Showing posts with label massif des bauges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label massif des bauges. Show all posts

Friday 20 January 2012

Winter stream in Massif des Bauges natural park and a selection of my favorite images from 2011

Photo of a cold winter stream in Massif des Bauges Natural Park - France
Winter stream in Massif des Bauges natural park


Another image from my recent and short outing in Massif des Bauges natural park.
While the previous one was done at dusk in a widely open area, this one was made a few hours before in a little valley between the mountains around Aillon le jeune. I'm not absolutely sure but i think the name of this stream is Lindar.
The place was very cold and i was surprised after a long exploration, to find just a very few ice stalactites in the river. Doesn't matter, i loved the winter mood here.

Note : I've posted yesterday on my french website a selection of my 20 favorite images done last year.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Blue hour on the mountains of Massif des Bauges Natural Park

Photograph at blue hour of the mountains of Massif des Bauges in winter
Photograph at blue hour of the mountains of Massif des Bauges in winter


A photo from yesterday.
I was in Massif des Bauges Natural Park to make images of a large building entirely built with local wood. This work was finished in the beginning of the afternoon and i was able to go to the mountains for a few personnal images under a beautiful light.
The only trouble was that i was really not dressed to stay out by a winter dusk in the mountains. I just had somme rubber boots in my car. The snow was not too deep and hardened by the cold. So, i could hike a little in the snowy fields to find some interesting point of view but a moderate wind was blowing from the north ...

Thursday 22 December 2011

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Powerful waterfall in Cheran river

Photo of a powerful waterfall running in Cheran river. Massif des Bauges natural Park
Autumn waterfall in Chéran river - Massif des Bauges Natural Park


One more from the autumn days i spent along Chéran river.
That's obviously the vertical version of the waterfall image i've posted one month ago.

The natural light in the canyon was low enough to give a very long exposure without any filter.

Note : I've uploaded yesterday 17 new images of this place on my french website. Don't hesitate to have a look.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Long exposure along Cheran river

Long exposure photograph done with Hoya ND 400 filter along the Chéran river
Along the Chéran river


Another image from a few weeks ago in the canyon of Chéran river. Done the same day than this other one.

The long exposure (around 168s) in day light is due to my Hoya ND 400 filter.

Thursday 1 December 2011

Springtime greenery in the forest

Closeup of green plants growing on forest ground at springtime
Springtime greenery in the forest


An image from about 6 months ago when i was exploring the forest along Chéran river.

Friday 25 November 2011

Weekly commented photo # 47 - Autumn in Cheran Canyon

Long exposure photograph of autumn along the Cheran river in Massif des Bauges natural Park - France
Autumn in Chéran Canyon


When i went to Chéran river two weeks ago, i made an image very close to this one.
It was not the best time of the day and i was thinking too much to scout this new place so i did a little composition mistake.

Back to the office and editing the images, i looked at the file and decided to delete it and to re-make the photo with better conditions if possible.

I returned last week but it was in the early morning and this image needs to be done in the late afternoon.

So, i returned once more this afternoon. Arrived in the canyon, i ran directly to the right place and started by a few shots with normal exposures around 0.5 seconds.
Looking at my camera LCD, i found the water movements and the sky reflections unsightly and decided to make a very long exposure with my Hoya ND 400 filter. The result is the image posted above and for people interested in such details, the exposure was a little more than 200 seconds long.

After that, i walked a little along the river, did some photos of the water running between the rocks and about one hour later, i went back to my initial place under the very low light of the autumn dusk.
Without any filter, i could do two or three more images with exposures around one minute. After a close look on my computer display, i really think that my favourite is the first one done with the Hoya ND 400, just after my arrival.

Friday 18 November 2011

Weekly commented photo # 46 - Autumn morning along Cheran river

HDR photograph of an autumn morning along Cheran river in Massif des Bauges Natural Park
Autumn morning along Chéran river


I spent most of the week preparing the house for winter.
No blogging and almost no photography. I just took some time today in the early morning to return to Chéran canyon.

