The 4th edition of the Engie Open in Limoges runs from 4th to 12th november 2017 at the Palais des Sports de Beaublanc. It is ranked the third womens' tennis competition in France after Roland Garros and Strasbourg, and is the number one indoor competition. The 2016 edition attracted over 13 000 spectators !
I went on the afternoon of 10th november with three friends from the club PhotoLim. The Palais des sports is well lit so it was possible to photograph with a 70-200mm at f2.8 and 1/500s without exceeding ISO 1600. Capturing the ball however was not so easy. 130km/hr (the services often exceed 160km/hr) translates to more than 30m/s, so even in burst mode (7/s) the ball has moved over 4m between frames - totally useless. The only option is to time the shot manually by anticipating the moment that the ball is hit...
An hour of general photography around la Tremblade (at low tide) was followed by the big moment of the day : the seafood restaurant and lots of oysters.
The weather forecast was not at all promising for the weekend of Legendair 2017, but despite a foggy morning with a few showers on sunday, after an improvised lunch together the afternoon turned out much better than expected and we were able to take photos of the historic aircraft with our models Marilyne, Stéphanie and Glwadys. Shop Photo in Limoges had loaned us a number of Tamron lenses to try out : the 150-600mm for example which was superb, but oh so heavy !!
The most memorable moment of the day : a demonstration of aerobatics by a glider, elegant movements in total silence - superb !
The 16th july 2017 the Equestrian club "Attelage et Cavaliers du Pays de Jumilhac" organised a working horse day. A good number of heavy horse owners and their animals took part and they also brought a large selection of agricultural machines from the "horse power" era.
Despite a very hot day, a huge number of visitors came to see the demonstrations of forestry work, ploughing and hay making etc. plus the exhibition of historic machines. At lunchtime a "carre de Jumilhac" a huge burger made from the finest locally produced limousin beef was served along with chips and drinks. I went to this exceptional event along with Volker Haas and Jorge Florisson from the Jumilhac photo club and, despite the very intense middle of the day sunlight which was far too strong and contrasty we were able to get some interesting shots.
Traction animale
A visit with some friends to the Bastide-Neil quarter of Bordeaux to see what reamins of the "Street art" in the vast reconstruction sites by the side of the river. A large part was no longer accessible because of the construction work, but several areas were still open to the public where we were able to take photos among the ruins under a blazing sun and in awesome temperatures.
After a pause for lunch in a nearby restaurant we left for the Bassins quarter near the new cité du vin, where there are other sites with extensive "street art". Finally, around 16h, the heat (around 38°C) got too much for us and we retreated to the airconditioned comfort of our cars for the return trip.