The French Alps is an incredible area for high mountain landscape photography. It offers dramatic peaks, wildflowers, streams and glaciers. The French Alps are also very accessible with good roads and extensive network of hiking trails. While the south of the French Alps are beautiful, it is the middle and the north part which are the most spectacular. In this French Alps landscape photography guide you will learn everything you need to know to get the best photography results in this area. If you haven't read it already, I suggest also reading the our Swiss Alps Photography Guide and then you can do one trip combining both locations.
Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval
One of the best places you can go for dramatic landscape photography in the French Alps is Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval. It is a steep-walled mountain valley carved by glacial erosion. It is located between French department of Haute-Savoie and the Swiss canton of Valais . You will find hundreds of waterfalls of all sizes coming together in the river valley. A giant vertical mountain called Pic de Tenneverge (2981m) is located exactly above one of the giant waterfalls.
Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval with epic mist.
The name of the region is Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval, the name of the best photography spot is at Cirque du Fer-à-Cheval. This is the valley with the Pic de Tenneverge and the valley with the Cascade de la Vogealle (waterfall). Other waterfalls such as the Cascade du Rouget and Cascades de La Sauffaz is inside Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval, but in a different area than Cirque du Fer-à-Cheval.
To get the best compositions for Pic de Tenneverge in Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval I recommend to drive to the main parking on the end of the road. Keep in mind you have to pay to enter. From the main parking you can hike back on the road you came from, and shoot from the bridge. From here you can use your medium to wide angle lens to shoot the Pic de Tenneverge with just the winding river. This is a great composition if you like simplicity and show the mountain to it’s full scale. You will not have any foreground from here. If you do want more depth and use foreground, you can go to ground level and use the water as foreground. The water-levels can vary greatly with each season so keep in mind that each visit will look the same. When the water levels are low enough, some smaller waterfalls become visible which are otherwise more hidden by the big water-stream.
Another element which I think is the most important on this location inside Cirque du Fer-à-Cheval, is the waterfall right below Pic de Tenneverge. This small element is of great importance to the strength of the composition. It connect the peak with the river and the rest of the landscape. During early summer it is almost a guarantee the waterfall is active because of the snowmelt. After mid-july it is important to check the weather forecast. After a week of drought, the waterfall can already become smaller. During this period onwards and during the whole fall season, you want to look out for rain in the forecast.
Here you can see the Pic de Tenneverge with barely any water in the waterfall. It makes a giant difference to how impressive the mountain is when the water is low.
When you hike further into the valley from the parking towards Cascade de la Vogealle you have many options for landscape photography. One option is to look backwards and have waterfalls on both side of the valley.
As mentioned before, there is also the Cascade du Rouget and Cascades de La Sauffaz . Especially the Cascades de La Sauffaz is one with potential. You are shooting looking opwards, with the waterfall coming down in multiple directions. You do want to use the stream in the foreground to add depth. Another option is to use flowers in the foreground. For this you need to time it right with the season since they are not always there.
Lac Blanc and Mer de Glace
Lac Blanc is one of the more popalar spots in the French Alps. Among landscape photographers it is known but not a super popular spot. This is because of the location. You can reach it all the way by foot, or partly by foot and cable car. If you decide to hike al the way, you can start from 2 different spots on the North side. One is from Parking des Aiguilles Rouges at the D1506. The other spot is from a nameless parking further down the road. When you don’t like to do all the hiking you can take the single cable car ride from Les Praz to the Chalet de la Flégere and hike from there. The hike is spectacular so I do recommend to do it at least once.
Mer de Glace
From Lac blanc you can shoot the Aiguille Verte mountain (4122m), Mer de Glace glacier and Grandes Jorasses (4208m) among with many other French Alps giants. You can use the lake to get the reflection. You can also shoot from a bit lower to use the stream as a leading line. Or, one of the wild (but unafraid) mountain Ibex as a main subject.
Aiguille du Dru
The mountain Aiguille du Dru (3754 meter) is part of Aiguille Verte situated in the Mont-Blanc Massif in the Chamonix region. The mountain looks like a very impressive spire when shooting opposite the Mer de Glace glacier. The highest peak Aiguille Verte is just behind it, and not visible from most angles. Aiguille du Dru is great for landscape photography because the vertical walls and pointy peak makes it look spectacular.
