A classic scene in Ramsau, Germany, made all the more interesting by the addition of foreground and an aperture of f.22.

St. Bartholomew Church on Konigssee [lake] in south eastern German province of Bavaria.

It's not unusual to see a large number of cyclists, who take on Grossglockner with the goal of not having stooped during their ascent.

With steep slopes and snow comes water, fast flowing water.  Here I have placed some wildflowers in the foreground to had some depth to the image.

Motorcyclists flock to the many Alpine passes during the summer months,
and the Grossglockner pass is a notoriously curved favorite.

The Alpine Marmot is semi-elusive, so it helps to have a longer lens always at the ready.

Another moody scene on the Grossglockner pass.  The building at bottom right in the image is one of the hotels we use on each of the European Alps photography tours.

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.

Heiligenblut church and Grossglockner peak in Austria.

One of the most stunning scenes in the entire European Alps. My introduction to this scene was on a jigsaw puzzle box many years ago, but unfortunately the location wasn't mentioned. A few years later I found it, scouted it out on the way back from Italy one year, then added it to Travel Images' European Alps photo tours. This spot was in Austria until the 1914-18 war, but now sits in the Italian Dolomites. It really is a spiritual experience for me each time I return.

St. Magdalana looks good up close too with many 'rustic' close-ups on offer such as this window.

Another typical Alps scene, this one from near St. Pietr in Italy.  If the region looks Austrian in terms of architecture, you're right. The region was part of Austria until taken during the first world war.

In the heart of old Innsbruck you'll find the 'Golden Roof', built around 1500. It was decorated with 2657 fire-gilded copper tiles for Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor who wanted a royal box where he could sit in state and enjoy tournaments in the square below.

The Locherboden church near Mieming, Austria, and as you can see it's all about being there when the light, or mood, is right.

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, Austria, 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.

OK, so what can one shoot when it rains?  Image 1 of 4, above, for example one can shoot through the wet van windows. I also used this option for image 4 below.  For images 2 and 3 we're all out of the van in the rain, and ready for that special candid moment.  Read on . . .

2:  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 my group saw this one coming and were ready when the line of ladies made their way up the slope.  I finished the image off by adding some diffused glow.

4:  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.

An image that sums up the Alp culture for me. Taken high above Haiming in the Imst region.

Kronburg castle at left, with the village of Zammerberg nestled in a hollow nearby.

At the end of the Vals valley, home of the Valser water company, stands the imposing lump of rock named Zervreila.  The foreground flower is the Alpenrose.  An aperture of f.22 is a must for these kind of compositions.

A Bucarischuna lady shares a smile, and is one of my favorite shots in all of the Alps.  Go figure!

A shot on Oberalpass above Andermatt. All over the Alps the long grasses - winter feed for the cattle - is still turned over by hand to aid the drying process.

Ok, so you've heard of Swiss cheese, well here's the source in the form of three inquisitive ladies . . .

At left, when the sun doesn't shine we may get fog and rain. With the changes come new opportunities such as the water droplets on grass.  The darker the background, the more profound are the highlights.

Below, drama in the skies at the highest point on Furka Pass.

A lone motorcyclist let's it rip on the western slope of Furka Pass.
The shot is improved by areas of light and shade in the image.

Below, from almost the same spot, our hotel, a view down the mist shrouded Lauterbrunnen valley to Grosshorn peak.

The backdrop is Silberhorn 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.

It doesn't matter which trip you're on, even when you pause for a landscape there is nearly always a macro shot such as this nearby.  You just have to 'see' the image, and then set about getting the technical side right to capture the subject in the best manner possible.

Another typical set of European windows on the side of a church in Meiringen. Again I suggest squaring up to your subject as best as possible so that the viewer is 'comfortable'. Sorry, a recliner doesn't help.

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.

Another shot that could be just anywhere, but was taken in Sargans in the northwest corner of Switzerland.

No, they're not aliens or little old men, but hay drying on specially designed wooden stakes with cross spikes.

Even though taken on 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.

The colorful, classic skyline of Fussen in Bavaria. Out of view is a busy street, so I opted to keep the shot 'clean' by adopting this particular composition. I'll leave the other type of image to the postcard people.

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.

European Alps by Micah Kaplan  |  European Alps by Sue Zupko
European Alps by Angelo Mourino  |  European Alps by Eleanor Culling
European Alps by Joe Smith  |  European Alps by Randy Howard