Abstract autumn colours reflected in the river

Autumn reflections in the Rhône river

Autumn colours of the forest reflected in the water of the Rhône river near Arcine.

Done with a long lens and moving the camera during the exposure.

Falling water

Water falling against the moss near Septmoncel


We are back to a few weeks ago with this closeup of the waterfall on the syncline fold near Septmoncel in Haut Jura Natural Park.

Autumn reflections in the Rhone river

Autumn reflections in the Rhône river


Another one from my last friday along the Rhône river around Arcine.

After some more usual and wider views of the river and its valley, i spent a little time with a long lens trying to catch some nice closeups of the autumn foliage reflected in the water.
The water is always moving and changing and the real effect on the images is quite impossible to predict. So i took several frames with the same settings and then some other ones with another shutter speed.
This one is really one of my favs after the selection done on my large computer screen.

Colorful mushrooms in Valserine forest

Colorful mushrooms on an old tree stump

My second and last composition about these magic mushrooms in Valserine forest.

Running water cascading in Fornant river

Running water cascading in Fornant river

Another one from this recent outing to Fornant river.
It was in the late evening and the long exposure (more than 1 minute) didn't need any filter.


Note : I've added yesterday 26 new images on my french website about the rural landscapes in Haute Savoie department.

One rock in the water

One mossy rock standing in the running water of Fornant river

Another closeup of the water running between the stones of Fornant river in Haute Savoie.

Same rock that the one posted here but with a different composition.

Weekly commented photo # 35 - Magic mushroom in Valserine forest

Magic mushroom in Valserine forest

It was a few weeks ago. I was walking in the wet Valserine forest looking for photogenic trees.

Just after crossing a little stream coming from the mountains, my eyes were cought by some unexpected colours on an old tree stump.
Usuallay, these old cutted trunks are black and covered with green moss with sometimes plants and little trees growing on them.

On this one, there were two or three of these colorful mushrooms in the middle of the wood and green moss.
I hesitated a short moment. That's not the kind of shot i usually do, i wanted to explore the forest more deeply and i had no lens longer than 70mm.

A little change in our habitudes and projects is not a bad thing so i finally decided to give it a try.
Approaching the mushroom with my tripod was not so easy and i had to turn the column to its horizontal position. I focused manually on the front of the mushroom and took a few shots using mirror lockup and a remote controller expecting to get a least one sharp image.

I also did another image with a wider composition, you can see it here on my french website. Perharps i'll show it at a larger size on this blog one of these days.

Pure abstraction in Fornant river

Pure abstraction in Fornant river

Melting white water, golden stones and green moss in Fornant river with moving the camera during a few seconds exposure.

Moss, rock and running water - A closeup in Fornant river

Moss, rock and running water

Yesterday in the late afternoon, i went back to the Fornant river, just near Barbennaz waterfall.

I went there with the idea of making images of details with water running around the stones of the river bed and so did i.
I post just one here today but i've published 8 of them this morning on my french website. If you want to have a look, it starts here.

Iris impression

Iris impression

Yesterday evening i wanted to go to the Chéran area to make images of the forest along the river. But at the last moement i felt really too tired by the strong heat we have here for a few days and so i decided to stay at home and spent a few time in the garden with my camera.

Weekly commented photo #17 : Cereal field in the wind

Cereal field in the wind

On wednesday i wanted to go to the mountains of the Valserine valley to make images of the fresh green leaves inthe forest.
I left home under a cloudy and windy weather and arrived on the place about one hour later under an impressive rain. I hesitated a short time and decided to go back and continue my office work.

So one hour later i was not too far from home when i noticed a cereal field along the tiny road i was driving on.
The weather was still cloudy giving a very nice light on the landscape and the cereals were dancing in the wind.

I parked my car, walked to the field and the was a little disapointed because a high voltage power line was crossing the sky just here.
I abandoned the idea of a landscape with the field overhung by a stunning cloudy sky and decided that the day was definitely not good for photography.

I was about to walk back to my car when i had the idea to try some closeups. The wind was strong and getting a sharp image looked impossible.
After a few shots, i mounted my Hoya ND 400 filter on my lens and decided to let the wind play with the grass.
On this image, the exposure was around one minute long.

Back from the Cévennes National Park

Waterfall closeup in the Cévennes National Park

I'm just back from a one week trip in the Cévennes National Park.
Although it was more a familly trip than a photography one i had the opportunity to make a few images. They will be posted here in the next weeks.

Weekly commented photo #7 : An autumn game with multi exposures

Autumn leaves

It was in october. At the end of the afternoon i was fed up with my office job, took my camera and went out to explore the surrounding meadows and forests.
I found no great combination of place and light for a nice landscape image. Perharps because i was tired, in the forest i just saw a big bunch of branches and trunks.

I started to play with my camera and autumn leaves without any real idea, without any real motivation ...
Suddenly i had the idea to try this old game of multiple exposures i loved to play when i was shooting on film.
I decided to test it with my DSLR and to make an in-camera composite of three shots of the same leaves with my 70 mm lens wide opened and changing focus. I wanted to see if sharp and soft parts of the images could blend in something interesting.

So, what is the answer or more exactly, what is my answer ?
In fact i don't really know :)
Some people find this image really beautiful but personally i don't like it a lot.
Of course it's not a bad one but i feel something is missing here. Too sharp, not enough, not magic enough ? I don't know but if you have an idea, i'm interested :)

Water and rocks in Abatesco river - Corsica

One more from our Corsica trip last year.

Ice stalactites in the Fornant river

Ice stalactites in the Fornant river

Afetr viewing and reviewing my files, i think this one will be one of the last of this serie perharps will i publish one or two more here but that's all. BTW, this one is also one of my fav.

Ice formations in the Fornant river

Ice formations in the Fornant river

An other addition in this ongoing serie.
Perharps a little more abstract thant the other ones.

Ice stalactites in the Fornant river

Ice stalactites in the Fornant river

One more in this serie from past december.
I love the reflection on the big ice ball on the right.

Weekly commented photo #2 - Ferns in Provence forest

Ferns in Provence forest

For this second post of my Weekly commented photo serie, i also choosed an old photo from Provence.
This one was done at the end of spring in 2004. I was living in a small village named Collobrières and had my office in Cogolin, just near Saint-Tropez. The road i took every day was a tight one through a deep forest.

One evening, while driving back home, i noticed a nice bunch of green ferns where some were starting to turn to yellow. I don't really know why they caught my attention, perharps because they were a sign of life in all this dry forest.

So during one week, i looked at them every day waiting for the colors to be really nice. One day, thinking it would be the good one i took my camera when leaving the office, drove and stopped at the ferns. Unfortunately the evening was windy in this place and i knew i wouldn't be able to catch a sharp image. The wind blowed during 2 days. The first quiet evening i could setup my tripod, try 2 or 3 compositions and finally made this photo.
The day after, while processing the images i was very happy to see that they were all very sharp. I was a bit anxious about that because i had to use some really low shutter speeds and even a little air can result in blurred photos.

We are now about seven years later and i don't remember all the technical settings but i know that this image still sells prints more than once a yaer.

Ice formations in the Fornant river - continuing

Ice formations in the Fornant river

Another one in this serie on which i worked during the last month of 2010.
These ones are not real stalactites but were done along some tiny tree roots hanging in the river. I love how the first one looks like an elephant leg :)

Winter ice in the Fornant river

Another image from the same serie that the one posted here but with different tones and composition.
I think the serie will be a little long. I've ever posted 15 of such images on my french website and as the weather is cold to death these days, i went back to the river this morning to make some new ones.