Little stream cascading in the forest of Haut Jura Natural Park

Stream cascading in Jura forest near Septmoncel


One more view of this little stream cascading in the forest of Haut Jura Natural Park near Septmoncel.

Rural landscape under the clouds in Haut Jura Natural Park

Rural landscape under the clouds on Bellecombe plateau

Despite of the cloudy sky, that's a summer image from august.
It was done during one of my first explorations on Bellecombe plateau and perfectly illustrates the atmosphere in which people often live here.

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.

Weekly commented photo # 39 : The syncline fold and its waterfall

Chapeau de gendarme syncline fold and waterfall

This is the place around Septmoncel about which i wrote a few words one week ago.
Its name means "Policeman's hat" and comes from its shape.

I discovered it in july with ugly weather and pouring rain. The waterfall was very very impressive and i was a little disappointed when i came back in september and found a very low water level despite the rain we had in the weeks before.

I found a kind of little path in the green vegetation you can see under the cliff and made a small serie of images of the entire waterfall plus some closeups i find more interesting.

The photo you can see here was done from the road. I didn't found any other composition to include all the fold with its waterfall.
The light in this end of afternoon was very nice but contrast between highlights on the cliff and shadows in the vegetation was huge. I could have wait a little more but i would have lost the sunrays lighting the rocks.

That's obvioulsy not the kind of images where GND filters give their best results and so i went for the HDR solution.

Five exposures where used.
NEF files where converted to 48 bits TIFs using SilkyPix.
TIF files where blended to a real HDR file with Picturenaut.
A first tonemapped image was then produced with Picturenaut and a second one was done by tonemapping the HDR file with Photomatix.
These two tonemapped files where then blended to give the final image you can see here.

I know that many magazines (and some famous ones) claim that they don't publish composite images including HDR ones. I think that's to avoid too much fakes in the photojournalism world.
I can understand their choice but on the other side when i compare this HDR photo with the best single exposure i've done from this scene i'm forced to recognized that the HDR file has a really better quality ...

Valserine river under the green woods of Haut Jura Natural Park

Valserine river running quietly underwood

Another view of Valserine river running in the green springtime forest of Haut Jura Natural Park.

Rising mist in Valserine Forest

Mist in Valserine forest - Haut Jura Natural Park

Same place and same day than for this image but a little later with different light and another lens.

Misty morning on Bellecombe plateau

Misty morning on Bellecombe plateau

Another image from this beautiful morning on Bellecombe plateau.

I've added yesterday one new photo gallery about Jura department on my french website.
It contains all my images from Bellecombe plateau and Hérisson waterfalls plus a few other ones.
I'll add in october the photos done more recently around Septmoncel.

Running water in Septmoncel forest - Haut Jura Natural Park

Stream running through Jura forest around Septmoncel

Another view of this little stream i discovered last week around Septmoncel in Haut Jura Natural Park (First image here).

This water running wildly in the green forest makes me think to another place i discovered two years ago around Saparelle in Corsica.

Forest hues

Forest hues in Haut Jura Natural Park

One more image from Bellecombe plateau in Haut Jura Natural Park.
It was on september 7 and the end of summer had a strong smell of autumn.

Weekly commented photo # 38 : Cascading water near Septmoncel in Haut Jura Natural Park

Cascading water in Jura forest


In july, our visit to the famous Hérisson waterfalls was shortened by the arrival of huge rains. We left the place at dawn and drove back home.
While on the mountain road between Saint Claude and Septmoncel i noticed a big waterfall on a spectacular syncline fold. The weather was really too bad and the rain too strong for a valuable photographic stop.

On wednesday, we had a beautiful autumn day and i decided to come back to this area and make images of this waterfall and geological particularity.
I arrived on the place in the end of afternoon under a beautiful light but i had two deceptions.

• The waterfall was really less impressive than under the rain.
• Access to its bottom was quite impossible.

I started to make some images from the road and finally found a kind of little path between the rock and green vegetation with which i could bring me a little closer.
My motivation was not really high because of the very few water falling from the cliff and after a few more shots i packed my gear and went back to my car with the idea to explore some other places in the area.

