Last of the Alps

Our time in the Alps came to an end with photography in three incredibly picturesque locations. The first was a lot more adventurous than expected, then it all calmed down for a gentle end where I was able to concentrate on photography more than hiking.

Schloss Neuschwanstein

The Disneyland castle of Neuschwanstein must be the most photographed castle in the world, and understandably so given its beauty and location on the edge of the Alps, perched on a rocky outcrop with jagged mountains behind.

I know there are people that aren’t into photographing well known locations, but I’m perfectly happy with it provided I can do so away from the hoards of people. Being up for sunrise usually deals with most of them, but for really popular subjects finding an alternate location than the usual and being there early usually does the trick.

A great example of that is the picturesque village of Hallstatt in Austria where people crowd the well-known viewpoint day and night, which completely sucked out all my desire to photograph there: my photo from that spot got taken on the way back from a hike where I stopped for at most 1 minute. So instead I found a different spot to photograph at sunrise, coming away with both a photograph and an experience I am much happier with (and which, to this day, remains Danny’s favourite photo).

All of which is to say we picked a hillside about 1 km away from the castle to photograph from, which also has the advantage of a view of a second of King Ludwig’s castles: Hohenschwangau.

The plan was to primarily photograph the castle with my Mini 3 Pro, and I certainly came away happier with my drone shots of Neuschwanstein than those from my camera. From the ground I tended to prefer the photos of Hohenschwangau and the mountains. As you can see I took a lot of photos!

Incidentally, I had a fail with my drone where I hadn’t charged my remote and the battery ran out way before the drone batteries, so I ended up with a lot less drone time than I’d planned. I wish I’d got some photos closer to the castle, but alas I must be content with what I have.

All that fog in the images ended up completely enveloping the towns of Füssen and Schwangau for much of the day! If you saw my video about predicting mist you would assume that given all the lakes and rivers in the area, not to mention mountains, that they regularly experience mist and fog.

While it would have been nice if the clouds had lit up with colour I really can’t complain, as the mist really added to the images, and I feel pretty satisfied with the photos I came away with.

Stuibenfälle

Our last photographic day of the trip found us back at Plansee for sunrise. It wasn’t the conditions I was hoping for, but this panorama taken with my drone turned out quite well – much better than the boring view from below!

A short drive back down the road took us to our last photo outing of the trip. This was a spot I found just by roaming Google Maps for locations close to Plansee – a method which has led to many happy holiday experiences over the years, including the delightful Sintersbach earlier in this trip, and the unique Saint Govan’s Chapel on the Pembrokeshire Coast in Wales a couple of years ago.

It was the perfect place to end our holiday: a short walk, picturesque and quiet.

Thanks so much for joining us on our adventures in Austria and Germany. I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos and experiences as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing them with you!

Read all the blog posts and catch up on all the videos from the trip.