The special Aerochrome infrared film and other Kodak films take a tour of the Berchtesgaden region of the Bavarian Alps, including the famous Eagle’s Nest. Come join me for some amazing landscapes.
I was saving my 1 roll of Kodak Aerochrome for a special post and decided back in the summer to go visit the Berchtesgaden region of Bavaria, in particular to go see the world famous Eagle’s Nest and the wonderful views it offers. I’ve shot colour infrared film before (check out my post here), but this was the first time I was using actual Kodak Aerochrome film, previously I had used an unknown brand.
This roll of Kodak Aerochrome (as the previous ‘CIR’ film) were both sourced from Dean Bennicci, likely the only person left that hand rolls infrared film into 120 medium format rolls. I’ve met Dean before and he is a top bloke, here is a link to his shop if you want to grab some film before it disappears forever (link here). And yes, this stuff is expensive, but there is nothing else like it!
About Kodak Aerochome film
Originally developed for government surveillance, this film also had commercial use in aerial and forestry surveys. According to Kodak:
False-color reversal film, high dimensional stability for vegetation surveys, camouflage detection and earth resources.
KODAK AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 (DISCONTINUED) is an infrared-sensitive, false-color reversal film featuring medium resolving power and fine grain.
Featuring a 3.9-mil (0.10 mm) ESTAR Base with a gel backing, this film can be processed in modern, continuous-processing machines using Process AR-5. Achieving a negative is easy with Process AN-6 or C-41.
You can read more from the official Kodak data sheet here.
The end result shows a very strange alternate universe landscape with bright pink/red trees and a whole host of other colour shades throughout an image.
About the camera setup
I shot 2 rolls of 120 medium format film (Kodak Aerochrome and Kodak Ektar 100) both with my 6x9 Fuji GW690ii camera. For the Aerochrome film I used an orange filter and compensated 2 stops for the exposure compensation of the filter, with all shots being taken using a tripod. I shot mostly handheld for the Kodak Ektar 100. I also shot 1 roll of black & white Kodak TMax 100 35mm film with my Kodak Retina IIC camera.
About the shots
My aim was to leave Munich well before sunrise driving the 2 hour drive south east towards the Austrian border (very bottom right of the map below). In order to get up to the Eagle’s Nest you have to take a specially designed bus that drives up the 6.8km long road, that has a crazy incline of 24%!
Originally built in 1938, the Eagle Nest (“Kehlsteinhaus”) building is famous for being used by members of the Nazi Party including Adolf Hitler himself, although they say he was not a big fan due to being afraid of heights. The entrance to get to the top of the mountain is at the end of a tunnel dug right into the mountain with an impressive waiting area for a lift. The building itself has lots of historical photographs dotted around the place with explanations, including around when it was captured by Allied forces. For more about this amazing historical site please look here.
I stayed up on the Eagle’s Nest and wandered around for about 2 hours. Afterwards I drove towards the Konigsee, and ended up taking a cable car to the top of a mountain that overlooks the lake.
Make sure you check out these shots on a laptop or desktop computer if you can, there is loads of depth in this landscape so don’t restrict yourself to a small screen…enjoy! All shots clickable for full screen viewing.
The Eagles Nest in the Berchtesgaden region of Bavaria - bottom right of the map on the border with Austria.
Shot of the Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest) from above. I really like how dated this black & white shot looks, given the subject!
The Fuji GW690ii comes into its own with landscape photography. Wonderful view of the Bavarian Alps shot on Kodak Ektar 100.
One of my favourite shots, despite it being super grainy and the exposure being a bit all over the place. I like the unpredictability and uniqueness of film.
Looking out to the great Bavarian outdoors.
Despite the exposure being all over the place and the shot being extremely bright I really like this shot, it is so different to the black & white version (taken at the same spot) above.
I like the contrast in this shot. From recollection I shot the 35mm film with a yellow filter, which makes the clouds a bit more pronounced.
I must get this shot printed, I love the depth and the composition. If you look closely you will see a family walking at the bottom of the photograph.
Konigsee Lake seen from far above. I have toured this wonderful lake below - you can check out that blog post here.
Shot looking straight down, another great shot with loads of depth. I am very impressed with the Fuji GW690ii camera when it comes to landscape photography, and it pairs really well with Kodak Ektar 100 film.
Another shot I would like to print, I really like the scale using the people as a measure for the size of the landscape in front of them.
Steady stream of people heading up to the top.
You can see why Kodak Aerochome was developed for aerial landscape photography, you can clearly see different vegetation types in such a broad view.
I tried to have the path be a leading line in the image but not sure it worked. Despite that I like the overall contrast and ‘old’ feel of this shot so decided to leave it in.
I am really happy with the composition in this one, similar to the one with the people overlooking the lake, it is great for scale.
I love how different Aerochrome behaves depending on where you are in position to the sun and how varied your aperture and shutter speed are. I don’t take detailed aperture/shutter speed notes for each photo but I probably should out of interest.
It was very bright and towards the middle of the day when I took this shot, so the sky is somewhat blown out. But I still love the depth in this shot and different colours.
People enjoying themselves after taking the Jennerbahn cable car. This shot is taken at approx 1,850m above sea level.
Some crazy bright reds and pinks in this shot - wonderful!
This is as steep as it looks! I love the colour gradient too.
A black & white shot of the Jennerbahn. I have been on my fair share of cable cars living in Bavaria, but I still get a bit nervous when they get to dizzy heights!
Shot from inside the cable car with the camera leaning on my bag to keep it still - I am really happy with how this shot came out!
You can clearly see a hand glider through the window of the cable car, in fact there were many out that day due to the great weather.
Overall observations
I greatly enjoyed this day trip and trying out the Kodak Aerochrome film, especially as I only had 8 shots for this one roll (6x9 shots gives 8 shots per roll whereas my usual 6x6 shots gives 12 shots). It goes without saying that the Eagle’s Nest is a worthwhile place to visit and doable as a day trip from Munich. My advice is to always aim to arrive at busy tourist sites just before opening time (hence the pre-sunrise start).
I was delighted with the results from the Kodak Aerochrome, especially with the very low number of shots I got per roll. I had also never tried infrared film with my Fuji GW690ii so wasn’t sure how it would all turn out, I will definitely try some black & white infrared photography soon (as this film is still produced and easy to find). I like having a small 35mm film camera with me as more of a documentary style camera when I am shooting medium format, and I found the black & white film to be a good companion to the Aerochrome and bright Ektar films.
This has definitely been one of my favourite posts of the year, I can highly recommend a trip to this part of Bavaria and even more highly recommend trying out some Kodak Aerochrome film - get your hands on a roll now whilst stocks last!
Thanks for stopping by and see you next time!
Neil
