Posts tagged with “Big Wide World” relate to my permanently-ongoing panoramic photography project.
A small mountain cabin overlooking the Bluemental valley serves as a restaurant for hikers in the summer and for skiiers in winter. Between seasons, when the restaurant is closed, the spot is a blissfully peaceful point on the mountain, to…
Published on 21st June 2017
The fishing village of St. Ives is no longer a village. Its character changed in the second half of the nineteenth century, when fishing declined and the new railway brought the first artists. These days, the town is mobbed by tourists and most…
Published on 15th February 2017
The small tidal island off the coast of southern Cornwall called St. Michael’s Mount has been home to the St. Aubyn family since the middle of the sixteenth century. The island, which is connected to the nearby mainland by a man-made…
Published on 15th February 2017
Burgh Island, off the coast of Devon, was re-christened by Agatha Christie in 1941 for her famous Hercule Poirot novel “Evil Under The Sun”.
Published on 13th August 2016
I’ve never been one for sitting around at lunchtime. Give me time to do nothing, either during the day or in the evening, and I’ll end up dozing off. I like to use the midday hour for something productive; whether…
Published on 13th November 2015
Ever on the search for “perfect” viewpoints in the Bernese Oberland, I sometimes end up driving up tiny roads in the hope that they’ll lead me to a new photograph. A (luckily tarmaced) single-track road, for which you have to…
Published on 10th November 2015
Going through my photo archives, I sometimes come across images from long ago which I’d forgotten about. This view of the lake next to the office where I used to work dates back to December 2006.
Published on 7th November 2015
I visited the English Peak District for the first time this autumn and was much impressed. After many years of visiting the dramatic Lake District, a little further north, I’d been worried that the landscape would be tame in comparison,…
Published on 4th November 2015
I follow a couple of photographers and film-makers who post images and sequences from the English Lake District to their social media channels. Jason Chambers’ landscape photos are terrific and make me want to visit the region even more often,…
Published on 3rd November 2015
Part of the joy of photography for me is the ability to travel in time. Not like Marty and the Doc in my favourite ever films, which celebrated a big milestone a few days ago, but in the…
Published on 24th October 2015
Kiental is known both locally in the Bernese Oberland and further afield as a destination from which to start hiking into the high mountains around the Blüemlisalp. It’s also a popular destination for locals to go skiing and sledging in…
Published on 23rd October 2015
Instead of heading up from the top train station along the tourist track to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn, turn left instead and follow the clear footpath to Schongütsch. The views are just as spectacular, but the experience is…
Published on 18th September 2015
The Brienzer Rothorn is the tallest mountain on the northern side of Lake Brienz. The peak is accessible – in summer and autumn only – by a cable car from Sörenberg and by an open-sided, oil-powered steam railway from…
Published on 17th September 2015
I started a website project in May, featuring the panoramic photographs I’m taking for an ongoing personal project I call Big Wide World. I designed the website from scratch and added new technology – like a map view and a better…
Published on 17th September 2015
I used to visit the Bödelibad leisure centre regularly. Before I had a car, I used to catch the train to Interlaken West station and walk from there. The route takes you along the river Aare, forming the border…
Published on 5th August 2015
Pfingstegg, on an elevated ledge amongst the southern cliff faces in the Grindelwald valley, is the starting point for a great hike. The path is less well-trodden than the easier and more popular routes on Männlichen and First, but offers…
Published on 4th August 2015
The lake side town of Spiez, between Thun and Interlaken, celebrates the summer with a festival every second year. (On alternate years, the same celebration is held in Thun.) This year, the Swiss aerial display team Patrouille Suisse put…
Published on 2nd August 2015
Kayaking on the ridiculously turquoise waters of Lake Brienz in Switzerland.
