The spring and summer are great chances to witness the natural world in Provence. Below are a few images that I’ve made from the past couple months of the local area. This image is a spring storm that lit up the night sky in front of our building. This was the view from our front window. I used a fast (f/2) lens with a long exposure (13 sec) and after about 20 exposures was fortunate to catch this double lightning strike. Our visiting friends (ok, really more like family) Pat and Tom were kind enough to humor my constant tinkering with the camera equipment.
Another view from our front window. Here you can see more of the spring green after a storm.
The poppy fields are a treat too. Although there are lots of other fields of flowers (rapeseed, sunflower and of course lavender), this was the only one I was able to get out to capture. So, the following images are from a late afternoon trip to a nearby poppy field (and one that I often pass on my way home). I don’t have a lot of commentary on these images, so I’ll let them speak for themselves. One interesting fact about poppies though. They are not cultivated here (or so I’m told). They are wild and merely seen as a sign of clean and healthy growing conditions. The are also the symbol of the November 11th Armistice Day.
Here is another image of the field in front of our house.
Currently, the wheat has turned golden brown and I expect it will be harvested in the next few days…
That covers my few images of the spring and early summer landscape and flowers. I hope you enjoyed them.
Up next will be my short trip back to the US.
Until then…
–Jim