St Lukas Church at Night

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

Despite having been in Munich for over five years, I had still not found a good venue to use the river for evening photography. On our way back from Alter Peter we decided to take a detour to the river and see what we could find. I was very pleased to find this image if St Lukas Church, which reflects perfectly in the river, even with some lights to provide a nice starburst effect. I will definitely head back here at some point for blue hour, as I think this could be a very pleasing photo with some more light in the sky.

Alter Peter/St Peter’s Tower Blue Hour

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

For a few years now I have been intending on heading up Alter Peter in the autumn when the sunset is still while the tower is open. The sunset itself was pretty disappointing today, however the blue hour was pretty stunning despite the cloud, I will definitely try and head back before the winter is over for another go. Getting the photos was challenging, but with good photography technique, combined with IBIS, I was able to keep the ISO pretty low and still get some great shots of the Rathaus and the Dom.

Autumnal Munich

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape, Wildlife Short Link

I had a friend visiting for a few days, and our sunset objective for the first day was in the centre of Munich, so we spent the days walking back to Munich from Unterföhring, via the Isar and Englischer Garten. Despite having missed the best autumnal colours, the trees were still beautiful and we were able to enjoy the brilliant conditions while also seeing some beautiful wildlife including Buzzards and a Kingfisher (I think…).

Teufelstättkopf

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

With a good forecast we headed to the Teufelstättkopf which is above Unterammergau in the Allgäuer Alpen. Most of the group decided to take the train, but due to some chaos with Munich public transport, we drove there and met the group in the car park. The ascent was pretty fast as it was mostly on very good single track which was fairly steep, which meant that despite the pace not feeling that fast, that we still made quick progress on the ascent. There was a wonderful mix of autumnal colours contrasting with the evergreen trees in the woods, with ever improving views as we climbed up. With a really wonderful view in every direction from the summit. A short descent then took us to a hütte, where we enjoyed a drink and some food before making the easy descent down Forststraße back to the car.

Algodonales Paragliding

Alastair BegleyParagliding, Spain Short Link

With a rather last minute decision I decided to join some friends in Algodonales for 10 days of paragliding, while working “from home” in the mornings. I had a great 10 days, especially given that I didn’t need to take any holiday, but it is safe to say that I did not manage as much flying as I had hoped for. The flying there was really enjoyable with a mix of flatland flying and mountain flying, the vultures were particularly beautiful. I did not find it the best place to be flying with a lightweight glider, however it wasn’t too bad if you were careful. One day was very disappointing as the aim was to fly to the coast, which would have been spectacular, however 3 of our group, including me, bombed out just before we crossed the mountain range which would then have taken us to the coast. Over the trip I spent about 10 hours in the air, most of which were attempting to fly xc, in often sub ideal conditions, so it was great practice to keep me current for my next trip to South Africa.