Projet Lavande 2021!

This July 7-11, 2021, an opportunity is blooming …

The Lavender Project : The big-pictures!

The objective of this project is to get very nice pictures of you in the lavender field of Valensole that you can print big-size!

Think about it : What kind of photo do you have, today, that you can print big-size and hang it in your living room ?

I’d like to create high-quality photos good enough to print on big frame, to filling up the wall kind of frames, that gives you that wow sensation when entering the room.

And you will be inside that big-picture, alone in the immensity of lavender field, with your family, with your loved-one, here and there between the violet bushes as part of the scenery.

It would be a stunning scenery!
It would be a picture worth printing and hang on the wall.

That’s my Lavender Project!
Would you like to join me?

The lavender seasons: 7-11 July, 2021

The lavender season is not very long, actually it’s very short!
It runs from mid-June until mid July, before the Lavender Festival.

But the photo opportunity is even shorter!

If you visit the lavender field too early, you’ll get greenish color instead of that vive Lavender-purple, but if you come too late, well, they’ll be gone harvested.

And to make matter more complicated, the moment of bloom vary from year to year, and some fields are not as clean of weeds as the year before, and even planted with different crops from one year to another.
So that’s why it needs a serious project if we want to get a really good picture!

Opportunity for 2021 not to be missed!

This year, unlike any previous years, there will be less tourists around, especially from Asia
And so…
So it’s a good opportunity to make really nice pictures!,
So I’ve decided to get serious with this Lavender project!
I’m planning to survey over the whole valensole plateau and mark the best locations to take pictures,
Which one has the bloomiest, the purplest of Lavander field?
What angle is best, at what time of the day?
And so I offer you my service, if you’d like to have nice pictures of you in the lavender field to hang on the wall,

Join me!

It’s an opportunity not to be missed!

If you stay around Valensole!

If you stay in Valensole or nearby, I can pick you up at your hotel/gite if you want to visit more than one locations.
This is probably easier, so we can drive around quickly to the spots.
Or if you bring a car, then I’ll just send you the gps location of the first lavander field for the day, and we’ll just meet there and then cover a few spots using two cars.

There’s also a possiblity for quick on-location session if you bring your own car.

HalfDay-trip from Paris

If you come by train, I can pick you up at the Aix-en-Provence station, then take you around the different spots of lavender-fields, Valensole town, and hopefully if we can find Poppy-flower field and Sunflower around that area.
Then, after the photoshoot session, I’ll take you back to the center of Aix en Provence where you can roam around the old-town and hop back on the train afterward.

The whole trip takes 4 hours, so if you get earliest train from Paris and latest one to return, you’d still have the afternoon to roam around Aix-en-Provence.

It would be a perfect day-trip from Paris!

OuiGo ticket from Paris is not expensive.

So, if it’s easier for you to take train from Paris, let me know, then maybe I can pick you up at the station.

If you take the last return to Paris, then you’ll still have the afternoon to roam around Aix-en-Provence.

To fit with the train schedule, I can propose two sessions below:

Morning-session

• You must take the earliest train from Paris (6am) arriving at 9:00 in Aix en Provence.
• I’ll pick you up at the station at 9, then we’ll have 1 hour drive to Valensole,
• 2 hours photo session around that area until 12h00
• Then I’ll take you back to Aix, and you can spend the afternoon there.

Afternoon-session

• Take the morning train from Paris, then you have time to roam around Aix-en-Provence.
• I’ll pick you up in Aix station around 13h00.
• After 1 hour route to Valensole, we’ll have 2 hours photoshoot until 16h00
• Then return to Aix arriving around 17h, so you’ll have more than one hour before last train to paris at 18:29.

If you can stay overnight in Aix-en-provence

Then the possibility is wide open for sunset or sunrise session :

• I can pick you up in your hotel at 5am to catch the sunrise,
• or at 19h to catch the sunset.

Pickup cost: 225€

For the total of 4+ hours photoshoot trip, I can carry 3 people (if need more let me know, I need to rent bigger car). Valensole is 1 hour away from Aix-en-Provence, therefore I need to go back and forth four times.
So if you can rent a car in Aix-en-Provence, it is much preferable, more ecological and it’s probably cheaper.

I propose this pickup service because for many people there is no other solution to visit the lavender field in Valensole. Unfortunately, the TGV does not stop right in front of the lavender field.

There’s not much other solutions using public transport, and none is suitable for lavender photoshoot purpose. The bus is only twice a day, and one way trip takes 2.5 hours!!
Perhaps only taxi is suitable to get you from Aix-en-Provence to Valensole where I can pick you up;
Taxi cost at least 150€ one way.

So if you want me to pick you up, please select the pickup option in the reservation below. And please reserve early, so I can arrange for things.

Pick a date! Lavender is not forever!

Lavender field is ephemeral, so we don’t have a lot of time!
Most important things first: pick a date below so the time slot is reserved for you. You can always change the date later, and as long as it is not taken by someone else.
After reservation I will contact you to arrange for the details, and the meeting location will be given on that date.

Starting from 200€, same tarif as in Paris!

• On location photoshoot : 45min, 200€
  If you drive around Valensole and just want to have a few nice pictures in the lavender field, this is the right option.
  I’ll let you know the best location for the hour, and we meet there and roam around the location for 45 minutes photoshoot time. (From experience, this is the minimum time for many people to get comfortable with the photoshoot, and becoming natural to get nice pictures. )
• Around Valensole session : 2 hours : 325€.
  Taking nice picture is also about taking the time, to get deep immersion with the environment, to really forget about the time so you can freely express yourself around the purple field.
  This session is for you if you really want to get nice pictures, trying out different locations, different landscapes to get that wow-effect. The session takes 2 hours, covering 2-3 locations around Valensole.
  For this session, either I can pick you up in Valensole or if you take your car, we’ll go with 2 cars to make it simpler for the after.
• Around Valensole + pick-up from Aix-en-Provence : 4 hours : 550€
  Same as the 2 hours Around Valensole photo-session, but I’ll pick you up at TGV station, and return you back there.
  (read about the half-day-trip from Paris above.)

Delivery ?

I’m glad you ask :
When we leave the lavender field after the photoshoot, actually the other half of my work has not even started yet.
For one week I will be selecting, editing and color-adjusting the pictures to give you the best photos: This is also the service that is included in what you pay for. So considering all and all, it’s a fair price.

Checkout the pictures in this website or in my instagram to get the feeling of my photographic / editing style : it’s natural and candid pictures that my clients appreciates.
I give all the nicest pictures taken during photoshoot, usually more than 100 per hour photoshoot.

IF you need a few images quickly (for instagram or facebook) let me know, so I can send you within a day or two a few pictures for your posting.

Delivery of the edited pictures will be in one or two weeks after the end of the project (July 11, 2021), using online transfer.

Disclaimer:

I don’t own the lavender fields, and I don’t have superpower to control the nature. If for some reason the photoshoot failed to take place (bad weather condition, health problem, or whatever), then I’ll reimburse the fee that you’ve paid.

Once you reserve, I’ll update you with the information from there. As of today, the lavender field is still green, but it’s scheduled to be ripe early July.

No promise for sunflower or poppy-flowers/coquelicots, which has even shorter lifespan. I will survey the field just before the date and will decide to take you there if it’s blooming / interesting to go there.

I’m not a taxi or uber, so if you’re travelling with me, it’s going to be in a normal, private car, just like with any friend or family of mine.

Reserve first, and then we discuss. After reservation you’ll get the corresponding ticket in your basket to settle later. The reservation will be confirmed after the ticket is paid.