Uploads from Xindaan, with geodata

Annapurna Sanctuary in Moonlight

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:01:45 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

This picture shows part of the Annapurna Sanctuary in moonlight. The destination of a wonderful trekking tour, I arrived there early November. Hiking up the last part to Annapurna Basecamp (4,130 m/13,500 ft) proved frustrating, as it was snowing heavily (20 cm/8 in) with virtually no visibility at all. I still set my alarm to midnight, removing the ice from the window - and saw mountains. So, out of the sleeping bag, and out into the freezing cold. I went through the fresh snow a bit uphill towards a frequently visiting viewing area. The moon was shining nicely (though ocasionally blocked by the clouds), and chose my composition to use it as my lighting source. I was out there for about two hours (luckily, with warm clothes). I took long exposures up to 16 minutes, short exposures, and this is the one I like best. The clouds were causing shadows that add texture to the area, and the clouds were not covering too much, but still being there.

The view is towards the east, around the prayer flags, you can see the Annapurna Baseamp. The prayer flags point towards Machhapuchhre (Mt. Fish Tail), a wonderfully photogenic peak with 6,993 m/22,900ft. Also visible are Annapurna III (7,555 m/24,800 ft) and Gangapurna (7,455 m/24500 ft). Behind me is Annapurna I, with 8,091 m/26,500 ft the world's 10th highest peak. I took this picture with a 16 mm framing and a panoramic crop, to make use of the scenery.

And that's what I've been up to the past time, causing some absence here.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas 2011!

North Peak, Yosemite National Park, California, US

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:49:47 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

I have been absent from flickr for a while, the reason were landscapes like this. :)

I spent a few weeks in the Sierra Nevada (again) and had a wonderful time. While the sky didn't have as much clouds as I would have liked, it was better than permanent rain, so I'm not going to complain. :)

This specific picture involved getting up from the campground at Tuolumne Meadows at 4:00 am, driving to Saddlebag Lake and then hiking in the dark to Greenstone Lake, setting up the camera, witnessing the earth shadow lowering, seeing the alpenglow starting - and then almost forgetting to take pictures because it was so beautiful. :) I am still glad that I remembered that, in the end, though.

Buttermilk Sunrise, Eastern Sierra Nevada, California, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:15:11 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

The Eastern Sierra is wonderful. Being there for three weeks in May was great, and as a side-effect, I got quite some different weather conditions, which altered the mood of landscape quite a lot.

I had scouted this particular place in the Buttermilks during day hikes before and liked the flowers amassing here, which is not that common in the Buttermilks, and intended to use them as foreground with the Sierra as an awesome background. I then returned to the Buttermilks for a few sunrises, and the one morning where I took this picture looked potentially interesting, as the sky to the east was cloudy, but not completely overcast. And indeed, at some point, holes in the clouds allowed the sun to break through, creating a wonderful patterned illumination pattern on the Sierra, and at the same time, the light colour on the mountains is quite close to the yellow of the flowers, which I particularly like.

El Capitan Morning Glow, Yosemite National Park, California, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:47:42 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

The weather forecast actually wasn't that good. I got out anyway on that morning in March 2010 to look around Yosemite Valley, when at some point, the sun broke through for a short time, without the mist fully vanishing. I like this picture because of the layers, adding mist in definite steps, rather than a gradual vanishing of a continuous line of objects, with finally El Capitan breaking through while bathed in that wonderful morning light.

Beech Forest, Rügen, Germany

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:34:56 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

On June 25th, the UNESCO added five german regions to the now known as "Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany" World Heritage. This picture was taken in one of them, on Rügen, Germany's largest island (located in the Baltic sea). The weather was overcast and foggy, and I used my 85mm at 1.4, to enhance that feeling by the limited depth of field, rendering the more distant trees unsharp, giving the mist its deserved prominence.

Sierra Wave, Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra, California, US

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:25:09 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

The Sierra Nevada is prone to create lenticular clouds, forcing winds to rise, resulting in condensing water vapor. Due to the length of that mountain range, a really impressive sight, and hopefully combined with evening colours.

This particular picture was taken during our Eastern Sierra workshop which I mentioned before. Not happy with spots using reflections of the Owens River, I ended up shooting along the valley, horizon really low. I liked that group of trees creating a middle ground. And for a sense of scale, the Eastern Sierra range visible on the right rises roughly 3,000 m (~10,000 ft) above the valley floor.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

White Mountains Evening, California, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:33:54 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

Expecting awesome cloud-light at sunset (more on that later) during the Eastern Sierra workshop I attended in early May, everyone was exploring the shoreline of the Owens River to find some nice spots for the evening light. (See the photostreams of Jerry, one of the instructors next to David Muench, as well as Hank and Ralph.)

This is a shot I did during that time towards the east, not quite yet at sunset. Still, I like the clouds in this a lot, which kinda wrap around that tree in the middle-ground. At 1/3s exposure time, you also get a nice blur of the Owens River, which had (and probably still has) quite a lot of water this year.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Sunrise at Convict Lake, California, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:54:36 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

This picture was taken at the first morning of my three-week-Owens-Valley-holiday. And it started right away with some nice alpenglow. I was at Convict Lake the afternoon before for a short hike and a general idea where I'd want to be in the morning. Graduated neutral density filters were necessary (there are actually two layers of filter here, one that darkens everything including the reflection, and another that darkens the actual mountain).

