Duingt castle on Annecy lake, a view from the mountains

Duingt castle viewed from Forclaz pass

 

I woke up at 4 am this morning to drive to the mountains over Annecy lake. I stopped at Forclaz pass or Col de la Forclaz in french, which offers some nice points of view on the lake. It's a very famous place for paragliders who can easily start here some very nice flights in a stunning environment between lake and mountains.

My initial idea was to make images of the lake surrounded by the mountains but the sky was really cloudy (not announced by the forecast) and the landscape was most of time covered with some unsightly shadows.
I was lucky with some sun rays and could catch this image of Duingt castle with a long lens. It shows the castle under an other angle that my previous shots and also give a better idea of the peninsula.

LINKS :
My photo gallery about Annecy and its lake.
All my images about Duingt.

Late evening on Annecy lake

Late evening on Annecy lake

 

I've just spent about one week in Haut Jura Natural Park to meet some nice friends. I just escaped one day for exploring a deep forest, after hours and hours of walking on little paths and climbing mountains, i went back at night without finding any good place for beautiful photography. Some days are like that ...

Yesterday i went back home for a little office work and in the evening i drove to Annecy for a few images around the lake. This one is the last i did and is also my own favourite.
Long exposure is due to the low light of the late evening and i balanced sky and lake with a 0.6 GND filter.

LINKS :
My photo gallery about Annecy and its lake.
All my images about Annecy.

Evening light on Duingt castle

Evening light on Duingt castle

 

After my first visit to this pretty monument last week, i returned there this evening. I waited a long time after dusk for something like a nice blue hour but i think that this one is my best.
It was done a little after 8pm and the long exposure was possible thank's to my Hoya ND 400 filter.

 

LINKS :
My photo gallery about Annecy and its lake.
All my images about Duingt.

Duingt castle on Annecy lake

Duingt castle on Annecy lake

 

Yesterday was a long day. It started before 5 am with a drive to Massif des Bauges Natural Park where i was hired by a client for a full morning shot.

When my work was finished i spent the afternoon exploring some new places in the park, sometimes driving, sometimes hiking. In the early evening, i reached the borders of Annecy lake and drove to this little castle. Located in a village named Duingt, it's mostly known as Duingt castle but i think historians prefer to use one of its other names : Ruphy castle or Châteauvieux castle.

The castle is built on a little peninsula on Annecy lake, it's about one thousand years old, and is registred as one of the historics french monuments.
Today, it's a private property and owners live in.

LINKS :
My photo gallery about Annecy and its lake.
All my images about Duingt.

A cold time at Annecy lake

A cold time at Annecy lake

 

A reminder of the very cold 2012 winter we had here.
I stayed really late on that place this evening, waiting for a deep blue hour and i still remember the cold in my bones.

Blue hour on Annecy lake in winter

Blue hour on Annecy lake

One more image from 2 days ago. So it was a great sunday afternoon.

Cold was still really strong and i spent about one hour standing with my tripod in front of the lake photographing the changes of light during dusk time.
I'll post images from time to time here but i published the entire serie yesterday on my french website.

Another winter dusk on Annecy lake

Winter dusk on Annecy lake

Obviously the same scene that on my last Weekly Commented Photo and posted here on december 30. This image was done some minutes later and as you can see, the light changed during this short time.

Two last things :

• Next week should be dry and very cold so i've a chance to find some nice icy rivers in Haut Jura and Massif des Bauges natural parks.
• I've posted 11 new images of Valserine river in winter on my french website.

Night illumination on Annecy lake

Night illumination on Annecy lake

One more from this winter evening at Annecy lake.

Weekly commented photo # 52 - Winter dusk on Annecy lake

Winter dusk on Annecy lake

So that's the last week of 2011 and my Weekly Commented Photo project reaches its end (you can read a short introduction here).
It was a bit fun but not really easy for me french speaking photographer to find every friday some english words to put under a photo. At least, it was a good exercise :)

I went to Annecy on last friday expecting to find some snow on the mountains around the lake. As you can devine i was a little disapointed and i just found one or two interesting views at dusk time when the christmas light started.
A little time before i took this photo, the place was overcrowded by tourists. I don't know why but they all nicely disapeared in a few minutes.

The image was done with a soft and light GND filter. The exposure was 30 seconds long.

See you next year !

Annecy - The old city around the Thiou river

Probably one of the most touristic place in Annecy.
Fortunately, this image was done by an early autumn morning and the streets where almost empty.

LINKS :
My photo gallery about annecy and its lake
All my images about Annecy.

Annecy - End of afternoon at the lake

End of afternoon on Annecy lake and Veyrier mountain

Dusk colors on Annecy lake - long exposure with Hoya ND 400

Dusk on Annecy lake and Veyrier mountain

I recently found some new clients around Annecy.

On friday i had a nice meeting with one of them for prints delivery and after that i spent the end of afternoon around the lake and at the Imperial beach.
I walked a lot but just did a few images. This one was done around 8 pm and i used my Hoya NB 400 for the long exposure plus a 5 stop soft GND filter for the balance between sky and foreground.

