Chamonix Oct'19 pt1

[LongLensPhotography]

I finally made myself go through the RAW files and edit them. To be honest, it wasn't my best one ever... On day 1 (out of 3) I got there in the afternoon. It was sunny and completely cloudless. I considered Lac Blanc but time was not on my side, and I wasn't really feeling that well at these altitudes right away. Of course no cable cars were running at all.
I rather accidentally eded up by this small lake / pond in Chamonix and rather like the golden birch trees in the island in the middle. Reflections weren't great to begin with, but reasonable; light of course is a little harsh in the early afternoon. This is about the best I could get out of it with a liberal use of CPL at 16mm and a shed load of Photoshop to fix it.


I tried a few other ideas but I clearly wasn't ready for any climbing that day at all. For those of you who never tried climbing at >2km altitude believe me you will feel totally s*** on day 1, and magically next day it will be OK. So it was back to the pond.
At the early golden hour the water calmed down and light improved on the mountains, but then the light disappeared from those trees.





I probably should have stayed there to the end. However I identified what I thought was a great elevated vantage point accessible by car. Sadly the bit was fenced off, and the second best spot had some trees getting in the way. So I could really only do long lens shots.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

[censored]

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I really like that red glow. It was a real shame I couldn't do anything wider.

Day 2 was quite a disaster. It rained all day, and it was miserable. In the evening it got slightly better but never properly improved. I went to the same pond in the evening. I was showing promising signs, but then went back to raining. This was the only long lens shot that I managed to get in between. It may not be anything special but I quite like it.



Day 3 was sunny again and it was a make it or break it time. There is quite a lot there so I will start a separate thread for it.

 

[SFTPhotography]

You just cannot go wrong with Chamonix - it truly is one of the best places for landscape photography in the world. You are blessed to have it with only a days drive away.

3rd shot for me - its the cleanest of the lake shots. Did you not take any of the Grepon Grouping.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

You just cannot go wrong with Chamonix - it truly is one of the best places for landscape photography in the world. You are blessed to have it with only a days drive away.

3rd shot for me - its the cleanest of the lake shots. Did you not take any of the Grepon Grouping.

It's a great place. I am already thinking about the next time, and sure enough it is becoming more and more challenging to find whole new quality vantage points, typically at some elevation.
It is sadly a bit more than a day to get there in practical terms and ferry does contribute heavily to it. It is basically 3hrs if you are lucky, and 4 if you have to wait some time before boarding. This year I made a detour via Etretat (great coastline, but really crap weather) and Loire valley. It was a bit of a waste of time; I wish I went straight down.

I am thinking what to do with day 3 Lac Cheserys shots. It was basically a super heavy chemtrail sky. I am almost tempted to do a full replacement if I can figure out what to do with the reflection. Due to chemtrails all around there wasn't even strong red light, it was rather dull and bland in the end. I was rather p***ed to say the least. It's not an easy hike with all the gear.

 

[SFTPhotography]

It's a great place. I am already thinking about the next time, and sure enough it is becoming more and more challenging to find whole new quality vantage points, typically at some elevation.
It is sadly a bit more than a day to get there in practical terms and ferry does contribute heavily to it. It is basically 3hrs if you are lucky, and 4 if you have to wait some time before boarding. This year I made a detour via Etretat (great coastline, but really crap weather) and Loire valley. It was a bit of a waste of time; I wish I went straight down.

I am thinking what to do with day 3 Lac Cheserys shots. It was basically a super heavy chemtrail sky. I am almost tempted to do a full replacement if I can figure out what to do with the reflection. Due to chemtrails all around there wasn't even strong red light, it was rather dull and bland in the end. I was rather p***ed to say the least. It's not an easy hike with all the gear.

Chem trails - yuck!!!

It isn't an easy hike - I did it from La Flegere refuge and with 2x bodies a 70-200 2.8 and 24, 35, 50 mm 1.4 primes and clothes it wasn't fun. From the car park as well it would be even harder.

I didn't like Cheserys - it's too trampled down around the embankments round the lake side. I think next time I will do Lac Blanc with the rocky shore and take the cable car to Flegere refuge and walk the rest at some point. I think Lac Blanc might be easier to get to - steeper but more direct. I often find, despite being a reflection lover, the long shots from the Flegere refuge can make very compelling pictures.

I did it from Scotland in 24hrs. Just book a DFDS boat for midnight from Loon Plage and aim to arrive 45mins before boarding - if you drive really quickly and do not stop much you can arrive earlier and they let you take the earlier sailing FOC. For you - it's easily done if you leave your home in the Midlands around 6pm - take a late sailing from Dover and you will be in the Alps for lunch time the following day.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

Chem trails - yuck!!!

It isn't an easy hike - I did it from La Flegere refuge and with 2x bodies a 70-200 2.8 and 24, 35, 50 mm 1.4 primes and clothes it wasn't fun. From the car park as well it would be even harder.

