Weekly commented photo # 36 - Rain on the green meadows around Bellecombe in Jura mountains

Rain on the green meadows around Bellecombe in Jura


If you're one of my usual readers, you know that i now live not too far from Haut Jura Natural Park.
This park covers some parts of two french departments : Ain and Jura.
It's a beautiful large natural area with forests, mountain meadows, rivers and waterfalls.

So, that's a perfect place for photography but the weather there is really wet and rainy. I've started to work on a portfolio about the park some months ago but it looks it will be a very long time ongoing work.
I went there many and many times, coming back without any images because of the pouring rain.

Two days ago, i left home before dawn to drive once more to Bellecombe plateau. The most i was advancing on the road, the most the sky was cloudy ...

Arrived in Bellecombe i left my car in a hidden place so that it couldn't be on my images and started to hike the meadows.
Sky was cloudy, the atmosphere was wet, the grass was wet (and so my feet). Some people were working on fences, wearing shorts and rubber boots.

I made my first images with a long lens from a "remote high hill" but left this place rapidly because i could'nt avoid to include some of the numerous electric lines in my compositions. That's a good exercise but i also wanted some less perturbated photos.

So i walked a little more and the rain started. Looking at the sky i thought it could stop or at least, not become too strong. Effectively it remained a nice little rain during about half an hour.
I could walk a little more and make images of the forests and landscapes without any noticeable problem but suddenly the rain became stronger and then i knew it wouldn't stop before a while.

This image is the last i could do before packing all my gear and running back to my car which was a few kilometers far.
If you're interested in such details, i can add that the photo was done with a 35mm lens and a Hitech 0.6 soft GND filter.

Driving back home, the weather became better and i could stop in Valserine valley to make a few images of the forest wearing its first autumn coulours.