Perspective

Today was not so much about taking good photos, but about experimenting and learning how to control what the camera does in terms of exposure. Automatic settings forbidden! And I now know what the histogram is for :) I didn't even know how to find it on my camera until today.

So I did a lot of taking photos, checking the histogram, switching to manual, adjusting exposure, taking more. I also finally understood why photos of anything red and green (geraniums for example) come out looking awful, and how to fix it (underexpose by a stop).

This is a medieval building in Clairac. We'd previously been in Pujols, a very well-preserved bastide which is one of les plus beaux villages de France. Clairac has the potential to be equally beautiful, but while Pujols looks prosperous and cared for, some economic disaster seems to have overtaken Clairac. It's full of lovely wonky medieval buildings in timber and herringbone brick. Most of them look rather run down, and in a walk of 300 metres I noticed six houses for sale.

This house must have been truly magnificent in its day, but it's going to fall down if someone doesn't do something to help it soon. It's rather shocking to see such a magnificent building so neglected, since France generally does look after its monuments.

This was an experiment taken lying on the pavement. And it's SOOC, thanks to exposure control!