You can get into the photography area by taking the train from Les Planards to Refuge du Montenvers. From the refuge it is around 30 minutes to 1 hour hiking to explore all compositions. Another option is to hike from Les Bois which takes around 1 hour to 1,5 hours to reach Refuge du Montenvers.
Untill Refuge du Montenvers the landscape has many trees. After the refuge the landscapes is more open with green fields. You can also find flowers in the right part of the season. You will most likely find purple colored Rhododendrons blooming in this area.
Vallée de la Clarée (Nevache)
The Vallée de la Clarée is a beautiful valley in the Hautes-Alpes. It is a (protected) nature-2000 site since 2014 and has a long history of demonstrations against building a motorway and ski-resort. The Vallée de la Clarée is now a popular tourist destination. Especially in summer it is (over) crowded. You can’t access the parking between certain hours and you also have to pay for parking since 2024. Even so, the area is great for landscape photography and early morning and late afternoon/ evening you won’t notice any of the crowds.
There are different compositions – one area is on the beginning of the valley where you have the parking. From here you shoot the mountain a bit from the side and you have the most depth. The other option is to walk further on the main hiking trail towards Refuge Drayères. From here the mountain looks completely different, a bit more angry and dramatic.
The mid-part is less interesting because you are then right underneath the highest mountain. You will miss depth and the mountain looks smaller because you are standing right below it.
In terms of foreground subjects, there are many streams in the whole area. The river in the valley is your easiest option. Especially in the beginning of the valley you have a few spots where the river points directly to the highest peak. On the end of the valley you can use the stream coming from higher up the mountain. You are then looking to the mountain and use the stream going down. Smaller streams are mostly good enough when there is snow-melt early in the season, or when it has been raining for some days.
Other subjects in summer are flowers. Don’t expect to see the biggest flowers. You have to time it right. If you go too early in the season you will mostly see snow in Vallée de la Clarée. If you go in mid to end August you are probably too late. If you don’t find any flowers lower in the Vallée de la Clarée, it is worth checking out the higher areas. Even in August you can find pretty big daisy flowers.
Another great option is to use the trees higher up as a framing at sunset. This way you can block the sun with the tree, creating a sun-star and showing the light-rays shining into the Vallée de la Clarée. You can then also show the winding river in the valley. The best period for this is around early to mid-august for the sun-star to be on the left side of the mountain.
Aiguille Dibona
A great mountain in the French alps for landscape photography is the Aiguille Dibona. This 3,130 m (10,270 ft) mountain is located in the Écrins National Park. It has a really narrow and sharp pointy shape which makes for great landscape photography. To reach the area underneath Aiguille Dibona in the French Alps, you have to hike for around 1 hour and 15 min – depending on your hiking speed.
You can find flowers here from mid to end July. The timing of the flowers is dependent on each season. There is also a stream in the valley, which is more easy to use as foreground than flowers. If you shoot the Aiguille Dibona from further away, the shape looks great but it can look too small on a wide angle lens. If you go too close, the mountain becomes bigger but the shape is not as impressive. The best spot for wide angle photography (with a stream) is when you are at around 1km away from the peak. How do you know? I use Google Earth for this. Of course you then have to scout in that area for a good spot at the waterfall/ stream.
Misty conditions in Aiguille Dibona.
I prefer to shoot the Aiguille Dibona in the summer season. In winter the trail is too difficult and in autumn you often don’t have enough water in the stream. The light on the peak is better though in autumn and winter since it will catch more light facing to the south.
Mont Pelvoux
The Mont Pelvoux consists of one main peak which is called Pointe Puiseux (3,946 m /12,946 ft). There are also three sub-peaks, which are Pointe Durand (3,932 m/ 12,900 ft) Petit Pelvoux (3,753 m/ 12,313 ft) and Trois Dents du Pelvoux (3,682 m/ 12,080 ft). Together they form the unique and amazing shape which makes this mountain so popular for landscape photography in the French Alps.
To get here you park on the main parking near Refuge du Pré de Madame Carle. From here it is a one hour hike to the main shooting area. The main shooting area is where you find a stream leading to the peak. You will also find fields of flowers here. The best time to shoot the Mont Pelvoux is at sunrise – even though at sunset you will also have light on the mountain. The summer season is the best season to shoot, because you will be shooting the north face of it. Outside the summer season, the mountain won’t catch any light at sunrise and sunset from this position.
