Photographs, Belgium 1                                                                                July, 2003

Sometimes, it's quite difficult to find something to photograph.  That's when I start playing around with Photoshop's digital wizardry, especially the filters and effects.  This first image is of a fence-like sculpture outside our apartment building in Brussels.  By itself the sculpture was almost interesting, but not quite.  However, after a little liquifaction and posterization, I really like it.  The photograph moves the eye from the lights to the darks and from the regular to the irregular, making the image both pleasing and exciting.  

The second photograph was taken a couple of blocks from our apartment.  It's a view looking out into the courtyard from one of the windows of the 12th century Cistercian Abbey de la Cambre.  Bright sunlight was streaming in through the old, not-quite transparent glass, reflecting on the stone window sill and abbey wall.  The old windows give an impressionist feel to the simple courtyard garden.  It's easy to imagine generations of nuns and clergymen walking past this very spot, thanking God for the beautiful light, and for the peace and tranquility of the setting.

More on beautiful light -- there are two ponds, les Etanges d'Ixelles, behind our apartment building.  They're home to swans, geese and ducks.  The ponds have fish (we see fishermen) and there's plenty of bread on offer.  This photo was taken during an evening walk as the sun was going down.  The reflections on the water were cool.  A dog walking on the nearby grass accounts for the fluffed-up wings on these swans.  

Dinner out with friends at a small hotel in Normandy  provided the opportunity to photograph the place settings on the right.  For 13-15 euros we got a great prix fixe meal with appetizer, main, cheese and choice of fruit or desert.  The place even had ambiance.  We're still looking for this sort of great deal in Brussels.   

At any rate, this table was already set for a banquet lunch for the next day.  The repetition and monochromatic color scale are pleasing to me.  I don't understand why the spoons turned out so black.  It has to do with the lack of reflected light, but I don't recall it being so very black to my eye.

Contrasting with the monochrome above is the colorful bluish-purple thistle flower below.  It's a store-bought flower that I thought was neat.  The leaves are soft, and there are no thorns.  For this shot, I just placed a cluster of flowers on our dining table and clicked away.  We happen to be using the red tablecloth at the time, so the red is just a bit of luck.  Given the color combination, it seems only appropriate to wish you well; may your July seem like Christmas!

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