Ian Bramham's Photoblog
Hansel & Gretel
Posted by Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 24 April 2008 in Lifestyle & Culture and Portfolio.
I discovered this little house in the snow whilst walikng through the woods in the French alpine ski town of Courchevel.
I did look for the trail of breadcrumbs but the birds must have eaten them all.
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/archer/hanselgretel.html
For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to MY NEW WEBSITE where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
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Links to the websites of other photographers whose work I love and who have all helped me enormously over a long period of time. I find the work of all 3 to be inspirational.
@Putter: Thanks Putter!
@Ana Lúcia: Thanks Ana!
Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada
Totally flabergasted by this, it's stands in a whole wotlf of its own...Bravo Ian!!
24 Apr 2008 8:51am
@Lorraine: Thanks Lorraine.....
I know you love your writing as much as your photography and wondered if you had come across the poetry of Dante Alighieri.
This is an extract from "The Divine Comedy". I thought you might like it.
Inferno: Canto I
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say
What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.
So bitter is it, death is little more;
But of the good to treat, which there I found,
Speak will I of the other things I saw there.
I cannot well repeat how there I entered,
So full was I of slumber at the moment
In which I had abandoned the true way.
But after I had reached a mountain's foot,
At that point where the valley terminated,
Which had with consternation pierced my heart,
Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders,
Vested already with that planet's rays
Which leadeth others right by every road.
Then was the fear a little quieted
That in my heart's lake had endured throughout
The night, which I had passed so piteously. ......
@timothy: Thanks Timothy!
@Alun Lambert: Thanks Alun!
Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
but I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep
(Robert Frost)
24 Apr 2008 11:48am
@Viewfinder: Thanks for that.....lovely words aren't they!
MadScientist from Düsseldorf, Germany
This really looks like a scene from many years ago. Simply wonderful. Is there a story behind this house?
24 Apr 2008 12:59pm
@MadScientist: Thanks!
This was one of the more modest houses that I photographed in Courchevel....it was the location that fascinated me and the way that the building was in such harmony with it's surroundings. There's no story that I know of to tell you apart from the fact that I've rarely been anywhere so quiet and with such a strong feeling of being inside a fairytale.
The deep snow and the nightime woodland setting all combined to leave a deathly hush and it was certainly one of those special moments where you can feel the hairs stand up on the back of your neck!
Observing from Chester, United Kingdom
Looks a special image, like from a fairytale. It's a unique shot and very unusual.
24 Apr 2008 2:05pm
@Observing: Thanks very much....I'm really pleased that you liked it!
Michael Skorulski from Cigel, Slovakia
Amazing and lovely. That play of light and shadow as well as super composition really does the trick.
24 Apr 2008 3:07pm
@Michael Skorulski: Thanks Michael...interesting shadows from all the tree branches are'nt they!
@michelle: Thanks Michelle!
Levine from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Very interesting way of composing the image and it tells a story. Like a very sneaky kinda shot.
24 Apr 2008 5:43pm
@Levine: Thanks Levine....it was a very confined space in amongst the trees which added to the sense of intimacy.
amy from Rocky Mountain House, Canada
I love the shadows of the branches in the foreground which just invite the eye further in to that magical house. Beautiful, Ian.
25 Apr 2008 12:36am
@amy: Thanks Amy!
sherri from Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
It does look like that! Amazing...and that book scared me to death when I was little. Neat find and an exceptional image.
25 Apr 2008 3:50am
@sherri: Thanks Sherri!
Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada
Excerpts of it mostly, and now I feel the urge to read it in its totality...but to find it amidst the thousands of books and magazine....gosh
25 Apr 2008 6:49am
@Lorraine: I have to hold my hand up and say I haven't read the whole thing either but the beautiful imagery struck me immediately. Enough to make you want to learn Italian.
Nikon D40
1/30 second
F/1.4
ISO 900
45 mm (35mm equiv.)