April 16 - Faucets

had to dive into the holiday files to retrieve these images of beautiful old French faucets - nothing fancy, these have been pouring out water for the people of the villages for more than a century. The fresh water fountain in the centre of town had a comfortable bench nearby for travellers or locals to rest in the shade and the old lavoir (wash room) was still being used - a shirt hangs over the central beam above the wash basins. The water runs through each of the basins and is constantly replenished from the top.

February 18 - Clock

Clock - I know the theme is singular but I thought I would show two... In France the clock towers in the villages in Provence had the most beautiful ironwork above them which was different in each place we went to.

February 4 - Candid

Candid photography isn't my forte - I worry about people feeling annoyed that I have taken their photo, but sometimes things like this happen and I can't resist.

The organ grinder and the little girl were chatting on a street in Lyon, France. He was asking her whether she would swap her teddy for his monkey, she hugged the teddy tight behind her mother when he asked that! (you can see it behind her head)

For this image, shot in bright daylight, I wanted the antique look that the man portrays, so I desaturated the image by about 30% then added a couple of antique layers, wiping it away from the figures 100% on one layer, then about 30% away from just the faces on the second. I am amazed at what I am learning in photoshop by doing this challenge. I really like this effect on what was an interesting - but too bright and light image.