On the go in dense fog in the Allgäu

I grab my ruck­sack and quietly close the door of the vaca­tion apart­ment on the farm behind me. It’s still pitch dark outside and I’m comple­tely unfa­mi­liar with the surroun­dings, but I set off to take photos anyway. At last, after what feels like ages. I know that the area around the farm is partly untouched nature. So off into the unknown. There’s always some­thing to photo­graph. But this time I don’t even know which direc­tion is best, I have to let my intui­tion guide me. Will anything come of it? Let’s see what this land­scape here in the Allgäu has to offer. This morning will show. 

You can see the VLOG to the BLOG at the bottom of the page or you can reach it via this button:

Gear:

Sony a7IV
Sony FE 2.8/16–35 mm GM
Sony FE 4/24–105 mm G
Sony FE 100–400 mm GM
DJI Mini 3 Pro

Planned, unplanned … no matter

Just a few days ago, we decided to go away again. Spen­ding a few days on a farm with our children would be great, wouldn’t it? So we sear­ched for a free place and found what we were looking for in the Allgäu. And now, just a few days later, I was drag­ging the family’s suit­cases up to our apart­ment above the farm in the rain. It would be nice here if it weren’t for the rain. But I think to myself that it will get better in a few days. By the time I had stowed ever­y­thing in the rooms on the evening of our arrival, it was getting dark outside. No time to have a quick look around and explore the area.

I checked the weather fore­cast for the next morning. A veil of fog. Well, that sounds good. If only I had had time to look for suitable motifs in the surroun­ding area. Then it would be a photo walk into the unknown. What else could I do? That’s also a chall­enge. A bit of loca­tion scou­ting while I try to get a top picture. Let’s see if I’m successful.

I had already scouted out a few spots in the imme­diate vici­nity, it’s not like that. But if there’s fog right on my door­step, why should I drive 20 or 30 km when there’s a risk that there might not be any fog. So I started trying to find some­thing here in the dark. Instinc­tively, I ran to the right, down the path a little. I have no idea whether this is a dead end or not.

It is often said that you can only be successful in land­scape photo­graphy if you plan your photos. The image compo­si­tion should already be in your head in advance. The light on the subject should be calcu­lated before­hand. Apps help with plan­ning. You only need to set off if the weather fore­cast is right. When the day arrives and ever­y­thing comes toge­ther. Go out, take the picture, pack it up, edit it, port­folio shot done. Sounds kind of static, unemo­tional, doesn’t it? Like working through a few files in the office. Somehow I’ve often had the feeling that this perfec­tionism in prepa­ra­tion takes the magic out of the moment in nature.

Yes, I scout, I plan, I look at the weather fore­cast, but espe­ci­ally as someone who doesn’t earn a living with land­scape photo­graphy, but does it along­side my job and family, I have to take what comes along when I have the time. I often go out when I don’t know what to expect. On the off chance. If I end up with a photo that I would hang on my wall, then the day was a success. Living in the moment, “getting involved” with what the world offers me, also allows me to connect emotio­nally with nature. Then I am a photo­grapher who is guided more by intui­tion than by apps, who hopes for the luck of the brave rather than relying on unemo­tional plan­ning down to the last detail. 

So I walk through the dark night, wherever my feet and my intui­tion may take me. I concen­trate on reco­gni­zing anything at all in the dark. Then I set up my tripod at the edge of the path and take my first photo. An expo­sure time of 30 seconds is needed to get the neces­sary light onto the sensor. It’s still that dark. So there’s no need to rush. I enjoy the silence. 

Silence in the Allgäu | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 4/24–105 mm G

Intui­tion & attention

I’ve already been out for a few minutes and it’s slowly starting to get dark. I’ve already taken a few long expo­sures. The subjects I had disco­vered in the dark­ness were perfect for the blue hour. But some­thing told me that there wouldn’t be anything inte­res­ting on the path I had taken as soon as the sun got a little stronger. So I turned back to go in a diffe­rent direc­tion. It later turned out to be the right decision. Even if it wasn’t going to be possible to see over the fog from here that morning. 

Is good intui­tion neces­sary to be a good photo­grapher? It is certainly helpful to have good intui­tion. But a wealth of expe­ri­ence also helps if you can assess whether or not some­thing might turn out right at one point or another. Whether it is worth waiting, so to speak. If you have the feeling that you don’t have good intui­tion, you should defi­ni­tely start plan­ning your photos well. A well-planned photo will help you if you make the wrong decis­ions too often on loca­tion. There is abso­lutely nothing wrong with being the “planner” type of land­scape photographer. 

