Song of Autumn

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57

Stunning Autumn colours at Moss Valley

I have just come across a beautiful heart-wrenching poem on a blog I follow.  [Anne Camille: http://fourdeeroak.wordpress.com]

“Chanson d’automne” (“Autumn Song”) is a poem by Paul Verlaine, one of the best known in the French Language. It is included in Verlaine’s first collection, Poèmes saturniens, published in 1866 [Wikipedia]  I have added the English translation.  Both versions are incredibly beautiful:

Chanson d’Automne

“Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l’automne
Blessent mon coeur
D’une langueur
Monotone.

Tout suffocant
Et blême, quand
Sonne l’heure,
Je me souviens
Des jours anciens
Et je pleure.

Et je m’en vais
Au vent mauvais
Qui m’emporte
Deçà, delà,
Pareil à la
Feuille morte.”

Sunlight Reflecting on the Lake

” The long sobs
 Of the violins
 Of Autumn
 Wound my heart
 With a monotonous
 Languor.

All choked
And pale, when
The hour chimes,
I remember
Days of old
And I cry.

And I’m going
On an ill wind
That carries me
Here and there,
As if a
Dead leaf.”

 Paul Verlaine

Autumn Colours Reflecting in the Lake at Moss Valley

I want to thank you all for the interest you have shown in my work and, currently, in the photography course I am taking with Open University.  I have been greatly encouraged and my heart has been touched.

I have been asked to give a ‘sneak preview’ of the course, so here is a brief summary.  Please ask if you want to know more on any subject.  I am glad to help whenever and wherever I can.

The first two weeks of the course have been about composition of a photo – colour, angle, contrast between light and shadow, subject, rule of thirds, etc.  Also the camera and how it works – very technical!!

We have also begun to use the editing programme Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 – a basic tutorial to find our way around, then working on cropping, straightening, metadata – keywords, copyrighting etc, importing and exporting.

Last week also included ISO settings – adjusting to allow more light onto the lens.  The photographs of Moss Valley are part of the week 2 assignment on ISO settings.  I have only ever used the AUTO setting.  In Moss Valley, I used the MANUAL setting for the first time ever, and tried out various ISO’s until I got a reasonable result.  The photos are a bit out of focus.  I’m not sure how to fix that yet.  And that’s all in the first two weeks!!

This is the third week of the course and it’s about exposure.  There are 51 pages of theory, photos and tutorial videos to study!!  I’m having to work three full days a week to complete all the work, which includes a four-hour assignment weekly and uploads of 10 photos to the Open Studio. I have been reading the comments of past students.  They say how intense the course is.  I didn’t realise how intense until now!!

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57 thoughts on “Song of Autumn”

  1. I have looked at quite few of your photos and just picked one to comment on. I had a bit of a problem finding the comment button. Your blog is a bit different from some that read/view. Anyhoo- your blog is beautiful. I did not take the time to find out it you are a pro or one that should be as all photos that I have seen are so very pretty. The way you use the light against dark is perfect in my non-pro view. I am glad that I stumbled over here via Gary S’s blog.

    Regards,
    Yvonne

    Reply

  4. Lovely photos! Especially the first one. The French poem you added brings the song, “A la claire fontaine” to mind. Have you heard that one? It was in the movie, “A Painted Veil.”

    Reply

    • Thank you, Ed, for your encouraging comment. I’m finding the course very hard going and having to spend a great deal of time on it. Fun it definitely is not!! Trying to work out the different settings – aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc for different situations is a nightmare. There doesn’t seem to be any set way, just trial and error, and in my case its more error than anything else!!

      Reply

  14. Lookd snd sounds like you are learning a lot of new things, and trying out new settings. Good for you! It will change how you approah your subjects, I’m sure, now that you have some information under your belt! Have fun!

    Reply

  16. Congrats Lizzie. Glad you are learning so much! I have adobe photoshop, but haven’t done much with it yet. I just got Photo Impact also, but my favorite photo program is Paint Shop Pro from JASC.

    Reply

    • Thank you, Denise. Everyone seems to use different editing programmes. I’ve been using very basic ones since I started a couple of months ago – like Nero and Picasa 3. Adobe Lightroom looks a lot more in depth and a lot more complicated!! I’ll see how I get on by the end of the 10 weeks tutorials. I’m going to make a list of all the programmes that various people use, for future reference.

      Reply

  17. What I love most about you, dear friend, is your sense of the extraordinary in every moment. You reach out your arms to all possibilities which is embedded and reflected in every photo. It takes my breath away!

    Reply

    • Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. The course is on-line. It’s a 10 week digital photography course with the Open University. Very intense!!

      Reply

      • I think the most important thing with this particular course is to understand your camera and its settings, in advance. I don’t, therefore I struggle. It would still be intense, but not quite as difficult as I’m experiencing it to be.

  20. Beautiful, Lizzie! I love the meshing of your photographs and Paul Verlaine’s Chanson d’Automne. Perfect choice. Let’s not forget to mention the super cute ducks. Gorgeous! T.

    Reply

    • Thank you Theadora. It’s a beautiful poem. The photos are in the experimental stage. It’s a great learning curve. I’ll try and get close-ups of the ducks next time. They were moving so fast, I couldn’t keep up with them! I’m learning about exposure this week and the different camera settings required to capture motion. Once I’ve mastered that, I’ll go back down the road to the lake and try again!!

      Reply

    • Thank you, Wendy. The poem really touched me when I came across it this morning. I just had to do a post about it. It was completely unplanned; I just followed the guidance of my heart. Blessings.

      Reply

    • Thank you. So glad you enjoyed them. I do so love to visit your blog too. I find your articles so inspiring. Thank you.

      Reply

  24. Golly LizzieJ ! Sounds like you are enjoying it all even tho’ there’s a ton of ‘work’ to go with it. I like the colours and reflective light that you have captured particularly in picture no 3 :-)

    Reply

    • Thank you, Poppy. I can always rely on you to encourage me. Picture 3 is actually the one I had the most problems with!! Bless you.

      Reply

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