I stopped a little more closer to Septmoncel village where i could see from the road a stream cascading in the deep forest.
After a short trip along the stream i found this little place where i could make three or four images like this one. The light was low enough to give some long exposures (many seconds) without any filter.
After that i tried to explore the forest and stream a little more but night was falling and i rapidly came back to my car for a two hours long drive to home.
I expect to return there soon and hope the decidous trees will take their autumn colors for my come back.

Meadows and mountain forest in Haut Jura Natural Park

Meadows and mountain forest - Haut Jura Natural Park


One more view of the landscape around Bellecombe on the plateau of Haut Jura Natural Park.

Beginning of autumn, deciduous trees start to change their colors while coniferous stay green ...

Electric lines in the landscape

The landscape around Bellecombe in Haut Jura Natural Park


One more image of Bellecombe plateau in Haut Jura Natural Park.

Done a few time before this other one and before the rain really starts.

I usually try to avoid these electric lines in my photos. I first walked, looking for a point of view where they wouldn't be too much present in the images but here they really cross most of the place. I finally decided not to fight more against that and tried to include all this wire stuff in the most pleaseant way.

First autumn colors on Valserine valley

First autumn colors on Valserine valley


An image from the first days of september.
It was in the early morning. I was driving back from another try in the mountains of Haut Jura Natural Park.
On my way to home, i took the road through Valserine valley and when the rain stopped i had some nice views of the very first autumn colors on the misty forest. (You can see another one here.)

Colorful mushrooms in Valserine forest

Colorful mushrooms on an old tree stump

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

Weekly commented photo # 37 - Mist and sun on Jura landscape

Misty morning on Jura forest and meadows

On tuesday, i woke up before dawn, saw the starry sky enlightened by the moon and took my car for a drive to Haut Jura Natural Park.
I was expecting to be there for some beautiful pink dawn hues over the green meadows around Lajoux.

I arrived in Lajoux just at dawn time but the fog was really too strong and i had absolutely no visibility on the surrounding landscapes. I drove a little more turning around the village without finding any view on anything. I took some new roads but without seeing anything i can't call it exploration ...

After a few hesitations i decided to take once more the road to Bellecombe.
It seemed to be a good idea : while i was driving the heavy fog became a nice and light mist.

Just before arriving on the plateau where i took the rainy landscape posted one week ago, i noticed that the first sun rays were trying to pass over the mountains creating some nice backlit effects on the trees and mist.

I found a place to leave my car, took my gear and literally ran on a little hilltop hoverhanging Bellecombe plateau.
There, with a long lens i could make a little serie of images like this one. The serie ended when the mist was totally cleared by the sun.

Then, i packed my camera, put my tripod on my shoulder and started to hike the hills, with some little stops from time to time to make some of my first photographs of Jura landscapes under the sun.
I continued the walk untill i was pushed out of the meadows by a huge herd of cows.

Before driving back home, i returned around Lajoux to explore the little roads i took for the first time some hours before.
I was too late for photography but i certainly found some nice places for my next times here.

Forest canvas

It could be an impressionist painting but that's really a photograph.
Done in Valserine forest with a long lens and slightly moving the camera during the exposure.

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.

Mist in Valserine forest

Mist in Valserine forest


This morning, i went once more to Haut Jura Natural Park with the intention of making some new mountains landscapes for my stock website.

More i was going deeper in the mountains, more the weather was awful.
So i went down to Valserine valley where i could make a few images between the biggest rains.
The forest starts to change its colours and there is no doubt that autumn will come soon this year ...

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.

Trees, branches and foliage in Valserine forest

Trees, branches and foliage in Valserine forest

A more quiet version of this image.
Both were done at the end of a long exploration of a really small part of the green Valserine forest in Haut Jura Natural Park


NOTE : From today, i will feature every month a special tag in the right column of this bog. So think to check the TAG OF THE MONTH box.
September tag of the month is FOREST.