Photographing in Rainy South France: Mas d'Azil Cave

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So what can you photograph if it rains cats and dogs, in South France

The gutter

Close-up photo of a splash of water against a dark grey background, with a thin stream falling and several droplets suspended in the air.


But then the air is clearing

Landscape photo of a garden with a small dark pond in the foreground, a low stone balustrade on the right, and a bare-branched tree on the left, with thick low cloud or mist filling the valley and hills behind.


The Arize is a lot wilder than usual as it enters the cave of Mas d'Azil

Wide view from inside a large limestone cave looking out toward daylight and green trees, with fast white water flowing over boulders along the cave floor.


obviously also at the exit.

Fast, churning brown river water flowing over and around large mossy boulders, with a waterfall-like weir in the background beneath a dark rock arch.
 

Discussion

We also passed the cross way with 12 little chapels that I used as Landmark

Stone church with a tall pointed spire at the end of a narrow gravel road, with small chapel-like shrines built into the wooded hillside behind it.
 
Andre said:
Fast, turbulent brown river water rushing over mossy boulders in a rocky gorge, with a white cascade falling from a weir or dam in the background.

Wow, just as bolted blood in one's heart once it sense the anguish of love... Someone please refraiz it. :biggrin:

As usual Andre, great pix :)
 
As always, it looks very nice :smile:.
 
Thanks, Drizzle and Lisa. Some more then

Yesterday we visited the land of the ntenae people, Andorra. But they all looked like normal, somehow. But -not unexpectedly- a lot of snow:

Tinypic logo with the message 'THIS IMAGE OR VIDEO HAS BEEN MOVED OR DELETED' in a grey box.


Enroute, you pass Ax Les Thermes with its hot spring. It's still a bit autumn there:

Wooded mountainside in autumn colours, with dark conifers along the ridge above orange and yellow deciduous trees, a white statue on a stone pedestal at right, and a pale blue sky.


Dawn, this morning:

Sunrise sky with bands of orange and red clouds above a dark silhouetted ridge of hills.


and eventually as the sun rises, the valley gets the first sun rays:

Misty hillside at dawn with silhouetted bare trees and dark conifers in the foreground, low fog drifting over the valley beneath a dark overcast sky.
 
Excellent photos Andre. I wish I were there. Thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks, Andre. You have a great eye. It's nice to have the location and environment, but it's essential to "see" the best shots and take them.
 
Thanks, Don and Turbo, still more in the pipeline to come.
 
Absolutely beautiful Andre! Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks, Evo, Edward, Borek

And now, today I made the pic finally, which I had in mind when I bought this camera, a flying dragonfly. One of the most challenging ever.

I have seen more flying dragon flies and certainly in better quality, but I never have seen anything like this before:

Photo of a green and black dragonfly in flight over water, wings blurred from motion, with a striped abdomen and yellow head.


See what I mean?
 
yes sure, but there is still something very odd, that I was completely unaware of.

Maybe it helps to imagine a 3D picture -using the fish in the pond-, when I show the whole uncropped frame (15% size). Also, I shot horizontal tilting down maybe some 10-20 degrees

A dragonfly with green and yellow striped abdomen hovering above a grey water surface, with a small orange fish visible beneath it in the water.


What is so odd?
 
How come it is in focus? You were hunting the dragonfly, or taking pictures of the pond?
 
Isn't that an amazing feature of the 7D, obviously I was hunting/tracking him and this particular shot was in tracking/predicted focus and re-focus delay as he is clearly outside the focus array.

Hint: look carefully at the head and body co-ordination.
 
I think I know what you mean - head is still parallel to the horizon. At least it looks this way.
 
Exactly, while the body is banked/tilted some 60+ degrees to the left for a quick agile turn, the head remains horizontal,

Amazing.
 
Anyway, back home for a week already but I simply have to share some more, especially the sunrise

Misty dawn landscape with a ruined stone tower and bare trees on a wooded hill, rising above layers of low fog in shadowed valley light.


Ok I will get rid of the phone line, would be a shame not to:

Misty sunrise over rolling hills with layers of fog in the valleys, trees silhouetted, a stone building at lower left, and a thin power line crossing the frame.


This one needs some cropping away distractions, eventually

Misty hillside at dawn with a cluster of bare and leafy trees on a rise, pale fog drifting through the valley, and dark pine silhouettes in the foreground against a dark sky.


This one is entered in a contest under the title: "View on Bridgton, Maine, from the grocery store"

Misty landscape at dawn with a cluster of bare and autumn-coloured trees rising out of low fog that fills the valley, with a darker band of hills across the top.


and there are dozens more.
 
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Wow :!) the fog gives such an ethereal look...those pix look like paintings!
 
Amazing pictures! The first reminds me of the view from the upstairs bedroom at my grandmother's in the French Alps. The fog was so thick that it looked like a wall moving in across the valley below. There were three very tall trees and after the fog covered the Valley, these three tree giants loomed above the fog like the creatures in LOTR. We'd really give ourselves a scare.
 
Great moment. Unfortunately, the only way I can take pictures of the rising sun is when I am still awake. Getting up in the morning is something I never fully mastered. Just like going to bed in the evening - I can always stay awake for a moment longer.
 
Thanks all, those show why I love to be there. Obviously I try to never miss a good sunrise, it's so unique. So combined with the bonfire sessions deep into the night, who is talking sleep?