My second post in this series sees a visit to Grainau, just under the tallest mountain range in Germany. Today’s chosen film is Ilford FP4, in search of some light and contrast in some gloomy mountain weather.
Today’s post sees a short trip from Oberammergau to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (c. 40mins by bus) and a short train trip onwards towards Grainau, which is a small town (population c.3,500) at the foot of the Zugspitze mountain, the tallest in Germany.
The peak you can see in all the shots in this post is Waxenstein (2,277m), not to be confused with the Zugspitze (2,962m), which was just to the right. Actually the difference in height is quite large, although this mountain range looks enormous because it is so close to the town.
The film for this short post was Ilford FP4 125 shot on my Olympus XA2 camera.
Leaving Oberammergau enroute to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The cloudy day suited black & white film, although many of the photos are a bit flat and lacking contrast for my liking. Obligatory Bavarian hut photos from the train.
I quite like these shots, what they lack in contrast they make up for in multiple shades of grey.
Some pretty unusual murals on guest houses in this town!
That is some real mountain weather!
I took many (many!) shots of the mountain range, these are some of my favourite ones.
I had the pool and jacuzzi area to myself so no complaints there.
A typical Bavarian hut shot along the walk between Untergrainau (where the train station is) and Grainau.
The beer shot is taken on my iPhone - sacrilege…however, beer just looks better in colour!
Overall observations
Considering the cloudy weather and poor lighting, I am quite happy with how these came out. As I did not travel that far I can’t say there was that much to take in terms of good shots, which is why I took so many shots of the mountain range. Well, also because it was quite breathtaking to be staying right under such a large mountain range, it sure does make you feel very small. I think the film (Ilford FP4 125) performed well given the circumstances.
Next stop sees a trip to a hotel perched on the top of a mountain, so make sure you look out for that one!
Thanks for stopping by,
Neil
