Mike Page Mountain Light Photography: On Home Territory

So, what's your photographic home territory? I kind of want mine to be the high mountains, but it turns out that I really have to work at that. Where do you find yourself shooting instinctively, not having to think about compositions? Where is photography second nature for you, where the shots throw themselves at your feet? It may simply be that it's I've spent more time here over the last 10 months, but I'm really finding that my local fields and woodlands are where it's at for me. And the Dolomites perhaps. I don't have to think about it there either.

Cedar Rushes || Olympus 21 mm, f/8, 1/40 s, ISO 200

This afternoon I went for a walk between the local villages. There's a triangle between Kaltenberg where I live and the neighbouring two villages - Hausen and Walleshausen. There's a small mixed woods, fields and many copses and spinneys. I've walked through this area a couple of times in recent days, once on Friday in the hoarfrost and again today in fresh snow. Yesterday I was in the Allgäu, our favourite local mountain range, particularly during lockdown as it's in Germany and we don't have to cross to Austria. I'd gone cross-country skiing with my wife. Granted the light conditions were quite tricky - blue skies and a real contrast between light and shadow, but almost every shot was a challenge and editing was a chore rather than a breeze. Even - or even especially - my favourite bridge down at Bad Hindelang was proving a royal pain in the @rse. I had to shoot about 5 shots at various EV settings to accommodate everything from the sunny high slopes to the dark waters of the Ostrach river.

A Hoary Afternoon

Even though it was just after lunch, because it was cold and because the fog had persisted until late into the morning, there was still some hoarfrost on the trees around the village. As soon as the sun touched the trees, however, it fell off. In this first photo of a birch twig, you can see what look like snow falling in the background. It's actually hoarfrost falling off the tree.

Frosty Birch || Olympus 100 mm, f/8, 1/400 s, ISO 200

These thistles caught our eye as we walked along the local hedgerows. Hoarfrost had formed on the spines and then melted again as the sun fell on them.

Hoary Thistle || Olympus 100 mm, f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 200

Similarly, the frost had formed on these thistles too.

Frosty Thistles || Olympus 100 mm, f/8, 1/160 s, ISO 200

We weren't the only people taking a walk in the fresh air. Two couples, one standing watching, the other walking away. I wonder what story this represents?

Two Couples || Olympus 100 mm, f/9, 1/800 s, ISO 200

Skiing in the Allgäu

The next day we made an early start to Gunzesried, scene of a most enjoyable mountain sunset shoot and moonlight walk back at the end of October. The car park was a lot emptier than then, especially when we arrived. The avalanche warning level was high - 4/5 and so the ski-tourers were not out in force as they might otherwise have been. The temperature on the car thermometer was -5.5°C as we geared up for our first cross country ski tour since Norway last February.

Fold in the Snow || Olympus 50 mm, f/8, 1/25 s, ISO 200

This was by far and away my favourite shot from the ski tour. A subtle fold in the snow, presumably hiding a stream below and forming a zig-zagging leading line towards the saplings. In an ideal world, I would have been able to get better separation between the saplings and the forest behind, but it'll do.

There are a couple of majestic old maple trees in the valley that I plan to revisit in autumn some time. In the meantime they stick out from the forest thanks to the fresh snow outlining their ancient bows.

Wizened Winter Maple || Olympus 50 mm, f/8, 1/50 s, ISO 200

The Bridge at Bad Hindelang

This was my third time shooting at the bridge near Bad Hindelang. The first trip was on a murky day in autumn when I discovered this wonderful covered bridge on a horseshoe bend. I returned in December, but the conditions weren't quite optimal. In an ideal world I'd have had some mist in the valley or some clouds swathing the forested peaks, but I'll take this for now.

The Bridge at Bad Hindelang - HDR || Olympus 8 mm, f/8, 1/13 s, ISO 200

Instead of the usual route home, we decided to come back over the Oberjoch pass. We waded through the snow to reach the overlook looking back down west over Bad Hindelang and the Jochstrasse.

Jochstrasse in the Allgäu || Olympus 8 mm, f/8, 1/250 s, ISO 200

The More It Snows...

The forecast was for 30-50 cm new snow in the Allgäu, 10-20 in the valley. It essentially snowed steadily all day at about -2°C, slowly building up in the garden. After lunch I took the camera out for my usual round between the villages. I love the way the snow highlights the tree branches. In any other weather this photo wouldn't work; there'd be zero separation and it would fall flat.

Snowy Boughs I || Olympus 57 mm, f/8, 1/40 s, ISO 200

Snowy Boughs II || Olympus 50 mm, f/8, 1/100 s, ISO 500

Beech trees always seem to hang onto their leaves for the longest time. Their golden yellow leaves always provide a striking counterpoint to the snow.

Hung out to Dry || Olympus 86 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 s, ISO 1600

Beech Sapling in the Snow || Olympus 35 mm, f/5, 1/60 s, ISO 500

The confusion of the young birch (?) trees takes on a degree of regularity with a dash of snow.

Plantation || Olympus 50 mm, f/5.6, 1/100 s, ISO 320

As Sharon wandered off down the path...

Into the Forest || Olympus 29 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 s, ISO 400

One of the nice things about snow is that it lightens up the forest floor, making photography a lot easier. It also creates beautiful pastel colours, firstly as it throws an opaque layer in front of the subject. This will be more or less depending on the intensity of the snow, distance to the subject and length of exposure, all factors that need to be taken into account. The quality of the light is also beautiful and soft, being omnidirectional, at least whilst it's snowing.