Gran San Bernardo Photo

Photographer’s Note

Me again, playing with the TE Date change ;-)

Here is another view of the Grand Saint Bernard, taken from the Italian side. The small white house is the Italian customs check point, the grey house a bit higher the Swiss one (looks like it's more comfortable to work for Swiss customs...). The big house standing on the top on the pass location is the famous St Bernard hospice founded by Bernard de Menthon.

Born around 1020, Bernard de Menthon was in charge of providing assistance to the poor in Aoste and had often to deal with exhausted travellers who has crossed the Alps using the Mont-Joux pass. Seeing the need for closer assistance he decided to build a house on the pass. The hospice is still working year round, but from october to 15. june the roads are closed to traffic and skis are the only way to reach the pass. During this summer period, the road can be closed anytime due to snowfalls.

From the 17th century, the assisting monks got useful assistance from the famous dogs. After many years of service these beautiful dogs that can weigh up to 80 Kgs became nearly extinct due to consanguinity and great efforts had to be invested in breeding in order to save this unique race. The kennel can be visited during the summer season.

AmiBe, supereira, ChrisJ, Emile, nwoehnl, jmdaoudal, Xalkida, aznegrao has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

greg64g (11193) 2005-07-04 3:32

Salut Jean Yves

Je suis passe par la a l'occassion d'un tour de France je crois, cela me rappel tout a fais les couleurs que je vois sur ta photo, j'adore l'ambiance de ce coin.
amities
greg

sleon (9352) 2005-07-04 3:43

Salut JY
It looks like you had a good weekend with your new 350D? You have really captured the lighting here well - so atmospheric with the clouds and bright sun.
Regards
Susanna

cessy (13647) 2005-07-04 4:03

oh I have ever passed this mountain in the winter, looks different view
excellent light, Jean-Yves

AmiBe (6042) 2005-07-04 4:23

Hello Jean Yves,
alors comme ça on abuse du système de date sur TE ? ;-)
Je vois sur ton autre photo que tu préfère le pentax pour les panos.
Habituellement je prend le tunnel quand je passe par là, grave erreur, le paysage est très beau.
Le temps nuageux te donne une belle lumière.
J-2

MarekP (4744) 2005-07-04 4:52

Bonjour Jean-Yves,
Me again too, playing with the TE's critique feature ;-)
Again excellent light along with nice composition. I'm not sure if I like the part of the house and the cars on the left, but don't know how to avoid them. Pieces of snow combined with freshly green grass are fantastic.

Thanks,
Marek

Luan (15935) 2005-07-04 4:56

Hello Jean Yves,
j'aime bien celle ci egalement, faut absoluement que je fasse un tour en montagne pour ameliorer ma condition physique pour le Perou...Il reste encore de la neige ? Encore de belles couleurs et une belle place pour respirer un peu.
A+
Luan

supereira (9576) 2005-07-04 5:27

I like the composition and DOF.I like a lot the light.Good contrast between the mountains and the sky,Great clouds.Very good colors and sharpness.Great place.Good job!

ChrisJ (70485) 2005-07-04 5:40

Bonjour Jean Yves

Almost missed this one. I like the subtle contrast between the green hills & blue sky. The curve of the road links the 2 parts of the image together. Tres bon!

jemaflor (39847) 2005-07-04 6:02

Salut JY,
Un bon cadrage pour mettre en valeur ce panorama, de beaux effets de lumières qui font ressortir les teintes vertes et jaunes ... alors tu t'y retrouves parmi tes 7 collimateurs ;-))

dkeus31 (26497) 2005-07-04 6:05

Bonjour Jean-Yves,
Il me semble qu'il devait faire froid là haut.
Jolie lumière sur les versants.

Emile (20177) 2005-07-04 9:59

Hola Jean Yves.
Tu foto nos demuestra claramente la esencia de TE. Enseñarnos el mundo por fotografia. No creo que podria en mi vida ir a conocer ese lugar, gracias a ti y tus fotos he conocido muchos lugares interesantes. Gracias por tu nota explicativa.
La foto esta muy buena y la composicion excelente. Gracias por compartirla.

nwoehnl (120) 2005-07-04 15:21

Beautiful photo from the famous mountain pass, Jean-Yves. Good shooting angle to be able to include this curve of the road, with a nice comprehensive inclusion of the buildings along the way. The best part I find to be the light breaking through from behind, underneath the layer of clouds. You're already doing pretty well with the 350D, it seems ;-)

maphoto (8076) 2005-07-04 23:12

Belle prise Jean-Yves, superbe lumière, particulièrementdans les montagnes, un ciel très intéressant, bonne netteté, bravo.

billabongx (1561) 2005-07-05 3:22

Salut Jean Yves,
Beautiful place, magnificently showed. Good panoramic! Beautiful colors and contrasts and your note is perfect!
byebye
daniele

Jean-Luc (5488) 2005-07-05 3:59

Bonjour Jean-Yves,
Comme d'autres cela me rappelle que je suis passé par là, il n'y a pas si longtemps..bravo TE de nous évoquer nos souvenirs et bravo à toi de nous offrir un tel beau cliché bien documenté..
Jean-Luc

jmdaoudal (82) 2005-07-07 3:29

je suis amusé par sa ressemblance avec le petit Saint bernard (de bourg Saint Maurice à Aoste) c'est peut être du à l'hospice et au lac, quoique q'au petit l'hospice coté Francais est avant le col.
L'endroit est magnifique cela donne envie d'y aller.
Belles couleurs qui restituent bien l'ambiance de cet endroit.
Compliments
jean Michel

Xalkida (11740) 2005-07-15 16:20

Excellent composition my dear friend. Excellent lighting conditions and very fine vivid colors! Well done!

aznegrao (10246) 2006-05-06 14:06

Ola Jean Yves!!!
Lindo cenário e composição, gosto da sua sensibilidade de captar as formas, contrastes e cores, formando essa estética perfeita..
Ótimo trabalho.
Greetings.
aznegrao.