Showing posts with label var. Show all posts
Showing posts with label var. Show all posts

Friday 9 July 2010

A view of Toulon and some personal news

Morning light on Toulon
Morning light on Toulon


This image is a little more than one year old and she waited until today to be processed. That's not my usual workflow but sometimes i like to keep the raw images untouched, look at them from time to time and one day process them.

Now an important thing : In 2 weeks we are going to leave Provence and go to live in the Alps. I won't explain all the reasons here but that's an old project and we are very happy (and busy) with that.
So this post is probably the last one here before a while. Until July 24 i'll keep my current DSL connection here but i'm not sure to find some time for another post. We will arrive in the new house on July 25 but nobody really knows when my new connection will be up. I can hope it won't take more than 10 days ...

Thursday 1 July 2010

Place Massillon in Hyères - Provence

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
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.

Thursday 24 June 2010

The Verne monastery in Provence hills

The Verne monastery in Provence
The Chartreuse de la Verne in Provence


If you use the search box of this blog, you will probably find some other images of this monastery. As you can devine from its name, it's located in the hills above the valley of the Verne river i show in many previous posts.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Mediterranean rock detail

Detail of a mediterranean rock in the sun
Detail of a mediterranean rock in the sun


It's a one year old image from past summer. I went really soon to the sea on one place i didn't know very well. Arriving i hiked a long time in the rocks, looking for a good place, took a few seascapes, walked in the rocks and when the sun was too high for good job i decided to come back and on my way i found some nice orange rocks sunbathing in the morning light. After this closeup i came back home where i left the images sleeping on my hard drives until last night where i found this one and a few seascapes no too disapointing.

Monday 21 June 2010

Some new images of the Verne river

Waterfall on Boulin stream just before it's junction with the Verne river
Waterfall on Boulin stream
just before it's junction with the Verne river


In my last post about this place i was saying that i would probably not return there this year because of the low water level at the end of spring ...

But last week we had some impressive flash floods killing more than 20 peoples in our department. Fortunately, the huge forest were we live seems to have some very good natural protections and although some huge amounts of rain nothing realy bad came in our area.
That said, at least it puts some water in the rivers. So this morning i woke up before 5 am and went to the place where the Boulin stream joins the Verne river.
Climbing at 6 am on little cliffs covered by wet moss is always an amazing experience when you wear rubber boots but nothing went wrong and i could make a few interesting and i guess rare images before 8 am.

I love this place because it's wild and unknown and probably also because my inconscient knows that these little streams and rivers are the life sources of our country : A few kilometers far from these little waterfalls, the Verne river is "closed" by a dam and it's lake is the main source of drinking water for the Saint-Tropez area ...


Junction between Boulin stream and Verne river
Junction between Boulin stream and Verne river

Saturday 19 June 2010

Notre Dame de Pitié

Notre Dame de Pitié at Collobrières in Provence
Notre Dame de Pitié at Collobrières in Provence


This little chapel is about 100 meters far from my home.
I've ever posted another HDR view of its interior some years ago, this one is really more quiet :)

For people interested in the technical side of photography, the final image was obtained by tonemapping the same HDR file once with Photomatix and once with Picturenaut. The 2 resulting TIF files were then blended.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Back to the Verne river

Dusk light on the Verne river - Provence
Dusk light on the Verne river - Provence


About one week ago i decided to come back to the Verne river and see if it could do some interesting dusk images.

I arrived on the place a few time before the real dusk, started to make some shots from some rocks overhanging the river (you'll probably see them one day) and when the light started to be low i went to the middle of the river bed where i could install my tripod on a little rock.

I took my most wide lens, choose my GND filters and after a few test shots decided to wait a little bit. So i looked in my back and was seduced by the scene of the dark river running through the rocks. So i changed my lens for a longer one, moved the tripod a little on the rock and took this image.
After that i just had the time to remount the wide angle plus filters for the dusk shot and climb back to my car with my head lamp.

This image of the river running through the rocks is not the one i was looking for when i came there but now i really like it. I would have liked to go back one more time for some more prepared images of this scene but didn't had any occasion at the right time and in this end of spring, the water level decrease strongly every day ... So i think i'll have to keep this one :)

The Verne river running through the rocks
The Verne river running through the rocks

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Evening light on Collobrières village

Evening light on Collobrières village - Provence
Evening light on Collobrières village - Provence


This image perfectly illustrates the adventure life of a landscape photograper.
About one week ago, i was washing my hands in the bathroom when i saw the light.
I opened the window, installed my tripod, took my camera and made this one :)

Friday 28 May 2010

Dawn time in the forest

Dawn on the forest of the Massif des Maures - Provence
Dawn on the forest of the Massif des Maures - Provence


The caption gives the location, what could i add more ?

