on catching the light in antibes
If I could only catch the light. That is all I want. In order to do that, I will visit villages in France when the sky is clear, the air pristine, and the sun shines at high noon.
In some villages, along the Mediterranean Sea, for example, it easier because the building walls are not so high. They are fishing villages and may be two or three stories high. Martigues, to the west of Marseille, is a good example and one of my favorites.
The perched villages in France, those with a middle ages provenance, pose the most problems. The walls are high, and more importantly they jut up from narrow streets, more like alleys, and block out the sun.
I want to catch the light because I want to take pictures, and it is that sunlight which provides the light and shadows for taking those photographs. Without the light striking past those walls and into the streets of a village, I will only have a shaded or dark passage.
So, I tend to stay home and not venture far away when the sun does not shine. (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)
I like visiting southern France during the winter months—February through April—because the sun shines more often than not. Even when the Météo says I will have two hours at mid day, when the sun will shine, I can take a quick train ride from Antibes, where I stay, into Nice and rush to Vieux Nice and wander through those narrow streets and try to catch some light. (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)
It is well known that well-known painters, and those less well-known, and even amateur photographers, find the light in southern France, and the shadows in contrast, particularly appealing. (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)
un Voyageur 
HI Michael….a dreary Oregon day today with very little shadow and not nearly the caliber of light you managed to capture in your photos…they are terrific! thanks for sharing them and the story that accompanies them:-)
Thank you MIchael, always such beautiful photos…and love your
themes…however do you think of them!!