I’ve written several times over the past 20 years about how important it is for me to find perfect photographic compositions when taking landscape photographs. Many people are more than happy with a wonderful views that they see when they’re travelling around with their camera but for me, it’s much more important to get the precise view that I have in my head. The enjoyment ranges from poring over maps (online and off) and researching classic landscape photography tomes to finding a gap in the trees, even hiking to a distant hilltop or even simply walking back and forth along a path to get just the right composition.
Many of the times I’ve written about such viewpoints have been for my blog series Photographic viewpoints in Switzerland, and I have found many examples down the years: whether near Vevey, in Grindelwald, or at the top end of a strenuous hike. I even overcome my prejudice against “tourist views” from time to time and visit a well-known viewpoint…but even there, there’s often a right angle and the wrong angle.
I was delighted after many years to finally be able to find the precise view that I have been looking for at Wengen this weekend. There are countless views from this village online, which look down over the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and I’ve come away with some photos I really like each time we’ve visited. Any view from this village is pretty spectacular, but taking a steep walk up the mountain towards Leiterhorn, I knew that there was a view which has just the right balance of distant mountains, a detailed view of the valley floor, and trees, chalets or barns in precisely the right combination for foreground interest.
This view has been appearing in Google search results increasingly over the past 10 years or so in various combinations, but every now and again, I see exactly the view that I’ve been looking for. Perfect autumn weather conditions on Saturday led us to take the train up to Wengen and walk onto the mountain side to try and find that exact viewpoint.
After a very pleasant walk to the highest point with several breaks on scenic benches, the last of which was underneath overhanging trees with a marvellous view of a historic house, farm workers in the meadow in the foreground, and far-reaching views down to Lauterbrunnen, Stechelberg and the mountains beyond. On the walk from this point back to the village, I took a short diversion along a track to the edge of private property, where the most opportune view seemed to be. I was very pleased to finally find the exactly the right spot and with the choice of a traditional 4 x 5 in-camera crop and a very precise alignment to avoid getting an inconvenient fence in my shot, I clicked my shutter. The combination of houses in the foreground, the perspective of shadows in the slightly hazy air, and the snowy mountains in the background all combined with the wonderful autumn colour to allow me to get my shot at last.
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