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| Periglacial relict blockslope and glaciated mountains |
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| Avalanched snow blocking the path |
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| The odd cloud according to the weather forecast |
Showing posts with label france. Show all posts
Showing posts with label france. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
Graian Alps (Alpes grées) trip report -1
Back in 2014, the last week of June was spent exploring one area of the Graian Alps and very impressive it was too. The benefits of staying in a refuge allowed dawn and dusk photography sans the drama of ascent/descent in head torch light, the wild flower meadows were in full bloom as were alpine flowers on higher ground. Some relatively accessible routes to higher vistas were recced for future visits and those with high potential noted for a future visit.
Four years on and time for a revisit with an itinerary that involved staying in a couple of refuges to maximise dawn/dusk opportunities, wet weather itineraries in the side valleys with melt water torrents and multi coloured boulders, the best photographic set aside for a couple of trips to 3,000 metre peaks, sunny weather for wild flowers, geomorphology and geology. I had also been aware of reports of heavy snowfall in the Alps throughout the winter of 2017/18. A hotel had been initially booked in a central location and from this a series of recce's would be made to establish what condition the higher elevations were in, before moving on.
It became apparent that snow was still lying to some depth and extent at higher elevations on north facing aspects, though not so much on south facing aspects. Rivers and streams were swollen with melt water. Also evident were avalanche debris of snow, trees and rock, the smell of pine resin downwind of an avalanche tract was to become a good indicator of difficulties ahead in some side valleys. Some minor roads were still blocked by avalanche debris and one road closed as a section and slid down the mountainside. On the approach road to a high pass an impressively large loading shovel was on duty clearing the road of rock debris as it melted out from avalanche cones, elsewhere construction operations were effecting repairs to roads. Routes to two high refuges and the way forward to high cols raised the bar for adventure beyond our comfort zone and Nic was more than happy to base our stay in the hotel for the duration, it's a hard life.
Whilst the French IGN 1:25,000 maps are very good, the weather forecasts were decidedly poor: thunderstorms never materialised, neither did rainfall, cloud cover was a lottery and the temperatures much higher than forecast e.g mid 20's turned into mid 30's. With numerous caveats out of the way the next post will concentrate on the good things.
Thursday, 18 February 2016
The challenges of landscape photography in an Oceanic climate
The Mountain Forecast provides an excellent insight into the weather of the world's mountains and it makes for some interesting comparisons.
Grand Casse is in the Graian Alps and at 3,852m is the highest summit in the Vanoise massif and in a Humid Continental climate.
and lower down
Store Lenangstind, 1624m is a mountain in the Lyngen Alps, Troms, Norway and subject to a subarctic / subpolar oceanic climate.
Now a look at the forecast for Ben More Assynt, in the NW Highlands of Scotland at just under a 1000m in height at the summit and in an Oceanic climate
At 0m
With a weather forecast for the UK it really does pay to consult as many forecasts as possible, if everyone is singing from the same songsheet there's a good probability of increased accuracy
The Met Office Mountain Weather Forecast makes equally grim reading
and the detail
If the weather forecast for the summit of Grande Casse appeared on a UK Mountain Weather Forecast, there would be a lot of outdoor enthusiasts planning trips, albeit packing extra warm clothing, the weather forecast for Store Lenangstind, not so good and Ben More Assynt not unusual, it doesn't even rate having a storm name and it is worth noting that the highest forecast winds at 3852m on Grand Casse are less than the forecast sea level winds for the NW Highlands of Scotland. I'll concede that the the wind chill temperatures forecast for Grand Casse are pretty grim, but note the forecast wind chill on Ben More Assynt, 2,864m lower than Grand Casse and with rain in the forecast too. The windchill at sea level in the NW Highlands is similar to the windchill at sea level inside the Arctic Circle and a reason why UK Coroner's verdicts of death by fatal hypothermia are issued for ill fated outdoor enthusiasts. Even at lower elevations the winds in the UK have a severely limiting effect on what can be photographed.
Rolling the Weather Dice in an Oceanic climate
The UK is affected by the following air streams, that in addition to the vigour of the Jet Stream, will have a profound influence on what the landscape photographer will attempt to photograph.
I'll post a future article with some thoughts on how to mitigate some of the challenges posed by an Oceanic climate. It also makes for an interesting analysis of the enthusiasms and appetite of the UK's landscape photography community, when climate, road atlases and topographic maps of the UK are compared with portfolios and galleries.
