Chasing the Golden Light on the French Countryside

There’s something about the French countryside that has fascinated me for years. The rolling hills, the small and quiet villages, and above all, the golden fields that seem to stretch endlessly under the blue sky.

Each season here brings its charm, but the late spring and early summer, when you have wildflowers in bloom and corn and grain fields awash in gold, stole a piece of my heart. 

Over the past few years, I’ve made it a habit to return to this region – a family house as a base is a luxury I cannot leave unnoticed – and capture the changing landscape. It’s great to be able to return here again and again, watching how the area transforms and offers a peaceful getaway.

Timing is Everything

It’s not so much about finding the right field – you have plenty of them here – but it’s more about the light and timing. As almost always, the best shots come when the sun is low on the horizon, the golden hour, either early in the morning or just before sunset. The soft and warm light casts a magical glow over the fields.

When the light hits just right, the views always remind me a bit of the Lion King meets Gladiator, but then in the French countryside. It’s a feeling of ‘everything the light touches… is our kingdom’ and hearing Lisa Gerrard’s voice in the background while watching the fields dancing in the wind. Except not everything the light touches is my kingdom, or queendom for that matter, as local farmers own the fields, nor are there any wildebeests or gladiators sweeping majestically through the fields, but I think you get the point. For example, I love how the sunlight oozes over the fields in the picture below. And those moments are so relaxing because there’s nothing else going on here that distracts me and this is all you can look at and take in.

Now, the house was the starting point for this photographic adventure. The village has 2 roads, and it takes less than 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. I simply left the house and walked to the edge of the village, every path leads straight into these fields. I’m not a morning person, and although I’ve set alarms for sunrises many times, I usually choose sunsets. The sun goes down behind a nearby forest, and I like the light coming from that angle around that time.

Normally, I walk around or take the bike just in case I want to go faster and further, but these pictures were all taken around the same spot nearby. The path goes up a bit and leads to a few dirt roads from which you have a nice view over the hills, fields with cows, and other forests.

The Editing

Editing these photographs is where the sunkissed vibe truly comes alive. I aim to enhance the natural beauty, I’m not a big fan of overdoing it and like to keep it as close to reality as possible. Here, I focused on bringing out the rich tones of gold and a warm glow, increasing the exposure to let the light overflow and inducing the subtle contrasts that enchant the landscape. The same with the images below.

Each field has its character, shaped by the type of grain, the way the wind brushes over it, and how the sunlight touches it. Just like the pictures below, two fields opposite each other with a dirt road separating them, such a difference! The left one gives off a more greenish-golden, softer vibe while the right one has a messy, spiky look.

I have to admit, I definitely developed an obsession for these fields by now. From a distance, they might all look the same — stretches of land filled with the same grain or corn and wildflowers. When you drive by them, they’re a big blur. But up close, with a camera in hand, I look at it from a different angle and try to take in all the details.