2020 Retrospective – Winter into Spring
The first part of my personal retrospective of a year which – to my eternal relief – wasn’t as bad on a personal level as it could easily have been.
Read morePosts about Faulensee
Faulensee is a small village tucked into the curve of the shore of Lake Thun between Interlaken and Spiez. It’s a thirty minute walk from both the town centre and the harbour in Spiez. The village affords really spectacular views across the lake to the Niederhorn and to Interlaken.
The memory moon
When the full (-ish) moon rises above Interlaken at this time of year, it always reminds me of a photo my Dad took in south Wales many years ago, where the reflection wasn’t on a lake but on the smooth surface of the sea off the coast of Freshwater East.
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Biking along the lake
I bought a bike because it’s fun, it will improve my fitness rapidly – thereby helping me to get ready for hiking season – and because it means that I don’t have to rely on public transport or on my car for my daily trip to work and back. It also allows me to enjoy the local scenery more; getting me further more quickly than on foot.
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Technical case study: simple, invisible language switching
Using a website visitor’s browser settings to seamlessly display content in a language they can understand.
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A new perspective – Faulensee
Short sequence of aerial views of Faulensee in Switzerland.
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Using a church to tell the time
After so many years in Switzerland, we rely on the quarter-hourly chiming of the nearest church bell to know what the time is. Or, if we’re enjoying a summer evening, quickly looking across to the other side of the village.
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Using a drone subtly
Using a drone isn’t all about “aerial photography”, but, for me, about the ability to get better angles for photos which are otherwise out of reach.
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Aerial photography with the Mavic Air
After a lot of deliberation, a few months’ saving, and a lot of review videos and articles, I decided to buy a drone.
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Sundlauenen to Merligen
Catching the ship from Faulensee to Sundlauenen, hiking through the forest past St. Beatus Caves to Merligen, and then home by paddle steamer.
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A fresh eye
This year’s aim: see new places and try new things. Close to home, this means going out from home and documenting the village where I live as much as possible. Despite living here for nearly five years, the only parts of Faulensee I’ve really photographed have been the views from above the village or from home.
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Below the water line
Low water levels in Lake Thun in winter reveal large expanses of foreshore.
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Blow-up boating on Lake Thun
Jo found that because we’d saved so many points on our supermarket card, that we could “afford” a kayak using points alone. A few days later, and a large and heavy cardboard box arrived on the post woman’s scooter trailer and we had our dinghy: an Intex Challenger K2.
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The swallows’ viewpoint
Our regular swallow visitors have a preferred perch above the area around our house. And it’s just a few metres from our balcony.
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Faulensee to Meielisalp
In which we start the hiking season as early as we possibly can, with the longest route we’ve done to date.
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What the Swiss keep in their barns and cellars
A short film by Rick Steves about the unexpected artillery behind closed barn doors, and the overly-secure cellar bomb shelters beneath almost every Swiss home. The main installation featured is the Artilleriewerk Faulensee at the end of our road.
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Filming from the air
Sitting at my computer this afternoon, I spot, out of the window, a yellow plane droning lazily around above the village. Not a full-sized plane but a metre-long radio-controlled model, with a GoPro camera attached, filming today’s glorious winter day on the lake. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos for the pilot and chatting […]
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Photos at Getty Images
I’m proud that international picture agency Getty Images invited me to submit photos for their Flickr Collection a couple of years ago. Since then, I get the occasional request to add more and my small set now numbers 52 photos, with a dozen or so more currently awaiting approval. Although the percentage that I get […]
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And so it begins
Just as summer arrived in the Bernese Oberland late this year, so the first snow fall has arrived early. But that’s OK: the sun is shining and it looks beautiful.
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