The nature reserve of Etang de la Gruere is situated in the beautiful Swiss Jura mountain range that forms a large part of the Swiss-French border. In total, it covers more than 120 hectares, of which 56 hectares are peat bog or high marsh and has a thickness of nine meters of peat accumulated in 12'000 years (after the end of the great glaciations). In addition, the reserve includes a small lake that was created in the 17th century when a dam was built for a mill.
I had wanted to go there for a long time and finally found the time this spring. The lake is about 1000m above sea level, and on the typical April day I chose to go, sunshine and blue skies alternated with heavy snowfall. Of all the pictures I took that day, 90% were shot during those rather short periods of snowstorms when I frantically ran around looking for compositions, changing lenses, putting filters on and off, etc.
Not the typical way I shoot, and certainly not the activity level suited to the very tranquil scenery. But when I was back home, warm and dry, and looked at the images I shot that day, I was quite happy with the moodiness this picture conveyed.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor