. To me it does look like the end of the earth. When the sun is out though the high mountains all around offer you a different sight: a quiet little village from where you could start hiking to the mountain pastures.
On a brighter side, here is a man doing paragliding; it looks as if he is heading to the end of the earth… A view that made me dizzy and envious of the infinite space that lay all around him and that is so difficult to imagine.
Sunset on the large lake, beauty, light, peace, isolation. It seemed that one could not go further and that the horizon of the lake would be the end of the earth.
Austral mountains and forests stretching out to the horizon. No visible village nor town nearby. No hikers to be seen around. The only sounds were the calls of the noisy cockatoes. A sure feeling of being at the end of the earth.
As for the “extreme” type of picture I felt like adding to Karen’s photo hunt, I chose this one. I took it a few years ago as I was walking along a mountain trail. Two boys were cycling and they stopped in front of a trail going down the slope. So steep that I would have hesitated to walk down there myself. I barely had time to ask : “Are you sure you…” and down they went !
White and more
March 11, 2012
Hello Dear you all,
As I just wrote in my previous post, it felt so good to find your warm thoughts and messages as I came back home. Thank you so much for your visits, encouraging comments and good wishes, it really meant a lot to me. I feel much better and slowly but surely all my energy will come back. As I left home, snow was falling heavily behind this window you know well by now.
Today there is still some snow around but the sun is brighter on nature green patches. I like to think that Spring is not far and that all sorts of colours will spread over our Winter landscape. 
Colours are everywhere though even in hospitals where white used to be the norm. I tried to catch a few of them to share with you.
All day long the light changes and brings out colourful details on a wardrobe or on a bouquet of flowers. Behind the curtain the evening lights look like stars and I loved to look at the houses nearby in the soft early morning shades. Then there is this bright small lamp, companion of some sleepless nights.
The lamp and the book. An interesting story and one I enjoyed reading. The story – based on true facts – takes place during WWII when some American pilots had their planes shot down by the ennemy. Many of them died. Some men parachuted over French Occupied territory and were lucky to be saved by members of the French Résistance (partisans). Dangerous days, weeks and months awaited all those involved in the rescue of the Allied soldiers, including the pilots themselves, of course. This book kept me awake for many hours until a nurse would check on me and say : “Now you must sleep !” But then during the day, she would ask me : “How is the story going on ?” 😉
There were quite a lot of emails waiting for me on my PC. One of them was from Scott Thomas at Views Infinitum.
The good news was that a new photography challenge has been assigned by Scott Thomas. The subject is one I look forward to working on : Abstract Photography.
Maybe you would like to participate too ? Please do. Deadline is March 21st, 2012. All details are explained here :
http://viewsinfinitum.com/2012/03/07/assignment-18-abstract-photography/
A little “thank you gift” for your thoughtfulness for me :
Pour toi, for you, a choco heart !
A difficult choice
November 16, 2011
The following photos are new on my blog. Some have been posted on flickr, some were just waiting to get out of my archives. They were all taken in 2011 with different cameras. Scott Thomas Photography’s challenge at Views Infinitum “Your Best Photos in 2011”
http://stphoto.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/assignment-16-best-photos-of-2011/
was a great opportunity to bring them to light. Today, November 16, is the last day to present your three best pictures of 2011 (or more) if you feel like participating in Scott’s assignment.
I do not really consider them as my “best” but certainly they are favourites of mine. Each for its own reason. I did not take many pictures in 2011: loss of my camera (Sony Cyber- shot), loan of another one (Canon) for a while and finally getting a new one I need to get accustomed to (Panasonic Lumix ZX3). Nevertheless here are some pictures I am very happy to share with you.
A Winter sunset in front of my home. The day had been cold and the walk to the forest went at a brisk pace. I love how the light branches of a birch tree added a decorative frame over the landscape.
Snow fell heavily, sky and earth were of the same pale shade. The dark wooden barn stood out in all this whiteness. I wish this image would make you feel the intense silence that was envelopping the whole landscape. No cars, quiet birds, even the wind had stopped howling. A white silence all around.
The Joy of Spring after a long and harsh Winter ! Countless shades of green under a warmer sun. The soft sounds of grasses brushing against one another was a real delight to listen to.
“To see one blade of grass at a time rather than simply a mountainside of green makes every element of life important”
Joan Chittister
Nino, of course, is one of my favourite models in photography. On that day, he was keeping a low profile…hiding in a field, looking rather worried. What you do not see are three black and white cows grazing peacefully a little further away. He is afraid of them although he has made progress during the Summer. Cows are everywhere around here, so many pastures for grazing.
I thought he was sleeping after his recent disturbing experience. He looked so comfortable and relaxed in his sleep but as soon as he heard my “click”, he opened an eye ! “One does not disturb a dog who is sleeping”, we say. Yet, I did, just could not resist taking a picture …
On a sunny afternoon I was driving near a farm. I caught a glimpse of an extraordinary water- jet ! I stopped and looked at this beautiful sight : the sun was shining on the drops of water as if a rainbow had fallen onto the field. The sight was even more surprising when I downloaded the picture. Almost unreal.
A white swan gliding silently on a canal reminds me of a peaceful Summer walk. There were fishermen, small boats, ducks and this lone swan hoping for some pieces of bread that I did not have.
Last October I visited friends in the South with my family. Ticino state is the only Italian-speaking area in my country. A little bit of Italy here and there. This door is the entrance of a pleasant B&B, an ancient house of the XIXth century, nicely restored and welcoming guests all invited to the same wedding. What a wonderful stay and wedding party !
Autumn arrived slowly, with days that looked like Summer so mild and sunny they were. Yet, little by little, terraces were deserted, leaves started falling, temperatures dropped. Mornings are frosty and the forest is covered with a precious and rustling carpet, night falls around 6pm and soon the trees will be bare. Snow is just around the corner and next year too. With more pictures !
I hope you enjoyed this short travel through some of my favourite pictures. Thanks for traveling with me and thanks Scott for another enjoyable assignment.
Hometown photography challenge
May 14, 2011
There is a new photography challenge at Scott Thomas’ “Views Infinitum” :
http://stphoto.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/assignment-13-hometown-history/
Here is what Scott writes about it :
“This month’s assignment will be about Hometown History. Specifically, Your Hometown as in year’s past. Whether your hometown has centuries of history or less than a hundred years, you can find places, people, things and stories about its past.
Please, have your photos posted on or before Midnight (your time), Wednesday, May 25, 2011.”
Let’s all participate in this assignment and travel back to our hometown history. Stagecoach is not mandatory 😉
Let’s find stories of our past and meet people who can share some of their memories and experiences.
Good luck to all and enjoy re-visiting your hometown !
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