Grand Casse is in the Graian Alps and at 3,852m is the highest summit in the Vanoise massif and in a Humid Continental climate.
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| 3852m from www.mountain-forecast.com |
and lower down
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| 1000m from www.mountain-forecast.com |
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| 1624m from www.mountain-forecast.com |
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| 0m from www.mountain-forecast.com |
Now a look at the forecast for Ben More Assynt, in the NW Highlands of Scotland at just under a 1000m in height at the summit and in an Oceanic climate
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| 998m from www.mountain-forecast.com |
At 0m
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| 0m from www.mountain-forecast.com |
With a weather forecast for the UK it really does pay to consult as many forecasts as possible, if everyone is singing from the same songsheet there's a good probability of increased accuracy
The Met Office Mountain Weather Forecast makes equally grim reading
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| Met Office Mountain Weather Forecast |
and the detail
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| Met Office Mountain Weather Forecast |
If the weather forecast for the summit of Grande Casse appeared on a UK Mountain Weather Forecast, there would be a lot of outdoor enthusiasts planning trips, albeit packing extra warm clothing, the weather forecast for Store Lenangstind, not so good and Ben More Assynt not unusual, it doesn't even rate having a storm name and it is worth noting that the highest forecast winds at 3852m on Grand Casse are less than the forecast sea level winds for the NW Highlands of Scotland. I'll concede that the the wind chill temperatures forecast for Grand Casse are pretty grim, but note the forecast wind chill on Ben More Assynt, 2,864m lower than Grand Casse and with rain in the forecast too. The windchill at sea level in the NW Highlands is similar to the windchill at sea level inside the Arctic Circle and a reason why UK Coroner's verdicts of death by fatal hypothermia are issued for ill fated outdoor enthusiasts. Even at lower elevations the winds in the UK have a severely limiting effect on what can be photographed.
Rolling the Weather Dice in an Oceanic climate
The UK is affected by the following air streams, that in addition to the vigour of the Jet Stream, will have a profound influence on what the landscape photographer will attempt to photograph.
- Polar Maritime
- Returning Polar Maritime
- Arctic Maritime
- Polar Continental
- Tropical Continental
- Tropical Maritime
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| source http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/ |
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| source http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/ |
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| source http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/ |
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| Add caption |
I'll post a future article with some thoughts on how to mitigate some of the challenges posed by an Oceanic climate. It also makes for an interesting analysis of the enthusiasms and appetite of the UK's landscape photography community, when climate, road atlases and topographic maps of the UK are compared with portfolios and galleries.
Monday, 4 January 2016
Auteur landscape photographers
France is a country noted for idealism and perhaps unsurprisingly where the concept of an auteur (author) director in film making, was first proposed by French film critics. Film directors deemed to be auteurs, were those individuals who imparted a distinctive quality on a film and also wrote the screenplay or worked closely with the screenwriter of the film. The author of a film could be also attributed to the screenwriter or as a collaborative effort. The concept of a film auteur was elaborated in auteur theory and auteur study now receives some emphasis in film studies. There are numerous interpretations on auteur theory and counterarguments, not unsurprisingly from producers, cinematographers, actors etc
I quite like the analogy between the film making roles and responsibilities of location scout, cinematographer, screenwriter and film director and the authorship of images by a landscape photographer. The proposal for auteur landscape photographers would not be a universally popular one, especially in certain landscape photography media, cliques and communities. Auteur theory and study can highlight inconvenient truths.
Nonetheless, an auteur designation in landscape photography would differentiate auteurs from landscape photographers who appear content to make derivative photographs of iconic views and other tripod holed ground locations and also those who consciously plagiarise other photographers work. The attraction of auteurism might be the impetus needed to lift landscape photography out of its current malaise and stagnation.
I quite like the analogy between the film making roles and responsibilities of location scout, cinematographer, screenwriter and film director and the authorship of images by a landscape photographer. The proposal for auteur landscape photographers would not be a universally popular one, especially in certain landscape photography media, cliques and communities. Auteur theory and study can highlight inconvenient truths.
Nonetheless, an auteur designation in landscape photography would differentiate auteurs from landscape photographers who appear content to make derivative photographs of iconic views and other tripod holed ground locations and also those who consciously plagiarise other photographers work. The attraction of auteurism might be the impetus needed to lift landscape photography out of its current malaise and stagnation.
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