Weekly commented photo #13 - Annecy lake and Tournette mountain in the early spring

Annecy lake and Tournette mountain in the early spring

So, this photo is obviously a long exposure done in full day light. As usual for this kind of images i used my Hoya ND 400 filter and as often i added a 0.9 soft GND filter over the sky and snowy mountains.

The photo was done just before the end of the afternoon one day i was exploring the west side of the lake and i think i'll have to return in one or two months when the forest will be more green.
I started the day with a drive on the road of Semnoz mountain overhanging the lake but didn't found any very interesting place for landscape photography. The road offers some nice views on the lake but also on the high density of villages and houses all around.

After this little excursion in the mountain, i returned closer to the lake at one place i had noticed in the morning. I stayed there until dusk, did this image and a few other with softer colours (One can be seen here).

End of afternoon at Annecy lake

End of afternoon at Annecy lake

Weekly commented photo #5 - Visitation basilica by night in Annecy

Visitation basilica by night in Annecy

I've to say the truth : i've never liked this monument. But when i arrived back in Annecy in july i saw it by night and thought it could make a beautiful photo.

I love night images but that's not what i'm doing most. I usually prefer the special lights of dawn or dusk. So that's only in january that i decided to try this image.
One afternoon i went to the lake for some dusk shots on the Imperial beach and took a long lens with me for the basilica.
When the night started to fall, i left the beach and walked along the lake until i found a nice point of view.
After one first test, exposing the shot for the highlights on the bell tower, i was sure that HDR would give a relly better image.
Keeping in one single exposure all the details in the highlights would give dark shadows on all the left part of the church. So i did 5 shots at f11 from 4 to more than 80 seconds.
As the evening was a little windy, i weighted my tripod with my bag and as usual i used mirror lockup plus a remote shutter release for each exposure. Getting sharp images with long exposures while using a long lens in the wind can be a little tricky but this night, i was lucky.
After this 5 shots, i walked deeper in the city to make images of some other monuments and also to warm me up.

I processed the raw files 2 or 3 days after with silkypix and Photomatix, trying to keep the tonemapping at a soft level.

Annecy - Dawn on the lake at Imperial beach and 5 sites to discover

Annecy, dawn on the lake at Imperial beach

Another image from Annecy lake at the Imperial beach.
Done the same day but a few time later than this one.

The 5 sites to discover if you're interested in photography :

• http://www.xavifuentes.com
  Beautiful long exposures from Xavi Fuentes.
  
• http://www.friedmanphoto.com
  Amazing panoramic landscape by Stevel Friedman.
  
• http://dudewithcamera.com
  Various and beautiful images from Jesse Pafundi.
  
• http://www.85mm.ch
  Street photography by Thomas Leuthard.
• http://www.mikehollman.com
  Stunning landscapes from New Zealand by Mike Hollman

Annecy - Dusk on the Imperial beach

Annecy - Dusk on the Imperial beach

After my first attempt with photographying this place at dawn, i decided to come back the day after for some dusk images.
I initialy wanted to frame the big diving board really closer but i don't know why, i changed my mind on the last minute.

Annecy town hall at night

Annecy town hall at night

Just another one to give you a night view of Annecy.

Yesterday, i spent the afternoon hiking in the mountains above Annecy lake.
The weather was really cloudy with a dull light.
I just did a few images in a dark forest during the afternoon and waited for late dusk to make two mountain landscapes. You'll probably see them one day.

Weekly commented photo #3 - Annecy, dawn on the Imperial beach

Annecy - Dawn on the Imperial beach

This beach is named Imperial beach because it's in the park of the Imperial Palace.
It's a very well know and appreciated place for all the people living in Annecy. They bath here in summer and have some walks in other seasons. When i was a child, what is a palace now was an old and derelict buildind but the diving boards were ever there and i loved to play with them. It was a frightening but very exciting game.

When i moved back to Annecy in july, it was one of the first places where i wanted to come and make photos.
The two first times i arrived there at dawn, the gates to the beach where locked by chains. A little disapointed i made other images of the lake and abandonned the project waiting for the doors to re-open.
Recently, while speaking with a friend of mine, he told me that the gates were no more locked and seemed suprised because he had some walks here almost every day. Perharps did i just arrive too soon in the morning ...

On saturday morning, i arrived in Annecy at about 7 am, found the gates opened and did a few tests searching for the best point of view.
The image presented here was done about one hour after my arrival and is my real fav from this day.
I have others with the same composition done a little time before but the light is a little more dull and others made later with different framing but the blue is a little too intense for my tastes.

On the technical side, the photo was done using a Nikon D200, a 17-35 zoom, a Hoya ND 400 filter for the long (more than 100s) exposure and a 0.6 soft GND filter to balance sky and foreground. Raw file processing was minimal and done with SilkyPix.

If you like long exposure photography with or without filters, you can click here to find all my posts about it or here if you just want to see the ND 400 in action.

Don't forget : click on the image to see it large :)

Annecy - Palais de l'Isle at night

Annecy - Palais de l'Isle at night

An image from this night.
I went to Annecy in the end of afternoon to make some images of the lake at dusk and when it was too late i moved to the heart of the city for a few night shots.

I you want to know more about this place and see how this place looks in day light, you can have a look here.

And for people who like this kind of information, this is an HDR work done with Photomatix from 5 exposures.