Spring tour through the Bavarian Prealps

A wide spectrum of green tones, from the delicate fresh green of young leaf shoots to the rich dark green of firs and spruces, covers the Bavarian Prealps in spring 2018. Lake Kochel blends harmoniously into the image of this clear, light-flooded landscape with its turquoise water. Since there is still a lot of old snow in the mountains, the Bavarian Prealps are rewarding destinations for the first hikes in spring. The roads and hiking trails are therefore already very busy on this Sunday morning. 

On this day, I’m drawn to the Simetsberg, where I later enjoy the sun and the view of the Karwendel mountains and the Wetterstein on the south-facing summit meadow. After this short warm-up tour, I let the day wind down at Lake Gerold, where I’m hoping for a colourful sunset and would also like to photograph the moonrise – because it’s a full moon. Lake Gerold is always worth a visit. It’s a popular swimming lake, but the panorama of the Soiern Group, the Karwendel mountains and Wetterstein alone always attracts many photographers. The hummocky meadows above the lake offer good vantage points. Especially at sunrise or sunset, you can almost always see the photographers’ tripods standing from afar. 

But the view to the west towards the snow-capped peaks of Alpspitze, Zugspitze and Waxenstein, glowing in the last evening light, was also simply impressive that evening. At the time of the moonrise, which was supposed to take place exactly in the gap between the Soiern Group and Karwendel, clouds unfortunately still drifted by.

If the full moon were to move higher above the horizon, its luminosity would already be so strong that the contrast to the dark landscape would become too great. Only multiple exposure and post-processing can then capture the full dynamic range. Later, however, the composition would no longer be as attractive. Therefore, I head back to the car. Suddenly, however, a window in the clouds opens for a short time and allows me a glimpse of the full moon after all.