Thanks for your patience as we moved to a new hosting provider. The blog archive has been restored so all the articles are back. We’ve one or two more tweaks to make over the weekend as everything is not quite as we’d like it, but all the photos and the blog are restored, along with the store.

Cheers,

Mathew

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On the front page of Lodge Photo is a crop from a photo showing a man on a horse with a lance, tilting at a strange target. It’s one of a sequence of four:

This is the Giostra del Saracino - Joust of the Saracens - held twice a year in Arezzo, Tuscany.

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My sister-in-law lives in The Jura, an area of Eastern France near the Swiss border. It’s not a particularly well-known part of the country and you’ll have to work hard to find it in many guide books (honorable exception: The Rough Guide To France). It’s still a pretty part of the country, and plonked in the middle of a forest is a remarkable set of pre-revolutionary buildings: the Royal Salt Works (Saline Royale, for those of you who speak the lingo).

Royal Salt Works, France.

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It is far harder to travel with photo gear than it used to be. Airport security is becoming more and more restrictive — for example, US airport security now has a ban on carrying rechargeable batteries without a container: they must be in a case and not loose in your bag. Couple this with airport security staff with little understanding of what you’re carrying but the full authority of Homeland Security, and life can be difficult.

 Flying buttresses in Paris

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It has to be one of the most famous places on Earth, never mind the United Kingdom — the prehistoric stone circle that is Stonehenge. But if you have ever been there, you’ll have found yourself behind a low fence on a paved path, well away from the stones themselves and far enough away to make good photographs difficult.

It’s hard to blame English Heritage, who own the site and are responsible for maintaining Stonehenge. Over the years, visitors have chipped off pieces of stone and carved their initials. Today, you can still see graffiti carved in the 1800s, when the stones were simply sitting in a corner of a lumpy field on the edge of Salisbury plain rather than a protected monument.

So, how is it that I am so special that I got to go right into the centre of the circle to get the angles and photos you see on the site?

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Some have asked for recommendations of websites or agencies they should try for car rentals in Europe.

Not all rental car companies are equal — San Francisco CA

So here are the sites I use:

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Driving in Europe continues to be something that generates a lot of email, so on to another popular driving topic: traffic circles — or, roundabouts as they’re known in the UK. Incredibly popular in Europe, you don’t see these too often in the US. When you do, they appear to generate a lot of confusion amongst drivers.

Early traffic circle — Stonehenge, England

The “golden rule” of traffic circles is pretty simple: traffic entering must yield to anything already in the circle. As you approach, take a look to see if there’s anything coming — if there is, slow down or stop. You don’t need to stop if there’s no traffic in the circle. You do need to stop if entering would cause traffic in the circle to slow down or stop to avoid you!

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