Clouds over the wheat field

Clouds over the wheat field - Haute Savoie

One more view from june of my favourite wheat field.
Done in the end of afternoon, a few time before dusk.

I also have another one very similar but showing a little more of the field. You can have a look here. I still hesitate to know which one i prefer.

Colza - A green and yellow rural landscape

Colza field in Haute Savoie

That's just another view of this colza field in mid day light.

The short DOF is due to a 70mm lens at f2.8 focused to the middle of the field.
That's not a technique i often use but i really like the effect here.

Wheat field at dusk

Wheat field at dusk in Haute Savoie

Another view of this wheat field i posted in july, to add to my ongoing serie about the rural landscapes around my home.

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.

Colza field in mid day light

Colza field in the rural landscape of Haute Savoie

I don't have produced any new work for the serie about These rural landscapes around my home (you can read the introduction here)

I spend most of my time trying to build a stock gallery about Jura mountains but the least i can say i that the weather doesn't help me.


In the late morning on friday, i had to go to the post office and on the road i noticed this colorful field under the smooth light of this cloudy day.
I did what i had to do in the city, went back home, took my gear and drove back to the field.
That was not the impressive light landscape photographers usually use for their work but i loved how soft it was. I did a few images like this one plus a few closeups.
A 0.9 soft GND filter helped me to balance the exposure between sky and field.

As usual, the large view in more interesting.

Weekly commented photo # 34 - Trees, snow and mist in a rural landscape

Trees, snow and mist in a rural landscape

Here in Haute Savoie we had an unusual winter.
The snow started to fall strongly at the end of november until the first days of december. After that the weather was really cold until january and then winter was gone and spring started.

On december 2, just after the snow falls i woke up early and took my gear for a walk in the misty rural landscape around my home.

I first took a few images in a strong mist that you can see here on my french website.
I was still turning around in this field, trying to find interesting point of views and taking care of leaving the most important places free of footprints when the mist became lighter.
If i remember well i just did this image before walking back home. It's certainly less ethereal and "beautiful" than the other ones of the serie but i really love the simple composition and how it shows the wet and cold atmosphere.

Summer meadow around the Chalet du Sac

Summer meadow around the Chalet du Sac

The alpine meadows of Grand Crêt d'Eau mountain around the Chalet du Sac.
In the background you can devine the Jura mountains under the clouds and on the right, a very small part of Léman lake.

I've added this morning 12 new images of this area on my french website. If you want to have a look, that starts here.

House and tree in Jura mountains

House and tree around Bellecombe in Jura mountains

On last friday, i spent a beautiful time in the early morning around Bellecombe in Jura mountains.
It's a nice green place with many fields, forests and just a few houses. I've read that less than 100 people (and probably more cows) are living in this large natural area.

After a few images of the countryside all around, i was walking on a tiny rural road when i noticed the light on this house. I just had to climb the little hill on the other side of the road to setup my tripod.

Farms in Jura mountains

Farms in a rural landscape aurond Bellecombe - Jura

Weekly commented photo # 31 - Dusk light on the Alpine meadow

Dusk light on Grand Crêt d'Eau mountain

That's another scheduled post because i'm not at work this week. No office work, no blogging and a very few photography. I hope to retrieve a better posting rate here during next week.

As you can devine, this image is from the same serie that the previous one of my Weekly commented photos. It was done a little later and i was still around the Chalet du Sac on Grand Crêt d'Eau mountain.

Usually, chalets are built with wood logs but the word also designates these little houses used by sheperds spending summer with their flocks in the mountains.
This one is not still used by sheperds but i've read that anyone hiking there can stop here and spend the night in a safe place.
That's not difficult to devine that i will probably try that in a short time, just to be sure not to miss the first lights of the day.

The photo is a HDR one done from 5 exposures and processed with SilkyPix and Photomatix.

Why did i use HDR photography here ?
Just because that the scene dynamic range was really too high to give a nice and good result even with a very strong GND filtration.

Weekly commented photo # 30 - Alpine meadow on Grand Cret d'Eau mountain

Alpine meadow on Grand Crêt d'Eau mountain

That's a really recent image taken just a few hours ago.