I have often found that even the best planned photos don’t work out as planned. Not that the sun suddenly rises in a diffe­rent place on the horizon, no. But an approa­ching cloud that prevents the sun star, or a cloud forma­tion that lite­rally demands a diffe­rent image compo­si­tion, or some­thing similar. A newly opened buil­ding site on loca­tion can also throw a spanner in the works. There are so many things that can come between the plan­ning and the photo. In this case, whether you are more of a planner or an intui­tive photo­grapher, your atten­tion is required above all. If you reco­gnize what will inter­fere with the picture so that your photo can’t work out, if you reco­gnize what options are still available, some­times even without refe­rence to your planned picture, then you can still be successful.

Gentle meadows in the Allgäu | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 4/24–105 mm G

Photo­gra­phing unknown landscapes

Time and again, I reach the point where I’m stan­ding some­where in an unfa­mi­liar land­scape taking photo­graphs. It would be almost utopian to think that you always scouted every loca­tion in advance or planned every picture on loca­tion. So I’ve always been guided by my intui­tion. The emotion towards nature and the land­scape on loca­tion and try to remain as atten­tive as possible. For details and sections of the land­scape, i.e. more inti­mate scenes that I shoot with a tele­photo lens, I think about how the scene might look in a wide-angle photo, and I also pay atten­tion to the small details: flowers, mush­rooms, leaves, mosses, ferns, struc­tures on wood, and, and, and. You probably over­look hundreds of possi­bi­li­ties. When I’m out and about with fellow photo­graphers, I always smile at what they see and discover and they are also fasci­nated by what I have captured. 

So when I’m out and about in foreign climes, I try not to make the compo­si­tions too compli­cated. Simple leading lines and S‑curves almost always work and make it easier to compose an image. In the wide-angle range, always try to be aware of the fore­ground, middle ground and back­ground without thin­king too compli­cated. If you are already some­what fami­liar with a loca­tion, it is much easier to create complex compo­si­tions than in comple­tely unfa­mi­liar places. 

As far as that is concerned, I am also more of a docu­men­tary-artistic type of photo­grapher. I rarely stay with a compo­si­tion for a long time. I analyze the scene quite quickly in my head and then quickly have an idea of how and from which posi­tion I want to photo­graph what nature pres­ents to me. The visual balance is also more of an intui­tive, emotional thing for me. I seem to have inter­na­lized this over the years, even after many analyses of my own pictures and those of well-known photo artists. If it fits, I move on. I look for another perspec­tive or another motif. 

Up the hill | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 4/24–105 mm G

Go outside!

😉

If you have inter­na­lized the tools and can call them up at any time, you will intui­tively pull out the right tool at the right time without having to think too much about it. And this brings me full circle to my concerns at the begin­ning of the morning about setting off without having scouted the land­scape before­hand. If you’re a capable photo­grapher who has worked with all the tools and inter­na­lized them, then you can still be successful if you don’t have ever­y­thing planned out. Staying at home will only help you not take a photo, but if you go out, you’ll defi­ni­tely come home with some­thing to show for it. For sure!

Zwie­licht im Nadel­wald | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 4/24–105 mm G

In the VLOG below, this time, I’m going to go into the situa­tion on the ground, rather than the thoughts I shared with you in this BLOG post. So be sure to check out the video to see how I fought my way through the fog and captured the images you can see in the gallery below. 

😉

And with these photos in my luggage, I returned to the vaca­tion apart­ment to have break­fast with my family, despite the uncer­tainty at the begin­ning, with some wonderful moments — and wet socks, by the way — and a variety of pictures. 

Lonely in the morning fog | Sony a7 IV + Sony FE 4/24–105 mm G

This and all other shots of this post you can request under “Prints” as an art print for your wall at home directly from me. 

Pictures from the VLOG

This forest is only half an hour’s drive from my home and is full of motifs and photo­gra­phic treasures. It was my first time there, but hopefully I’ll be able to visit again later this year. Here are all the pictures from the VLOG to look at. 

VLOG to the BLOG

In today’s VLOG/BLOG I’m walking through unknown terri­tory and with a bit of luck I’ll try to take some nice pictures. Is there anything that could be port­folio-worthy? Feel free to write it in the comm­ents! Have fun looking at them!

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