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Sunset at Mono Lake, California, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:48:33 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

This is a picture I took at Mono Lake in early May. At South Tufa (and other places), so called Tufas emerge from the lake. Tufas are carbonate minerals which form underwater. In Mono Lake, they got exposed due to the ever sinking water level.

This picture was shot during a workshop with David Muench and Jerry Dodrill and a great bunch people (check out Hank and Ralph), which has been a wonderful experience.

Overall, I spent three weeks in the Sierra Nevada, doing a "photography vacation", meaning getting up at 4 am, heading to places for sunrise, getting out in the evening for sunset, getting a few precious hours to sleep. Included was lots of hiking, overnight camping, and a lot of fun.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Backlight Mountain Sunrise, from Calvi, Corsica, France

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 21:55:17 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

During our recent stay in Corsica, we had a wonderful hotel in Calvi with a magnificient view towards the mountains, resulting in not having to get up _that_ early, just early enough to be ready at sunrise. :)

Since you look towards the sun, you are facing backlight challenges. In this particular case, clouds and mist were helping with adding light to otherwise darker scenery, while I additionally exposed in a way to keep as much highlights as possible, resulting in a nice foreground silhouette at the same time.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Monte d'Oro, Corsica, France

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:35:31 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

Taken during the same session as the previous picture, this one singles out a prominent mountain, Monte d'Oro ("Gold Mountain", 2,391 m), lit by the morning sun.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Mountain Sunrise, Corsica, France

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:10:31 -0700

Xindaan posted a photo:

Coming back from a two-week trip to Corsica, and some more time to sort through pictures, it's been a very nice experience. We had very mixed weather, from floods to sunshine, seen wonderful places throughout the island.

This specific picture was taken on the last day, where we had a wonderful morning. The sun was rising, alpenglow hitting Monto d'Oro (on the left, 2,389 m) and the area of Monto Rotondo (towards the right, 2,625 m). This time of the year, they are snow-capped, which in my opion adds perceived height to mountains. I waited some more until the sun light hit my place too, to be able to work with the foreground for composition (light colour changed due to that, of course).

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Balanced Rock, Arches National Park, Utah, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 23:58:44 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

Balanced Rock, shot on February 17 in 2010. Somewhat different from its usual views. It was cold, cloudy and windy, and thus, over night, hoarfrost (and not just a little bit) assembled on plants, as you can see in the foreground. In the mornings, the clouds were still there, allowing for some non-standard sights of well-known landmarks.

Composition wise, this image is a bit cropped. There were some disturbing elements in the foreground which I only noticed on the computer. The result is the foreground being a bit too "short" for my tastes.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Rifugio Pradidali, Pale di San Martino, Dolomites, Italy

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:40:30 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

Doing a four day hike around the Pale di San Martino, we rested at a particularly nice hut right in the middle of the mountains, Rifugio Pradidali. Weather was not the best, but then, the surrounding spires in the spires are not bad to look at either.

For the shot, a (light) graduated ND filter was a reasonable choice, because the sky was still quite bright despite the clouds.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Sass Maor & Cima della Madonna "5 Minutes Later", Pale di San Martino, Dolomites, Italy

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:24:06 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

A sister picture to my first one. This one was taken only five minutes later, it was amazing how fast the light changed due to clouds blocking the sun. The white balance (daylight) is the same in both pictures.

In this one, the light assumes an almost painterly quality. The peaks you see are Sass Maor and Cima della Madonna, and the mountain hut named after the latter one, "Rifugio della Madonna", can be seen at the bottom right of the picture and serves as a nice "base level" in terms of size. What this picture brings out more than its sister one is the intrinsic colours and textures of the rocks.

Taken with my Sigma 70-200 at 200 mm, f/5.6 and ISO 1100 on my D3s.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Sunset at Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:05:59 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

An old picture I rediscovered, taken in January 2009. The largest island in Germany, Rügen, has a very impressive cliff line, largely comprised out of chalkstone. It's part of the national park Jasmund, together with a large forest of beeches, allowed to develop into its natural state ever since it became a national park.

Looking east, you get sunset combinations of the chalk cliff being in the shadow, and hopefully nice clouds in the evening sun, which is what I got when we were hiking in the national park. Already at an ultra-wide angle (11 mm on my D300), you almost look straight down on the cliff. Compositionally, I would have liked to go even further with the foreground, but then, the sky would not have enough room anymore, so I settled for this.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Maus, the cat (1993-Jan 7th, 2011) - Rest in Peace

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:05:32 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

This picture was originally posted in December 2008.

This is my cat "Maus" (mouse). I got her out of the animal shelter in 1996, when she was about 3 years old, which puts her now to about 15 years. The animal shelter did not tell much about what happened to her before, only that they took them away from the previous owners. Part of the rest I could figure out myself. When I got her, she was very shy, hiding over the day, only coming out at night. She was very afraid of feet...

