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.

Rainbow light

Rainbow light

That's not my usual kind of photo but ...

On friday evening, i was making some landscapes images when a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky. The place where it was hitting ground was not very exciting and although i also have a wider view, i find this one more beautiful.

Rural landscape under the clouds near Manosque in Provence

Rural landscape under the clouds

I spent a few days in the Alpes de Hautes Provence region about one week ago.
On sunday i was driving back home across a very rural countryside and decided to stop on a little path to catch some of these cereal fields under the storm light.

I also stopped a few kilometers after this place when i saw some realy old barns. I'll probably post one or two images here next week.

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 ...

The clementines orchard under the clouds - HDR

Clementines orchard under the clouds

Our friends here are cultivating clementines so we have a beautiful garden giving us some delicious fruits :)

HDR image done from 4 exposures processed with Silkypix and Photomatix.

On the beach before the rain - HDR

Bau Rouge beach before the rain

A few time after the rainbow posted in my previous post.
And for the newest readers, you can have a look here at my tips for HDR landscapes, they also work for seascapes :)

Big sky over the sea, other versions should come

Big sky over the Mediterranean sea

One image from monday evening.

The sky is an HDR work from 4 exposures, softly tonemapped and the ground and sea is from one of these four exposures.

I also have another one done with a HOYA ND 400 filter giving a really other look to the sky (and of course to the sea). I'll try to post it in the next days.

Clouds over Toulon - without HDR but with a GND filter

Clouds in the sky over Toulon in Provence

Posted for comparison with the one shown in this previous post.

Clouds over Toulon - HDR seascape or HDR skyscape

Some clouds over Toulon - Provence

That's always the same story : Today was supposed to be a sunny day and i expected a beautiful pink daw on the buildings you can devine on the right of this image. So i jumped out of my bed at 5 am, prepared a big little coffee and drove to Toulon where i arrived at dawn. Light was really not as expected :) I decided to wait some hours walking on the beaches and at around 9 am (i guess) the sun said a little hello threw the clouds in my back. As this kind of sky can always be interesting for HDR works i rapidly shot 3 exposures and after that one more with a soft GND filter.

The one you can see above is the result of my HDR work and i have to say that it was a real pleasure to process. I'll show you the flitred one in the following days.

Natural threat - Cloudy seascape

Natural threat : clouds over the Mediterranean sea
large view

An incoming storm over the Mediterraneans sea at Carqueiranne in Provence.

The sky was done by HDR processing 3 exposures, the sea and ground come from a unique shot.

Stormy dawn on the sea

Stormy dawn on the seaMediterranean seascape at Le Bau Rouge in Provence.
Don't miss the large view.

Stormy sunshine

Stormy sunshine on the Mediterranean sea
Yesterday i was soon, really soon on the field and the weather was not rainy, not too windy but not too nice. So i did more skyscapes than seascapes.

Need some time to process the files.

HDR on the beach

Mediterranean storm
I live 30 km far from the Mediterranean sea but i didn't shot any seascape during the past 3 years. I can't explain why, but that's like it.
From one month, things have changed. When i can find a moment for non commmercial photography, i go to the Bau-Rouge, a wild and rocky beach near Carqueiranne and try to catch some beautiful landscapes before summer when the light will be more difficult and when the place will be overcrowded.

In the begining of march, i was there in a bad weather afternoon. At the end of the afternoon, the weather was more and more bad and a big storm was coming. Just before leaving, i could catch some images like the one you can see above.

To keep all the sky contrasts and to avoid underexposing too much the darkest parts of the scenes, i shot 3 exposures for this image.
I converted the 3 raw files to 3 48 bits tif with SilkyPix. The tif files where combined and converted to HDR and tonemapped with Photomatix.
Then as i wanted a perfect sea with no gosthing effect i've blended the tonemapped image with one of the original tif file and kept only the sky from the tonemapped photo.