If you are interested in reading more about my recent trip to Croatia and the alps, there is a new article up on The Resonant Landscape today at
theresonantlandscape.com/autumn-in-the-alps-2017
One of the main motivations for me to drop everything and run off to Europe in the middle of a busy Fall semester at the college was the opportunity to shoot Plitvice Lakes National Park in October. The vast majority of photos that have been taken from this remarkable park in Croatia have been taken during the Spring and Summer months when water levels are high and the turquoise lakes are surrounded by green on all sides. But in Autumn, the leaves around these incredible lakes turn bright red, orange and yellow making an incredible background for the dozens of waterfalls throughout the park that seemingly flow right out of the trees on their way through this incredible valley.
Even though my itinerary had me shooting in Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy, I purposely kept my schedule open hoping to shoot Plitvice on a cloudy, misty morning with little or no wind. Well... it turns out that the week I made my trip was probably one of the driest stretches of October on record. Even though rain had been forecast for Friday earlier in the week, by the time Friday actually rolled around, it was clear, cloudless, hazy, and windy. The irony here was that I had waited all week for conditions to improve and they were actually worse by the time I finally headed down.
Plitvice, by the way, is one of the oldest national parks in Southeast Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. The park is world-famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Currently, 16 lakes can be seen from the surface. These lakes are a result of the confluence of several small rivers and subterranean karst rivers. The lakes are all interconnected and follow the water flow. They are separated by natural dams of travertine, which is deposited by the action of moss, algae, and bacteria. (wiki)
Helpful hint if you are planning a trip in the future: Croatia hasn't quite made it all the way into the European Union yet, so their currency is still the Kuna rather than the Euro. This probably wouldn't have been an issue if their computers were up and running, but they were not and I lost 30-40 minutes scrambling around trying to exchange my Euros for Kunas as suddenly everything was "cash only." The park didn't exchange Euros so I had to hike back to one of the local hotels.
Even though I had less than ideal conditions at times during my 9 days in Europe, I had an incredible time shooting mostly in the alps through 5 countries while I was there. Plitvice is definitely a spot that you need to save more than one day for, and I'm hoping to make a return visit in the not too distant future. What an amazing park!
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Tags: Plitvice Lakes National Park Plitvice Croatia Autumn
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On the first full day of my Autumn In The Alps trip I had a tough decision to make. Do I sit around my hotel in Munich and hope that British Airways calls me with news of my missing bag...or do I head out with the clothes on my back and live like a hobo for the next 8 days? After spending 20 minutes getting nowhere with the nice young lady from India, my decision was clear. In spite of British Airways' best attempts to derail my trip (bumping me to a later flight, losing my bag and then refusing to give me any information for four days) I ignored the fact that I had no luggage and was now missing the big tripod, and headed to the Dolomites with nothing but my camera gear and the back up Benro that I had brought for just such an occasion.
By late afternoon, I was pulling into the Val di Funes and setting off for St John's Chapel. The few hours that I spent in this valley will stay with me for the rest of my life. After shooting around St John's, I headed up the steep hillside behind me and found another 20 or so photographers setting up for the sunset. Not wanting to be part of the pack, I headed further up the hill, and then just sat....and soaked it all in. The clinking of the cow bells. The church bells ringing out over the valley for Sunday evening mass. I dodged a couple of tractors driven by stern looking weather beaten farmers who seemed to roll their eyes at the small army of photographers. I couldn't help but wonder....do you ever get used to it? No matter how hard my day was as a farmer....to look up and see that view...in all directions....would you ever want to leave?
I certainly didn't, but it was a long drive to Slovenia and it was already getting dark. Reluctantly, I packed up and headed back down the mountain.
For more on my Autumn In The Alps trip, please feel free to read my latest blog post at: theresonantlandscape.com/looking-for-autumn-in-the-dolomites
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions or need to get in touch with me, please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
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Tags: Santa Maddalena Val di Funes Dolomites Italy Sunset The Resonant Landscape
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At the foot of some of the tallest mountains in Austria lies one of my favorite villages in the world. I’m not entirely sure what it was that drew me to this spot six years ago. It may have been the unusual shape of the church, which, even by Austrian standards, is unusually thin and tall. Or maybe it was the fact that this beautiful chapel is dwarfed by some of the tallest peaks in the Central Eastern Alps. (It sits at the foot of the Grossglockner, the highest mountain in Austria.) Or perhaps it was the way the chapel sits out over the valley, drawing your attention to it immediately as you come around that last corner. Or maybe it was the mythology that surrounds this chapel. Legend has it that a flask containing the blood of Christ was brought here in 914 AD by a Danish knight, hence the name Heiligenblut or “Holy blood.”
Whatever the reason, I couldn’t wait to return after visiting this spot for the first time in 2011. I was anxious to see what it looked like in Autumn as I was a bit rushed on my last visit so I definitely took my time on my return visit as I shot this chapel from just about every conceivable angle before the sun dropped behind the ridge.
One of the other things that drew my attention is that there are not many photos of this valley or the chapel online. I suppose it is a bit out of the way and unless you want to fork out some serious cash for the toll, it’s a long drive from Salzburg. I was there on a weekday in October, and it seemed that the main hotel and most of the inns were empty. There were several people in town, but I would have imagined a bigger crowd driving through to enjoy the changing leaves. There are also several challenges in that there are only a few hours of daylight on that chapel during the day….even during the Summer. The surrounding peaks are so tall that the valley spends quite a bit of time in the shade, making it more of a challenge to shoot.
