A Few More Photos from Provence, France

[NorthernFocus]

I ran out of shots from last weekend so got back to processing photos from our trip to France. I committed to provide copies of some of the Provence photos to other members of the bike tour we were on. So the rest of the Paris photos have to wait. Here are a few of the ones I like. Some for photography sake and some due to interesting subject matter.

We took the train(TGV) from Paris to Avignon, a town of about 100k residence, roughly ten percent of whom live within the walls of the old midievel section. In the 13th century the Roman Catholic Church moved the papal residence to Avignon where it remained through the tenure of several popes. The Palais des Papes is built on top of a hill above the banks of the Rhone River and dominates the town's skyline. Wandering around structures that are this old is fascinating. The only photos that I have of the whole palais are multiple frames that I haven't yet stitched. So this post only has a couple points of photographic interest from the Palais.

1. This window fascinated me. Imagine the sights that have been seen through the window over the course of 800 years. This is also one of the rare occassions when I immediately recognized an image that would work best rendered in B/W.


2. In front of the Palais is a life sized crucifix that overlooks a huge courtyard. I was immediately fascinated with the potential for a compelling photo. We spent a total of two days in Avignon and over that time I walked around the image several times in various lighting situations. Surrounding statues, buildings in the BG, etc. were preventing the subject isolation and the feel I was trying to achieve. I finally struck on a composition but while processing was still disappointed in the result. It finally occured to me to render it in B/W and I'm resonably satisfied with the result.


3. A typical street in old town Avignon. These are real cobble stone streets per old Roman design of long stones set vertically, not the more modern version simply paved with brick.


We road somewhere between 400-500km around Provence on bicycles. Groves of olive trees, wild poppies, and vinyards clothed in spring green were the order of every day. It was too early in the year for the lavendar. Here are a few shots.

4. Workers were out pruning the vines. They spend a lot of time at each plant pruning, shaping, etc. The rose bush at the end of the row serves as early warning of fungal infections. The same fungus will infect the roots of roses and grape vines but the roses succumb first.


5. Wild poppies were everywhere. This was along the road to Gordes, the "village perche" in the BG. We had to ride up the hill to the village to earn our lunch.


6. Pont Julien is a 2000 year old Roman bridge. It was used for vehicle traffic up until about 10 years ago. We rode across on bikes. Yes, I have a model release (and have had for 32 years)


7. The Roman coliseum in Arles is still in use as a public venue. They have set up metal bleacher seats within.


8. Just a street in Arles. I liked the light.


9. The 2000 year old Pont du Gard is the largest aqueduct/bridge ever built by the Romans. Part of a 50km long aqueduct system, it supplied Nimes, a town of 50k people, with roughly 3500 liters of water per person per day. Nimes is where denim (de Nimes) cloth originated. Just think America, in addition to Lady Liberty, France gave us blue jeans.


10. We spent the last three days of our trip on the Cot d'azure in the little town of Cassis.

[Digital]

Dan, beautiful photos as well as a very interesting narrative. Thank you for sharing.


Bruce

[Shadowman]

Very nice series.

[wtlwdwgn]

Great travelogue. TFS.

[Kyle]

Looks like a beautiful place. All nice shots. You've captured something great in each one.

[Manfred M]

Nice images and a nice travelogue to boot.

A friend of ours went to Provence about the same time of year as you did (she also did it by bike) and the images resulted in an overwhelming desire to do a similar trip. Your images just re-enforce that over again.

I see you have taken B&W to heart now too..

[bnnrcn]

Very nice series Dan, thanks for sharing . Nice introduction, nice compositions and colours. I also like the B&Ws

[Kaye Leggett]

Dan - ooohhh so lovely. Reminded me of our bike trip to Provence a couple of years ago. We called it out 'going out for lunch' holiday as each day featured around where we cycled for lunch.