Mont Pelvoux is also great for night photography. Not only are the nights dark and the stars bright – the milky way also lines up perfectly here above the mountain.
Aiguille d'arves
The Aiguille d'arves in the French alps is another mountain in Savoie which is very interesting for landscape photographers. This 3,514 meter / 11,529 ft high mountain has three peaks. The highest peak of Aiguille d'arves is L'aiguille méridionale (3,514 m). The second highest is only one meter lower and is called L'aiguille centrale (3,513 m). The lowest is L'aiguille septentrionale with 3,364 meter. This is also the order of the peaks when looking at Aiguille d'arves from the north side.
The Aiguille d'arves is a good peak for landscape photographers because of the pointy shape of the mountains and because it is three mountains. The left and center mountain basically have the same height. This makes the shape a bit a-symmetrical. On top of that, the left mountain (L'aiguille méridionale) is closer, followed by the middle mountain. This means that the closer you come to the mountain the bigger the a-symmetry.
Because of the above mentioned difficulty, there is a certain point when walking on the hiking trail which you don’t want to cross. This is the bridge crossing the river from the east to the west side. At the same time you don’t want to shoot much further away because of the size of Aiguille D'arves – the base is already at 2500 meter, making the total height 1000 meter. If you compare that to the earlier mentioned Mont Pelvoux – the difference there is around 2000 meter.
Therefore, I don’t recommend to go further than the bridge, but I also don’t recommend to be further away.. This means indeed, shoot from the bridge! This was the only spot worth shooting for me during the time I was there. I did search for other foreground objects around the area but there were none. The location underneath the bridge does frame Aiguille d'arves, therefore allowing you to have a smaller mountain and using a wider lens.
I recommend to use around 20mm on this location. If you go wider, Aiguille d'arves looks too small. If you use more focal length for your landscape photo, you will miss the depth on the water. You can shoot Aiguille d'arves during both sunrise and sunset. During sunset, more light will hit the mountain because the mountains are facing more to the west. It is also better to shoot during the summer months because the mountain wall is facing also more towards the north.
You can reach the Aiguille d'arves by driving to the small mountain village of Le Chalmieu on the D80a. From there it is another 3km to the parking – which is also the end of the road for cars. From here you have to hike, which is only another 3km hiking to the bridge.
Mont Aiguille
The Mont Aiguille is a 2,087 meter/ 6847 feet high mountain in the Vercors Massif. The top of the mountain is flat – surrounded by vertical walls with steep slopes on the base.
The Mont Aiguille has good potential for landscape photography in all seasons. From the south, at le pas de l'Aiguille, you have some good options. The shape of the mountain is more pointy and sharp compared to other angels. You can use trees and flowers in summer as foreground. Finding a stream of water is only possible after heavy rainfall. The Vercors area is a karst/ limestone mountain area – which means water goes straight into the ground and comes out much lower in the valley.
Another angle to photograph Mont Aiguille is from Le Grand Veymont (2341 meter). From here Mont Aiguille looks wider, less sharp and is more part of a bigger landscape with layers.
The Seasons
Summer
In the summer season, the French Alps is a great place for landscape photography. There are many flowers and the streams have high water levels from the snow-melt water and rain showers. It can become more dry during August when the snow-meltwater becomes less. It has also happened in recent years that heatwaves early in the summer have killed many of the flowers.
The safest time to go as a landscape photographer to the French Alps is therefore mid-July. If you go (much) earlier you will have too many snowfields higher up, which often doesn’t make for a good composition and soft light (the snow reflects the light too strongly). A downside of the summer in the French alps are the crowds. Many of the national parks can be almost empty in the off-seasons. But in the summer season many tourists, especially from France itself, come to these places. At the same time, most of them will not be there during the early sunrise and late sunset hours.
Also keep in mind that accommodation in the French alps during the summer season is more expensive and that there are less options. Of course as a landscape photographer you might want to stay near the spot for better flexibility, like sleeping in a camper or even the back of your car close to your shooting location. Rather than staying in accommodation which is usually at best an hour drive away just so you can sleep in proper accommodation. But if you plan to go with your family this might not be the best option.
An ibex high in the French Alps.