I didn't like Cheserys - it's too trampled down around the embankments round the lake side. I think next time I will do Lac Blanc with the rocky shore and take the cable car to Flegere refuge and walk the rest at some point. I think Lac Blanc might be easier to get to - steeper but more direct. I often find, despite being a reflection lover, the long shots from the Flegere refuge can make very compelling pictures.

I did it from Scotland in 24hrs. Just book a DFDS boat for midnight from Loon Plage and aim to arrive 45mins before boarding - if you drive really quickly and do not stop much you can arrive earlier and they let you take the earlier sailing FOC. For you - it's easily done if you leave your home in the Midlands around 6pm - take a late sailing from Dover and you will be in the Alps for lunch time the following day.

I hiked from tre le champ. It reduces the altitude difference but what a horror show it was with endless sections of ~30m tall step ladders and tripod in hand!
There was some snow around so all the mess was conveniently hidden. It looked OK, but actually I strongly prefer my much earlier shot from Flegere pond.
I notice there is a nasty building right in front of Lac Blanc that is sure to spoil any wider shots there. Any idea how bad it is?

I am not sure how you manage to drive so long without sleeping. For most of us it would be rather dangerous if not outright deadly. Midnight ferry typically ends up with sleeping somewhere not too far from it in the car. Then it all depends how well you can dodge speed cameras and the rest. From Luxembourg it becomes slow and painful. It is certainly not a trip for a weekend break.

 

[JohnFar]

Back to the photos.... perhaps perversely, I rather like the last one. It's unusual and atmospheric. Perhaps trim a little off the left, losing the rock spire near the edge? Then the central rock spire becomes more prominent, and contrasts nicely with the glacier.

 

[SFTPhotography]

I hiked from tre le champ. It reduces the altitude difference but what a horror show it was with endless sections of ~30m tall step ladders and tripod in hand!
There was some snow around so all the mess was conveniently hidden. It looked OK, but actually I strongly prefer my much earlier shot from Flegere pond.
I notice there is a nasty building right in front of Lac Blanc that is sure to spoil any wider shots there. Any idea how bad it is?.

I think there are two lakes - one with the ugly hut and one further back that is ok. I'm going to explore properly. There are other lakes around Cheserys too, further back and down from the path if you walk towards to Argentier - which is another way to approach but I prefer to get the woodland out the way with the cable car to Flegere - and walk from there. I wouldn't go to Index, it might take the height out but it's a more technical approach to Lac Blanc.

I am not sure how you manage to drive so long without sleeping. For most of us it would be rather dangerous if not outright deadly. Midnight ferry typically ends up with sleeping somewhere not too far from it in the car. Then it all depends how well you can dodge speed cameras and the rest. From Luxembourg it becomes slow and painful. It is certainly not a trip for a weekend break.

I am fine with it - I like driving on the motorway and at night you dodge the London and Paris rushhours. It's how I can get to Spain to Scotland without stopping in 26hrs bar food and some fuel. It's expensive in fuel and tolls but I only go once a year - I think if I lived where you did I might go twice or thrice for 5 days or so.

 

[Scirocco_09]

It looks a spectacular place but I think more thought over the lakeside compositions was needed, that's if you were free to move around. For me there just isn't a clear composition in those pictures and my eyes dart all around looking for something to settle on - #3 is the best of those and I think you can improve it by playing around with a 5:4 crop, most coming off the left side - it would look a lot more balanced for my eyes. The third from the end is pretty nice

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I think there are two lakes - one with the ugly hut and one further back that is ok. I'm going to explore properly. There are other lakes around Cheserys too, further back and down from the path if you walk towards to Argentier - which is another way to approach but I prefer to get the woodland out the way with the cable car to Flegere - and walk from there. I wouldn't go to Index, it might take the height out but it's a more technical approach to Lac Blanc.

The other 4 Cheserys lakes will be completely no good. They are deep down the rock pits. Don't waste any time on it. As you are fully aware there is no cable car in October. In summer this would be the way to go. Maybe the sunsets are better then, but there is almost no snow...

It looks a spectacular place but I think more thought over the lakeside compositions was needed, that's if you were free to move around. For me there just isn't a clear composition in those pictures and my eyes dart all around looking for something to settle on - #3 is the best of those and I think you can improve it by playing around with a 5:4 crop, most coming off the left side - it would look a lot more balanced for my eyes. The third from the end is pretty nice

I really appreciate the crop suggestion. It actually makes sense from artistic point of view, but here it is perhaps more important to retain as much of the mountain chain as possible. It's never going to be a portfolio image or anywhere near it. It will either interest some local tourist body or a holidaymaker or maybe not.

 

[ihasa]

No. 3 of the second set is my hands down favourite. The image breaks down into well proportioned 'zones '.