Beliebte Posts

Montag, 25. Juni 2012

Alpenglühen 2012 / Alpglow 2012



Alles begann auf einer Dienstreise nach Mannheim. Ich saß im Zug las meine E-Mails habe Korrekturen an Standard Operation Procedures durchgeführt und als ich müde geworden bin, nahm ich die Zeitschrift der Deutschen Bundesbahn „Mobile“ und fing an zu blättern. Irgendwann habe ich ein Foto vom Zugspitzmassiv gesehen eindeutig aus Lermoos gesehen, und das hat meine Aufmerksamkeit gefesselt. Es war die Ankündigung, dass anlässlich der Sonnenwende, wie jedes Jahr auch in diesem Jahr am 23-JUN-2012 das Spektakel Alpenglühen stattfindet.
It all started on a business trip to Mannheim. I sat in the train reading my e-mails and making adjustments to standard operating procedures.  When I finished, I took the magazine of the German Federal Railroad "Mobile" and began to scroll. Eventually I saw a photo of the Zugspitze seen clearly from Lermoos, and that has captured my attention. It was the announcement that the spectacular alpenglow will take place at the solstice on 23-JUN-2012, as every year.


Ich wohne jetzt fast 9 Jahre in Oberbayern und habe einige Johannisfeuer erlebt, aber das hat sich sehr spektakulär angehört… Habe gleich im Zug ein Termin im Terminkalender von meiner Frau eingestellt…Bei uns funktioniert alles nur so… Was hätten wir bloß gemacht wenn wir nicht gemeinsam-synchronisierte Terminkalender hätten??? Sie hat zugesagt und schon fing die Vorfreude an. Habe im Internet recherchiert, was alles zu diesem Event geschrieben wurde und war gut vorbereitet für das was kommt.
I live now almost 9 years in Upper Bavaria and had experienced some bonfires, but that story seemed to be very spectacular ... I made just in that moment an outlook-arrangement with my wife  ... With us, everything works just like this ... What if we had just do not have synchronized calendar? She has agreed and the anticipation began. I researched on the Internet, all information about this event and was well prepared for what comes.


Die Zugspitz- und Sonnenspitz-Massive lagen vor mir still und majestätisch…Irgendwann hat die Sonne das Tal in gelb-grün-orange getaucht und die Zugspitze und die Alpspitze schimmerten dann sanft in rot-orange-Tönen… Ich habe es fotografiert, was unser 5-Gänge-Menü immer wieder gestört hat, aber diese Färbung ist so flüchtig und vergänglich…es dauert gefühlte Augenblicke und die Farben änderten sich.
The peaks of Zugspitze and Sonnenspitze lay in front of me quietly and majestically ... At some point the sun dipped the valley in yellow-green-orange. The Alpine peaks shimmered then gently in red-orange tones ... I photographed this scene, what has disturbed our 5-course menu, but this color is so fleeting and ephemeral ... it took just a moment and the colors were changed.






Jetzt waren die Täler im Schatten und die Alpenspitzen tauchten in dunkleren rot-orange Tönen.
Now the valleys were in shadow and the Alpine peaks appeared in darker shades of red and orange.


Jede Minute eine andere Farbe: mal orange dann hellrot... 
Every minute another color came along: orange then bright red 

...dann dunkelrot…Unglaublich!
...then dark red ... Unbelievable!

Als die Sonne unterging, begann das Show Alpenglühen 2012. Freiwillige haben die mehr als 8000 Einzelfeuer angezündet. Die Berge „brannten“… Die Täler staunten… Die Feuerstellen sahen aus als Lava, das langsam die Bergen herunterging.
As the sun went down, the show alpenglow 2012 began. Volunteers have set fire to more than 8,000 individual fireplaces. The Mountains "burn" ... The valleys were amazed ... The fires looked as lava, which slowly went down the mountains.




Der Sonneaufgang am nächsten Morgen:
The sun-rise on the next morning:



und ein Zeitraffervideo:
and a time-laps video:

Montag, 20. Februar 2012

Shooting Aurora Borealis...just do it!

