Night HDR

Posted on April 19th, 2015

A classical 3 images HDR shot with 2EV steps, but I did it during a moonless night.
Normally I can’t take a bracket series at night, because of the durage of the exposure time. But with the Sony A7s and the Samyang 24mm 1.4 I take the image with only 8s exposure time and this gave me possibility to take a 2EV bracket serie because +2EV is about 30s which is the maximum exposure time of all system cameras I know.
For the first time I could take a night image with only one click on the shutter button and the thing was eaten. If the nights will be more dark, when the snow is melting and 3200 ISO with f/2 is no more enough, I can use the huge reserve of this body and go up to 12800 ISO or use one stop more at the aperture. The only thing you can’t change is the maximum of 8s exposure time, if you still want to have stars instead of stripes.
Btw, the light you can see on the floor and at the mountains and at the clouds, came from the cities down at the valley.

Star gazing

Posted on April 16th, 2015

Last night I was for a short evening trip on the peak.
Just decided, because of the clear weather, I was for a few hours on a night tour. This time I visited the Rotenfluh near the Mythen, the mountain behind me. I drove to the Ibergeregg and walked about an hour to this viewing point. Good I had my snow shoes with me, there was still snow covering the ground and the snow was very slippery, but with my snow shoes I walked easily a steep red ski slope upwards. Okay easy with the traction but I had always be careful not to step on my tongue.
Anyway, I spend a few hours on the top with a spectacular starry sky and a good view to the near mountains. But for the moment is this the only image I processed to see what you can expect

After the blue hour

Posted on April 14th, 2015

If you are visiting a city, then do it right!
You have only one night? No problem, first study the internet and ask Google for the best photospots. Then when you arrived the city, check out the best places. And at the end of the day you will get only a small time window to shoot your best pictures. First the sun sets and the sky is getting colorful and after the sun is gone, the show begins during the blue hour, when the light is still there, the sky is blue and the lights of the city gives you the orange color contrast.
And if you think, after this stressy time, you have done your work, then you are wrong. The next blue hour is coming in a few hours before the sunrise. Be prepared and know, where you can find the best spots. And still after the blue hour in the morning has finished, you can shoot such amazing images like this one.
So use the best time to take your images, and skip your lazy mood. You can sleep again, when you are back in the office

Midnight sun

Posted on April 11th, 2015

A clear sky, the bright moon and sparkling snow.
Next winter, if you spend some nights in a snowy area, like a winter resort, you should go for a walk in the night. And do this not only between the bars, go through the forest and enjoy the silent night.
Someone asked me, whether I had photoshoped the sprinkels in the snow, because she couldn’t belief to see it so clear. But I can confirm that you will see the sparkels and it glittering all around you while you are walking.
It’s like in a fairy tale to walk nightly through a winter wonderland, you have just do it.

Early morning

Posted on April 8th, 2015

Empty streets in Lucerne when the night comes to an end.
You know, the best time for shooting city lights are not in the middle of the night. The best time is during the blue hour. Unfortunately during the blue hour are many people around, but you have a second chance. There are another blue hour, before the sunrise.
Okay, dudes, I know it’s hard to get up such early in the morning and during the summer you have to stand up earlier than in the winter months. And you know, I don’t like to stand up early, but look at this image. Not a black or sodium vapor lighted sky, no, a smooth blue sky. And even this small amount of light is enough to brighten up the houses, so you won’t have this yellowish look of the artificial light.
On the opposite part, you have only a half or in maximum one hour to shoot the images. So be prepared and check out the location at the evening before, but the light is amazing and all other tourists are still in their beds

April weather as usual

Posted on April 6th, 2015

Looking for great spots and planing interesting tours while you stay in the mountains.
But *sigh* like the last few times I spent a few days on holidays, the weather luck was not with me. I drove with heavy snowfall up to Sedrun and the snow was falling the whole night. In the morning, the landscape was covered with beautiful fresh snow and the sky was still covered with clouds. Time to go for a walk with Bubu, while I was walking the sun was coming out and burned down on the snow. Hey, I thought, the weather is getting better and my mood was getting better too. But then the clouds are coming back again and before the sunset light was colorizing the sky, the sky was vanished again.
This image from the Oberalppass, I could take short before the clouds covered the sky completely. You can see the trail of the path up to the mountain I would take. But more than this image I couldn’t take.
The only thing I could keep was my sunburn. Because there was no sun, as I started with Bubu and I forgot to use my sun blocker cream. And well, I could tell you, this was a real burner, during the afternoon I become more and more reddish and at the evening I was red like Hellboy from Marvel.
So the only colorful thing I could take home, from this holidays, is my face, therefore: Happy easter :/

Vesuv without lava

Posted on März 31st, 2015

The bernese alps seen from the Vesuv.
Well, don’t ask me why they called this small hill Vesuv. But you can check this point on the official swiss map: http://s.geo.admin.ch/639c156b2d . And indeed they called it Vesuv.
Anyway on this day I set my alarm clock to 4:30 in the morning to see the sunrise at this spot. It was the only short break on a cloudy weekend. And I used it to enjoy the sunrise on the mountains. This spot is maybe more spectacular for a sunset and if it is, then I will show you an image in the near future.

Rigi sightseeing

Posted on März 29th, 2015

If you stay in Lucerne then you should visit one of two mountains.
And no ‘Fear’ you can use a train to both of them, you don’t need, but you can. One ist the home mountain of Lucerne, the Pilatus and the second is the Rigi.
I visited the Rigi which the marketing people are calling ‘the queen of the mountains’. Anyway the weather was not the best, so unfortunately I have to go again . The Rigi is more a region, the whole foreground is called Rigi, meanwhile I was on the highest point the ‘Rigi Kulm’.
Also very popular is a stay overnight on the Rigi, there are several Hotels, for watching the sunset and the sunrise. So I put it on my bucket list.

Grosse Scheidegg

Posted on März 26th, 2015

You are walking and walking, it goes upwards from curve to curve and when you think it will never end, then you reach the top and you will rewarded with this amazing view.
I was already late, because of the weather, the sky was completely covered with clouds until 4 o’clock and then, while I was driving to my starting point, my car stuck in the snow mud, the snow chains where a hell for mounting, then they cracked after I started and and the end I couldn’t unmount it for a whole while.
But after all I reached the Scharzwaldalp, the last point you can drive to with your car and started my nightly hike to get dreamy winter wonderland images. First it comes the work and I had to walk over 500m altitude difference up to the Scheidegg. I reached the top after about 2.5h. First I saw some huts and then I could peek over the ridge down to the Grindelwald valley.
And what a stunning view does it present to me, all the sparkling snow, bright and white illuminated by the moon. Down in the valley the lights of the village and at the slopes the lights of all the snowcats and overall the blue sky with all the sparkling stars.

Blue hour between the mountains

Posted on März 24th, 2015

Yes, the color blue is the main color in the winter time.
So the illuminated hut is the real eye candy on this image. Even in such a beautiful winter wonderland can a bit of tungsten light a most welcome piece of variety be.
While the people inside this hut enjoyed their fondues and warmed up their feet, I just started to my nightly adventure up to the ‘Grosse Scheidegg’ where I enjoyed a wonderful view over the whole valley of Grindelwald. But let us first savor this image of a real blue hour…