After my first visit a few weeks ago, i returned this evening to the Grand Crêt d'Eau mountain. I wanted to explore a little more and eventually make photos of Leman lake and Jura mountains in dusk light.

As i left home under a beautiful blue sky, i was surprised to find such a cloudy and windy weather on the mountain. The elevation here is only 1380m but beleive me, i was happy to have a polar vest to wear over my t-shirt.

Surprised by the clouds and seduced by the light i spent the last hours of the day here, trying different compositions and lights.
After a short time, all the cows probably intrigued gave me a little visit to see who was gesticulating in the field with a big black tripod. They looked at me during a few minutes and as i'm definitely not an interesting people they returned to their place where grass was probably better.

Light on the field

Light on the field

Another view of the rural landscapes around my home.

I'm just back from a very short holidays in Jura mountains, the first image will be published here on friday.

The little road through Valserine valley

The little road through Valserine valley

The place around these very few houses is named La rivière (The river) and the images posted here about the Valserine river where done a few km far.

Dusk light on the wheat field

Dusk light on the wheat field

An image done about one month ago on a hilltop of my close neighborhood.

I woke up before done yesterday for a deeper exploration of The Rural Landscapes Around My Home.
I drove a lot along many narrow rural roads but couldn't find a good place.
When i finally found an interesting point of view on some villages along the Rhône river, the sun was too high and the light too strong.

One tree in the light

Tree in the light

On june 10 i was making photos of the countryside in my neighborhood (like the one posted here).
I was standing with my tripod on a very small rural road. Suddenly i felt the light changing behind me. I turned my head and saw this tree. I just had to run a little on the road to find a good place for composing this image with the long lens that was ever mounted on my camera.

French countryside in Haute Savoie - Another view

French countryside in Haute Savoie

Another one in the serie about The Rural Landscapes Around My Home.

Like my Chéran Canyon image, this one was also done by stitching 3 photos with PTGui.

This morning, i went really soon the the Valserine valley and found a very interesting place with a nice view along the river. I hope you will see the first images here before the end of the week.

French countryside in Valserine valley

French countryside in Valserine valley

An image done this morning in the beautiful rural landscape of the Valserine valley. Just near Chezery Forens in Haut Jura Natural Park

Weeky commented photo #23 - Rural landscape, mountains and clouds

Rural landscape before dusk in Haute Savoie

I'm still working on the serie about The rural landscapes around my home.
This image was done about one month ago. I was making photos of some rural fields in the light of the end of afternoon when i noticed these beautiful clouds formation over the mountains in the far background.

Scenes with such a dynamic range are not easy to capture :

• You can use some GND filters to balance highlights in the sky and foreground shadows
• You can make several shots of the scene with different exposures and then blend them digitally (using HDR method or not)

The day was a little wendy and i felt a little too lazy for multiple exposures.
So i mounted a 1.2 soft GND filter in front of my lens and could capture a raw file where highlights and shadows were both respected.

No information was lost but the raw file was difficult to process to obtain a nice photo. After many tries with curves tweaks, manual masking, etc i developped my raw files with three different exposure ajustments.
Then i used Picturenaut to produce and tonemap an hdr file.
The result was then saved as a 48 bits TIFF file that just needed some minor adjustments do give the photo you can see here.

I like to name things by their real names and for me such a worflow is not HDR Photography. There is no magic and whatever the algorithm you choose to process a single file, it can't give you more information that what is included into this single file.
If i would have shot the scene without the GND filter i would have exposed it to protect the sky for clipping and then the foreground would have been really underexposed. Then using any method to retrive informations in the shadows would have revealed more noise than image details.

Rural landscape around Loblaz viewed from the Vuache mountains

Loblaz from the Vuache mountain

Loblaz is a hamlet of Chaumont, the village where i live now.
I made this image in February during one of my walk on the Vuache mountain and i think it's a very good illustration of what are These rural landscapes around my home.

The rural colors of spring and some other things

Rural landscape around Frangy - Haute Savoie

One more in the serie about The Rural Landscapes Around My Home.

Some short news :

• I went before dawn this morning along the Chéran river in the Massif des Bauges natural park. For a first time it was not too bad.
• I've added yesterday 10 images from Corsica on my french website.