The Village - hpd fotografy

Humans!

We are everywhere. Even in the most remote areas. And we have a tendency to build stuff. If that happens, nature usually has to leave and we change the landscape completely. But sometimes we don't over-do it and succeed in complementing (instead of eliminating) nature. Then, something beautiful can happen. I have tried to portrait some of those rare instances here.

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Living On An Island

Sakrisøy is one of the tiniest villages I have ever seen, just a few houses on a rock in the Fjord. It's one of my favorite spots on all of Lofoten. Here, I went for the classical view, in winter during a magical blue hour. Although I shot this many times, I am glad I came back here one last day for the best light ever.

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Hallstatt Residential

Hallstatt in Austria. Not the famous standard composition with the two churches, but just a residential neighborhood. It never stops to amaze me just how narrowly this village is squeezed in between the lake and the steep mountain.

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Dreaming of Hamnøy

The quaint micro-village of Hamnøy is one of the most picturesque villages on all of the Lofoten. Particularly this view is a Lofoten-classic and has probably been photographed by every photographer ever visiting the islands. I hope I can nonetheless add something new with my attempt.

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The Beauty of Austria

This view for me exemplifies the beauty of Austria. Not the highest and wildest mountains but this beautiful harmony of water, mountains, clouds and small homely villages.

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Golden Vernazza Sunset

Among the five villages of Cinque Terre, Vernazza is my favorite. I scouted around the village during the day to find the perfect sunset spot. Then, my wife and I had an early dinner in a very nice restaurant nearby and waited for the right time. About an hour before sunset, we went to the spot again, I set up tripod, camera, filters, remote shutter, etc and made a few test shots to be perfectly prepared for the right moment. In this kind of long-exposure photography, where every shot takes about one or two (sometimes even four) minutes, you have only about 3 or 4 shots until the show is over.

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The Other Side of Hallstatt

Since Hallstatt has become a Unesco World Heritage site, it has seen many visitors, especially in summer. And they all take that super-famous Hallstatt-shot, which you probably have seen many times on the internet. Just to keep things interesting, I thought, I'd shoot from the other side, and at another time. A long exposure early in the morning in January, deepest winter. Hope you like it.

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Fachwerkhäuser

The sun shining into a small alley with old half-timbered houses in Idstein, right in the middle of Germany.

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Dreaming of Reine

Probably the most famous view on all of Lofoten islands, and with good reason. The incredibly picturesque setting of Reine on Moskenesøya, the outermost island accessible by road. It has been photographed a million times. Here you see my interpretation: A cold and quiet winter afternoon when it was just late enough for the village lights to turn on but still quite some time before blue hour... what we started to call the 'pink hour' because of the sometimes almost eerie arctic winter light.

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Oia's Early Sunrise

The amazingly beautiful village of Oia on the Greek island of Santorini is world famous for its sunsets - not so much for its sunrises. Probably because you have to get up really early to catch them. However, if you go through the pain of getting up at 5:00 in the morning you might find that they are just as beautiful.

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Daily Commute

If you'd be a fisherman on Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, your daily commute would be like this.

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Hallstatt Classical

The classical view of Hallstatt. Uploaded to the internet a million times (at least). So I asked myself, how can I possibly add something new? For starters, I came in winter, and (of course) I waited for my favorite light which is at blue hour, just when the city lights turn on. And then there was the ferry. I noticed the little ferry boat already during the day and thought its lights might provide nice trails during blue hour. So I studied the schedule and came back to the right place at the right time ...

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Lofoten Winter Magic

If the weather isn't too bad (big IF there), the light in the arctic winter on Lofoten is just pure magic. Almost unbelievable. On some very special occasions, you not only have blue hours and golden hours but also, what we started to call the PINK hour. This image was taken early in the morning just at the transition time from the pink to the golden hour. I hope that magical atmosphere comes across...

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5 A.M. in Oia

Everybody comes to Oia for the sunset. I did, too. But not this time. This time I came for the sunRISE. As always, I tried to be early and have everything set up in time for the great moment. I was rewarded with this magical morning blue hour which might just have been even better than the sunrise later on.

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