Monday, December 04, 2006

Seasons greetings

The Rocks, 8am. What do you think of my Little Christmas Concerto in Red minor ? I was lucky to catch this lady in red sorting out her mail before sending it. The very British mailbox is not the Australian standard but blends in well with the historic quarter of the Rocks, a reminder of the city's colonial past.
This is the time of the year when Australians exchange millions of greetings cards, generating good revenue and a huge extra work load for Australia Post. Makes me realise I haven't sent a Christmas card in the past two years. Better for the environment or just more convenient? With a tinge of shame and regret, I've been sending e-greetings instead. What about you ?
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Quartier des Rocks, 8 heures du matin. Que pensez-vous de mon petit concerto de Noël en rouge mineur ? J'ai eu de la chance de saisir cette dame en rouge alors qu'elle vérifiait ses lettres avant de les poster. La boite à lettres très British ne correspond pas à la norme australienne mais dans ce quartier historique (celui où les premiers colons ont débarqué), elle témoigne du passé colonial de la ville.
A cette époque de l'année les australiens échangent des millions de cartes de voeux, source de profit et d'une grosse charge supplémentaire de travail pour la poste australienne. Moi ça fait deux ans que je n'envoie plus de jolies cartes colorées. Paresse ou souci de l'environnement ? Avec un peu de honte et de regret, je suis passée aux voeux électroniques. Et vous ?

27 comments:

Olivier said...

superbe ta photo, elle pourrait faire une carte de voeux. beau coup d'oeil.
moi cela depend de la personne, beaucoup d'e-carte mais pour les personnes agées, je prefere (et elles aussi) la classique carte de voeux.


superb your photograph, it could make a greetings card. beautiful glance. me that depends on the person, much of e-card but for the old people, I prefer (and they also) the traditional greetings card.

Sally said...

I still like chrissy cards - writing them, sending them, anticipating ones I may receive. Especially to people overseas I have been slack about contacting during the year!

alice said...

Merci pour tous tes petits mots chez moi! Pour ma part, je reste fidèle aux cartes de voeux traditionnelles mais je les concocte moi-même sur l'ordi avec des photos perso. J'adore aussi en recevoir et les regrouper au même endroit, la tradition quoi!Mais certaines formules électroniques sont très marrantes.

alice said...

Oh la la! je poste trop vite! Quelle chance tu as eu pour cette photo! On pourrait croire à une mise en scène tellement cette petite dame tombait bien.Bien joué!

Kim said...

What a PERFECT photo! Kudos Nathalie. You've outdone yourself.
-Kim

Anonymous said...

Wow, so perfect. I love red (and even your profile photo matches). Nice one!

Jing said...

wow...so nice red world!!!
:))
and sometimes i will send some postcards or mail(not email).Sometimes that moment when you receive the mails, its really excited.

jing
shanghai daily photo

Lisi said...

really good capture! sometimes when I see this kind of scene I would get so excited...

Cergie said...

Waow ! C'est vrai que la chance fait beaucoup pour une photo, elle amène une "étincelle"
Mais elle ne suffit pas, il faut un peu la provoquer aussi, la chance. Explique moi pourquoi il y a des gens qui n'en ont jamis ?

Ce qui me fait drôle c'est le magnifique dos nu de cette jolie personne alors qu'on est ici dans le brouillard et la nuit de bonne heure
C'est incongru aussi ce sapin de noël !

Gerald (Ackworth born) said...

Lovely photo -- the red-dressed woman blends in well.

Although we've cut down the number in recent years we love Christmas cards and use them to decorate one of the walls in the house sincewe don't put up much other decoration at all.

I don't like third-party e-cards -- ever since I started getting some from spammers I no longer respond to them even when seemingly fom someone I know -- some of my artistic friends will send a personal email with an attached jpeg greeting or the like -- I'm very happy to get those.

Deb said...

First time visitor to your site! I love your photos.
Had to look twice to see The Lady In Red! Great capture....

Anonymous said...

Red, red, red, red, and more red. Very good catch. We are sending Christmas cards this year using a photo I took for my DP blog. The photo I chose has some red in it but not as much as yours. I shamelessly added my URL in bold letters on all my Christmas cards.

Irredento Urbanita said...

I am sure this one of the best photos you have taken. Really wonderful composition, you did it very well.

GiuCe said...

nice detail :)
christmas time is special in color too

photowannabe said...

Great seasonal photo with the contrast of summer clothing. My brain says Christmas and winter cold.
I love to receive Christmas cards but I hate the ones that only come with a commercially printed name on them. I feel like, why bother. I want personal, even if its only a few words.
Which reminds me that I'd better get started on mine.

Ben Nakagawa said...

It's almost like you asked that lady to stand there. It's a perfect shutter chance you had!
Well done!

Anonymous said...

superbe ! couleurs, échelonnement des différents plans...en ce qui concerne les e-cards, j'ai cédé l'an dernier (nous étions au Chili et la poste chilienne connaît des hauts et des bas). Mais j'ai tellement été "déçue" de recevoir en retour des cartes de voeux électroniques que cette année, ce sera exclusivement de belles cartes et de l'encre !

Felicia said...

Very festive photo! The last few years we sent a family photo card, but the days are dwindling away and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Curly said...

Well taken opportunity Nathalie, how long did you wait for a little red dress to walk into the picture?

I have emailed over 200 copies of my Christmas Card in .pdf format around the world, I will still post those closer to home.

Curly's Photoshop

Kate said...

The reds are wonderful--great capture. Also reminds me to start writing!

Anonymous said...

The "British" mailbox, Nathalie, is actually what was the standard Australian version until it became too expensive to make, we stoppeds making most things in this country, and they were too tempting to thieves. Vandals have now managed to reduce the viability of ANY mailboxes, which is why there are so few left.

Unknown said...

wow, matching matching colours. so christmasy too!

Unknown said...

Magical photo. Just being in the right place at the right time. Wish I was in Sydney again.

Nathalie H.D. said...

Curly, the lady was already there when I arrived, but moving around, fiddling with her letters, checking the stamps or something, and I was worried that she's walk away before I had time to come closer... and then she saw me with my camera, moved a couple of steps, turned her back on me and... just stayed there, for my great delight !!!

My camera is a very basic one with a standard 3x digital zoom so I can't shoot when I'm too far. In this case, it worked fine. Pheeew !

Kala said...

you seem to have an eye for photo dreamy shots and what timing! i love this photo - maybe on of my favorites as it really feels like christmas and the mood is so wonderful.

Meg said...

I love all the red!!!

Anonymous said...

Tres tres bonne photo!