Watching The Night Envelope Geneva

Watching day turn to night around Lake Geneva is such a wonderful experience. Soon after the sun has set behind the Jura mountain range the buildings spring to life and the town shows its true colours. I don’t think there’s a much better spot to observe the beautiful transition than this one looking out towards the Jet d’Eau.

I really wanted to capture a sense of the night enveloping the town, so I spent about 2 hours with my tripod just watching the light change. Too early and the reflection would be too weak, too late and the day’s light would have passed. Of the many shots I took this was the most balanced.

Over the course of the evening I experimented with a variety of settings in Manual mode so that I could control both the aperture and shutter speed. Getting an exposure that was both long enough to blur the water and not too long to blow out the highlights of the buildings was an interesting challenge!

Reflections At Dusk

On Friday evening I went out to shoot the sunset over Lake Geneva, which in the end wasn’t all that spectacular. However it was the first time I’ve seen the Jet d’Eau light up at dusk this year, a sure sign that spring is upon us. I have to say I was pretty excited!

I’d been out shooting for a few hours, running back and forward between different points to capture the light as best I could. When I saw the jet light up I knew I wanted to find a spot where I could get a good reflection of it in some calmer waters.

What I was not prepared for were the bats that came out of hiding, flittering about just in front of the camera lens! I was slightly concerned I might get jumpy and knock my tripod over into the water by accident, so I took a few steps back and let the long exposure work its magic.

At The End Of The Road

I’m not sure whether this was executed purposefully by town planners or a happy accident. But either way the view down this street – curiously named Rue du 31st Decembre – toward the Jet d’Eau in Geneva is one of those that’s hard to forget.

This shot was taken in the middle of a pedestrian crossing. Each time the lights went green I would cross half way, try to line up as well as I could and click the shutter. Obviously as the lights were green for me to cross, they were red for the oncoming traffic.

I wanted a clean composition with no cars involved, so I had to wait a good while for the street to be clear at the right moment. I think I probably crossed the road about 15 times to get this shot. As is usually the case, my patience and persistence paid off in the end!

Lake Geneva At Its Very Best

We had another great sunset in Geneva this evening, and I finally managed to get my tripod down to the lake. This meant I could take some longer exposures and really capture the reflections in the water. Fortunately the lake was calm so the moored boats were not bobbing around too much. Otherwise I would have had some pretty blurry boats in this shot!

I think I made it just in time for the best of the light, and decided to experiment with some new angles. I wanted to get up higher so I could capture more of the water below. Climbing up onto the rocky ridge beside the path gave me the prefect vantage point, allowing me to include more of the lovely reflections and Lake Geneva’s incredibly clear water in a single shot.

This is definitely my new favourite composition from this spot around the lake. Sooner or later I will have to move on and try to find somewhere better, but for now I just can’t get enough of this location!

Do you have a favourite spot you go back to time and time again? What makes it your favourite?

A Sunset Well Worth The Effort

We had a great sunset in Geneva yesterday, which unfortunately coincided with my journey home from the office. I was kicking myself that I didn’t have a camera. The clouds were fantastic, lighting up pink and orange in every direction. I knew exactly the spot for some good shots, I just had to hustle a bit!

After some light jogging and questionable jaywalking I made it home and out again to my favourite spot just in time. This is definitely one of the best locations I’ve found for shooting around Lake Geneva, with plenty of great opportunities for interesting compositions that include the famous Jet d’Eau.

In the mad rush I didn’t have time for my tripod, which is a shame because this shot is plagued a bit by the high ISO I had to shoot at in order to get a practical shutter speed for a handheld shot. I think the best of the light had passed by this point, but I still managed to capture the moment. And I’ll be sure to take my tripod next time!

Have you ever rushed to capture a shot before the moment passed? Maybe you’ve seen a great sunset recently? I’d love to hear from you!

Finding That Elusive Shot Of Lake Geneva

A couple of weeks ago we had some fantastic weather at the weekend in Geneva, so I set out in search of a shot that’s been eluding me for quite some time. I’ve always been disappointed with my shots of Lake Geneva in the past, and have found it difficult to find an interesting way of shooting such a large body of water. I’ve never really captured how it feels to walk along its shores in Geneva. So when I came across this shot I was extremely happy, it felt great!