Weekly commented photo #21 - Silky water in the Cheran river

Silky water in the Chéran river - Massif des Bauges natural park

The Chéran river is one of the main rivers of the Massif des Bauges natural park.
The river is crossed by a famous old and nice bridge : the Abîme bridge or Pont de l'Abîme in french. The bridge overhangs the Chéran canyon in a very impressive place.

I went there initially on sunday without any photographic gear, just to find a great point of view on the bridge over the canyon.
I didn't found any interesting place and decided to go down to river for a little more exploration.
The path to the river runs through a very beautiful forest which can be a very good photographic subject in itself.
When i arrived to the river, there were many fishermen on the place, doing what fishermen are supposed to do.
In that first place, the river is looking nice and it's certainly a good place for bathing or fishing but for a photographer it's not an exciting one.

So, i walked along the canyon until i was stopped by some high cliffs. Then, i climbed a little rock overhanging the river with a tiny platform on its top.
Under, the water was nicely accelerated between many rocks in the river bed.
I thought it could be a good place to start and decided to come back the next day with a camera.

On monday, i left home before 5 am, drove to the bridge and took the path to the river.
Crossing the forest in dawn light was an enchantment and i couldn't resist to a few shots.
After a little walk, i arrived to my platform and started to set up my tripod. It was not an easy thing because the platform was really small. After some time, i managed to find a correct place for the tripod legs but then, my feets could just stay on the more steep and slippy part of the rock.
I didn't felt very comfortable but it seemed i had no other choice. It was not comfortable but not too much dangerous. In fact, the worst thing was that the composition possibilities were a bit limited.

The light was still soft and low and i started by some few shots of the water running through the rocks. I also (and difficultly) took a more wider view of the valley.
After this first bunch of images, i reviewed them on the back screen of the camera and choose to scenes for making some long exposures with my Hoya ND 400 filter. The first is the one posted here and the second one is just the vertical version. For both, exposure time was a bit more than 200 seconds at iso 100. In such conditions, exposing to the right is very important and works finely : the raw files were really noise free.

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.

Long exposure in day light at the Usses river - Hoya ND 400

Usses river

An autumn image from the first day of october.

The long exposure in full day light was possible thank's to my Hoya ND 400 filter.
While i was there, i also did another shot with the same composition but without any filter but the result was really less beautiful.

You can read here a few more words about this river.

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.

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).

Weekly commented photo #9 - The dead tree and the clouds

The dead tree and the clouds

It was a long week without blogging. I spent days and days driving in regions between the Alps where we live and Provence. The few time i had at home was for some office work. The weather was not really nice anywhere but i could at least make some garden images for one client but could'nt find some time to make photos for myself.

I arrived at home this night after a 1000 km long drive and spent an important part of the morning to solve a routing problem between my linux boxes.
After that i started to think about the image i could show and comment here today.

There were 2 or 3 nice ones in my most recent archives but i keep them for the days to come. Diving a little deeper in the old files, i found this one from november.
This field is just under my house and i often consider it as my own garden. It's a nice place very well exposed and i think i will be a perfect one for some spring naps.

In the last week of november i was making some work on our new but old house. The weather was sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny and the wind really fresh, announcing the huge snow falls we had the weeks after.
In the end of afternoon, the light was more and more nice and i was more and more tired of carrying stones and concrete ...
I washed my hands, changed my clothes, took my usual photo gear and went to that field.
OK, the light was nice but what to do in this empty field with electric lines and houses in the background.
After a few minutes of intense thinking i decided that the light and wind would be perfect for a long exposure game with the clouds.
I found this old dead tree to have a nice silhouette and composed the image around him. Beeing without leaves was a good point for the long exposure.

Here comes the technical words, if you're not interested you can skip :)
The image was done with wide angle zoom (Sigma 10-20) at about 12 mm.
I used 2 filters :

• A 0.9 soft GND to balance sky and ground.
• A Hoya ND 400 for the long exposure in day light (a little more than 90 seconds).

Last words : The tree is now really dead, he was torn by the wind last week.

Post last words : This post is also a contribution to the Skywatch Friday meme.

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

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 :)

2011 project - The weekly commented photo

The Tournette mountain and Annecy lake from Menthon Saint Bernard

Every post here is done with one image and a little (sometimes very short because of my bad english) text.
Sometimes i speak about the photo, sometimes about my life, sometimes about other things i've found on the web.

In 2011 i'll give me a little assignment : Every friday i'll write a post showing an image (old or new) and explaining why and how it was done.
Why will include things like personnal mood or commercial reasons. How will give some technical informations about the making of.

One year is 52 weeks so i can hope to find the time to play that little but serious game.

Cold water in the Fornant river

Cold water in the Fornant river

An image from monday morning after another serie of ice closeups you'll see soon.

I think it was a very cold monday and not only because i was tired after spending 6 hours in the night driving on snowy roads. If you don't know how to keep your feet fresh, just spend a few hours making such images :)

Flow in the Verne river and 5 sites to discover

Flow in the Verne river

It's an image from our last months of life in Provence done the same day than this one but a few hours later. I had ever left my place in the middle of ther river bed and was walking back to the path climbing the hills to my car when i stopped on some rocks hoverlooking the water with a nice perspective. I started with a few "normal" images and finally did this one with my Hoya ND 400 filter.

