Photographing Vallorbe

One of the place that friends had mentioned when I first said about my photographing journey was Les Grottes de Vallorbe, a series of caves where the River Orbe is sourced - even thought it is not really the source of the river. J


So, on a Sunday morning when John had to study for a test, I got on my way there. It is less than 50 minutes on a direct train from Lausanne.


My first surprise was getting to the train station and discovering that there was no public transportation anywhere close to the Grottes. This is not very typical of Switzerland, you will find out that there is always a bus, a train, a cable car, or a street car that can take you to well known touristic places around the country.


I had still about two hours until the winter opening hour of the caves, so I decided to take a stroll around the village. I had forgotten that it was Sunday, and EVERYTHING is always close on Sundays, even on the bigger cities. For North Americans used to 24 hours service, it is definitely a cultural shock! Anyhow, it had been carnaval the day before and the streets were full of colourful confetti, pretty nice.


Then I got myself back in the trail in the direction of the Les Grottes. From the train station it is about 45 minutes walk, and it is not really all that incline, so everyone can do it without any problem.


When I arrived at the caves, I payed my entrance ticket and got my second surprise of the day, tripods were not allowed!

Well, how can you expect to get any good images in a cave without a tripod? 

I got in, an had a nice visit on the grottes. It is a very interesting site with plenty of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, underground rivers... all very beautiful, but also everything is artificial lighten. In summary, a very nice tourist place, but not a site for photographers!!!

Image 1 - Lac du Silence

Image 2 - Stalagmites

Image 3 - Lac Emerald

Image 4 - Medusa Draperies 

   
As you can see from the images, it is a nice to visit place, but with all the artificial light, it is not a photographer's dream, especially with so many natural beauties that the country offers.
I tried to capture some of the details on texture, but still with the low light and with a limited ISO camera, the result was not as expected. 

Image 5 - Texture detail

Once I have left  the Grottes, I decide to take a different hiking trail back to the station. I was in for one more surprise, and what a pleasant one! This trail was through the most intense green woods that I have ever been. For me, Vallorbe will be known for now on as the green place!
I went pretty crazy on the trail and it was hard for me to make a selection of my favourite shots... the following images had minimum processing, I just did some cropping here and there. The images are exactly as I remembered the trail: green, fresh, natural, and astonishingly beautiful! It has made up for the Les Grottes de Vallorbe for sure. 

Image 6 - Vallorbe - The Green Place

Image 7 - Small creek islands 

Image 8 - Detail of the intense fresh green

Image 9 - Small waterfalls surrounded by green

Image 10 - View of the Orbe River from the bridge

Image 11 - Side creeks running to meet the main river

Well, it was time to start seeing in full colours again. I continued on the trail until the train station. What a magnificent Sunday it turned out to be!!!