I visit yet another idyllic location in the Bavarian Alps; this time we travel to the Hintersee Lake, that has inspired poets and painters for hundreds of years. It is easy to see why! Join me for some more colourful landscapes, this time mixed in with some black & white photography.
It may take me a while to get to all the amazingly picturesque spots that Bavaria has to offer, especially as I lug my Linhof Master Technika 4x5 camera along with me for the journey. This time we drive 150km south east from Munich and back towards the Berchtesgaden area of the Bavarian Alps. My first stop was the famous Hintersee lake - in the Ramsau area - close to the Konigssee (see my post on that visit here), and only 35km from Salzburg, Austria.
A bit more about the gear
For my Linhof 4x5 camera I only had 2 sheets of Kodak Ektar film left, so I had to choose my compositions wisely. Otherwise, I had about 8 sheets of Foma 100 (4 film holders). I also carried with me my Nikonos camera loaded with Kodak Ultramax 400 film. My idea was to get all my photography done by about 10 or 11am and then go for a swim. My plan started off on a good note with an empty Hintersee at sunrise, but by mid-morning the place was heaving with people. So no swimming for me and the Nikonos this time round.
Absolutely wonderful early morning light on the Hintersee. Also not bad for Kodak Ultramax (although paired with the wonderful Nikonos 35mm lens, which made up for it).
I’d like to say the hiker was blinded by the light but in fact he was taking a photograph with his phone (at least it wasn’t a selfie!).
All setup for my first shot with Kodak Ektar 100 film. I nearly decided against “wasting” film on this shot as it is probably one of the most shot compositions in the country. I really hate taking the same shots as everyone else, although I figured the place was empty and the lighting was really great…
….what was not great was the result!
Actually a mechanical error/mistake. The cable release got stuck and instead of a 2 second exposure (Kodak Ektar 100 shot at aperture of f32 and 2” exposure) it probably ended up being 3-4 seconds, so totally overexposed and, for all intensive purposes, ruined.
Anyways, this place has been photographed to death, so no loss there. Check out how many images of the same thing you can find here.
The same scene shot on Kodak Ultramax. Not a bad effort given this is a consumer grade film.
I love this shot, great warmth and difference of lighting through the composition.
I decided to give up on the first location as I only had 1 more 4x5 Ektar sheet left and saw this composition a bit further down. The lighting was really fantastic and I also managed to hide behind a tree to get some shade on the lens.
Viewfinder shot!
The final shot.
I like the composition, but without a graduated neutral density filter (which would manage the difference in brightness across the shot), this shot was always going to be a challenge.
That being said, I love the brightness of the colours in the water and the sunlight across the forest. It is just a pity the overall shot is not a bit more balanced exposure wise.
(Note to self: I really must get myself some grad ND filters…)
The abundance of reflections remind me of some of the lakes in Banff, Canada.
The same shot as the 4x5 Ektar shot, just taken at a different position and on 35mm Kodak Ultramax. It looks like a different tree!
I really love this shot. It captures the essence of the Bavarian landscape. Shot on my Nikonos camera (and I like the Kodak Ultramax film gives it that old school look).
This time I worked with Foma 100 black & white film. I liked the different crossover points of the valleys below the mountain. The shot below is of the setup.
I opted for a circular polarised filter paired with an orange filter to bring increased contrast to this scene.
I like the final result, but next time I could even try with a red filter. I was expecting a darker sky.
Absolutely nothing wrong with the detail the shot captured though!
(cropped version of the above shot - top of the mountain).
I had to go off the hiking trail a bit and hike up to get a nice long view down this valley.
For some reason I decided to shoot this without a filter. I think it was cloudy at the time.
The finally shot. I like the composition, but it is a pity about the sky being a bit ‘flat’.
I will never get bored of cropping 4x5 film though - can you guess which houses these are from the above original image?
The famous Saint Sebastian Church, a Catholic parish church of Ramsau (built in 1512). Aside from being one of the most photographed churches in Germany, it also has a long history of appearing in famous paintings. One curious anecdote is that apparently US President Eisenhower painted it personally from a colour photograph and this was then printed for White House staff.
The church and its surroundings are really beautiful and idyllic. That is if you can ignore all the tourists stopping for photographs. It is not as near as bad as Neuschwanstein castle (that’s just a whole other level), but timing is everything for a good shot.
I positioned myself a bit further down to get a bit more of an interesting foreground. I’m really happy with this shot and really like that it is in black & white. A darker and more dramatic sky would have been nice, but I am not complaining with my final result.
That’s a BIG negative!
Too busy having breakfast to pay any attention to me!
Overall observations
I’m always satisfied when I arrive at a photography spot at sunrise, and this was no exception. Apart from a few photographers, I pretty much had the place to myself. Arriving just after 6am and driving most of the way from Munich in the dark, I was treated by some of the best sunrise lighting I can remember. That being said, this can also present a very challenging environment for film photography, in particular when using low ISO film (Kodak Ektar 100 film) and no graduated neutral density filters in my current kit. Luckily, I am more interested in enjoying the amazing lighting and making some interesting compositions than I am looking for that perfect shot. Especially in this location, for that perfect shot you will find thousands of examples through a simple google search. Perhaps that is why I wasn’t overly enamoured by the “standard” double tree in rock reflection, and perhaps that’s why I messed it up (twice!).
I really enjoyed just sitting and contemplating the rising sun and how the sun rays created different lighting patterns around the lake. If you ever visit the Hintersee lake when it is still and empty you will understand why this is such a historical location for painters and poets (and presumably photographers too).
Regarding the films, I was unlucky with the mishaps on the early shots but overall Ektar in 4x5 sheet film does not disappoint. Also, Foma 100 film is both a very capable and affordable film. I had not used the 35mm Kodak Ultramax film for a long time, but given it is easily purchased in drugstores in Germany for €4,75, I cannot complain. I was actually surprised but the results and do not mind that grainy holiday snapshot look. For everything else there is always Kodak Portra 400.
I really like this part of south eastern Bavaria, and it is definitely worth a visit back. There are loads of hiking routes and also a gorge that I did not have time to go visit. That being said I cannot complain about the time I had on a very early morning with some fantastic lighting.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed taking the photos and writing about it!
See you next time,
Neil