Over time, she grew self confident and trusting in people again, and now, she's an adorable, clever cat, winning over the heart of everyone she graces with her presence. :)

So much for the old text. Mid 2008, we learned that she had an innate heart condition. Not operable, but you could give medication when the time is there in order to help regulate the blood pressure, which would help. We started that in early 2009 upon the recommendation of our veterinarian. Then, doing quaterly blood checks, it turned out that now, she got a developing liver and kidney condition. This resulted in a diet, and close supervision. The most important thing was that she must not suffer, and treatment shall be reasonable. The docter gave her about 6 months at best - but she was a tough girl and fought. She didn't jump around that much anymore, but was happy around us, vocal, eating, everything. Everyone was surprised on how good she went with everything. Then, October 2010, long past the originally projected time, the first small crisis came, but another treatment helped her being stable, and she was still feeling well. This went for another two months, until on December 26th. Apparent pain in the belly, and we immediately went to the emergency vet (since it was Sunday). Painkillers, but he was not sure what it was, nor did our regular vet the next day. Things got stable, though, but on a lower level than before. We did realize that now, it was the beginning of the end, so again, confirmation that she did not suffer by our vet. She also happy around us, but she ate less than before. This was normal behaviour for cats towards the end. So, I went into a night shift at work to be there at work during the day, my girlfriend was there at night, and we accompanied her for two weeks. Wednesday last week, things got worse, and it was clear that now was the time. Our vet checked with her, it was not the task to find the right time for putting her to sleep. This is something so very hard to do. Too late, and you make her suffer. Too soon - and you will regret that. She estimated that she would not restart to eat and that Friday, she would get into a clearly visible state that showed the end. She was right about this. Thursday, she was still reacting to us, and over night, she became apathetic. Having lost lot of weight, but not having pain - the latter one not necessarily having to stay that way. So, on Friday, we had to make the tough decision to settle for this. But the timing was right. She had just retreated herself, and there was risk of cramps or similar painful things happening to her eventually (our vet gave her about two more days), and I would not want her last hours being in pain, in a cab at night towards an emergency animal hospital to put her to sleep there, in an unfamiliar and scary environment.

17 years old, 14 years of that with me, this is hard. But after the rough start, she had a wonderful life, and I will always remember the good times with her.

Rest in peace, Maus.

Sunrise at Langkofel Group, Dolomites, Italy

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:39:58 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

This picture is basically turned around 180 degress from the previous one. And switching from sunset to sunrise. While not quite as dramatic with the clouds, the massive shadow of the Sella Group on the Langkofel Group was quite impressive. Location was again the Stone City, an old landslide with trees growing in the midst of large boulders.

The largest peak in the Langkofel Group is the, you guessed it, Langkofel (or Saslonch or Sasso Lungo), meaning "long rock". The height is 3181 m (10,436 ft). You also have the Zahnkofel (Dente) and the Plattkofel (Sas plat or Sasso Piato).

Composing this picture again involved a graduated ND filter, and running around in the stone city until I found a foreground to balance the rocks without disturbing them.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Sunrise at Mount Tom, Sierra Nevada, California, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:41:59 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

Again, browsing through old pictures, and again, ending up with the Sierra Nevada/Owens Valley photo session. I am so looking forward to being there in May this year again.

The picture here is not from May, but February 2010. Like the previous ones (and here), it shows varying stages of the sunrise. What made this particular morning special was a band of clouds, forming illumination patterns on the snow covered mountains.

This is a shot that does not use a wide-angle, but a (short) telephoto approach, singling out Mount Tom (4,163 m aka 13,658 ft), one of the highest peaks at the northern part of Owens Valley (a bit further south, there is of course Mt. Whitney, with 4,421 m the highest peak in the "mainland" US (i.e. excluding Alaska, where you have the Denali)).

Due to its height, it's quite interesting how the light colour changes on the flank, i.e. at the lower part it's barely getting sunrise, whereas at the peak, the sun is obviously quite "higher". The shadow from the clouds emphasizes this, of course.

What is a bit missing is a foreground. I blame that on the one single morning I had, where I had to multitask running around in a barely scouted area, avoiding cow droppings, looking at the scenery, and force me not have my mouth hanging open by the sheer beauty of everything, while at the same time, light was always changing. For the next time, I memorized a few spots I noticed where I will have trees to work with in the foreground.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA

Sunrise in Owens Valley and the Sierra Nevada, California, USA

nobody@flickr.com (Xindaan) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:42:22 -0800

Xindaan posted a photo:

Browsing through pictures from last year, the Eastern Sierra continues to fascinate me. The 3000+ m high wall rising up from Owens Valley, that's something very special.

We had some bad luck with the weather, being there for only three days, almost continously raining, but the last morning was great. The sky had cleared up, and the locations I scouted beforehand got a visit again in order to capture the early morning.

I posted another picture of the same session a while ago, this is a different approach in terms of composition. Vertical, in order to emphasize both the foreground as well as the sky, without getting too "wide anglish", resulting in a distorted relation between fore- and background.

My (Flickr) Most Interesting Pictures - Flickr Hive Mind - flexplore - My Flickr DNA