The 5 sites to discover :
They are the 5 very nice websites of 5 amazing nature and landscapes photographers.
If you don't know them, have a look you won't waste your time :)

• Maria Stromvik
• G Dan Mitchell
• Jaspal Jandu
• Chris Corradino
• Chip Phillips

Autumn colors blown by the wind

Autumn colors blown by the wind

A really fresh image done at the end of this afternoon in a mountain i start to explore, seeking for nice landscapes. From this point of view, this afternoon was not a success so before the light was really too low i decided to make some closeups of the autumn foliage. I think this one is my fav.

Annecy, morning walk along the lake

Annecy lake

While making this image i was thinking about how i could have spend so many years without coming there. It's probably one of my favourite place in the world, perharps because i was borned in one of the building you can see in the background.

For readers interested in technical infos, i used 2 filters in this image : A 0.6 soft GND to balance sky and foreground and a Hoya ND 400 for the long exposure in full day light. The long exposure was desired there for its own and known effect but also to "erase" all the people who were there enjoying this quiet and beautiful autumn morning.

Note: I also wrote a longer but french post about the use of long exposure to hide some unwanted moving elements in a photo.

PS : My new office is ready :)

Place Massillon in Hyères - Provence

Place Massillon in Hyères - Provence

This evening, after a full day of computer work in the heat of a Provence summer, i needed a little of fresh air. Usually i feel better in the wilderness of our forest but i was thinking about this image for a long time so i decided to drive to Hyères.
Don't ask me why. I'm really not a city guy. I leave there for about 15 years and i've done just a very few images of the cities and villages around. Now that i'm about to leave Provence i start ...

So, i drove to Hyères, i went to this place because it's quaint and beautiful and because i was sure that dusk would be the best time. In the morning there is no shadow on the ground but the sun is just in front of you. In the afternoon, the shadow is shorter but really darker ...

Arrived there i wondered a little bit about how to deal with the contrast. I finally decided tu use a 2 stop soft GND plus my Hoya ND 400 filter to blur the peoples. The GND worked perfectly to balance light and shadows and the long exposure (80s) produced the wanted effect : quiet persons are not recognizable and peoples crossing rapidly the place are not on the photo :)

Sea, Rocks and Sun

Sea, rocks and sun at le Pradet in Provence

Mediterranean colors enhanced by a long exposure in full day light.
A one year old image just added to my RedBubble shop.

The living mimosa tree and 5 sites to discover

The living mimosa tree

A few technical words about the image for peoples interested in this kind of things : It's a long (about one minute) exposure of some mimosa branches done with a Hoya ND 400 filter. And a little note for first time reader : if you click on the image, your browser will open a large view in an other window.

The five sites to discover :
It's a long time since i've published the last of my 5td (five to discover) post.
Here are 5 sites about photography i strongly recommend :

Guy Tal and Ian Plant are two very talented and creative landscape photographers and they both write interesting thing about photography. Jon Conforth is also a stunning landscape and travel photographer.
If you like beautiful nature and landscapes images, you will have some great time browsing their galeries.

Flak Photo is a webmag dedicated to contemporary photography with a very simple an beautiful layout. A nice way to discover the work of some emerging photographers.

Luceo Images showcases the work of 6 contemporary photographers and also helps emerging photographers through the Luceo Student Project Award.

The Verne river at spring

The Verne river by a cloudy springtime day

Yesterday was the first non raining day for about one week.
I spent the afternoon hiking i this little river in the hills around our home.
Was a good test to see if my rubber boots were still waterproofed :)

Saparelle waterfalls - Hoya ND 400 goes to Corsica mountains

Saparelle waterfall - Corsica

As the weather is still awfull, i've spent 2 days exploring the streams around Saparelle village in the mountains above our home.

All these little rivers are very beautiful, walking there without any path is a nice rambling party and i've to say that i really don't regret the 10 euros i've spent in a brand new pair of rubber boots :)

Magic light over the orchard and some news from Corsica

Magic light over the orchard

What to say about the making of this image ?
Mostly that it was done using some GND filters to balance sky and ground plus my Hoya ND 400 for the long exposure. As the highlights where not at the best place for regular GND filters i used two exposures (60 and 120 seconds) for the image.

And now some news from our Corsica farming experience :)
All the family is busy with taking care of the farm : feeding animals, cutting wood, cooking clementines jam, etc.
I've started to explore the river which runs in front of the house and i'm planning some hikes in the mountains all around. Some jumps to the 15 km far sea are also planned.
Last point : the only electricity we have here is locally produced by a turbine on a water pipe. It's OK for all the house needs plus for a laptop but a little weak for a serious computer with a serious screen so my time for processing files is counted ...

Blended Mediterranean colors - Zooming through the Hoya ND 400 filter

Mediterranean colors

When i was a teenager i was very kind of the zooming effect and used it on many portrait shots.

A few times ago i started to play again with that, mainly in relative low light and for this one in full day light but with the help of the Hoya ND 400 to slow down a little the exposure.