Visions and Nature Camargue France | Flamingos
National Reserve Camargue| France
The Reserve, which covers more than 13,000 hectares in the Camargue region, is one of Europe’s largest wetlands reserves.This vast, intact expanse of land, located in the municipalities of Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, benefits from total protection.This unique reserve draws its internationally-renowned heritage from the diversity of its habitats and its native species (in particular the 276 bird species, 258 of which are heritage species) and from its ecological contribution.
My trip to the Camargue took place in February 2011 and my photography goal was to shoot some images of flamingos in their natural environment -full colour, silhouettes or just with nice evening light. Unfortunately, I didn’t succeed in all my wishes. Due to the warm weather lots of birds had already moved on to their next destination. So the wetlands were almost empty most of the time .
The old house where we were sleeping was located in the middle of the reserve, surrounded with lakes. A great starting point and for one week I was up before sunrise. While waiting for the sun to rise you could hear the birds wake up and the wind sing. The weather was not great so the light was poor and grey sometimes, that was a shame. Anyhow the experience was great, hear the flamingos call and see the colours change in the landscape.
See more images in the gallery : Fauna | Camargue gallery
(Most images taken with 500mm Sigma lens and 40D or 5DMII, polarising filter or ND filters)
Later this week I will post some images from prints and texture on the beach.
Visions and Nature 
I love the last one with the wings opening. Great crisp shots!
Hoi Kristel,
Nu pas goed tijd gehad om deze mooie foto’s te bekijken, schitterend.
Pingback: The Camargue: Invention of tradition « English13
Love the photos and hope you don’t mind but I’ve embedded a link to your blog in an article I wrote about the Camargue. Is that o.k?
Fine with me english13!