Thunersee and Brienzersee – Pure Switzerland
The region I’ve been calling home for sixteen years.
Brienz BE
I had the great pleasure of working in the small lakeside village on the shores of the turquoise-blue lake of the same name for over seven years, in the central Swiss region of canton Bern. Brienz is principally a traditional village, from the violin-makers’ school to a plethora of carpenters, joiners and woodwork artists. Busy in the summer with tourists travelling between Lucerne and Interlaken, and peaceful in the winter season, it’s high on my list of places to visit in the Bernese Oberland: not just for the quaint traditional feel but also as a great starting point for a boat trip along the lake, or a post bus trip up into the mountains.
Thunersee and Brienzersee – Pure Switzerland
Brienz, Switzerland
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.
RAW-format panoramic images at Permanent Tourist
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 ability to look at a scene in large levels of detail as it was many years ago. Since updating my…
Schongütsch, Switzerland
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 a little less “touristy”.
Brienzer Rothorn, Switzerland
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 Brienz. The view across to the larger peaks of the Jungfrau Region and down to the lake are quite spectacular,…
Funky Kitchen Club website
Remembering my work in 2008 on Swiss t.v.'s Funky Kitchen Club.
Sörenberg, Switzerland
The lesser-known northern flank of the Brienzer Rothorn, sloping sharply down to the skiing village of Sörenberg.
Ballenberg in autumn
Jo and I took a stroll around the Ballenberg open air museum on her birthday weekend a couple of weeks ago. The museum and its buildings are officially open to the public between April and October, but the site, its paths and woodlands are left accessible after the business closes up for the winter. It’s a lovely, quiet and ridiculously picturesque…
My basic Lightroom workflow
Adobe Lightroom is a boon to the photographer. With the introduction of intelligent repair tools, it has now entirely replaced Photoshop for me, and I can not only tweak photos but also re-edit them to quite a level of detail. One of the great features of Lightroom is the ability to save a group of settings as a “preset”…
Dan and Lili get married
Friends Dan and Lil were recently married in the glorious surroundings of the Giessbach Hotel. I was delighted to be able to take wedding photos for them. Here’s a small selection of my favourites from the day. More details of my wedding photography are over here.
Through the mists of time
The older I get, the more I come to recognize the way in which my photographs aid my memory. This is borne out by the way in which I can scroll back through my Lightroom catalogue of digital photos – currently topping 61,000 entries on two external hard drives, with more to be added from DVD backups – and be…
Remembering the floods from 2005
I drove through Brienz this weekend for the first time in a couple of years, and roadworks near the office where I used to work reminded me of the terrible events of August 2005.
New galleries online for Brienz and Spiez
The extensions and improvements to the Permanent Tourist website continue apace, with new galleries in the Photography section.
That chill in the air
The autumn fairs may be some time away yet, but the first day of September here in the Swiss Alps has arrived with the kind of chilled air which tells me that there is snow on the mountains.
Giessbach Falls, Brienz
A long exposure photograph of the Giessbach waterfall near Brienz in full torrent.
Spring on the way
Mist rising from the lake during the early morning in Brienz, Switzerland. Photograph taken in 2005.
Brienz Quay – print auction for Haiti
I am auctioning off a single print of one of my photographs to the highest bidder to support the earthquake victims in Haiti.
Permanent Tourist 2010 Calendar
It's been a hectic week and weekend, hence the delay in posting that I've released my 2010 calendar.
Ballenberg out of season
An autumn stroll around the Ballenberg open-air museum with Jo's parents.