landscapes

Misconceptions about wildlife photography /  by Arne Bischoff

There is this common misconception about wildlife photography that you grab your camera, go out, press the shutter and come back with beautiful images of elusive birds. More often that not, it's the complete opposite. When you live in Germany, there is not a lot of wildlife around. Most of its so called nature is agricultural wastelands. Even the remaining stretches of nature are too small and too scattered to support wildlife in strong numbers. An immeasurable amount of streets are cutting each and every habitat to pieces.

In spite of all this, sometimes I fall under this spell myself. When I am sitting in my office chair, doing my day to day work and dreaming away to what I gonna do this weekend. In this daydreaming, I imagine perfect light, beautiful nature, no people, but a lot of wildlife.

With exactly this idea in mind, I went to the mountain range nearby to see at least one day of winter. It was mid-February. In the flatlands where I live, there has been not a single snowflake all season. The local Harz mountains did not disappoint. I had a wonderful day out, with snow and sunshine. All went to plan. I have scarcely seen any animals though, a raven, a crossbill, a woodpecker, but it was a great day nonetheless. I have been lucky. To have a day out is what really matters. If you get your image, fine. If not, consider yourself lucky anyways. It’s a process.

Swiss-Alps paradise /  by Arne Bischoff

Heading into holidays always fills me with great expectations. What will I see, what will I experience and - since I started photographing wildlife - which images will I be able to capture? This was correct for my last trip as well, all the more because I know the eastern parts of the Alps and South Tyrol quite well but the more west I go, the more blind this spot is to me.

Live with a view!

Entering Valais! My loved one found this beautiful mountain hut (a Maiensäss) sitting just below 2,000 m of altitude and making for a wonderful accommodation. Italy is near, the coffee is great, and the apricot juice is exceptional. Our host, Roberto was simply the best we could wish for and the view from our balcony is nothing short of breathtaking. Gazing across the Rhône valley you see 4,000 m summits like pearls: Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn, Bishorn, Dent Blanche, Matterhorn, Breithorn, Liskamm and towering above all - Dofourspitze.

The northern side of the Rhône valley - facing south, sunny, dry, warm - may be a little less spectacular, but it is really beautiful as well. Beautiful as long as you can either ignore or flee the abomination of ski tourism.

What a scenery! From Weisshorn (left) to Liskamm (right).

But flee it, you can and as soon as you leave the well-trodden and perfectly shaped tourist tracks, you’re not only getting rid of all the waste they leave behind, but you gain beautiful valleys, little mountain paths and a surprisingly vivid wildlife.

The author just below the summit of Trubelstock.
📷 by Nicole | Instagram: Apples ‘n’ Pears Interior

May it be, because there is less hunting here than say in Tyrol, may it be out of sheer luck, I do not know. But I have seen so much wildlife with so little effort, it was astounding. One memorable day, I have seen as many as twelve ravens patrolling the slopes, some of them trolling a golden eagle. I witnessed a marmot sunbathing on a free-standing cliff, just to come back three hours later to find the same individual at the very same spot. I breathlessly watched the reckless flight of dozens of alpine swifts that were so close, I wondered if I could have touched them, would they have flown just a little slower. For the first time ever, I realised that the original habitat of a black redstart is not the city but the rocky slopes of the high alpine. Falcon were hunting in huge numbers. Further down, the grey-headed woodpecker was constantly laughing and more than once two bearded vultures were slowly and effortlessly patrolling the valleys and meadows for carrion. A phenomenal experience.

A marmot enjoying the summer sun.

Did I take my pictures? Nearly none. I quickly learned that carrying a big camera in the backpack up those hills was not only exhausting, but useless. Before I dropped the pack, opened it, grabbed the camera and made it ready - the moment was gone. On the other hand, carrying it over the shoulder made walking and hiking so much less fun. So, my trusted binoculars became the only piece of optics that I chose to carry. Moving fast and light in alpine terrain is even more fun than photography. So not much to show off here, but many an image I carry with me in the most analogue of fashions. In my memories.

Lovers kissing. Rokk - rokk!

Valais more than met my expectations. It was marvellous. I will definitely come back. With more time to spend and more patience for photography. And on the note of coming back - we came via Strasbourg and spent a night there. What a remarkably beautiful city, but at least in August heavily burdened with overtourism. When you drive south from Strasbourg, you pass the Grand Ried, where “it is still possible to discover the biodiversity which used to exist when the Grand Ried was wild and the Rhine was not canalised.” (src: wikipedia) - seems like a great plan!

La liste: Spotted nutcracker, Golden eagle, Common raven, Coal tit, Black redstart, White wagtail, House sparrow, Grey-headed woodpecker, Great spotted woodpecker, Mistle thrush, Northern wheatear, Water pipit, Bearded vulture, Common kestrel, Peregrine falcon, Alpine chough, Alpine swift, Marmot, Stoat, Common buzzard, Red kite, Hawfinch, Common chaffinch, Greenfinch, Red crossbill, Common redpoll, Squirrel, Hérens cattle, Valais Blacknose, Braunvieh, Eurasian hobby, Common house martin, Red fox, Lesser spotted woodpecker, Eurasian crag martin, Eurasian jay, Meadow pipit, Common starling, White stork.