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Winter in Elmau Valley
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen so much snow as in this small Alpine valley on the border with Austria: Elmau. A wonderful area in all seasons, in winter with plenty of peace and quiet and no tourist overload. Certainly not a destination for hardcore winter sports enthusiasts.
Farewell to the Elmau Valley © Julian Köpke For us, it was perfect for a quiet time with walks in the countryside, swimming in wonderful outdoor pools, reading or taking photos. Few motifs are immediately apparent to the photographer. Repeated viewing or, better still, „sticking with“ a composition brings about the happiness of a better picture as if by itself.
Wintery Elmau Castle with some sunshine © Julian Köpke The event of the week for me was a 4-day daily photography course for hotel guests, which focused on photographic composition. A topic in which I had been aware of my weaknesses for some time without having improved through reading.
The central question of the course instructor Micha Pawlitzki was always: what does the picture do to you? This question is aimed at the emotions, which are a always good guide. -
Snow and sunshine
It is a nice experience to walk the same path under changing light conditions at daily distance. In winter there is not much botanically happening, only the snow can be more or less – or the fog. The possibilities of imaging with a camera essentially change with the extent of the available light. A sunny day shows a maximum of available light.
Does sunlight make a picture atmospheric ? With cloudy skies or even some fog, the conditions for background and foreground change substantially and pictures without sunlight can be be very varied and gain a special depth of expression.
Sunlit snowy branches © Julian Köpke The above image shows: shadows during a day with a blue sky are blue, too.
The detection of expressive light situations without a tripod and without HDR technology requires a limited amount of light that the sensor can still process with out blown-out lights or drown depths.
Snowfall in the clearing © Julian Köpke 
Winter walk in the snowy forest © Julian Köpke -
Yosemite during the winter
On my own I’ve been twice to Yosemite Valley and once with Harold to Yosemite National Park. This valley is small and a dream of light and nature for visual artists. I’ve never been able to see this little patch of earth with realistic eyes. I wasn’t really serious about that either.
Before I fly to the ambitious conference „Out of Yosemite“ tomorrow, I’d like to review some older images.
Already my first visit began with a surprise. Just arrived, the hotel wanted to send me back immediately in December 2016, as the electricity had failed and there was no heating. After a short back and forth I was allowed to stay and the heating went on again at 10 o’clock in the evening.
Internet connectivity was terrible. No images could be uploaded for those who stayed at home. I really don’t expect it to be different this time. The following images might give a foretaste of what awaits us.
Half Dome in winter © Julian Köpke Many spots are known to photographers all over the world. This time I have the chance to meet experienced photographers that share their knowledge. Harold is one of the instructors.
When leaving Yosemite Valley, before the road hits Pohono bridge at the entrance, there is a spot called Valley View, which in fact looks back where the glaciers came from long ago.
Valley View in the morning. Ground fogs can be seen. During construction time of the road up to Glacier Point the road workers had a storage area for construction equipment, located in front of a tunnel. This is why the spot is also called Tunnel View. It is a parking lot today. The image I took was honored in Flickr in Explore. A nice view is also some steps above the tunnel !
I took 9 EVs for this HDR at Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. No tripod ! You can see here the glacial origin of the U-shaped valley. In former times there was a lake. © Julian Köpke
