TomFear » tschentenalp

Escape the fog

admin — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 17:35:07 +0000

Time to get winter images. While here in the lower parts of Switzerland the gray autumn is covering the landscape with fog, the mountains are now covered with snow and often the sun is shining over the fog cover.
Now I should take more time to escape the foggy area and climb up to a mountain to see the sun again. And it’s cool to take sunset images because the sun is going down early now. But on the other hand, you have to wait very long for the sunrise if you stay on the mountain during a long, cold, winter night. Mostly it is difficult to go down, because the funiculars are not working at all or only until the sun reaches the horizon. And if you think, no problems, there are slopes and you can skiing down – nope! It is forbidden to skiing on the slopes during night time.
And probably that’s better so, because there are snowcats at work and sometime they are using steel cables on steep parts. If you crash into a snowcat or such a cable, well that will hurt.

The Orion behind the clouds

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 17:54:58 +0000

It was the day, when I met the midnight paragliders. Yes, you heard right. I was lying in the snow, when the crazy guys were coming up to the peak and begun to unfold their parachutes and started into the nightly sky.
It was the day when I realized, nope, I’m not the biggest madcap in the nightly alps. But anyway, short after I took this image, the sky was completely covered with clouds and no stars were visible. But I could take this dynamic shot of the fast moving clouds with the good visible constellation of Orion.
Therefore I stuffed my gear in the rucksack and walked back to the top station of the funicular. The good thing was, the funicular was working until late night, for night sledding, so I didn’t have to walk down to the car.
But after I left the valley station, I looked up in the sky and what did I see? A clear sky! :-/

Moonrise

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:12:10 +0000

Now it happend, the mountains are covered with snow again. We had a long reasonably warm autumn, which is now replacing by the winter.
We will see, how the photo weather is in the next few weeks. Maybe we can shoot some amazing winter images, like this with the rising fullmoon over the bernese alps.
Anyway the next few days should be clear and I hope I can take some nice shots.

Moonlight valley

admin — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 16:42:50 +0000

Nope, this is not a daylight shot, the sun was already hidden behind the horizon. Only the fullmoon was glowing at the sky and bathing the whole landscape in bright light.
I was lucky, because at this evening was nightly sledging announced, so I could, after the photo session, take a ride with the funicular back down. However I couldn’t stay behind the camera as long as I would, because thick clouds where coming up and covered the whole sky. Therefore I bundled up my gear early and was gone back to the valley again, where I could discover, that the clouds are gone again.

When the sun goes down in the mountains

admin — Tue, 13 May 2014 15:25:27 +0000

After a steep climb through the snow, I was at my destination on the right time for once. WOW! I had even enough time to check out the places where I have a good sight from the Tschentenalp. For the first part I took the cablecar and the last part I had to walk. And the good thing was, they had night sledging, therefore I could take the cablecar down again.
I stayed approximately four hours on the peak. I was on the top before the sunset and I didn’t leave until the clouds coverd all my beloved stars in the sky. AWhen I was back at my car, the sky was clear again, grml. But I could take some very beautiful images, like this one.

The moonlight paragliders

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 19:10:08 +0000

It was a cold winter night, I was lying in the snow on the top of a mountain, ready to take some starscape images of the alps. As suddenly behind me a chatter was going on.
I thought to me, what’s going on and turned me around and saw a bunch of people. And you won’t beliefe it, they were folding out their parachutes and not a long time later the first crazy guy was starting and left the peak on the air. There must be about 30 paragliders up there and all of ‘em took the way back over the air.
Oh boy, and I thought I am the crazy guy, at night on the peaks with my heavy photo gear, how I was wrong.