Published on 21st July 2015
Published on 21st July 2015
The Jungfraujoch is the prime tourist destination in Switzerland’s Jungfrau region. High atop a mountain “saddle” between the Mönch and Jungfrau peaks, it’s accessible by taking a cog-wheel train which makes its way to the summit through a tunnel…
Published on 12th July 2015
Bachalp is an area of the mountains which ring the northern side of the Grindelwald valley. It’s a popular tourist destination, as its fairly easy to reach on foot in around 45 minutes from the cable car station at First. Hardier…
Published on 12th July 2015
The Furka Pass, between Gletsch in canton Wallis and Realp in canton Uri, is one of the high alpine pass routes, only open between June and (approximately) October because of heavy winter snow falls in the region. The pass road is well…
Published on 11th July 2015
The castle at Aigle, near the western end of the Valais, was originally two fortifications. It’s a picture-book scene, but harks back to serious use in the fifteenth century, when it was already over two hundred years old. Today, it…
Published on 11th July 2015
This meadow is on the hiking route between Sulwald, above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and the heights of Bällehöchst and Höji-Sulegg. It’s a steep hike to get here, and even more so to get to the nearby peaks, but the view…
Published on 11th July 2015
At the end of a long afternoon’s drive from home, via Kandersteg, Brig, the Simplon Pass and a very narrow and windy road through the Ticinese mountains, we arrived at Locarno, on the shores of Lago Maggiore, just in time…
Published on 10th July 2015
The border between Switzerland and Italy lies along the alpine chain, and there are several roads which cross the border from north to south. But there are naturally many other places where one can cross the border with a little…
Published on 5th July 2015
The lake at Bachalp, around 45 minutes’ walk from the First mountain restaurant above Grindelwald, is well-known from tourist photographs, given that its refection on a calm day contains some of the highest and most striking peaks in the region. But…
Published on 1st July 2015
The Melchsee is a lake in the mountains, tucked away in the lee of a range of peaks between Meiringen and Engelberg. Nearby, the smaller stretch of water called Blauseeli (little blue lake) is a haven for frogs after the…
Published on 26th June 2015
Rain clouds gathering over the Jura mountains, before coursing down to Lake Neuchâtel, near the unofficial border between French- and German-speaking Switzerland.
Published on 26th June 2015
Deep amongst the mountains which form a natural boundary between the northern and southern sides of the Alps, Airolo sits below the old, snaking Gotthard Pass road. The intrepid northern motorway motorist heading south for the sun arrives in Airolo gratefully,…
Published on 25th June 2015
It’s always good to be near water when there is a special sunset going on. Here, a partially cloudy day ended with a drawn-out bang as the sun poked beneath the clouds. Tthe misty glow to the left of the…
Published on 23rd June 2015
There are magnificent landscapes in Switzerland, to be sure. But amongst the mountain peaks and valleys, there are still some exceptional sites. This one, known as the Glarus Overthrust, is a geological wonder on the borders of canton Glarus and…
Published on 10th June 2015
This view may look like winter or spring, but the photograph was taken in June 2012. The Swiss alpine passes – here at Grimsel – are largely between 1,500 and 2,500 metres above sea level, and their location in the depths…
Published on 10th June 2015
The pyramidal peak of the Niesen, in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, towers over the surrounding countryside. It heads a range of mountains leading from Adelboden and Lenk and is the “Hausberg” (home mountain) of Spiez and the Lower Simmen…
Published on 1st June 2015
The hotel, station and television transmission relay tower on top of the Rigi mountain in central Switzerland. I love how this turned out: it looks like a model railway, but is, in fact, a real mountain peak.
Published on 31st May 2015
The Untertorbrücke is one of the oldest bridges in Bern, crossing the river Aare. The first bridge was built of wood on this site and opened in 1256, and was replaced in 1489 by a more substantial, fortified stone version. It…
Published on 30th May 2015
My friend Habi and I have launched a new website for our panoramic photography: Big Wide World.
Published on 30th May 2015
Paradeplatz in Zürich is a central tram stop, where several lines come together under the watchful eyes of bank headquarters. Here, fresh rain and the addition of Christmas lighting lit up the square to provide a festive scene.
Published on 28th May 2015
The views from the immense vineyards along the northern shore of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) are pretty spectacular, no matter what time of day. At dusk, in early summer, the lights of the town of Vevey and Montreux twinkle in…
Published on 28th May 2015
Helicopters are a common sight in Switzerland, in particular when you’re hiking on the higher peaks of the alpine region. Here, a tourist helicopter passes in front of the Matthorn peak, near the summit of Pilatus.
Published on 28th May 2015
