Funicular

So this is where we were staying, the village of Meribel-Mottaret, which was considerably cheaper to get accomodation when there's no snow.  Given the parking is down at the bottom level, and our holiday apartment was up on the top-right, it would have been a struggle with the bags, except for...

...the funicular.  I suppose this technically counts as a bit of railway photography to start off the French holiday?

A more eccentric way of reaching our place we couldn't think of, and this was a lot of fun.

The view from our window, which was, in a word, stunning.  Next, an exploration of the immediate area, before we started going further afield...

 

France- le Shuttle

For the next few weeks, we'll be sharing pics from our massive trip to the French Alps.  We started with getting there by LeShuttle, which I (Ben) hadn't done since childhood.  It's a tricky bit to photograph, so we'll make do with one of the models in the UK terminal.

Abstract shot whilst waiting for the train at the Folkestone Terminal.

It's a nice short crossing, but not much to do in the car, on the train. so we had a crack at some slightly abstract shots.

The trains are looking a bit tired, but with a little greyscale, they have a nicely industrial feel.

Helped to pass the time, anyway...

Again, the French terminal offered limited opportunity for photography, but here we were, on the continent.  Happily the weather improved, along with the scenery which became more and more stunning the further South we drove.

 

Abstract Tangles; more mucking about with beach balls

Just a quick post tonight, that I (Ben) should have got around to posting before we went to France.  This was a very short-notice shoot -like, the night before the deadline- when I spotted the open call on the Curatorspace website.

The theme was 'Abstract Tangle', for an online show with www.cistaarts.com

Having had some success earlier in the year with the "Inflate-Deflate" series, shot outdoors, I decided to go right back to the roots of the project, and shoot something the way I had at Uni.

It even used the original beachball from the project (nothing like using a 15 year-old prop; most people consider beach tat like this disposable, so I suppose that's quite a responsible attitude, using them for so long), as well as several more, as I'd bought out all the remaining stock the shop had when I found out the owner was retiring this year.  Lacking a studio, I made do with a lot of black bedsheets, some string, and an inspection lamp.

There wasn't a lot more to it than that- I just tried to get some interesting compositions.

A few close-ups too.

I genuinely wasn't sure if they'd bite, but whereas this project was once popular, then wasn't for a while, the art world seems to have swung back around to bright, colourful, and weird (which I blame the 90's Revival for, but I suppose I shouldn't complain).

Here's the link to the show:

https://www.cistaarts.com/abstracttangles

 

KWVR Vintage Trains sunday.

We're busy editing the pics from our trip to France, but here's something from before we went away, a bit of railway photography on a gloomy day.

I (Ben) had been looking forward to the return of the regular vintage trains on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, but typically the weather was murky, with a tuppaware sky.

Monochrome improved things a little bit.

Then it was up to Damems, as I thought the surroundings might be a little more interesting for photography.

Phone shot, through the gap between the gate and the post.

A very reflective smokebox on the Coal Tank, but again the gloomyness was playing hell with the light levels, and the camera was struggling somewhat.

Later that afternoon, Elder Child and I headed up to Oakworth, as I thought it might make for a nice rain-shot.  And then typically, the rain stopped, just leaving everything damp and gloomy.

Whilst awaiting the train, I took some reference pics for an upcoming miniatures project, where I need some shots of the metal advertising signs.

I'd like this as my shed.  Interestingly apparently the company that make these will do you a bespoke one, though it probably won't fit in our garden.

The train duly arrived; I think the poor weather had rather put people off, so there were no passengers getting on or off.

And waiting for the departure.  This would be the last bit of railway photography before France, where the rather better weather (actual sunshine!) improved things considerably