An Autumnal Alpine Traverse, Trip Journal 1

 Recharge - An Autumnal Alpine Traverse, Trip Journal 1

Just in this very moment, I`m on a road trip through the European Alps, just trying to enjoy the upcoming months (end of September to beginning of November) to recharge in some stunning autumn mountain landscpaes.

I'll write about the days pass by, the photography and camper life and of course will present a complete breakdown of the route and the costs in the end, just in case someone of you want to do a similar trip. 

As always when I'm on a photography trip the weather is overwhelmingly good. "Kaiserwetter" as we say in Germany, which means pure blue sky without any clouds.

But for an autumn photography trip I do welcome this phenomena just because blue and yellow are complementary colours and thus will give a nice colour contrast and the sun, especially the golden glow in the late evening hours, make those atumn colours pop.

Havadere - A drive through the Bavarian Alps

I've started my trip in the Black Forest area in Germany and drove south-east to lake Walchensee in the Bavarian Karwendel Mountains. On my way down I passed along lake Constance and the Allgäu to finally reach lake Walchensee as my first night stop. I've marked some spots along the track which seems nice to come back in the winter time, so stay tuned for this.

Late afternoon I've arrived at my first stop, the over night parking lot "Einsiedel" at lake Walchensee. A complete night will cost you 10 € and you'll have a mobile toilet box which is going to be cleaned regularly and a 220 V electrical connection. Stay from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. the next day for a complete day experience.

The sun was already setting behind the horizon so I was grabbing sth to eat and a beer, prepared my bike to be ready to take-off. Since the parking lot is located at the southern shore, I started a small tour along the tollway to stop here and there enjoying the evening view. You'll have some nice viewspots where you can see "Zwergenspitz", a small peninsula, that creeps into the view left-handed.

OM-D EM 10.2 / 12-45 mm Pro / 12 mm / F10 / ISO 200 / 1/60 sec

OM-D EM 10.2 / 12-45 mm Pro / 45 mm / F5.6 / ISO 200 / 1/250 sec

After the sun was setting and the light was fading fast, I recognised a small patch of clouds in the east. I decided to drive some further along the shoreline and discovered a nice rocky spot unlike the rest of the shoreline I've seen so far. Seems like some red granite found its way to the surface and formed a nice leading line into the image. Some of the clouds started to catch some light and a magenta-isch hue falls over the landscape. Nice...a pleasurable occasion to open the beer and enjoy the view... for a short while.

OM-D EM 10.2 / 12-45 mm Pro / 45 mm / F5.6 / ISO 200 / 1/250 sec

Although I really enjoy it to be in the Bavarian Karwendel area, this time I have to move on. So I went to bed soon to get up early and carry on to the Berchtesgaden area.

OM-D EM 10.2 / 12-45 mm Pro / 45 mm / F5.6 / ISO 200 / 1/1000 sec

A last glimps on to the lake in the morning and I found myself to stop at a small hidden Waterfall along the road a few kms ahead. A waterfall which I've managed one of my best images so far. It is located relatively steep into a gorge and everyone can see it from the road, but there are relatively few images from this spot to be found on the internet.

Have a look at this!

OM-D EM 1.2 - HighRes Mode / 8-18mm / 10 mm / F6.3 / ISO 640 / 1/30 sec

Reaching Berchtesgaden

Don't get me wrong here, I know why Hitler has built his chalet in this specific mountains. Extremely beautiful area, and I was a little bit overwhelmed by not knowing where to look first. With its beauty and its historical prominence this area has a problem with tourists and I could only imagine how overcrowded all those "attractions" are when tourism opens again for the asiatic people.

This time I've figured out Simonhof campsite (Alte Reichenhaller Straße 110, 83486 Ramsau) to be my base where I could easily reach lake Hintersee, lake Königssee and some other spots I've pointed out beforehand. I can whole heartedly recommend this campsite. Maybe a little bit expensive but the location is wonderful, electrical connection and fresh water inclusive for each pitch, getting rid of grey water and chemical toilet inclusive, WIFI is nicely distrubuted over the site, free showers toilets etc., you get what you pay for.

The first evening I've arrived I immediately started a short bike trip to lake Hintersee to spot some locations for the next morning. Already this place showed itself to be very popular amongst photographers. It is not only its pure beauty, but there is an "Instagram-spot" on the eastern shoreline which for sure is known worldwilde. Just type in Hintersee in Google and the first images show exactly this spot.

So the pitfall will be to find a quiet spot where I can work out a nice composition with the light situation that might be occur in the morning hours and you always need a plan B...you never know!

Odyssey at lake Hintersee

6 o'clock in the morning and I glimpsed through the backdoor window into eastern direction to see if the morning has arrived, still no clouds to see. I was thinking about if I should get out or not. I've packed the evening before so all I had to do is grabbing my stuff and cycling up to the lake.

Ok, a quick coffee for my thermo mug and let's go!

I was the first to arrive (at the famous spot) and made use of the excess time to my advandage, wandering around the location to find my own view of this spot. I've found one that seems to be nice (changed my mind later) and which should give me a nice side light from the rising sun on to my subjects, those famous small islands with their trees on top.

The area was filling up quickly with other photographers, all trying to shoot at the same spot. The sun was still behind the horizon, just the tips of Hochkalter summit show some alpine glow. I decided to change the spot and visit my two researched views from yesterday evening. Both places were empty and I should have enough time and space to work out my compositions I had in mind.

Soon after I've settled on spot A the sun started to break through the valley in the east and enlighted all the foreground trees and the Hochkalter northern flank. What a spectacular scenery!

Finished the morning with a very satisfied feeling I returned to my base and prepared some cereals, fruits and nuts for breakfast...another coffee should do as well.

OM-D EM 1.3 / 12-100 mm Pro / 15 mm / F8 / ISO 200 / 1/30 sec

OM-D EM 1.3  / 12-100 mm Pro / 12 mm / F5.6 / ISO 200 / 1/125 sec

OM-D EM 1.3 / 12-100 mm Pro / 38 mm / F8 / ISO 200 / 1/10 sec

Maria Gern Church and beyond

You wasn't in Berchtesgaden if you don't visit the Church of Maria Gern, or so they said. Driven by bike I arrived to found out that the famous spot is closed, now a private area, which some other photographers seem to give a f***. Not my kind of bussiness! Try sth else. In case of this church there are two main factors in the foreground which seem to be challenging. There is a restaurant left-handed and an s-curved road right-handed to the church.

From the forbidden view point you can cover the restaurant by some trees and you have a nice view on the s-curved road leading the viewers eye into the image. Additionally, there is a big billboard at the entrance street up to the church due to the German elections this weekend which made finding a composition even worse. 

Whosoever had the horrible idea to place such a big bilboard in the middle of nowhere showing all the local candidates to external visitors...change your job! 

Finding another spot seems to turn into a problem. At the end I decided to grab a quick shot from the roadside with a car driving up the hill to create a little bit of drama, work with what you get.

OM-D EM 10.2 / 12-45 mm Pro / 19 mm / F6.3 / ISO 200 / 1/1250 sec

I moved on and found several spectacular autumn views in late evening sunlight, up and down hill. The trouble at the church was long forgotten...

OM-D EM 10.2 / 12-45 mm Pro / 34 mm / F6.3 / ISO 200 / 1/80 sec

At the end of this first blog post I want to observe two topics for future posts. 

1) Since it is always a PITA that the weather is mostly the best for holidays but the "worst" for photography when I`m on the road, I came along some observations I want to share to maximise the quality output of the images.

2) When to start or to stop on location. Is the moral conviction overvalued or are private grounds and natural habitats worth to give a f***?