I like all of your shots , so well considered and varied as a set. I am trying to learn how to 'group' photos and this one really works.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for looking and commenting, everyone. Yes, Manfred, these are some of those examples of "period shots" that just don't look right in color. Kay, it is difficult to cull through dozens or hundreds of images and deciding what to share. In this case grouping the shots just came naturally by the desire to share my own impressions of the region. The things that stuck in my mind from the trip were the narrow village streets, every town dominated by an old Roman Catholic church, the ever present vineyards, the spring wildflowers along the road, and the artifacts of the Roman empire.

[Mike Buckley]

Very enjoyable series. I especially like the photo of the aqueduct. It's so nice that I hope you'll check out the halo (not a sharpening halo) where the sky meets the insides of the arches.

[NorthernFocus]

...check out the halo (not a sharpening halo) where the sky meets the insides of the arches.

Thanks, Mike. Another learning opportunity. I generated the B/W conversion from an already processed color version in which I had lightened up the shadows. The halo wasn't noticeable in the color version but the conversion brought it out. An example of how B/W really emphasizes tonal differences. Here is a version reworked from scratch. Substantially different. I made no attempt to repeat the processing from the conversion steps in the OP version (because I have no clue what I did the first time).

Rework


OP

[Mike Buckley]

The rework solved the problem with the halos. However, if you want a timeless look the toning is too purple to indicate that for me. You might want to try for a look that goes more toward a pure black-and-white appearance with no obvious toning as in your first version or toward the sepia look. Personally, I would also go for the look of an albumen print.

[Scouse]

Stunning series Dan...!!!

We based ourselves in Arles on our trip so your photos were special. We did wander Avignon and the other old town and cities in that area. Brilliant place.

Funny I was looking at long term apartment rentals in Arles just last week. Dreaming of our "Year in Provence"

[NorthernFocus]

The rework solved the problem with the halos. However, if you want a timeless look the toning is too purple to indicate that for me. You might want to try for a look that goes more toward a pure black-and-white appearance with no obvious toning as in your first version or toward the sepia look. Personally, I would also go for the look of an albumen print.

OK, I think we may have gone a bridge too far with my B/W development(no pun intended). Albumen??? How about I just tweak the WB slider in LR?

[Mike Buckley]

That revision works really nicely for me.

Albumen???

I was just testing to see how far I could drag you into the monochrome thing.

[dje]

Very nice set of shots Dan. They take me back to a trip we did to that area in 2010, from the comfort of a bus, not pedal pushing !

Whilst the south of France conjurs up scenes like your last shot, I was actually surprised to find so much history in the area, particularly in places like Arles, Avignon and of course the remarkable Pont Du Gard.

Dave

[NorthernFocus]

...Funny I was looking at long term apartment rentals in Arles just last week. Dreaming of our "Year in Provence"

We've been discussing the same thing. I'm near worn out working now so we may be able to do such a thing. With the train system in Europe one could cover a lot of territory from a central base of operation.

...I was actually surprised to find so much history in the area, particularly in places like Arles, Avignon and of course the remarkable Pont Du Gard.

That was our surprise as well, Dave. Of course I've read a lot about the history of that area, particularly the Roman and Napoleanic periods, but I had no idea so much of it would still be there. In Arles and Nimes they still use the Roman built coliseums as venues for bull fights, concerts, etc. That is just astonishing.

[Kaye Leggett]

We've been discussing the same thing. I'm near worn out working now so we may be able to do such a thing. With the train system in Europe one could cover a lot of territory from a central base of operation.

When we were there we were assured you could 'do' Paris for lunch...................

[bambleweeney]

When we were there we were assured you could 'do' Paris for lunch...................

True, it is possible. Everything goes to Paris, if you want to go somewhere else it's not quite so easy (unless you change at Paris !!). Monday travel is a little bit of a gamble as the French like to strike on a Monday (been caught out a couple of times by this one)
Re. history. This is one thing the French are great at. There are loads of villages that have changed little for centuries. Certainly in England they would be tourist traps but here in France they are just ordinary villages and it's always a joy to stumble across a 'working' village with wood beamed houses and narrow cobbled streets.

[Otavio]

Beautiful images, Dan, with a nice story behind each one. I especially enjoyed the monochromes. #2 is striking (an unusual angle and very well composed shot).

Thanks for sharing!