Blog #2 – A trip to Provence
August 2023
A few years back (2018), I had a photography trip to Provence arranged, it was going to be Lavender season and I was so looking forward to it…..however, all didn’t go to plan and to cut a medium sized story short, I was taken ill 2 days prior to travelling and a spell in hospital meant the trip was cancelled….I was eventually OK after a 4-5 day stay, being looked after tremendously well by the wonderful staff of the NHS.
Spring forward to the back end of June and early July 2023 and the trip was made, back for the Lavender and armed with a re-kindled love of the Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) genre of photography, it was going to be exciting and hot no doubt.
First thing that was pleasing was all the travel was great and the Airbnb, as well as our chosen town to stay in, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, were beautiful (to be clear this is not a sponsored blog but I will put the details of the Airbnb accommodation at the end, for anyone that’s interested), secondly, our timing was perfect, the Lavender was in full bloom, the scenery, colour & smell was fantastic….and yes, of course it was hot but an humongous storm on day two, with hail so hard and big, it made us, and other drivers on the road, shelter under the very conveniently positioned roadside trees (I even videoed it in case the hire car became damaged), made me wonder if perhaps the weather was going to be against me!!
In fairness it wasn’t, it was great after the storm had passed through and died down overnight, the following days were hot but very bearable during sunrise & sunset, and whilst relaxing at the pool, watching the Swifts swooping down, en masse, for a drink every now & then.
In terms of the photography, my plan was to focus on getting some ICM images with attention on a ‘model’ in the frame, I’d had this visualisation (is it visualisation or pre-visualisation?) since I was planning for the 2018 trip, luckily, I had a very willing model, Sarah, who came on the trip with me (thanks Sarah).
Sarah at a particularly beautiful Lavender field I found…..with the umbrella I bought on Amazon and had delivered to the Airbnb!
But not all of the images I took involved a ‘model’, ICM was the overall theme and it wasn’t difficult to find scenes that leant themselves to the genre…..
‘Two Trees’……plain & simple composition, the Stoney lines between the lavender plants stereotypical across the region.
This field was a great find whilst actually heading to a different location.
I also met an Instagrammer, Marla, (marlamadeleine) (at the location in the image above) who was busy taking images in a great lavender field I found by chance, once we’d both finished our respective shoots, she kindly agreed to model for me for another ICM image (Sarah was unwell and back at the Airbnb), I’ve called this image ‘Senses’ as they are working overtime in this environment. Thanks for modelling Marla.
Marla using all her ‘Senses’ whilst wandering through another beautiful Lavender field I found.
I did manage some ‘traditional’ images too, a particular favourite was from a lovely sunrise shoot out on the Plateau de Valensole,
It wasn’t all Lavender and ICM……..
That particular area of Provence holds boundless opportunities for photography, as well as being the most wonderful place to visit, great landscape, people, towns, markets, food, drink (alcoholic & non-alcoholic, especially coffee) and weather.
I will be back someday, who knows, perhaps a future Lawrence may take some clients for a guided tour/workshop but that’s just a dream at the moment.
Cheers for now…...
Lawrence
Airbnb Details:
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/32655725?source_impression_id=p3_1691523234_HlLQd3HIqrxbV4v4
and the wonderful town of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie
