The Camargue

[Kaye Leggett]

Another part of my recent tour was a week around the Camargue - A flat delta and a haven for wildlife with vast skies. I wanted to capture that vastness and wonder whether I have achieved it with this small selection - your thoughts as ever gratefully received

1. From the ramparts of Aigue Morte. The sky was grey and I 'saw' this in black and white



2. On our cycle ride along the Dyke. The autumn colours of the plants reminded me of the heather in Scotland at this time of year



3. The protected beach



4. Looking inland towards the lagoon and the treasured flamingoes

[Bunty Plumchip]

I have the same ambition with where I live-to capture the huge skies, the loneliness without making it bleak. I think you have succeeded here. I really like the tones, textures and lines in #3.

[Donald]

From the ramparts of Aigue Morte. The sky was grey and I 'saw' this in black and white

Well done on 'seeing' the B & W. I do think that's a key element in trying to make B & Ws. On this one I think the composition lets it down. To me it's like two 'bits' separated by the water in the middle.

But as for the others ........! I think they're really good, strong images.

This, I think is a beautiful picture. It's strength is its simplicity. And it's not easy to make a strong image out of so few elements. And I love huge expanses of (interesting) sky, which this has. Brilliant.

[Suzan J]

Hello Kaye: I believe you have managed to convey the vastness and bleakness of the sky. I also prefer the colour versions as I agree with Donald that the first image seems too partitioned in a way. My favourite is Number 3 as I really like the visible footprints in the foreground. It adds a bit of timeless mystery and reminds me of those pictures of "caveman" fossilized footprints. How would that one look with a B and W conversion?

[bnnrcn]

Hi Kaye I like #2 and #3 very much. If it was mine I would try to improve #3 with some PP.

[Brownbear]

Hi Kaye,

Just to say that I think #2 is absolutely gorgeous (love the sky and the composition), and #2 is beautiful!

I'm actually very fond of #1 with just the uppermost portion of the image cropped off just below the two trees, leaving the lines on the top of the image. I can't explain why but when I move it around I just like it this way.

[Shadowman]

Nice images, the protected beach really works for me.

[Otavio]

...I wanted to capture that vastness and wonder whether I have achieved it with this small selection - your thoughts as ever gratefully received

Kaye, you have not achieved your goal...you have (by far) exceeded it, in my opinion. These are strong, yet simple (some minimalist), compositions.

Well done.

[Stagecoach]

Well Kaye, for me it has to be No 2 but very closely followed by No 1

You did achieve your goal.

[FrankMi]

Hi Kaye, there is another way to view these images. For the most part, they are made of relatively horizontal lines. As such you could try changing the aspect ratio to something between 16x9 or even 2x1 and see how it looks to you. You could easily determine if that would work for you by opening the image in the lightbox and moving the image around with you mouse to crop a bit off the top or bottom to get the feel of a wider aspect ratio. If you like it better, you could crop a bit to get the feeling you desire. If you don't like it as well, then the test is a quick and painless one.

[Kris V]

Another part of my recent tour was a week around the Camargue - A flat delta and a haven for wildlife with vast skies. I wanted to capture that vastness and wonder whether I have achieved it with this small selection - your thoughts as ever gratefully received

1. From the ramparts of Aigue Morte. The sky was grey and I 'saw' this in black and white



2. On our cycle ride along the Dyke. The autumn colours of the plants reminded me of the heather in Scotland at this time of year



3. The protected beach



4. Looking inland towards the lagoon and the treasured flamingoes

Wow! Thanks for the memories of a visit ......a looooong time ago......

[Kaye Leggett]

Thanks to you all for your encouragement and suggestions, really appreciated - I will work with them later today.

[IzzieK]

I just love the strength of the composition in #2 -- very powerful sky there...and #3 is another fav here for what has already been said -- lines and textures.