The drive before dawn to Massif des Bauges natural park was a little longer than usual because of the frosty roads and the path to river was more slippy than last week.

I started by some other images of the little waterfall posted here last friday but with a shorter exposure to give more details in the falling water.

After that, i climbed some rocks to pass over the waterfall. I wanted to explore more deeply the upper part of the river but i discovered it was not possible without a little and cold bath. Not prepared to this kind of game, i decided to stay a little time just on the top of the waterfall where i made the today image.

This one is the result of an HDR work done from 7 exposures and tonemapped with Picturenaut and Photomatix. I also have another one done with a strong GND filter but the left side of the image is really dark and i prefer the HDR one.

As i couldn't go higher i went back to the lower river bed, walked a little to another waterfall i noticed last week, did a few more photos and walked back to my car when the sun started to be really too high in the sky.

Friday 11 November 2011

Weekly commented photo # 45 - Autumn waterfall in Cheran river, Massif des Bauges Natural Park

Photograph of an autumn waterfall on Chéran river in Massif des Bauges Natural Park
Autumn waterfall on Chéran river


I spent yesterday afternoon in Massif des Bauges natural park scouting for some new spots along Chéran river.

I didn't want to return to the place i visited at springtime and then i went deeper and lower in the canyon.
After about one hour drive from home, i left my car at the end of a tiny rural road, crossed meadows and woods and finally found a steep slippy path going to the river bed.

Since we had no serious rain for a long time, i had a few hesitations before leaving home because i wasn't sure to find enough water for interesting photography.
Once on the place i was very happy that the water level was so low because if it would have been higher i couldn't have walk in the canyon.

So, i started to hike on the wet and mossy rocks, stopping from time to time to make some images of the river running in its lower bed.
After some times rambling once on the rocks, once in the woods i arrived to this little but powerful waterfall.

It was more than 5 pm. The light started to be very low, i had no headlamp and i knew that walking back the river bed in the darkness wouldn't be a very good idea.
So i decided to stop the exploration here. I made two photos of the waterfall, this one and a vertical one and then started to walk back to my car.

As the light became lower and lower, i was a little nervous about finding and climbing the little path i used to get down.
Fortunately, halfway i found an other one larger and more comfortable climbing through the forest and leading to the road where i left my car.

Note : I've just uploaded 22 photos of autumn around the Rhône river on my french website. Some typical landscape works and some more abstract images.
You can have a look here.

Friday 17 June 2011

Weekly commented photo #24 - Cheran canyon through Massif des Bauges forest

Cheran canyon through Massif des Bauges forest
Cheran canyon through Massif des Bauges forest


For my second morning at the Chéran river i wanted this overview of the canyon from the Abîme bridge but arrived on the place it was not really easy to realize :

The bridge is really narrow and the sidewalks too tights for the 3 legs of my tripod. I had to fold completely one of this legs and just put it on a diagonal metallic beam. It was not the most stable setup i ever had but it worked.

The bridge is hanged by many big red wires and i couldn't use a lens wider than 28 mm without including one of them in the frame. I could take some photos of the river but not this general view i wanted.
I was about to renounce to this image and go directly to the river when i had an idea :

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may know that i'm a long time user of PTGui.
Ten years ago i was using it very often to stitch images for classic panoramic landscapes but also to get more resolution that the old digital cameras could give.
Today any DSLR give enough pixels for most of my needs and i still make stitched images but only from time to time.

So before packing all my gear to go to the river, i took 4 horizontal photos with my 28 mm lens, panning the camera vertically between each.
Once back at the office, stitching these 4 images with PTGui was easy and it gave me a 20 megapixels file.

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Wild forest in Massif des Bauges Natural Park

Wild forest in Massif des Bauges Natural Park
Wild forest in Massif des Bauges Natural Park


An image done one week ago during my second day of exploration along the Chéran river.

