It’s been a busy couple of weeks and this post about my trip to the Gironde Estuary, France with Ocean Capture is long overdue.
The tour is called Stilt-fishing huts of the Gironde, so a lot of our time was spent photographing some of the 400 or so carrelets on the estuary’s North shore.
These beguilingly delicate structures are so fascinating and so photogenic that Jonathan Critchley, the tour leader and owner of Ocean Capture, sometimes found it difficult to drag us away to do essential things like eat, sleep and, of course, as we were near Bordeaux, drink wine.
Jonathan is a great photographer, and I recommend a visit to his website. He’s also a super host and an all round nice bloke, and he plays a mean game of table football! We stayed in La Maison du Meunier, a delightful bed and breakfast hotel on the quay in Mortagne sur Gironde, where we were made to feel at home. Even though we were only there for three nights, I missed it after we left.
If you ever fancy a photography adventure in a beautiful, unspoilt region of France, I can thoroughly recommend this one. I liked it so much, I have booked another trip with Ocean Capture for next Spring. Now I just need to save some pennies!
I have many more images of the carrelets and other sights to share and a slideshow in the pipeline, but the next post will be something rather different, the images taken on a street photography day with Amateur Photographer magazine in London.
They look beautiful en masse like this…such a lovely collection. But WOW with that second one with the sun behind the hut and the foreground shadows. All very yummy.
What a great subject – and I love how you’ve managed to get such different effects and looks on each of them.
Looks like a great trip. Think I would have been tempted to stash a bottle in my daypack and keep shooting!
The light in that next-to-last shot is ethereal!
We are less than half an hour from Mortagne, any time you fancy photographing carrelets you are more than welcome.
Beautiful!
Thanks!
Stunning images Rachel. My husband & I are doing this same trip end of May & if I get even a semblance of what you have here I will be very pleased
Jenni
Thank you. I am sure you’ll have a super time. If I could do it all again, right now, I would!