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Of course, you could say that it is a bit late to talk about autumn in the end of December, but as the winter is long in coming this year, I hope it is okay. I have two reasons for that topic: First, the autumn was really fantastic this year, with all those colorful trees and leaves and also the weather was quite good. Second, which might be a consequence of point one, I made some photo trips within Dresden and the Saxon Switzerland to catch those great colors…
Loschwitz Bridge (Blaues Wunder) at Sunset
The Loschwitz Bridge is probably the most famous bridge of Dresden, which is normally called “Blaues Wunder” (Blue Wonder) due to its color (for more information, see Wikipedia). Its remarkable design and the great location within the Elbe meadows also make it a great spot for photography. I went to the terrace of the near funicular railway to get a good overview. If you have a closer look, you can also see the historic center of Dresden with the Church of our Lady in the Background. This spot was on my list for several years and I don’t know why it took so long to make it, but thanks to the weather conditions it was a very successful first try in my opinion!
Vineyard Chapel Pillnitz at Sunset
The second spot on my list was the little Vineyard Chapel in Dresden Pillnitz, which is located in the midst of vineyards and is therefore a very nice spot when autumn colors the vines’ leaves. It was a very spontaneous action where I decided to leave my office a little bit earlier because of the good weather forecast and the promising clouds. I arrived at the path above the vineyard just on time and the sunrise lived up to its promise. I especially like the different colors of the trees in those images.
Schrammsteine at Sunset
One of Dresden’s big benefits is the closeness to the Saxon Switzerland, which is a great place for hiking and with its sandstone rocks one of the most fascinating regions in Germany. However, though being so close to this great landscape, I did not much of photography there in the recent years. I think there are different reasons for that: First, I find it really difficult to find the motivation to get up really early during the weekends after a week of working, which would be necessary to catch the sunrise. Interestingly I have no problems with getting up early during holidays, but at home this is really different. Another point is that I try to photograph spots with a certain recognition value and sometimes I find it hard to identify such spots or views in the Saxon Switzerland. Of course, this isn’t correct and fails this beatiful region completely…
However, it leads to the fact that I only have been twice at the Bastei bridge, which is certainly the most famous (and also most frequented) spot in the Saxon Switzerland.
To overcome this “problem”, I started with another iconic location which is called Schrammsteine this autumn. You can reach the viewpoint in a very nice hike of about on hour, where you also have to climb some ladders (a tipical Saxonian “Stiege“). We started very late to arrive at the viewpoint in the late afternoon. Of course, we were not alone because of the nice weather, and several others also enjoyed the beautiful vista. Luckily, I was the first photographer on this afternoon and so I had enough time to find my place and to set up my tripod before the other photographers arrived. Again, the warm autumnal light was great and bathed the landscape in fantastic colors, especially during the golden hour, which was even better than the sunset itself. We stayed there until the sun was gone completely before we started our way back to the parking area with our head lamps.
Schrammsteine at Sunrise
Caused by the successful experience of the sunset I decided to make a second attempt and to try to photograph the sunrise at the same viewpoint. I really did not want to wake up at 04:00 a.m. on Sunday, wherefore I went there on Monday before work. After one hour of driving and another 45 minutes of hiking through the darkness, I reached the viewpoint. Here, a very nasty and cold wind welcomed me and my little dog (who had to accompany me, of course!) and made it a very cool (!) experience. Nevertheless, the first light of the day brought some really nice colors which remind me of the alpenglow in the mountains. The title picture of this post was also produced on this morning! Furthermore, it was really great to enjoy this place completely alone, which might be a rather rare experience!
In the end, when I finished taking photos and packed my equipment, a runner in shorts came by and clearly showed me that I’m a softy…
This was a rough and short summary of the photographic trips I made to Dresden and its surroundings during the autumn. You can find all pictures in my Germany | East Gallery. I hope that you like those pictures and that you were also able to enjoy this great time of the year!
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