Friday 11 February 2011

Weekly commented photo #6 - Winter light in Provence

Winter light on the Lac des Escarcets
Winter light on the Lac des Escarcets


This image was done in february 2008 so she's now 3 years old.
While i was living in Provence, this place was one of my favourite winter spot for photography. In summer it's really less interesting because the lake is dry or almost and, another important point, winter light is very better here.

This lake is a protected natural area managed by the Conservatoire du Littoral et des Rivages Lacustres. Many and many birds are living in the vegetation all around and it would probably be a very interesting place for a wildlife photographer.

Since the day i've discovered this place, i've loved the colours of it's red ground. Under some special lights these coulours can be truly amazing and make me think to some american or australian deserts.

My first image of the lake was done about one year before this one (and you can see it here)
After this first one done just before dusk, the winter ended without letting me coming back in really good conditions but at least i could explore many places around the lake.

In 2008 by a sunny winter afternoon i decided to make a new try on this very little but colorful beach i had noticed one year before.
I was a little disapointed when arriving because some huge white clouds were standing above the lake making the light really dull. I decided to go for a little more scouting and about 2 hours later i remarked that a small wind was clearing the sky.
I ran back to the beach and arrived when the afternoon was about to end, just for this clear and beautiful view.
In these days (and i still do it), i was often stitching two or more photos to make some 5x4 images without loosing too much pixels.
As i was using a panoramic head my setup was a little long but i had the time to be ready before the light turns too dark.

Technical details :
Two vertical images were used to make this photo.
They were taken with a Nikon D200 and a 17 mmlens.
I also used a tripod, a Nodal Ninja panoramic head and a remote shutter release.
Raw files were processed with SilkyPix and stitching was done with PTGui.

3 comments :

Le Vélo Noir said...

Such warm and inviting colours. It almost hard to believe that it is winter when you took this. Thanks for sharing. It made my stormy Seattle evening warm and bright.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Ce site semble riche en élément intéressant à photographier. Les montagnes au loin, la couleur de la terre et ce lac créent à eux seul un splendide paysage. Ta première photo mérite des éloges, très bien réussi!

Unknown said...

@Le Vélo Noir :
Thank's for your comment here and yes winter light in Provence is somtimes really like that. I think that's one of the reason for the poularity of this region.

@Anne :
Merci à toi aussi. Oui, l'endroit est splendide bien que tout petit.
Petite précision personnelle : J'ai vécu pendant 15 ans sur les montagnes dont tu parles mais sur l'autre versant.

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