| Tall churches tend to dominate the European landscape wherever you go, and whether or not they are your 'cup of tea', you might admit that given the right setting they are pretty spectacular. This one is
near Mieming, Austria, and as you can see it's all about being there when the light is right.
|
 |
| | |
|
 |
|
One of the most stunning
scenes in the entire European Alps. The church is
St. Magdalena in the Italian Dolomites, and was added to my Alps
itinerary in 2007. |
| | |
|
 |
|
While you and I check our texts and e-mail, traditional ways of life continue in the Alps.
No matter what age you are, families work as one when it's time
to get the winter cattle feed in. |
| |
|
| Near Sellrain, one of the many tiny churches in the region does it's best to get into next year's calendar. All that was needed to make it a certainty was for those slopes to be covered in wildflowers, which probably was so before the silage was cut. |  |
| | |
 |
|
Rona, Switzerland. |
| | |
 |
Candids like this can happen from Detroit to Kyoto, and Jaipur to Cancun, but as it happens to be in Austria I think I'll toss this one into the pot!
Actually, the group saw this one coming and were ready when
the of ladies made their way past the group. |
| | |
|
 |
|
It actually rains on Travel
Images photography tours once in a while, and when it does it's the
ideal time to get a little more creative than usual! This was shot
through a wet van window for an authentic water color effect, and the
slight over exposure gives the image a pleasant high key feel to the
image. |
| | |
|
A tale of two mountain passes . . . the
one at right shot on the Grossglockner pass in Austria, and the one below
recorded on the Furke Pass in Switzerland.
Motorcyclists love the curves on the European passes, and Glossglockner
is a favorite with the 'Biker's Nest' sitting at the top of that pass.
Cyclists on the other hand prefer the downhill bits! |
 |
| |
|
 |
| |
 |
|
Another
typical Alps scene, this one from near St. Pietr in Italy.
|
 |
This is just about being ready when the opportunity arises. It's an overcast day, but this shot is all about capturing the essence of European life as it happens. It also helps that our farmer is wearing orange wellingtons! |
| | |
 |
|
Maria Gern church,
Berchtesgaden, Germany, and the
Watzmann
massif as a backdrop. I must confess that I 'flopped' this image as i
felt it was 'stronger' with the church on the the right hand side. |
| | |
|
A lot of the alpine wildflowers grow on the grassy slopes, and are cultivated with the silage. This one was growing from a fallen tree alongside a stream. |
 |
| |
Cloud drama on the
Furke Pass in Switzerland. |
| | |
 |
|
The first of a trio of
Matterhorn images. The one above was shot at dawn from the village of
Zermatt, but that was the end of the drama light-wise that day, as the
clouds dispersed . . . |
 |
|
. . . leaving the Matterhorn in Switzerland
in a
not-so-photogenic state, but hey, we'll take it! Of course,
my 'focus' here was on the wildflowers, and I just love the depth that
this perspective gives the viewer. |
 |
|
A reflection to round of the
Matterhorn set. The sky is somewhat 'characterless', so I made up for
that with some foreground detail. Landscapes composed in this manner
should be shot with apertures of f.16 to f.64. |
|
| |
 |
|
Symmetry of a kind in
Wengen, Switzerland. |
|
| |
 |
|
A set of 3 bovine images with the picture
above coming our way on a rainy day near St. Sigmund, Austria. |
|
 |
|
The second shot is a bit of a
'peek-a-boo' scene . . . |
 |
|
. . . and the third a close-up of a
pretty lady showing off her new necklace. |
|
| |
|
 |
|
Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany influenced Disney as you can see, and was started in the late 1860's as somewhat of a dedication to the musician Wagner by King Ludwig II. Photographically, there are plenty of angles and times of day to shoot
the castle, but one of the best, above, is inaccessible to the public during the early and late light. |
|
 |
|
But from
the village at twilight one can capture this striking image of
Neuschwanstein. |
| | |
|
 |
 |
|
Heiligenblut church and
Grossglockner peak in Austria. |
A pleasant scene in Ramsau,
Germany, made all the more interesting by the low angle to add
foreground interest. |
|
 |
|
St. Bartholomew Church on
Konigssee [lake] in south eastern Germany |
| | |
| This is typical alpine Europe, and I included this one as I like the juxtaposition of the two buildings an their respective flower boxes. Unfortunately they get lost amid the low web quality. |
 |
| | |
|
It's the steps that make the image for me, leading as they do to
attractive 'blobs' of color in Murren, Switzerland. |
 |
|
| | |
|
A
Bavarian character in Berchtesgaden, Germany. |
 |
|
| | |
 |
The cows don't just wear bells because their horns don't work [honk-honk], but because the tone can aid in locating a misplaced cow. This is a Glocken bell, louder than the standard Treicheln bell, and noisy when several cows and chomping away! |
|
| |
|
 |
|
Even though taken on an an overcast morning, this shot of Gutenberg Castle in Balzers
succeeds purely because the lower cloud bank gives nice separation between
castle and mountain.
