Creux du Van

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Switzerland – Between Lake Neuchâtel and the Val de Travers, on the border between the cantons of Neuchâtel and Vaud, lies the Creux du Van, a tremendous natural rock formation, impressively captured by landscape photographer Roland Gerth.

The rocky walls rise up vertically 160 metres from the valley oor, creating a four-kilometre-long stony arena that could not be more imposing. This popular tourist destination is home to chamois, ibexes, lynxes and marmots. The unique landscape, with its forests and Arctic-Al- pine ora, is protected by a nature re- serve spanning 25 square kilometres.

A picture by landscape photographer Ro- land Gerth was selected for the minia- ture sheet. He visited the Creux du Van on various occasions at different times of the year. For this particular photograph he spent the night there in order to cap- ture the east-facing rocky cirque at sun- rise. In Gerth’s view, the fact the sky was not completely cloudless on this day con-tributed to the special beauty of the set- ting. “For my landscape shots I always use a grey graduated lter that darkens the sky somewhat and evens out the con- trast”, he says. “The human eye does this automatically, but a camera needs a little help.”

Issue Date: 08.08.2017
Designer: Photography: Roland Gerth, Thal Graphics editing: Prolith AG, Schönbühl
Printer: Cartor Security Printing La Loupe, France
Process: Offset
Colours: 4 Colours
Size: Miniature sheet: 105 × 70mm, Stamps: 75 × 45mm