In EP28 of Adventure Photography on Location I’m chasing winter and cover 3 locations for 3 very different kind of shots.
1. The iconic Schiessentümpel in Luxembourg with a long exposure shot of the overflowing stream and bridge.
2. A throwback to EP06 – Chasing Autumn as we revisit Castle Eltz in Germany and recreate an old favourite of mine… but with a twist!
3. A very special location! 360m long Geierlay Suspension Bridge is decorated with Christmas Lights for 3 days this year. And I’m here to test out the long exposure capabilities of my E-M1 Mark II + 12-100mm f/4 IS… without a tripod.
Just like in autumn 2016 we grabbed the camper and drove around the german Eifel for a few days. Revisiting old spots and discovering new ones…
Technically in Luxemburg, this one wasn’t quite what I expected… all the snow had melted over the past 24h and all the rivers were full to the top. The Schiessentümpel usually features a beautiful little stream and triple cascade right below the bridge. Perfect for long exposures!
Not today! The stream had turned into a dangerous, raging brown flow of meltwater… add a downpour of rain to the show and you get this beautiful place all to yourself.
While this iconic spot has turned into a little bit of an ‘Instagram Spot’ of Luxemburg I think it’s still worth the visit.
I had a very different shot in mind on my way there. But soon it was clear that the rock I had intended on shooting my photo from was impossible to reach in the high waters. So I decided to move back a little and do my best to shoot the spot from a different vantage point.
It turned out to be a very unusual composition of this place that I think I almost like more than the straight up ‘pre-composed’ shot everyone seems to get at this spot.
This place was a true throwback to EP06 – Chasing Autumn. Same location, almost the same conditions. Only this time: we had a red umbrella instead of the yellow jacket. And bucket loads more of rain…
I’ve become so confident in the weather sealing of my E-M1 Mark II + PRO lenses that I don’t even blink anymore when they get wet. It’s really nice knowing that your gear is more weather proof than you are.
We had a bit of fun recreating last year’s shot and didn’t waste much time here as the weather eventually became unbearable. The only cure: fresh clothes and a hot toast in the camper!
Every time I get to use the E-M1 Mark II + 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO for long exposures it blows my mind. Both the sensor and lens stabilisation communicate and work together to achieve results you can’t even imagine possible.
I would love to have done a longer exposure on the bridge itself, but it was swinging a little too much and I couldn’t have gone over 2 seconds without things blurring out.
But anyway, a 2-second handheld shot on a swinging suspension bridge isn’t bad.
Check at 11:56 how i even have the time to mention that there is ‘a cloud in the valley’ while the camera is taking a 4-second exposure… long exposure photography couldn’t get any easier than this.
While the shot might not be 100% sharp edge-to-edge. Especially towards the corners, the stabilisation isn’t quite as powerful as in the centre, it is still mind blowing how all that movement was reduced to nothing. The shots at 11:05 and 11:08 are crazy! 4 seconds, no tripod. Just handheld.
That allowed me to be super flexible and move around to get different compositions all while keeping my ISO at 200 and having minimal noise in my shots.
It understand that there are limitations to this of course. And yes, if you need that 100% sharp image, edge to edge, I’d recommend a tripod. But if you’re like me and enjoy the freedom of not being bolted down to the ground by a tripod… this camera and lens combination is what you need. No questions asked.
Almost all of my Adventure Photography On Location episodes are self funded. I create them because I love sharing my passion for photography and the outdoors and I would love to keep creating more of these and hopefully create an ongoing thing. Many hours are spent coming up with and creating episodes for you and I don’t really make any money creating them. Which is why I decided to join Patreon.
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