The castle is estimated to be 11th century, and after falling into ruin in
the 18th century was rebuilt in the early 1900's by
the
sculptor Egon Rheinberger of nearby Vaduz. |
| |
|
 |
St. Oswald's church in Sargans
on the eastern edge of Switzerland. This is the dawn shot, and
if it just happens to look very similar to . . . |
|
. . . this shot it's because
St. Oswald's and Sargans Castle are just a few hundred yards apart. The castle, really a fortress,
originally dates to the 12th century, with additions being made in
subsequent centuries. |  |
| |
|
 |
|
There are many, many high
passes in Switzerland, and thus one will bump into a few low-flying clouds
once in a while. This is not the time to put the camera away, but a time
to explore a subtle world of soft hues and 'ghostly' sentinels. |
|
| |
A Harebell - the American
Bluebell - growing above Murren south of Interlaken.
I always suggest that folk shoot healthy species of any flora, but the
'bell' at the top of my image looks a little forlorn due to heavy
raindrops, and I couldn't come up with a creative way of cropping it
out! |  |
| |
|
 |
|
Wonderful late light on the
Eiger 'foothills' from near Stechelberg, Switzerland. |
| |
|
 |
Another typical set of
European windows on the side of a small chapel. Again I suggest squaring
up to your subject as best as possible so that the viewer is
'comfortable'. Sorry, a recliner doesn't help. |
|
| |
 |
|
An image that can be taken
during any of the many photo stops during Travel Images photography
tours. |
|
| |
|
 |
Well,
ya' gotta dry 'em somewhere! |
|
|
| |
|
Another shot
that could be just anywhere, but was taken in Sargans in the northwest
corner of Switzerland. |
 |
 |
Village notice boards tell a
lot of stories, and the image itself can often be very colorful. This one
was in Murren, but the web quality won't let on as to whether you still
have enough time to get over there for that buffet! |
|
Lauterbrunnen Falls [right],
just outside Lauterbrunnen in the heart of the Berner Oberland,
Switzerland. |
 |
|
Butterfly, Grossglockner,
Austria.
Yes, they generally fly off if you get too close, so start by taking a
shot from distance, and move closer between shots. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
The backdrop is the Eiger as
Swiss farmers gather winter feed for their cattle, which 'churn out' the
notorious Swiss cheeses. The spot is Sonnenberg, Switzerland. |
|
 |
|
A client catches the action
and moment just below Sonnenberg, Switzerland. |
|
|
 |
|
Looking toward Sonnenberg.
The wonderful thing about the Alps is that you can wander about in the
mountains and stumble upon tiny picturesque villages where you can get a
meal and drink. |
|
The
wild Swiss Orchid shot with selective focus, i.e. I shot wide
open and intentionally got just the one Orchid in sharp focus.
The longer the lens the better for this technique. |
 |
|
|
| |
 |
|
Why jump when you can take the
cat ladder provided?! This was in Wengen, Switzerland. |
|
|
 |
|
An image that sums up the Alp culture for me. Taken high above Haiming in the Imst region. |
|
European Alps by Micah Kaplan |
European Alps by
Eleanor Culling
European Alps by Angelo Mourino |
European Alps by Randy Howard
European Alps by Joe Smith
European
Alps brochure
| Back to the Photo Gallery Index
Images and
graphics on
TravelImages.com are strict
copyright John Baker Photographer LLC.
If you seek stock images, please go
here. |
