Mountainscape - Swiss Alps

Clouds among the mountain peaks.

Walk to the Britannia Hütte - Swiss Alps

A path leading to the Bitannia Hütte is marked in the snow from the Feldskinn station. In the Winter, the same route is opened and can be traveled with ski equipped with seal skins.

Above the sea of clouds - Swiss Alps

The Feldskinn station is located at 3'000 m where cable car must be exchanged for an underground train to reach the highest skiable point on the Allalin, at 3'500 m.

Snow is present all year long at these altitudes and skying is possible on the glacier, between Feldskinn and Allalin.

Capricious weather - Swiss Alps

Carrying almost 12kg of photographic equipment for the second day in a row trying to find chamois or ibexes (500mm lens, tripod, picture taken with 24mm, etc), the weather turned to the worst and I found myself in the middle of a cloud under a slight drizzle, 2h25 away from the village of Saas Fee. The rock landscape under the heavy and moving white cover was eery and mysterious, which made the walk worth it anyway. Unfortunately, no success in finding any wild animals this day!

Glacier - Swiss Alps

Further up the mountain the tongues of the Fee Gletscher had received a little snow overnight. Although in August, altitude limit for snow fall came down to 2'500m as temperatures had dropped substantially.

Following the shape of the rock base, the glacier forms crevasses and seracs on its gentle way downhill.

The path of the glacier - Swiss Alps

Over the past 50 years, the glacier above Saas Fee has shrank substantially. This valley used to be entirely under the ice. We can still see the tip of the tongue of the glacier up left and streams of meltwater.

Marmots in the Swiss Alps

When young marmots meets they usually get into a friendly fights. Adults have a different attitude.

Marmot in the Swiss Alps

A little break was necessary to catch up on some work, my apologies to the faithful followers of the blog!

Here is a marmot munching on a root, using its paw to hold it.

Mountain stream - Swiss Alps

Mountain stream with epilobes in the foreground.

Marmot in the Swiss Alps

While the clouds are running up the valley, the marmot watch over its territory.

Total change of landscape with the start of a short series of photographs from the Swiss Alps in August.

A view with Altitude - Singapore Downtown

D700 70-300mm @ 70 ISO400 f/5 1/400

Here we can see Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of China and Maybank buildings (from front to back) as well as the following bridges: Cavenagh, Anderson and Esplanade.

A view with Altitude - Singapore Downtown

D700 70-300mm @ 70 ISO400 f/5 1/250

The tallest of the UOB Tower. Why would someone stand on this building? No it is not a photographer, he is setting up some of the fireworks for the National Day Parade.

A view with Altitude - Singapore Downtown

D700 70-300mm @ 700 ISO400 f/5 1/200

Singapore Land Tower, Hitachi Tower, Chevron House. Eh, I used to work somewhere down there!

A view with Altitude - Singapore Downtown

D700 70-300mm @ 70 ISO400 f/5 1/200

A short series in black and white for a change. Part of the financial district in the front with port facilities in the background.

Singapore Nightscape

D700 14-24mm @ 16 ISO200 f/7.1 1sec tripod

Wide view of downtown Singapore, covering from left to right: Boat Quay, the Supreme Court, the Padang field, the Esplanade and much more... A larger version would be nicer but this is the maximum size I can post on the blog I think...

The Mini Parade on Raffles Place...

Posted just for fun.

Singapore National Day - The Flag Flies by The Sands

D700 70-300mm @ 100 ISO400 f/5 1/250

The land behind the towers where the gardens are being completed was spoiling the balance of colors with some yellow and reddish brown. So I converted the image to black and white while keeping the flag as well as the helicopters lights and signs in their original colors. The result isn't that bad!

Singapore National Day at the Padang

D700 70-300mm @ 70 ISO800 f/5.6 1/30

The National Day Parade is back on the Padang field to celebrate Singapore's 45th year anniversary.

Singapore Celebrates Its 45th Anniversary

D700 70-300mm @ 300 ISO400 f/5.6 1/60

Audience of students during a rehearsal of the National Day Parade. The show is on-going and can be viewed on the giant screen above the grandstand set for the spectators seating opposite.

Singapore Celebrates Its 45th Anniversary

D700 14-20mm @ 20 ISO200 f/22 15s tripod

While posted today, these images were taken during one of the rehearsal night.