Saturday 11 June 2011

Running water in Cheran river

Running water in Chéran river - Massif des Bauges Natural Park
Running water in Chéran river - Massif des Bauges Natural Park


Another view of the water running just under me while i was standing up on my little rock in the river bed (read the story here).

Thursday 9 June 2011

Silky water in the Cheran river - The vertical one

Silky water in Cheran river
Silky water in Cheran river


Another addition to my long exposures with Hoya ND 400 collection.

If you're an usual reader of this blog, you will surely recognize this image as the vertical version of this one.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Trees in Massif des Bauges forest

Trees in Massif des Bauges forest
Trees in Massif des Bauges forest


Some trees in the forest along the Chéran river in the Massif des Bauges natural park.

I've published yesterday 12 new photos of this area on my french website, if you want to have a look that's here.

I also returned in that place really soon this morning for more images of the river and forest.

Monday 6 June 2011

Cheran river - Massif des Bauges Natural Park

Cheran river in the Massif des Bauges Narural Park
Cheran river in the Massif des Bauges Narural Park

Tuesday 31 May 2011

In the heart of the forest - Massif des Bauges Natural Park

The forest along the Cheran river - Massif des Bauges Natural Park
The forest along the Chéran river - Massif des Bauges Natural Park


A recent image i did during my first morning along the Chéran river in the Massif des Bauges Natural Park.

I hope to return soon in this place, of course for a better exploration of the river but also to make more images of the beautiful forest all around.

Friday 27 May 2011

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

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

Friday 20 May 2011

Weekly commented photo #20 - The forest in the mountains of Massif des Bauges natural park

Forest in the mountains of Massif des Bauges natural park
Forest in the mountains of Massif des Bauges natural park


In France, we have 3 kinds of natural parks :
  • Marine natural parks.
  • National parks.
  • Regional natural parks.
There are two Marine natural parks. About ten National parks (9 really but one new should be created soon) and tens of Regional natural parks (some are also created from time to time).

The Massif des Bauges regional natural park was created at the end of 1995 and includes some very nice areas of mountains and rural places from Savoie and Haute Savoie departments.

I know many of these places from a long time before the park's creation. When i was younger i often went there for mountaineering, hiking or cycling.

The park was created while i was living in Provence and i was hearing by the news, friends and family that the Massif des Bauges was becoming more and more famous. More and more famous for its nature, for its cheese, for its landscapes, ...
I have to say that i was a little afraid that it becomes before all a tourist place.

Since we came back to live in Haute Savoie last summer, i went to the Massif des Bauges a very few times and i could seen that things changed but not too much. Some villages just look a little more modern and seem to be a little less lost in the wilderness.

This image was done in march during my first but unsuccessful try of photography in the park.
After spending hours with driving and walking under a dull light in the Savoie's mountains i decided to come back and explore some areas closer to Annecy. I finally stopped in that forest just near Bellecombe en Bauges.
It started to be late but i could make a few photos before the night and noted this place as one i would have to visit again.

Friday 25 March 2011

Weekly commented photo #12 - Sunset light on the Massif des Bauges

Sunset light on The Massif des Bauges
Sunset light on the Massif des Bauges


On monday i had an appointment with a client in the Massif des Bauges area. After my first and unsuccessful attempt a few weeks ago (see here) i was decided to give this place another try.

I was expecting my shooting job to finish early and to have time for personnal landscapes after, just at the better light.
As things don't always go as expected, the job ended just before the end of afternoon and i had to spend a little time with the client to speak and have a drink. BTW it was a nice piece of time but when it ended it was too late to drive to the mountains where i wanted to go and so i took the shortest road to my home.

After less than half an hour on the mountain road i arrived to a little pass where i discovered this sunset view.
I stopped the car along the road, unpacked my gear and made this image.

I had to use a 1.2 (5 stops) soft gnd filter to keep the sky correct without darkening too much the shadows.
It was ok for the exposure but the sun was not completely set and when processing the file i discovered a flare mark that i couldn't remove completely so that's just another image which will never be printed.
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