join me for a hike in the bavarian alps with panoramic views of some amazing lakes and mountain landscapes stretching into austria.
The beauty of living in Munich is that access to the Alps and some incredible hiking opportunities are within an hour’s reach of the city. One of the more famous hiking routes, Herzogstand is a 1, 731m high mountain 80km south of Munich nestled between the Kochelsee and the Walchensee on either side. My mate Dan and I opted for the more vertical direct route zig zagging up the mountain which sounded like a good idea at the time but definitely challenging with my 15kg backpack with camera gear and tripod. All worth it for the stunning views at the top! Camera used on the day was my Linhof Technorama 617S medium format panoramic camera loaded with Kodak Portra 400, Kodak Gold 200 and a failed attempt at using Rollei Infrared 400 film.
Oh and if possible look at these shots on a laptop or larger screen - panorama deserves bigger!
Yours truly with the mammoth Linhof Technorama 617S camera and a fresh roll of Kodak Gold 200.
The final shot - it was actually hard to compose on the way up as there was simply not big enough of an opening anywhere between the trees for the extreme panoramic aspect ratio of this camera.
My first shot at the top - I found this composition interesting.
The final shot. I am quite pleased with the overall composition with the winding roads, although there is a bit of a lens flare and it would probably have benefitted from a polariser. As the center filter is so large on this camera the use of additional filters can be problematic.
I believe this was Kodak Portra 400 film, the colours seem more balanced than Kodak Gold 200.
I found this image a bit dull colour wise (I think it was Kodak Gold 200) but the composition is good enough, even if a tad boring.
I was really excited to see the final shot from this great view.
The final shot. I love how wide and bright this image is.
A bit busy of a composition but I like the depth of the shot and how far in the distance you can clearly see. I believe this was also shot handheld so kudos to me!
This was shot balancing the camera over a ledge, I really like how the colours came out.
My mate Dan took this shot. It was funny looking directly at the camera it was so far to my right that I was sure I was not going to be in the photograph - that’s how wide this 617 panoramic camera is!
Very disappointing shots on the Rollei Infrared film: this was the only one that was in any way decent although hardly had any IR effect at all. I should get more in the habit of taking notes after each shot to figure out what happened if something went wrong.
Some 35mm shots
Below are some black & white 35mm shots taken on my Olympus XA2 camera.
overall observations
I can’t say I enjoyed lugging up my 15kg backpack on this hike, but there is something really special about these medium format 617 shots that make it all worthwhile. I absolutely loved the area and whilst the hike was challenging the views were just incredible and the weather was really perfect. I am very disappointed that the infrared film didn’t work out but glad I managed to get some good colour shots.
Thanks for stopping by and see you next time!
Neil
p.s. my mate Dan took the shot below, one of the few shots of me in action - I love it!
