Looking for the wind Photo

Photographer’s Note

Chausey is a small archipelago in the Mont Saint Michel Bay, in Normandy, about ten milles from the coast. In this area you find almost the highest tides of the world (second to the Bay of Fundy in Canada) with up to 14 meters (a four storey building!) of differences in water levels between high and low tide. Landscape keeps changing every minute, rocks uncover, beaches appear, rivers dry out, only for a few hours. At high tide, only the main island and a few dozen other rocks remain above water. At low tide, you can walk on foot among sands and rocks on about 40 square kilometers, sometime losing sight of the sea completely. A small paradise for nature lovers and shellfish pickers, and a wonderful playground for sailors.

Rocks, currents and ever changing water depths make sailing in Chausey challenging, but rewarding when you make your way around rocks and find yourself in a deserted and beautiful lagoon. Small boats are at ease here. The traditional boats here are small, light, with a very flat hull that allows sailing in very shallow waters. They are powered only by sails and, when wind fails, oars. These boats were used for fishing, and today only for recreational purposes. Some new ones have been build on ancient plans, and today about a dozen of them are still cruising around. In the spring, as soon as the good season begins, you start to see their very colourful sails beneath every rock. They are often named after one of the archipelago's rock. They also enjoy competing against each other in friendly and funny regattas.

This picture was taken during such a regatta last August, with no sun and almost no wind. Anemone, La Petite Mauvaise et Fortune are trying to gather as much wind as possible by opening their sails. The crew make the boat heel, to reduce the friction of the hull in the water. In this poor light, only the sails and their reflection gives a touch of color.

More on Chausey Islands here (in French only, sorry).

Nottinghill, Cool-ice, Vagabond, hojper, DonQ, sohrab, cgrindahl, supereira, DavidJenkins has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Kresimir (50) 2004-09-07 9:50

Very nice... bright blues and reds of the sails make a great contrast from the "desaturated" sky and water. And, since it's from France, this "tricolor" photo is even more interesting.
Very nice!

Cool-ice (5289) 2004-09-07 10:03

Autant la précédente aurait peut-être tiré avantage du N&B, autant les couleurs de celle-ci sont géniales et bien mises en valeur par la composition.
Elles claquent parfaitement sur le fond monochrome et le tout forme un joli ballet bien rafraîchissant.
Et merci pour la note intéressante ;o)

Vagabond (5797) 2004-09-07 11:10

Excellent picture with good composition, strong and saturated colours and comprehensive and interesting information. Congratulations ..

hojper (2830) 2004-09-07 11:56

What a nice note and what an incredibly white sky. It really gives the impression of a generally dull day. And it works because of the blue sail. This is another one for my colour theme group I guess.

hdl (6733) 2004-09-07 12:27

Bien fait et bien cadré. Je qui me frappe directement sont les couleurs des voiles: rouge + bleu + blanc (pas dans la juste combinaison mais bon). Ce sont les couleurs du drapeau français. C'était fait expressément ou juste une coincidence très heureuse?

burdallet (0) 2004-09-07 13:23

Je vais souffler un peu pour pousser tout ça ... laissez moi prendre ma respiration ; at Woooooooooooooh !

DonQ (2623) 2004-09-07 13:31

Great colours and contrast. Also good cropping and very nice frame too.
Bravo. Well done Sophie.
Regards, Don.

explomars (4222) 2004-09-07 14:12

Aie le calme plat,je vais éternuer en respirant les poussières d'un vieux bouquin;ça va décoiffer...J'aime l'alignement de voiles,les couleurs et les reflets.La coupe du mâten avant plan ne me gêne pas trop,par contre il y a un peu de sous ex qui peut être corrigée sans probléme.Bonne Fortune Sophie et bon vent,rires.Phil

sohrab (7423) 2004-09-07 14:24

hello sophie.
nice to see another vibrant shot from you.i like this composition , but i dont know if i would have got the entire blue sail in the composition.hmmmm
so is it that you keep taking photographs and the rest of the crew keeps slogging? :)

cgrindahl (6109) 2004-09-08 2:08

You are a delight Sophie with your beautiful descriptions! This image isn't too bad either. The bright sky and water, which might put off some observers makes this image almost magical as though no difference exists between sky and water and the boats could float right into the sky with their beautifully colored sails billowing. It is the colors, of course, that give delight to this simply image. This is great fun, especially with your note. Thanks for the excellent work.

supereira (9576) 2004-09-08 7:27

The contrast between the saturated colors of the sails and the flat colors of the sky and water is excelent. I like the diagonal made by the boats because they give to us very well the sense of depth. Good note.

ephemere33 (9727) 2004-09-09 13:02

wouhhh les couleurs sont superbement bien rendue avec cette luminosité...oupss pas tomber madame...elle se place vraiment au bord...c'est vrai que ce ne doit être évident de naviguer en eau de marée qui change rapidement...une mer d'huile pourtant ma belle...mais ou es-tu donc encore...ne pourrons-nous jamais te voir en action...rire...je te remercie pour ces bons moments de navigation que tu nous presentes...amitiés BI

calimero74 (2243) 2004-10-13 12:45

Hello,
j'adore cette photo pour plusieur raisons;
1- la composition est parfaite
2- les couleurs doivent éveiller dans mon subconscient un élan patriotique, en tous les cas c'est superbe
3- je trouve la situation de ces demoiselle très amusante. Ont-elle sorti les rames afin de rentrer au port ? :-)

En tous les cas, bravo

DavidJenkins (263) 2004-10-29 11:36

How much more French could you get? The colours on the sails are so much better because of the muted light in the rest of the shot. Thanks for giving so much information in your note - it really helps.

dom_inik_m (1707) 2004-11-07 13:40

En ce qui me concerne, je ne connais rien à la voile et les quelques heures que j'ai jadis passées sur un esquif semblable à ceux-ci n'ont rien de mémorable.
En fait, outre le fait que je ne comprends pas grand chose à tes explications, avec leur vocabulaire technique, c'est la structure même de cette photo qui m'inspire, comme échappée d'un équilibre fugitif, sans cesse remis en cause, à l'image de cette navigatrice préférant se confronter aux lois de la dynamique que se contenter de la stabilité placide de son bateau. Moment de grâce entre ciel et mer qui se confondent, entre voiles et reflets qui se répondent, filant sous la brise et sur l'onde (même si ces deux-là ne semblaient guère favorables) sans autre but que le désir d'avancer, sans autre destination que le plaisir de jouer avec les éléments...
Merci.