This is my ninth post, and I’ve only posted 1 photo that’s been taken by a DSLR. All the rest have been taken by point and shoots or even iPhones / iPads. Hopefully you didn’t notice any degradation of quality in these. If you didn’t, I think it speaks to the fact that great images can come from a wide variety of equipment. We don’t need to have a lot of money or be a pro photographer to once in a while take an awesome photo. And if you did notice things that could be improved, please comment. I’m writing to learn more than anything else.
Waffling on where to go for 4 days before going to Italy. I was about pull the trigger in Austria because I remember seeing scenes in “Band of Brothers” that were supposed to take place there. But when I learned they actually shot them in Switzerland, I decided to move my trip visit Zürich, Luzern, Interlaken, Bern and few other places. Simply put, I find the backdrop of its mountains against lakes, woods, and pastures to be completely serene.
Location: Oberalpasse, Switzerland
Sensor: iPhone 4
The photo was taken our way up the Oberalpasse, a twisting road that made my knuckles turn white. Although the roads were immaculate, the knowledge that a 1000 foot drop was just a couple of feet away from my tires, made me concentrate on what was in front of me instead of what was all around me…. almost unreal landscapes. I finally managed to park on the side of the road to snap a few photos. This photo was taken with my iPhone. It reminded me of the opening scene from a Heidi movie, where you see her running out from her little house with a bucket, running around for while before finally making it to the running river and drinking straight from it.
Although I wish I had a DSLR with me, the resulting photo didn’t turn out too bad. The flaring doesn’t necessarily detract from the picture, although I do wish I had one to compare it to that removed the flaring. One has to look a bit closely to see that the structures are actually homes, and not some shacks.
Location: Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland
Sensor: Canon SD-700IS
This next photo was taken a few days later near Luzern. It was taken at top of a mountain called Mt. Pilatus, which means dragon. It was a crystal clear day, and we took the gondola to the top and as I was just exiting, I saw a couple of paragliders setting up and preparing to “take flight.” Once they did, they would traverse from one peak to another, I’m assuming to catch some up drafts. This photo was literally one of the first photo that I took, and I don’t think I took a photo that compared to this one the rest of the day. I took one photo with and one without the paraglider. I think the paraglider adds a sense of scale, freedom, and also just the right amount of color for contrast that the scene otherwise lacks.
This photo was also in my post “The Point and Shoots.”