Regardless, I will definitely be making a return visit and hopefully spend a couple of days there. Just before leaving, I drove out to the “Familien Pension Gletscherblick” which had stunning views in all directions and I made a mental note to try and stay there on my next trip. On my drive up I kept stopping every couple of miles as something else would grab my attention. Waterfalls, churches, farms….it was all so stunning and I didn’t have enough time to shoot it all. Not sure how long it will take me to get back, but Heiligenblut is definitely on my list for my next trip to Austria.
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions or need to get in touch with me, please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
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Tags: Heiligenblut Austria Autumn Alps
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I'm not entirely sure when I saw my first photo of Lake Bled in Slovenia, but I do remember it stopped me dead in my tracks. It was probably the first photo of Slovenia that I had ever seen and I immediately scrambled to find out as much as I could about this amazing country which, as it turned out, was just as gorgeous as nearby Austria...and in some locations, perhaps even more so.
Fast forward to October 12 of this year as I took off for a nine day jaunt through Bavaria, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and Croatia on what I eventually began to refer to as "my pre-retirement retirement trip." As October is generally an incredibly busy time for me at the college, I could ill afford the time off, but a couple of things happened recently in my life that prompted this mad dash through the European continent: 1) I turned 55 last June and 2) All of my kids are now in college and pretty much able to fend for themselves for a couple of weeks. I had this image in my mind of grabbing my camera bag on the day I retired and heading straight for the airport to spend WEEKS exploring the alps...from France all the way across to the Julians on the other side. But at the same time, I felt like the clock was ticking. My dad passed away when he was 56. He was gone before we even talked about what might be on his bucket list. Add to that the sobering number of celebrities that seemed in relatively good heath who were suddenly gone for any number of reasons. What if I never made it to retirement?
So for the past two years I had been scouting my butt off as I began to wonder how many other locations I could get to if I made Slovenia my home base. The dolomites had been on my list since the day I stumbled upon 500px, but I as my goal had always been to shoot the entire stretch of alps across the European continent, I wanted to hit as much territory as possible in my short time there. I would begin in Bavaria, move to several spots in Austria, then into the Julian alps in Slovenia before hitting the Dolomites. The last addition to my shot list two years ago was Plitivice Lakes National Park in Croatia as a couple shots of these lakes taken in October on 500px caught my attention. It was settled. My first trip to the alps would be in Autumn.
On October 12, 2017, off I went. In just under 9 days I put hundreds of miles on the rental as I drove from Munich through Bavaria, Austria Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. My home base was a small apartment in Slovenia which I found on airbnb for a mere $30 a day. Although I had to deal with a few challenges along the way (British airways failed to get my luggage on the plane and then sat on it for four days while refusing to give me any info) I had a fantastic time and I can't wait to go back. The sights and sounds of that trip will stay with me for the rest of my life. It wasn't the best time to miss my classes, but it was definitely worth the craziness that I've had to deal with since returning. For those 8 days, I was truly living the dream.
This particular shot was taken midweek after my luggage finally showed up. I knew I wanted to arrive at the lake in time for Blue Hour so I was up and out the door by 5:30 AM. I had initially intended to shoot straight out from the Pier and then move around the lake for different angles, but as I walked toward the lake, the low sickle moon and Venus immediately grabbed my attention. I worked that particular composition for quite some time, until it occurred to me that I should probably keep moving. As I headed east and rounded the corner closer to the Island, I ran into Sean Bagshaw, who was leading a workshop with Luka Esenko and David Cobb.
Many, many more photos to come and a few blog articles as well in the near future. It was truly an amazing trip and, obviously, I can't wait to go back!
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions or need to get in touch with me, please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
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Tags: Lake Bled Slovenia Blue Hour Sunrise Moon Venus Dawn Church Of The Assumption Chapel Tower
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While I was scouting my butt off before heading to Slovenia last year, I kept coming across a couple of churches that were perched on hilltops that really caught my eye. On this particular morning, I left my Airbnb outside of Lake Bled around 4AM, and headed off to find one of my spots, all of which were now pins that I had imported into google maps. By 5 AM, I was driving up a tiny road with a ton a switchbacks, and eventually came out into a clearing overlooking a valley somewhere East of Kranj. There was one Sprinter type van when I arrived in my groovy Opal rental, so it looked like the two of us would have this area to ourselves on this Monday morning in October. (I think the date on flickr reads October 15, but my camera's time was still set to PST.)
Then the workshop showed up.
I had obviously picked a pretty popular spot for photographers as there were about 20 of us up there by sunrise, but there were so many different angles to shoot from that none of us really got in each other's way. The drones were a bit annoying, but once the sun hit the church, everyone was shooting pretty much non stop. I had originally hoped for the layers of hills and some shots of the Kamnik-Savinja Alps in the background, but the haze, as I mentioned in my last post, was pretty horrific, and I didn't have much contrast to work with. I settled instead on the ocean of fog that had crept over the valley and was now surrounding the hills, creating a bit of an island with the hill the church was on.
As for the church itself, I think it's worth pointing out that several churches in Slovenia...and in Europe in general, have the same name. The church I was shooting was St Thomas, but there are at least TWO churches with this name in the same area. (I got nailed by this again on my last day of shooting as there are two "Hintersee" lakes right next to each other in Bavaria and Austria. There should be some kind of law against this, lol. Pick something original...at least in the same zip code!)
At any rate, I had a great time shooting that morning once I gave up my preconceived idea of what my ideal shot would be from this location. Eight days was far too short a time to explore and I definitely need to head back soon!
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Thank you so much for your views and comments! If you have specific questions or need to get in touch with me, please be sure to send me a message via flickr mail, or feel free to contact me via one of the following:
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Tags: Slovenia Autumn Sunrise St Thomas Church
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