Rathen

The end of an awesome day at an awesome place. I think I filled some memory cards during this trip but indeed it's all about that special moments in the morning and evening.

Königstein Fortress Sächsische Schweiz

Sächsische Schweiz

The Bastei is a rock formation rising 194 metres above the Elbe River in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany. Reaching a height of 305 metres above sea level, the jagged rocks of the Bastei were formed by water erosion over one million years ago. They are situated near Rathen, not far from Pirna southeast of the city of Dresden, and are the major landmark of the Saxon Switzerland National Park. They are also part of a climbing and hiking area that extends over the borders into the Bohemian Switzerland.

The bizarre rock formations around this famous bridge in the Saxonian Sandstone Mountains have always been a strong attraction for tourists as well as photographers. From Dresden, where we were stationed for a few days, this place is only a stone's throw away and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to drop by. Everyone knows the impressive photos of the rocks with rising fog from the Elbe river. The reality on a beautiful autumn day like this and having missed the best morning light as usual, because we slept too long, is less dramatic. The view is impressive no doubt, but you shouldn't expect spectacular pictures on the first try.

This is from a recent trip to the "sächsische Schweiz" here in Germany. The sky wasn't what I had hoped for but the light during twilight gave the landscape a nice tint and I emphasized the magenta - green contrast between sky and forest here. I got up at 4am in the morning to get this shot :-) Always the best time to stroll through the landscape. It's such a great feelin to be the only one watching the scene before you, leaning back enjoying the light and occasionally pressing the shutter release.

A nice place I will surely revisit sometime in hope for some dramatic clouds.

I used a 0.6 Lee GND here for the sky, so no DRI as usual from me here :-)

cheers

-- www.mibreit-photo.com