Visions and Nature Nature Photo Festival Montier-en-Der
Posted on November 26, 2011
Montier en Der
International Nature Photo Festival 2011
By Kristel Schneider
(all images Nokia phone uploads)
From the 17th till the 20th of November Montier-en-Der (and some surrounding villages) was full of life. In the village the festival spread over many different locations, from the city hall to the local schools and other halls. Outside you could enjoy some great outdoor exhibitions for free. The overall program was very thorough. You could attend conferences, video/film projections, animations and lots of beautiful nature photo exhibitions.
During the festival I met some nice new photographers and I could speak to people I had met on from the social medias on the Internet. A Photo festival provides you with not only inspiration but also good networking possibilities.
In my opinion a couple of exhibitions stood out, especially those of :
- Olivier Seydoux, a great show called ‘Latitudes Nord‘, which displayed images from countries 60º and 70º latitude North.
- Werner Bollmann, presented his new exhibition ‘Nordic Moments‘ with images from Sweden, Norway and Finland.
- Ludmila Espiaube, ‘Hokkiado, out of the white’, images from a region in Japan under the snow, taken in an artistic, pure and beautiful way.
- Stéphanne Hette and Paul Starosta, ‘Terre de contraste’ a combined show featuring amazing work on insects. Paul’s work was new from me. Stéphanne whom I had interviewed here on Visions and Nature and his work keep amazing me.
- Serge Deboffle, ‘L’art et les oiseaux’, his show was interesting in the way he captured the movement of birds in flight. I liked the ‘arty look’ of his images and he inspired me to try out some techniques to get ‘movement’ images myself. (But that I will explain in the next Blog post).
Image of the Week at NatureScapes Net
Posted on November 12, 2011
Image of the week in category Flora and Macro
by Kristel Schneider
I just found out that my image: Stuck together, has been selected as ‘Image Of the Week’ at Naturescapes.Net (a photography forum) in the category, Flora and Macro.
Some feedback (so far):
– Lovely color and pose Kristel — I like this one a lot.
– Gorgeous colors & excellent comp, Kristel. Glad you got fully
down on the ground for this one. Would crop so the dark area
at the bottom does not show. Looking forward to some winter
images from France– A lovely warming seasonal feeling created in this splendid
shot –nice one
– Very nice Kristel, great light and a fine comp. I’d suggest
cropping some off the bottom for less OOF FG.
For those who visit my Blog frequently know I made a blog post about Autumn Photography where this another image from this series is published.
Autumn Photography
Posted on November 11, 2011
Autumn Photography
by Kristel Schneider
Autumn, one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. A season full with colors and atmosphere .
Every year the Autumn season makes a photographer’s heart go faster and every year is different. This year the season was late, the climate was too warm to bring out the nice autumn colors on the trees. But when the trees finally are at their best, photographers have to act quick because the top season does not last long. Rain and wind can destroy the scenery overnight. The sun is not always required for Autumn photography an overcast day and mist are great weather conditions to get these colors popup.
TIPS for successful Autumn Photography:
– go out even if the weather is cloudy and grey
– get up early to get the first light even in combination with mist.
– use a polarization filter, the colors get more intense and the filter is also very useful for
wet leaves reflection .
– look at your white balance settings, try out different modes.
– when taking photos of mushrooms look at your background to create a nice color
contrast.
Even the late Autumn colors (red/brown tints) are nice to capture in landscape photography. So although this year may not have been the top Autumn season, even now, in November, it is still nice to go out and enjoy some mushrooms and the late season colors.
New autumn workshop/tour dates available for 2012.
Soft Focus and colour contrast
Posted on November 3, 2011
With some hesitation, because of the low light and weather conditions I decided to go ‘mushroom hunting’. Like yesterday there was a lot of wind. The ground was very wet and the temperature was mild, a good combination for mushrooms to grow.
Local people say that when we have a full moon mushrooms grow best ?!
I found what I was looking for, some very small Bonnets and one of my favorite mushrooms the Amethyst Deceiver. Because of the wind I decided to try out some different Soft Focus shots with color contrast. Not an easy task when everything blows away around you. A stable underground is a must, so I set my tripod very low to the ground and my little silver reflector screen provided the mushrooms with enough light. Because of the overcast day the colors gave a nice clear contrast.
I like to play with the point of focus in the image frame. In this image I focused on the tiny little mushroom with a small fly on it.
Look for more mushroom images in my Mushroom and Fungi gallery.
Special Winter Photography Tour
Posted on October 29, 2011
Special Winter Photography Tour
featuring Photographers Jeroen Stel and Kristel Schneider
Winter, maybe the most thrilling and challenging photography season. Rough weather conditions combine with beautiful light, high key landscapes and close-ups.
In the winter season, and if Mother Nature allows it, the French spectacular volcano chain in Auvergne wraps in a white blanket of snow. Ideal for all nature lovers, the scenery looks different every day. For us, photographers, winter offers never-ending opportunities to try out a wide variety of landscape shots as light becomes magical at that time of the year.
‘It will be a unique photography experience, as we will travel on snow rackets and dog sleds in the heart of the beautiful Auvergne volcanic countryside’ – Kristel
Visit Kristels website: click on logo
Visions and Nature 