NightGlow at Schwendisee, Ballontage Toggenburg

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The 6th International Ballooning day’s Toggenburg were between Friday morning the 25th and Sunday 27th September 2009 at Alp Sellamatt above Alt St. Johann. The weather conditions were OK and Hot Air Balloons from round the world enchanted the sky in the valley of Toggenburg. We went for the famous NightGlow at the Lake Schwendi. Twelve Hot [...]

Testing the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5 L USM Macro Lens on the Canon 5D Mark II

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The big advantage compared to the Canon 100m Macro is that you don’t have to be that close for a 1:1 shot. With this lens it’s easy to shoot insects like dragonflies or butterflies because you can be at a distance of about 0.5 m. Below are some example shots. As you can see the [...]

Arosa ClassicCar 2009

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The Arosa ClassicCar, a international car race from Langwies to Arosa was over the weekend of  10. to 13. September 2009. It is also called the “Monaco of the mountains”. It has grown in recent years, and is a event known across Switzerland and provides many highlights.
The event is listed in the national sports calendar (auto sport Switzerland) and in the international sports [...]

Testing the MP-E 65mm on the Canon 5D Mark II

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These are the first images I took with the new Canon MP-E 65mm lens. I read a lot about it and how difficult it is to focus because of the very shallow depth of field. And I must admit it is not that easy as I thought. Some pictures were taken with the MR-14EX Macro [...]

Palfries -> Alvier (2343m)

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A nice half day trip is from Palfries to the Alvier. It takes you about 2 hours to the summit.
 
Yes, you have to use this ladder to get to the top…
 
 
Nice view to the Walensee and perhaps the WC with the best view in the world.
 
Palfries -> Alvier Trip Details
More pictures in the gallery.

Panorama at the Säntis

Panorama Säntis

This is one of my panoramas I took on the summit of Säntis. It is a merge of 14 landscape pictures.
 Click here for the large version.

Sunrise at Säntis Summit

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This time in August the sunrise is at about 6:30 am. So we started at 5 to be ready for this event. The Mount Säntis is the highest peak in the Appenzell region (2502m).  From the summit you can see six countries and the view is breathtaking!
The easiest way to reach the top is by [...]

Impressions of the Fürstenfest 2009

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More pictures are in the gallery

Insect Macro Photography

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A mating couple

 I love the clean blurry background in the next two shots 
A  Hairy face

Lünersee – Roundtrip

Panorama Lünersee

Going around the lake takes about 2 hours. Last year we were 1 month earlier and there were large areas covered with snow. This time it was a lot warmer but still wonderful and relaxing.
I took 2 panoramas of the Lünersee reservoir. One panorama is a merge of about 5 pictures. They were stiched together in [...]