Singapore Celebrates Its 45th Anniversary

D700 14-24mm @ 20 ISO200 f/22 15s tripod

Great view over the National Day fireworks from 63rd floor of the OUB Tower, 282m above ground. The terrace will soon be part of 1-Altitude, a bar restaurant located on 61st and 62nd floors. I recommend a visit upon official opening.

Baoguo Temple - Mt Emei

This passageway within the temple will be the last post from this recent trip to the Sichuan province of China. I hope you enjoyed. Back to Singapore just in time for...

Baoguo Temple - Mt Emei

Detail of the interior of the temple.

Baoguo Temple - Mt Emei

Baoguo Temple - Mt Emei

First temple at the foot of Mt-Emei, one of the four famous Buddhist mountain in China.

Portrait of an old man - Mt Emei

In the garden around the Baoguo Temple, Mt Emei.

Street Hawker - Mt Emei

Back to a lower altitude but still in a mountainous region, we are now at the foot of Mt Emei, still in the Sichuan Province.

Jarpo Ancient City - Jiuzhaigou / Equipment

What was the equipment taken during this trip to China?

Here is the list:
- Nikon D700
- 24mm PC-E f/3.5 manual
- AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
- AF-S 50mm f/1.4G
- SB400 flash
- the three lenses with their respective hood
- circular polarizers for the wide and tele
- 0.6 graduated ND
- a cleaning kit (microfiber cloth, air blower, Eyelead sensor cleaning, Lenspen)
- some large zip-loc bags (usage explained some days ago!)

all of the above fit into the bottom compartment of a Vanguard UpRise 45 backpack, the top part being used to carry other useful items such as sunglasses, raincoat, etc. A Lowepro waterbottle pouch was attached to the side of the bag.

What wasn't used? Well, the 50mm was rarely used and the sensor did not require cleaning.
What was missing? Out of convenience, a 24-70mm lens would have been useful for landscape photography to avoid changing lenses. It would have been used at 24mm and at 70mm mostly.

Over two third of the landscape shots were made with the wide angle; most portraits with the telephoto.

Jarpo Ancient City - Jiuzhaigou

Jarpo city from a different angle. It is difficult to assess how close the current design is from the original old town. It is still an impressive sight.

Jarpo Ancient City - Jiuzhaigou

On the way back to the airport, we stopped at Jarpo, an ancient Tibetan fortified city that has been recently renovated and partly transformed into an hotel.

Doors - Jiuzhaigou

Time to take the door. We are leaving Jiuzhaigou with a feeling that we had not enough time here. That might be a good reason to come back in Autumn. We hear that it is the nicest season in the park and we can very well believe it. We are however told not to come during the Chinese October holidays as the park and hotels are overcrowded. Best time would be the first week November.

Tibetan and Qiang Tribe Performance

A fantastic show, highly recommended when in Jiuzhaigou. The performance is about an old Tibetan lady going through the Buddhist rituals resulting in re-incarnation. She is having flash back of her earlier life in the process. The music, singing and dancing are powerful and exceptional, the stage lighting and effect just breathtaking. Better or equivalent to well know Broadway shows.

A mountain lake under the rain - Jiuzhaigou

And the last picture from the Jiuzhai Valley National Park. While the equipment was kept dry, the photographer was thoroughly soaked. Let's not keep everyone else waiting too long at the entrance cafe...

Shu Zheng Lake - Jiuzhaigou

Another view of this mountain lake.

Shu Zheng Lake - Jiuzhaigou

Whether it rains or shines, opportunities are there for the photographers!

Shu Zheng Falls - Jiuzhai Valley National Park

A majestic sight, even under the rain.

This is when one unusual item of the photo kit became most useful: the large size zip-loc bag! Yeap. You read correctly. Ensure that the lens hood is on. Place the camera into the bag, with hand access from the opening. Make a hole in the bag to fit the hood of the lens. You have now a very practical rain coat for your camera, that permits you to continue your photography session while keeping your material dry.

Due to the shallow depth of the hood on wide angle lens, the microfiber cloth is still useful to ensure that no drop of water rest on the glass as it would add blur spots to the image. Short telephoto have longer hood so water droplet are less likely to reach the glass. It is however wise to check regularly to avoid surprise when reviewing the images on a larger screen...

Shu Zheng Falls - Jiuzhai Valley National Park

Detail of the water flow within the Shu Zheng Falls.