morning coffee by the lake Photo

Photographer’s Note

What a great honour to be welcomed with such open arms to your home and to your region! Thank You Philippe for the brilliant days of discovery I had the chance to spend with You!

A good number of months ago he posted images from a lake that seemed absolutely stunning and so rich with little worlds and details that the thought of visiting those places started to itch... badly. For these end of the year holidays I decided to go visit him and take the opportunity to peak around the region he lives in.

What a welcome!
The first day he took me around Oyonnax, the second day we travelled up to the lake and to the Jura and on the third morning he showed me another smaller lake before taking me back to the train station.

Both in a bit of a lazy mode and not really up to getting up before sunrise (ok, perhaps that was just me...) we got to the Lac de Vouglans well after sunrise on the second day of my stay. The level of the lake had already been lower for a good while as most of the exposed areas were dry. As we ventured around the shore seeking for some interesting sights I stumbled upon this little cup of coffee that seemed to be waiting for us.

A morning coffee by the lake?
Sitting on the soft mud, talking about Life and letting our faces slowly get tanned by the surprisingly warm winter sun...
... ok, not really. I crawled down onto my knees and elbows to get a closer look at the coffee cup that has probably spent the better part of its Life under water ;D

No fancy shot, just a little sight into all the things we humans like to toss into our natural surroundings. Seems that we like to believe that whatever is out of sight has stopped existing and hence is no more a problem. I wonder how long it will take for us to adapt to the unusually warm weather that seems to grip the planet and accept it as something "normal"... or even better, when will we realise that it is our daily choices that change the face of the planet and our lives for better or for worse.

In the end however, Nature will make its own way and assimilate all bits and pieces... a bit like this coffee cup that's slowly being transformed into a mud-rock look-alike ;D

Thank You to all those amongst You who take the time to comment and or criticise!

Nikon D200
2006/12/29 12:17:06.9
RAW (12-bit)
Image Size: Large (3872 x 2592)
Color
Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G
Focal Length: 34mm
Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/200 sec - F/8
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Optimize Image: Normal
White Balance: Auto
AF Mode: AF-S
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Color Mode: Mode I (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Auto
Sharpening: Auto
Long Exposure NR: Off
High ISO NR: Off

gertan, ktanska has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

photographer524 (78) 2007-01-04 16:23 [Comment]

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gertan (1517) 2007-01-04 16:33

Hi Julia very good Pov. Good work. Congratulations.
Gokhan

cobraphil8 (11652) 2007-01-05 6:48

Salut Julia,
voilà une invitation que j'accepte avec plaisir autour de cette tasse à café, même si le café est périmé :)
Ce fut très enrichissant de te rencontrer, j'espère que l'on aura l'occasion de recommencer.
En attendant, bravo pour cette composition avec une mise au point sur la tasse qui la bien mise en valeur et ton positionnement très bas a permis un très joli arrière plan.
Je l'ai ajouté au thème sur le lac de Vouglans.
Ta note sur la pollution et la prise de conscience que nous devons tous avoir est importante.
A très bientôt & merci pour le WS :)
Bisous
Philippe

ktanska (16581) 2007-01-05 8:39

Hei Julia,
I can't quite decide my opinion about this one. I like it. But I'm not sure if I found it interesting without your note. I tend to read notes before a careful look and now we'll never know. Surely a plastic cup on a muddy shore has as much meaning as most of the images here. But not enough to get me thrilled.
Kari

nursez (1903) 2007-01-05 11:14

Hi Julia,
coffee fits every where:)I like it.

omicron (131) 2007-01-08 4:08

Bonjour Julia
Très belle image! Tu réussis à rendre esthétiques même les déchets! J'aime la profondeur que tu as réussi à donner à cette photo. Et la reflection que tu amènes dans ta note...
Salutations et bonne année,
Daniel

guillaumejm (9084) 2007-01-08 17:25

Bonsoir Julia,
J'ai appris bien tard que tu venais visiter un peu notre région. Dommage, j'ai raté l'occasion de faire ta connaissance!. Vouglans comme les 4 lacs sont en fait qu'à 30km de chez moi environ.
Mais ce n'est pas grave. une autre fois peut-être. je vois très bien d'ou cette photo a été prise. Et dire que c'est l'une des plages du lac!. une bonne fonte des neiges & un peu de courant balayera tout ça. Et c'est un lac profond ... j'imagine que c'est ce que doivent se dire les gens qui jetent ainsi leurs détritus à tous vents. Un jour peut-être les gens prendrons conscience de leur erreurs passées, mais peut-être sera-t-il alors trop tard.
Il est possible de faire de la plongée, je n'ose penser alors à ce que l'on pourrait y trouver. Certains vont même plonger au-dessus de l'ancien village qui a été innondée lors de la création du barrage.
Amicalement
JMarc

andante (7092) 2007-01-12 9:04

Hi Julia, haven't seen you around in a while... hope everything is fine. Perfect photo for a advertising campaign... it screams good morning! Well done!
Cheers,
Enrique

pvinagre (200) 2007-02-06 19:44

I hope after taking the picture you've taken the cup :D and trash it for recycling. Otherwise the loss of detail is well achieved. Thank you for reminding that it's only ourselves that can clean this Atom Earth for our own future enjoyment.