After visiting Kleinne Sheidegg whilst on holidays two weeks earlier I was very taken by the sheer scale of these mountains. The Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau around 4000m each are spectacular. The day I went I needed to catch the last train out of town at 6.30pm because I had not organised accommodation. I knew I had to return to photograph these spectacular mountains at sunset and sunrise. I was staying with my family near Bern and watched the weather for the next two weeks whilst organising a back packers accommodation for short notice when required. It was like I was planning to climb the summit - lol. But there was no point in going if I could not see the mountains due to cloud and rain. Even on the fine day I first went the clouds did start to form on the mountains at around 4 to 5pm. Sunset was closer to 8.30pm so I needed clear weather. I spotted two relatively clear days and knew I had to take it because the weather had been raining for a week before and was predicted to rain again after. I booked for two nights to ensure I had two sunrise and two sunset chances.
I arrived (3hours by car and train from Bern) and the weather was indeed perfect BUT as usual the clouds built on and around the Eiger at 4pm. Between 6.30pm and 8.30pm on the 1st day I took around 600 photographs. Always bracketing to hopefully be able to use HDR editing in PhotoShop. Whilst I was getting great shots including the moon rising above the Jungfrau (4132m) in the sunset, the clouds were distracting.
Then like a blessing from above they cleared right at that perfect magic light moment for the subject image of the Eiger (left) and Monch (right). I could not believe my luck and the 600 previous attempts could not match the cloudless mountains and reflection I was lucky enough to capture.
The subsequent sunrises (5.30am ish) and sunset, whilst beautiful, did not present the magic of that 3 minute window, that I was lucky enough to be granted on that first afternoon.
Hopefully I have managed to capture some of the beauty and enjoyment that I was lucky enough to experience that afternoon.
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Beautiful. I like how the two flowers in the foreground complement the color of the mountains, although they do feel like they 'missed' a tiny bit.
It looks like you used HDR here (note the characteristic haloing around the edges of the mountains), so I'm a bit curious as to why there is so much detail lost in the shadows, especially with the house.
Much to like about this one. I'd have liked to see some more detail on the cabin by the water--maybe some dodging or selective levels adjustments would have helped.
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