Champagne - Jan Brouckaert




From these yards comes one of the finest champagne in the world. Taken near Reims at the end of August. -- do click to enlarge --

Camera:   Contax G1
Lens:   Carl Zeiss Hologon 16mm f/8
Film:   velvia
Exposure:   nr
Flash:  
Support:  
Filter:   none
Adjustment:   sharpened/saturation
Posted:   16-Sep-2002

Rating: 8.43 (14 ratings)

Comments

Prove it

That's an awfully bold statement. I think you should prove it by sending me a bottle. Write me and I'll give you my mailing address.

glen     16-Sep-2002 at 13:55

-

Just fantastic. I love this. Only nitpicks are the white rag (?) in the lwer right (go on! clone it out! lose it!) and the foreground seems just a tad dark. But I am awestruck by the sky and the colors, Excellent!

Richard Sintchak     16-Sep-2002 at 13:56

And I'll Take A Case!

I agree with our webmeister: your claim needs verification! There's an irony in this shot. The wine is bubbly, bright, cheerful, but the picture looks almost foreboding because of the clouds and gathering darkness. But I like it.

Drayton Cooper     16-Sep-2002 at 14:08

the white rag

Rich, I have been told that the white rag contains the name of the champagne and some other, therefor I decided to leave it in but you may be right in 'polishing it out'. I ll give that a try. Thanks Jan

Jan Brouckaert     16-Sep-2002 at 14:11

Good

work Jan. These Americans haven't heard of Reims so you must forgive them :-). Why dont you go right ahead and make the focal/vanishing point the center of this picture. Would sure like to see how that would work.

Knut Skjærven     16-Sep-2002 at 14:55

Sweeping . ..

Jan the colours are marvelous! The massiveness of modern agriculture comes through strongly in this image.

Jerome Belthrop     17-Sep-2002 at 00:29

Centring?

I wonder if this would work as well if the vanishing point was centred as Knut suggests. I suspect that you can't get there from here and would need to re-shoot, but I may be wrong.

Charez Golvala     17-Sep-2002 at 00:55

Very elegant.

I think a central vanishing point would destroy the subtle tension that is present in the current image.

Wilfred van der Vegte     17-Sep-2002 at 03:23

Super atmospheric image with a real sense of time and place.

Deniss     17-Sep-2002 at 04:35

Flaws and their meaning

I'd like to speak in favor of the white flag in the corner. It adds a great deal. Images that are too perfectly composed have an manipulated, advertisement quality that I find unattractive -- they are not real. This, on the other hand, is a perfect photograph because it is so beautiful and so clearly a real picture of a real place. While I am certain that many would work hard to copose so that the flag is not present, I am convinced that the image is much better for its inclusion here. It is delicate, not jarring, not ironic or sarcastic -- just a reminder that this is a real place with ordinary uses, work going on -- and this makes the beauty of the scene all that much more powerful. Wonderful.

Richard Cook     17-Sep-2002 at 06:14

Awesome

I've tried to shoot these farm/crops images with so-so results. This is outstanding. The sky really came out dramatic. The horizon adds just the right amount of change. Reminds me of some of the wonderful work Richard Sintchak has posted. The small piece of white cloth is a nice touch.

MARK MILLEN     17-Sep-2002 at 08:20

A second vote

for the white flag. Richard Cook's comment resonates with me. George S.

George Shadoan     17-Sep-2002 at 17:17

Again.

I had to come back and look at it again. It is even nicer now. Really a great photograph.

Richard Cook     28-Sep-2002 at 09:35