Week 33 and I was on holiday. Like so often recently this meant that I was in France. I drove from the channel to stay with some friends for a couple of days. They have a small cottage near the village of St Benoit du Sault in the centre of France. This is not tourist country – though I here more English voices every time I go. If you’ve ever driven down the A20 south of Chateauroux on the way to Toulouse or the south coast you’ll have passed within a few kilometres of here.
When I arrived there was a note on the table outside the cottage. They had gone for the afternoon to a country fair in the village or Rosnay, about 30 km away. Thinking that I could meet them there I decided to go myself, little realising how big this fair would be. There were hundreds of people there and it was possible to do everything from taking ride on a carousel to buying a horse. I settled on taking a few snaps. I didn’t meet my friends there as I’d hoped, but I think I found one or two worthwhile photographs.
Main
These three sisters – and two of them may be twins – were waiting to be served with one of those sickly sweets that children love so much. I normally try to avoid subjects who have seen the camera, but I’m happy to make an exception for this. I love the cool expression on the girls’ faces. The knives in the background add to the atmosphere too.
M8, 24mm Elmarit
Alternatives
These two gentlemen appeared to be putting the world to rights.
M8, Tri-Elmar at 50mm
Like fairs in England that I remember from my childhood there was a ‘rifle range’where kids could try to pop balloons with an air rifle pellet.
M8, 24mm Elmarit
As well as fairground rides there was also the opportunity to buy local produce. Though the cheese seemed to be selling better than the sausage or ham.
M8, 24mm Elmarit
M8, 24mm Elmarit
And if all this riding, shooting and shopping was too much, there was always a cafe with seats under a refreshingly shady tree where a cool drink could be shared with friends.
M8, 24mm Elmarit
As I mentioned earlier my friends live near St Benoit du Sault, and this is a photograph I took by the old town walls. The two women were having lunch and admiring the view.
M8, Tri-Elmar at 28mm
Your colour cheese photo is very mouth watering and the boar in the background is a nice touch!
Comment by Volker — October 3, 2007 @ 9:28 pm
[...] Re: 24mm lenses recommendation I just received a second hand 24mm Elmarit by Fedex today. I’ve only had time to do a quick near and distant focus check, take pictures of my kitchen stove and sick daughter, but I think I’m going to like it very much. I’ve always felt a little constrained by the 35mm and even 28mm lenses on the M8. Perhaps that’s why I’ve had such a love affair with the little CV 15mm. But the 24mm Leica is actually rangefinder coupled! After getting a rangefinder headache focusing the Noc, 90mm and 135mm; I suspect the ease of getting tack-sharp images with this lens will come as a relief. I noticed that my few pictures shot this afternoon included some as slow as 1/6sec which has me very excited. Steve Unsworth has some lovely examples with the 24mm Elmarit on his blog: Picture A Week » Week 33: France [...]
Pingback by 24mm lenses recommendation - Leica User Forum — November 15, 2007 @ 11:30 pm
Thanks for pointing out the boar in the cheese pic – I didn’t notice that at first. That is one well-trained boar!
Comment by Bruce Robbins — October 16, 2008 @ 3:58 pm