I just really love this image,i don't know why. Perharps it's because of the moments i lived there. Alone in the wind, breathing the forest and waiting that the clouds and rising sun give their most beautiful show.

Wednesday 26 May 2010

The forest under the clouds

The forest under the clouds - Massif des Maures
The forest under the clouds - Massif des Maures"


A morning view of the Provence forest in the Massif des Maures.
Taken a very few hours after dawn the light was changing every second.

This one was done from 3 exposures with Photomatix.
Some other with a most impressive sky but no HDR should come in a few days.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Place Rouget de l'Isle

Place Rouget de l'Isle in Collobrières - Provence
Place Rouget de l'Isle in Collobrières - Provence


For the peoples interested in technical things :

This image was created from 3 exposures blended into one real HDR image with Picturenaut.
A first tonemapping was done also with Picturenaut and then the HDR file was also tonemapped with Photomatix.
The 2 tonemapped images were then blended to give the final result.

The most difficult thing is to wait for the wind to stop :)

Monday 10 May 2010

The Verne river at spring

The Verne river by a cloudy springtime day
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 :)

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Green spring

Green springtime on the Massif des Maures - Provence
Green springtime on the Massif des Maures - Provence


Early on Monday morning i had some photos to make for a client in this part of the hills around my home.
I could work before the sky was too cloudy and after i had a little time to make a few shots for me before the rain.

I like this one showing all the green hills. Colors will change quickly in the next months ...
It was done from 4 exposures processed with Silkypix and Photomatix. I also have one done with a 0.6 GND filter but i prefer the HDR one, i think it gives a better rendition of the green nuances.

Wednesday 13 January 2010

Still exploring the natural HDR landscapes capabilities of Picturenaut

Winter afternoon in La Plaine des Maures
Winter afternoon in La Plaine des Maures


As told in some previous posts, i've recently discovered a new HDR tool : Picturenaut. It looks to be a very good tool to produce some natural looking HDR landscapes.

This one was done from 5 exposures taken one year ago and reprocessed this morning with Picturenaut. The result was realy easy to obtain and it very difficult to see any differences with one image i took from the scene with my GND filters.
Highlights are perfect, shadows are clean and detailed, the sky is artifacts free and i can't find any ghosting.

Does it mean that i will sell my GND filters ?
Certainly not. In some cases GND will work better, in some other cases they can't be used and last point, mounting a filter holder on some recent Nikon wide angle zooms is a little tricky. That's still the photographer choice to use the best technic for each image...

Sunday 10 January 2010

Snow falls in Provence

Snow on Collobrières roofs
Snow on Collobrières roofs


A view from my bathroom's window this morning.
It was just a short snow fall but that's unusual enough to deserve a photo.

HDR from 3 exposures, tonemapped with Photomatix.

Some will ask why to use HDR when the scene doesn't need a large dynamic range.
Just because i was sure at shooting time, to love the effect of tonemapping on this image and a tonemapped image is always cleaner when done from multiple exposures instead of a single one.

Saturday 9 January 2010

Saint Isidore church - another HDR interpretation

Saint Isidore church
Saint Isidore church


A little more fun than the previous one.

Done from 5 exposures, with Silkypix and Photomatix.

Friday 8 January 2010

Verdon river - A natural looking HDR landscape with Picturenaut

The Verdon river near Quinson
The Verdon river near Quinson


The Verson canyon is known as the European Grand Canyon. It's a beautiful place with high cliffs but there is no comparison possible with the Colorado Canyon :)

This image, shot in september and processed today is not my best of this place but i thought it should be a good test to see how to balance light and shadow with Picturenaut.

3 exposures used, raw files processed with Silkypix and HDR plus tonemapping with Picturenaut.
I'm very happy with the result, higlights are respected, shadows are very detailed and noise free.

Monday 4 January 2010

A natural japanese garden in the red rocks



I'm a little late for the first post of this new decade but after a bit of celebration i spent the first days hiking and shooting in the cold.

We have two important projects for this new year. First we will be traveling in Corsica from the mid of january to the end of march. Traveling is not the real word because we'll have a house and some animals to take care but i hope some beautiful photographic opportunities.

The second project is a bigger one and i think you will know more at springtime.

Happy New Year to all !

Wednesday 30 December 2009

Saint Isidore church at night - HDR

Saint Isidore church
Saint Isidore church


I often pass in front of this place by night, yesterday i had my camera with me and stopped.

HDR from 5 exposures, done with SilkyPix and Photomatix as usual.
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