Blog Posts in Category: Locations

Josefsthaler Wasserfall, Schliersee

After a beautiful sunrise at the Wallfahrtskirche Wilparting, we headed to the Josefsthaler waterfall near Neuhaus on the south side of Schliersee. On the drive there we had to stop on the way past a very still Schliersee because of the beautiful reflections of stunning autumnal trees, I can only imagine what it was like a few weeks before. There was only a short walk up to the waterfalls, and they were certainly stunning. In the end we only photographed the lowest fall, as I was a bit anxious about where I had parked the car. Based on the number of leaves on the ground, I certainly think this would be a good location to return to in the height of autumn. After we had finished at the Waterfalls, we decided to head to Vogelsang above Bayrischzell, as we could drive most of the way up and it would enable some beautiful mountain views and allow us to scout out a possible sunrise location for Tuesday morning.

Wallfahrtskirche Wilparting Sunrise

After an evening of deliberating where we should go due to a mixture of different clouds in the forecast, combined with the challenge of motivation for a 4am start, we decided to go to the Wallfahrtskirche Wilparting, a church I have driven past countless times on the A8. While it did look good from a forecast point of view, the proximity to Munich was also a draw as this meant we could have a lie in until 5am. As we were leaving Munich with a thick bank of dark cloud to our south I was not feeling optimistic, but thankfully we drove just about far enough east to get out of it and allow the horizon to become free. This led to an absolutely stunning sky which appeared to be on fire, and as the sunrise progressed we were treated to a spectacular show and also some strange effects of shadows on the higher cloud from the lower clouds. After the best of the light had passed, we headed to the local service station where there is an excellent coffee shop which roasts its own coffee to warm up and. Read the full article…

St Lukas Church at Night

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

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

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

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

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.

Kleine Cirspitze Klettersteig

Due to both feeling a bit drained we were after a short day, so headed up to the Gardena Pass to do the Kleine Cirzpitze Klettersteig. We started the day off by enjoying some coffee and cake by the car park, while I tried to summon motivation to head out, which thankfully I managed to. The walk in was very short, but with wonderful views, as one would expect for the Dolomites. We were late enough starting that most of the route was pretty quiet, until we caught up with one very slow team. Thankfully eventually they let us past and we made good time up to the summit. We enjoyed lunch just below the summit on an outcrop of rock and admired the view, before making the quick descent back down. The route was as expected, an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, but nothing to write home about compared to some of the longer and more remote routes in the area, but it fitted exactly what we needed for the day. On the way back down we stopped for a drink, and perhaps some more cake, I. Read the full article…