My first outing with the Linhof into the Bavarian Alps saw my drag my equipment up to the 1,567m high Jochberg mountain in the Bavarian Alpine foreland. Join me alongside Kodak Ektar 100, Ilford FP4, and Kodak Pro Image 100 for some great views!
These shots were taken back in August, but I have only just got around to scanning and uploading them. They were actually the first proper outing into the Bavarian Alps with my Linhof Master Technika 4x5 large format camera. We headed down to climb up Jochberg mountain, a 1,567m high mountain nestled between the Walchensee & Kochelsee, around 70km south of Munich right on the edge of the Bavarian Alps. The top of the mountain has a fantastic location, overlooking both lakes and the vast Bavarian Alps in the distance. We arrived around 06.30 and took about 90mins to get to the top, although it felt longer for me given the heavy weight of the Linhof, tripod, and all my gear!
A bit more about the gear
I packed Kodak Ektar 100 colour sheet film and Ilford FP4 black and white film with me for the Linhof camera, bringing along my trust Rollei 35 tiny 35mm camera, loaded with Kodak Pro Image 100 film. I had not done that much research prior to this outing, however I had plenty of inspiration when I got to the top of the mountain, the views were just outstanding.
Cows perched on the side of the mountain enjoying something to eat. This was shot around 8am although it was already very bright. Kodak Pro Image 100 shot on my Rollei 35 camera.
Looking down onto the Walchensee- iPhone shot (cheating!)
I missed the focus on this one (Rollei 35 camera) but I like how the shot came out composition wise. The colour of the lake was really quite amazing.
Nearly made it to the top!
Setting up the Linhof on the top of the Jochberg for my first shot with Ektar 100 4x5 film.
Checking final focus and the setup - what a view!
Final shot. I was happy with the overall exposure, as the brightness of the clouds was hard to expose for. It is a pity the foreground was not a bit more colourful, however I like the overall idea of the composition.
Crazy detail captured in large format sheet film!
Always a huge fan of rolling hills and nice crossing lines in the composition.
A bit further down and setting up for my next shot…
All setup with a circular polariser filter to bring out the blue skies and reduce reflections on the Wachelnsee.
Last minute adjustments and we are all set to go.
The final shot. I just love the colours in this shot, Kodak Ektar 100 in 4x5 sheet film works really well.
Same position but shot portrait mode on 35mm Kodak Pro Image 100 film.
Looking up towards the top of the mountain from a conveniently located beer garden just below…
Nice break for a beer!
I cheated here and took this on my i-Phone - it was on a very steep and long road down and decided to take a quick snap (setting up the Linhof can take quite a while…).
Time for some black & white photography, this time I tried out a red filter to see if I could get some different effects.
My final shot. Not overly happy with it, although decided to post it anyways. I was hoping the trees might add to the composition with the red filter, but think it creates a very busy composition.
My 2nd attempt, not far down the road, also overlooking the Wachelnsee.
This time shot with an orange filter. Much happier with the results, although kind of wished I had a bit more space to move back a bit to get the very top of the amazing cloud formation.
A zoomed in crop of the above shot, which also creates a nice composition!
Overall observations
It was nice looking back on these from August, one of the advantages of film photography is that there is always a break between taking the shot and seeing the final result. I remember it being quite a heavy carry up the mountain, but it was totally worth it. I’m really happy with how the shots came out, even if I only took 2 colour 4x5 shots on the top of the mountain.
The Jochberg mountain is a relatively easy hike and very close to Munich, an extremely popular hike for those living in Munich. A word of advice, as always, make sure you arrive early and you’ll pretty much have the place to yourself - I know I needed the spare time and space to get my Linhof all setup!
Thanks for stopping by, that’s about it for my backup of shots over the summer - I can now look forward to planning some large format autumn colour shots in the Alps!
Cheers,
Neil
