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Black Lake


Black Lake
Photo Information
Copyright: Valerie Schnepp (valy67) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1880 W: 59 N: 2915] (8733)
Genre: Landscapes
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-09-16
Categories: Mountain
Camera: Canon 350D, Canon EF 18mm-55mm f/3.5 - f/5.6
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Six days in the French Alps
Date Submitted: 2009-09-20 11:52
Viewed: 321
Points: 40
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
So, here it is - a picture of the Black Lake (in French it is called Lac Noir) near Chamonix, in the Alps. In fact, there are TWO Black Lakes, the upper one and the lower one, both located at approx. 2500 m altitude. On this picture, you can see the lower Black Lake, which is also the biggest (you see only a part of it on the picture, the other parts are hidden from this POV). It is more than 18 meters deep in some parts, and it really deserves its name - it is pitch black. On the picture it doesn't seem that black, because the white cloudy sky is reflecting on its surface, but believe me, it IS black in reality.

It was a very interesting day. First we took the cable car of Brévent up to an altitude of 2100 meter, at the station of Plan-Praz. Then we started hiking. At the beginning, it was a small path climbing very softly, but then we had to climb a high crest of rocks and then it started getting quite difficult - trees and grass disappeared, leaving only bare rocks and lichens, and we had to climb more than walking. Some rocks weren't steady under our feet, we had to be very careful. At miday we arrived at the Lac Cornu, where we ate our meal (the sight was so amazing I barely had time to eat between two pictures :-) and then, in the afternoon, we climbed even higher up to the Black Lakes. We were exhausted, but it was really worth it. We had walked (and climbed) more than 2h30 to reach the lakes.

It was quite amazing to see the lakes - just there, as smooth as a mirror, so peaceful, lost in the middle of all the rocks with splendid open mountain panorama in the BG. Such a sight. And what was even better was the SILENCE - no wind restling the leaves of trees, no birds, no people talking, no cars, nothing. Just plain silence. It was such a strange feeling - so relaxing. Fresh pure air and silence. Wonderful.

Weather was not so great, though - cloudy, with boring white sky, and sometimes we even had some drops of rain. Now and then we saw waves of fog come up from the valley, engulfing us completely and hiding everything that was around us. Then it disappearead again, and we could see the mountains again. It was like that all day long.

When we walked back to the Plan-Praz station, we saw the Ibex whose picture I posted 2 days ago. This was great, too.

The picture is not so perfect - it is not really doing justice to the beauty and majesty of this place - but it's the best I have and I'd like to show it to you, because it was such a fantastic moment and I want to share it.

I hope you'll like it !!!
nglen, oanaotilia, aes_thor, maurydv, boreocypriensis, ramthakur, sranjan, nasokoun, briGG, ferranjlloret, Miss_Piggy, roges, Noisette, xTauruSx, Gert-Paassen, Mikolaj has marked this note useful
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To xTauruSx: Hello Deniz !valy67 1 09-22 22:27
To SunToucher: Human elementvaly67 1 09-21 22:43
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2907 W: 34 N: 8619] (32124)
  • [2009-09-20 11:56]

Hi Valerie. What a fantastic looking place . Which you have taken from a good POV over looking the lake.i like the way the clouds are just floating around the mountain sides. Taken with good detail and such natural colours. Well done TFS.
Nick.,

Ciao Valerie, fantastic landscape with splendid mountain and lovely lake, wonderful light and colors, very well done, ciao Silvio

Hi Valerie,
nice shot and very interesting note, sky looks white but I now how hard is to capture such dynamic lighting outdoor. Mountains look really amazing and the clouds between them are nice bonus.
Cheers
Adrian

Ciao Valerie,
un merveilleux paysage de montagne, un monde a la fois étrange et fascinant, un environnement toujours grandiose mais souvent aride et inospitalier, une très agréable composition.
Merci et félicitations
Bonne nuit
Ciao Maurizio

Mi My dear friend Val,

A superb landscape capture including Black Lake. Similar named lake also exist here:) (in Turk. Karagöl). Amazingly beautiful...
TFS and have a nice new week!
Cheers,

bayram

  • Great 
  • foozi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1339 W: 0 N: 2569] (9065)
  • [2009-09-20 18:42]

Hi Valerie,
what a nice view and what an excellent palce to hike.
The beautiful rocks with crevises and the texture is awesome. i like the dramatic clouds there making this shot full of life and excitement.
well presented highland view.

regards,
Foozi

I will give you 10/10 for composition in English, Val; you are a fantastic story-teller with great knack for fusing emotions and dispassionate descriptions into a smooth and fluent narrative.
That goes for your pictures too; the selection od details within the frame encompasses the ruggesness of the terrain and softens it up with a tantalizing glimpse of the black coloured lake in the foreground. The depth of view in this picture is so good one can easily visualize how difficult it must have been for you to climb to this height.
Bravo and thanks for making this presentation a complete experience!
Affectionately,
Ram

Hello Valerie,
Beautiful composition with mountains, clouds & Lac Noir in the hub.TFS
Regards-Subhash

hello Valerie
tight frame full force, very good attribution of splendid landscape, I am glad that you like the mountains and the Alpine lakes
TFS thanks for sharing
Nasos

  • Great 
  • briGG Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 171 W: 2 N: 272] (1383)
  • [2009-09-20 23:52]

Bonjour Valérie,

Que la nature est belle! Bravo de nous faire voyager dans ces contrées... Tu me donnes l'envie d'y retourner!

Bonne journée

brigitte

Hi!
Amazing panorama with these great mountains and a wonderful little lake.
I like the clouds "suspended".
great work
greetings
Matteo

Bonjuour Valerie,
Félicitations par le voyage admirable que tu as effectué aux Alpes. Les paysages de haute montagne sont fabuleux. La flore et la faune sont très spéciales.
Salut. Ferran.

Hallo Valerie
Picture perfect. An absolute delight to look at this piece of paradise you have shared with us today. The blend of colours and textures of all the elements of nature in this one image is just magic and a sheer feast to the eye.
Thanks for sharing. I wish I could witness this for real. It is so beautiful. Best regards
Anna

  • Great 
  • roges Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 595 W: 0 N: 507] (3040)
  • [2009-09-21 8:01]
  • [+]

Hallo Valerie,

Excellent image proposed. A landscape that I saw him in winter, and you fall, or summer. I love this picture of the lake and no snow.
A nice week,
Adrian

Hi Valerie,
Long time no see. I hope you are going fine and that you will be sharing many more photos with us. The barren look of this landscape doesn't look friendly, but it does look inviting. I love the many different lines of the rocks and all the subtle color variantions in the vegetations.
Odly enough, I think a human element or a human might have given a better idea of the scale. The lake now looks like a little pool, but I guess is much larger.
TFS,
Niek

salut Val
tu me fais vraiment envie avec tes superbes Paysages, envie de faire mes bagages et partir grimper sur ses montagnes, le point de vue est magnifique
j'aime la vue sur le lac en contre-bas, les differences de teintes de chaque sommetet les deux nuages suspendus dans l'air
Félicitations Jacqueline

Hello Valerie, welcome back again. A perfect shot of lake resembling our study area, Karagöl Lake (Taurus Mountain). Nice composition.
TFS and regards,
Deniz

Exquisita toma Valerie. No había visto la fotografía pero al leer la explicación de la siguiente vine a visitarlo.
Abrazo !

Hello Velerie,

this looks like a moonscape.
Good pov and details, I like this kind of pictures.
Nice to see you are standing between the clouds.
Fine natural colours.

Gert

Hello Valerie! Superb light and colours. Wonderful landscape. Nice capture. Good exposure. Well done!

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