Lancie Awakening

[Donald]

After the night-time, there is always the dawn. This was at 6:19am (which the clocktower can confirm).

Unlike the village of Fleurie, Lancie does not give its name to a wine cru, but it is no less pretty for that.

The 10 crus of Beaujolais represent a style mark for wine, the system being based on the premise that these areas have better conditions for growing the grapes that will make the wine, than those in the more generic 'Beaujolais Villages' or the more lowly 'Beaujolais' areas. Each of the crus have their own distinctive style. So, for example, a wine from Fleurie will have a different style than a wine from, say Chiroubles. But, this grading system doesn't take account of the passion and skills of the winemaker.

Your comments are always welcomed.


40D, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM @ 155mm. ISO100. 1/4@f11

[Harpo]

Donald,

Theres a nice quality to this image with the gradual darkening as it goes down. Just wondering out loud... if most of the top brightest 1/3rd was cropped out, would it help focus more on the clock tower? Im finding myself slightly distracted by the brightness of the top third. Ive been know to be wrong quite a bit...

[MiniChris]

There could alomst be some merit to this suggestion but even then, only about half the sky. The problem, of course is that it squares up the composition too much to allow the natural lighting depth to occur and in cropping to a more rectangular frame, too much of the foreground is lost...and it is the foreground that wins over the eye - so, I think I'd leave this puppy alone and savor that early morning light. Then again, I've been wrong a time or two myself.

[ScoutR]

Nice!!! Very Very Nice.

Wendy

[Donald]

Thank you to each of the above for coming in with comments.

Mike - Re your ...

Just wondering out loud... if most of the top brightest 1/3rd was cropped out, would it help focus more on the clock tower? Im finding myself slightly distracted by the brightness of the top third. Ive been know to be wrong quite a bit...

What really struck me as I lined this one up was the gradation from dark to light, in layers, from front to back. So getting that brightest 1/3rd at the top was part of the plan, so that it became an image about layers of shades of grey, with a clock tower and a village thrown in for additional interest.

But you make a good point and when you do mask off that top bit there is much more attention on the clock tower. But I think that on balance, that I'll keep it like this as this is the image I saw when I pressed the button. But, you're right, there is another image in there. And many will prefer it.

[Clactonian]

The photographer knows best!! Great image Donald and a very evocative series.
Not sure why you spent all that time photographing when you could have been drinking!!

[Donald]

Not sure why you spent all that time photographing when you could have been drinking!!

Many thanks, Mike.

You'll maybe notice that the images, with a couple of exceptions, were captured in the earlier part of the day. The latter part of the day was, as you suggest, for wine, bread and cheese. Aaahhh!

[mammarazzi]

Lovely shot, you can almost feel that early morning cool mist......were you up early or just going to bed after a good session

[Katy Noelle]

Heh, Donald, I came and would have been the first to comment.....again! So opted to come back, later. I love this image - it's sort of, well....quintessential.