10.07.2013

Photographing the French Coastlines

10.07.2013

Photographing the French Coastlines

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So many dream of far-off destinations to get a taste of the unfamiliar, like the skyscrapers of New York described by An7hony last week. But you really don’t need to travel thousands of miles to discover new horizons.

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France is teeming with magnificent landscapes that will delight photographers, and lovers of natural beauty for its own sake. Today, I invite you to explore Brittany, or more precisely the northern side of Finistère.

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Jutting out into the English Channel and open to the effects of the Gulf Stream, Finistère is a windswept land. Those who wish nothing more than to relax under the sun may not be thrilled by Finistère’s changing atmospheric conditions over the course of a single day, but for photographers, variable weather is a wonderful advantage.

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Winds and clouds are the perfect invitation to get out your tripod, your ND filters, your remote, and try taking a time-lapse shot. A few minutes go by and then a ray of sunshine passes, giving the impression that the photo was taken somewhere in the Caribbean…

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Landscape lovers know that the best light requires braving the chills of dawn or waiting for the opposite end of the day as the sun begins to set. It’s not always easy, and it can be a disappointment and even discouraging when clouds roll in at what was supposed to be the ideal moment. Still, sometimes you’ll get very luck, like on this April evening, when light managed to pierce the clouds a few moments before a terrific storm blew in. That’s right, sometimes you’ll have to get a bit wet if you want to capture nature’s exquisite beauty!

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In conclusion, here are some tips for those of you who want to try some landscape photography on your next holidays. Don’t hesitate to give up your wide angle lens for a longer focal point. Your points of view will be different, but they will be no less interesting. And indeed, you can shoot a landscape with a 200mm or even a 300mm. And to give your images depth, take advantage of the foreground.

See you next week! We’ll still be in Brittany, but this time a little further east.

Guest Blogger:  Julien Thoraval
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