Autumn
The autumn season in the French Alps starts around the beginning of October and lasts until the end of the same month. The best period for landscape photographers is October 8 till October 25. It is then recommended to start with the higher areas in the Alps – where the autumn colours arrive earlier – and then move to a lower elevation.
You can also start with locations which don’t have any autumn colors because they are well above the tree line. Think about Mont Pelvoux and Aiguille Dibona. You can then go to a place like Vallée de la Clarée in Nevache and finish with Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval. Accommodation in the French Alps during autumn will be cheaper but not necessarily more available. This is because many places will be closed in this season.
In Autumn the fall colours play a big part in enhancing the photo.
Winter
The winter season in the French Alps has great potential for landscape photographers. But, it is also by far the most difficult season. With no fresh snow-fall, you want to avoid landscapes with trees in them because the trees will look like black dots in a white landscape. And when there is fresh snow, it often only stays on the trees for a few hours to half a day. Smaller streams are mostly frozen and covered by snow. Bigger streams and rivers are therefore a better option.
However, early winter will have more open water streams and is therefore better for landscape photography. Then you have to reach the location in winter. When there is a cable car or (open) road with parking you can manage to hike only a small distance. For example Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval can be reached by car. But all other locations in the French alps need hiking to reach them. This can be a challenge in winter. Still, winter can be a great season to shoot the French Alps with a totally different mood and light. So in case you have been to the French Alps many times during the usual Summer and Autumn season – you can try winter to come back with something unique.
Spring
I finish with spring as last because this is by far the least interesting season in the French alps for landscape photography. Don’t get my wrong, I love the French Alps in Spring. There is something special about seeing the transition from the winter mountain landscapes into summer. I have done many big hikes during May and June. The reason why Spring is not good for landscape photography are the big fields of snow.
The bright white snowfields make the landscape look busy and hides elements like trees. Spring in the mountains is not the same as spring in non-mountain areas. Streams and rivers can be filled with water which sounds good for landscape photography. But, they are often surrounded by snowfields on higher elevations. One big plus about Spring in the French alps is the lack of tourists. I have had days where you won’t see a single soul on the trails or in the mountains.
Best Landscape Photography Gear French Alps
When I think about photography gear and the French Alps – I think go lightweight! These locations are not that easy accessible by car or cable car as for example the Dolomites and the Swiss alps. Being lightweight will help you to reach more locations and do more photography scouting. So, if you do have the choice between lenses, choose the lighter one. Having said that, make sure you bring a wide angle lens as your first choice! I would not go wider than 14mm. The 10 to 14mm range is not needed, with the exception of certain spots when going very close to the mountain. So, bring it to the French Alps, but probably leave it when going up the mountain until you plan to go very close to the mountain.
Your second best lens will be a tele-zoom lens. Go for the 100 to 200mm lens. The 200 and above will more be for wildlife. With the tele-zoom lens you can shoot layers and be ready when the light becomes dramatic. Also think about scenes when hard wind blows snow from the highest peaks. You can also bring a (DJI) drone with you to the French Alps. Drone Photography can be great in winter when the locations are more difficult to reach on foot. It also allows you to get close to some dramatic peaks regardless of the season. However, do check with the drone rules. In Sixt you can fly the drone in some parts, while other parts of the Park are forbidden. Any national park or nature reserve is forbidden. This also makes flying a drone in Vallée de la Clarée forbidden.
Final Thoughts
With all this information in mind you are set for an incredible journey to the French Alps! I also recommend shooting the Swiss Alps while you are there if you have the time. Check out my article Ultimate Photography Guide Swiss Alps before you go. The French Alps still have a lot of places undiscovered for landscape photography but they are a bit more difficult to shoot. Finding something really great for landscape photography is not easy, so it will take more time to find something unique. The French Alps is much more than just the locations in this article, however these locations are the most spectacular so I highly recommend planning your travel itinerary around them.
Max Rive is most driven by seeking new perspectives in the natural world and capturing them in his own distinguished style. Max's powerful portrayals of his interactions with the mountains has earned him international recognition in the outdoor community.
Madison McCardle is a passionate landscape photographer driven by curiosity and a desire to capture the true essence of each place she explores. Through her lens, she seeks new perspectives that reveal the beauty and authenticity of the world.
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