I first saw pictures of an Aurora on G+. It was Arild Heitmann, who enchanted me with his beautiful pictures of Northern Lights… On this point it was completely clear to me I want see these phenomena with my own eyes and if possible make a picture of an Aurora.

I started my search on the internet… Actually it’s a pretty easy matter:  one has to fly to some point north of the Arctic Circle…that’s all… and so did I…I choose Abisko in Sweden. As Abisko’s location is 195 km north of the Arctic Circle, summer hikers enjoy the midnight sun, while winter visitors may find the light pollution-free location ideal for viewing the aurora borealis.

I took a flight to Kiruna over Stockholm. It was a nightmare flight. First we got more than 2 hours delay in Munich, because the water for the toilets on our plain was frozen.  So they heated the cabin to defrost them…. However some two hours later we started to Stockholm. In Stockholm I was happy to catch my connecting flight to Kiruna but my luggage did not… it was in Stockholm to get the next flight some five hours later to Kiruna.  After short discussion with the stewardess from SAS I could convince her to send my luggage with a cub to Abisko, where I stayed for 3 nights, in the same night.

On my trip from Kiruna to Abisko I saw the full moon rising on the horizon… I never saw something like this. The moon was orange and as big as the sun before the sunset on the horizon…I was upset because of my luggage and didn’t make a picture as I thought I have three more moonrises to see the next days… That was a big mistake.  It was the only moon-rise I saw in Lapland on this trip.

When you fail do not miss the lesson. And here is my lesson for me and for you:  
Never miss an opportunity as it may never come again…Just do it right now!

I couldn’t sleep this night as I was afraid to miss the call from the taxi-driver…poor me…
Next day right after breakfast I took my cams (the D3S with a 24mm f1,4 lens on it and the  D300s with a 70-200mm f2,8 lens on it) and started my hunting for subjects… 

The Abisko National park offers several places worth seeing, the most spectacular being the Abisko Canyon. Here the Abisko River has buried itself deep down at the bottom and formed 20 m high walls. 



The frozen waterfalls not far from the tourist station a closer view:



Abisko is particularly well known for its mountain flora that includes such flowers as very rare orchids in the park, which I understandably did not see…One of the most recognized natural sights is Lapporten (the gate to Lapland), a U-shaped valley visible from Abisko. 


The next picture of Lapporten, from my point of view considered to be one of my best pictures I made in Lapland.... What a cloud veil, what a light!



Abisko is also located nearby the 330 square kilometers (130 sq mi) lake Torneträsk. Next Picture show you  a View of the downhill course from Abisko Sky station  over the frozen lake Torneträsk in front of you and Lapporten on the right side. In the distance, where the clouds end  is Kiruna with the largest iron mine in Europe.


On the evening I started to the Abisko Sky station, considered to be one of the best places in the world to see Northern Lights…assumed one can see the sky. …and that was not the case this evening…unfortunately… Believe me or not I started to pray on this evening “O dear Lord why do you do this to me… I've always respected you… Show me the sky please and some Auroras as well” After having my dinner at the sky station with the corresponding vines (warmly recommended!!!)  I went out and saw this Picture…



Can you imagine how I felt on this night???  As with a magic wand the sky got clear... Thank you my Lord!
What come are Northern Lights. In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis (or the northern lights), named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas.


It was huge ... One need at least 18mm-lens to capture all this... I've already ordered my Nikon 14-24mm  f2,8... to late for this trip...but I'll come back soon...



Discrete aurorae often display magnetic field lines or curtain-like structures, and can change within seconds or glow unchanging for hours, most often in fluorescent green.




The aurora borealis most often occurs near the equinoxes. The northern lights have had a number of names throughout history. The Cree call this phenomenon the "Dance of the Spirits".




You want to witness the glory of nature??? Just take a bit of time and fly to the Arctic Circle...an do not forget to pray...I don't know if it helps...but it doesn't hurt anyway...
February, 2012 
Nedko