Photography of Emil Kepko

As you’ve noticed, I took a lot of pictures in Switzerland! Most of these remaining pictures come from the Lauterbrunnen valley area, including the towns of Mürren and Gimmelwald, with a few from Niederhorn and Beatenberg on the other side of the lake.

The walk from Mürren to Gimmelwald is about the most beautiful in the world. On one side, a stunning vista of Jungfrau in the foreground, with Eiger and Mönch behind. It’s so overwhelming you forget that on the other side is a beautiful view of Schilthorn. Gimmelwald is a charming farming village, well worth a visit, while Mürren is a beautiful ski village, with several decks where you can order cocoa and sit in awe of the view.

The best picture I got (above) of the Lauterbrunnen valley was going down the cable car. I walked around the town trying to find somewhere to get the last rays of sunlight shooting through the valley, but never did find a spot. The towering cliffs and waterfall are very reminiscent of Yosemite.

Gallery of Mürren/Gimmelwald pic.

While walking through Interlaken the first night I was quite surprised to see Paragliders swooping down from the Neiderhorn area, to land in the park. The next day up on the Niederhorn I found where they were taking off, and watched them run off the mountaintop into the valley. Just a step or two and up they went. They were also up on Schilthorn the next day, and swooped down over Mürren, with Jungfrau and the Eiger as backdrops.

While up on Neiderhorn, the gliders would sometimes cross right in front of the three primary peaks: Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. I waited and waited for them to fly across… The photo at the top has all three (L to R), with Jungfraujoch right above the chute.

As with most of the photos high up in the mountains this trip, I struggled with the white balance (too blue), but thankfully many photos are best in black & white.

Paraglider gallery here.

In addition to being a much-needed and wonderful vacation, my latest trip to Switzerland was a photographic success.  I was very lucky to capture photos of a moonrise over the Eiger. On our way to the train station to take us back down into the valley below, we stopped at a cafe for some cocoa and apple strudel. I had zoomed all the way into the Eiger’s north face to see if I could pick out the windows of the Jungfrau railway carved into the side, when I had an”oh my god!” moment. The moon had just risen above the peak! I quickly snapped off a few dozen pictures. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Smugmug slideshow (6 pics).

The Jungfrau railway windows, btw, can be seen near the middle of most of photos. Look for the thickest slab of snow, that appears to rest on top of a cliff. The windows are just below.

Here are some photos from last fall (2011) that I never managed to upload. The black and white at left (1600 ISO, 1/4 s) was taken very early in the morning, before the sun had risen. Didn’t work well in color, but the graininess in black and white adds nice texture. (Those are snow geese, performing their ritual predawn flight). It is similar to the shot from last weekend, but a bit more zoomed in under slightly better lighting conditions.

The final two photos below are shots I saw coming and planned for. Standing on the side of the pool with the sun directly behind me, I could see a group of avocets moving from left to right. Within a few minutes they had moved into an area of the water reflecting the fall foliage on the opposite bank. A beautiful contrast between the rather plain birds, strong red, green and yellow colors of the leaves, and the water trails left behind.