Blog Posts in Category: Landscape

Hamburg

Alastair BegleyGeneral, Landscape Short Link

Having visited Hamburg last year we were keen to return to eat more fish and see a concert in the Elbphilharmonie. I also had unfinished business with a certain classic photo of Hamburg which I hadn’t been able to get last time due to the energy saving measures imposed at the time, meaning that the even lights in Hamburg were not on at the time. The trip was wonderful with plenty of good food and we still had lots to see. The concert in the Elbphilharmonie was great, however unfortunately I was still unable to get “the photo” that I was after due to building works. Oh well, we will just have to visit again. Nightscapes Normally getting nightscapes requires some form of effort, however in this case neither of my viewpoints did. The first was from our hotel room, so we simply walked back down to our room on the 11th floor from the cocktail bar on the 20th floor, where I hid behind a curtain and captured this wonderful scene looking over the Landungsbrücken, the Elbe and the Elbphilharmonie. The second viewpoint was from the Elbphilharmonie looking back. Read the full article…

2023 in 100 Photos

Alastair Begley100 Photos, Austria, Bavaria, Dolomites, General, Germany, Italy, Landscape, Mountaineering, Paragliding, Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Ski Touring, Skiing, Slovenia, Via Ferrata, Walking, Winter Walking Short Link

All to quickly it was once again the end of another year and time to reflect on the year. This year we really started to settle into our routine of living an hour from the Alps, with travel being much easier and having settled into Munich life, both professionally and socially. Unfortunately at the start of the year Becky had an accident and badly broke her wrist which was also misdiagnosed which delayed her recovery. This significantly impacted our year as we were unable to climb, klettersteig or ride our bikes for most of the year. The highlights of the year for me have to be Becky’s continued progression at skiing with her initial foray into ski touring, my ski mountaineering adventure on the Ruderhofspitze, my continued paragliding progression with my first flight over 100km, our wonderful holiday together to Slovenia and a beautiful walk near munich with a combination of snow&autumn colours. Winter Winter continued with lots of weekends away skiing with family, friends from the UK and friends from Munich, it seemed like we had a constant stream of visitors which as wonderful. Becky’s progression continued and she. Read the full article…

Salzburg

Alastair BegleyAustria, Landscape Short Link

Salzburg has been on my list of cities near Munich to visit for a while, and while David was visiting seemed like a good opportunity. The forecast was a but mixed, with some sun, some cloud and some rain. Thankfully we were again very lucky with the weather and it was clear (ish) most of the day and most importantly it was clear when it needed to be in the blue hour. We started the day by walking from the main station, through the gardens of Schloss Mirabell before heading up to Festung Hohensalzburg. Initially it was bright sunshine which meant that the gardens of Schloss Mirabell were beautiful, did not produce any nice photos. The same cannot be said from the top of the castle, as the view into the mountains and over Salzburg was wonderful, with softened light due to the high cloud, wonderful autumnal colours and a beautiful city. After we were done in the castle, we walked up the hill on the other side of the river, which gave some absolutely stunning views. Here is somewhere I will definitely return to in the summer for a. Read the full article…

Autumnal Eibsee

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

With a very difficult forecast we decided to head to the Eibsee, not really knowing what to expect. When we arrived there was cloud just above the mountains which was blocking the sunlight and facilitating nice light for photography. While the cloud was there we certainly made the most of it, with a beautiful mix of autumnal trees and snowy mountains. As the day progressed the cloud thinned out and it turned into a beautiful sunny day, which was lovely for the scenery, but terrible for photos. So once the sun came out we just enjoyed the walk around the lake before heading back to make (unsuccessful) plans for sunset.

Munich U-Bahn Stations

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

When the weather is bad and one has a friend visiting with the purpose of photography, ideas on what to do can be somewhat challenging. We ended up deciding to go exploring some of the more interesting U-Bahn stations in Munich, as it turns out they can be quite varied and interesting, just not the ones which I normally. We ended up spending two days underground taking these photos, they end up taking a lot longer than you might expect. As finding a moment with nobody in the photos can be very challenging, and when you have to wait 10mins between trains, the photos with trains in can take a while to get right. The photos are in the order in which we visited them, which was purely logistical. It was certainly a fun way to spend a few days, and I will certainly go back for another go at some stations, perhaps in the less sociable hours of the night in an attempt to capture trains and no people. Marienplatz Oberwiesenfeld Olympia-Einkaufzentrum Westfriedhof Böhmerwaldplatz Candidplatz Josephsburg

Berlin Landscapes

Alastair BegleyGermany, Landscape Short Link

After a last minute change of plan due to poor weather at Lake Garda, we decided to head to Berlin for a long weekend as the forecast was nice there where we booked the trip. Unfortunately the forecast changed before we went and resulted in Thursday and Friday being inside days, however did this provide an opportunity for reflections on the wet ground. Thankfully Saturday and Sunday were very nice days, which enabled us to explore Berlin.

Autumn in Munich

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

After an aborted trip to cycle in the mountains due to a broken down car, we decided to make the most of the sunny autumnal day with a walk along the Isar and then down through the Englischer Garten. Due to the very warm weather we have had until recently, it was still a little early for the full autumnal colours to be out in Munich, however there were still some lovely colours around.

Landscapes around Tre Cime

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Landscape Short Link

With the car park located in such a beautiful location, which was so high, it was obvious that I was going to get up for sunrise and head out for sunset, especially as the times were at such a sociable hour given the time of the year. Unfortunately for sunrise I had no plan as we had arrived in dark the previous evening, so I literally just got out of the van and walked 20m to the front of the car park. Given the lack of effort I had to put in I am pleased with the photos I managed to capture, but in hindsight it would definitely have been better to make a short walk to find a even better viewpoint. The sunrise was very short lived, as the sun rose up and went behind a bank of cloud, but before this happened it was really beautiful, and certainly worth the slightly early alarm clock. I had done some research on sunset locations, and ended up with one specific shot in mind, the Tre Cime lit up in the golden hour and reflected in a small lake. However what. Read the full article…