Waiting for the bus, out of season
Published on 5th December 2019
Blog posts about Thunersee
Lake Thun (German: Thunersee) is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. It takes its name from the city of Thun, on its north western shore.
The lake is fed by water from Lake Brienz to the south east, which lies 6 metres higher than Lake Thun, and various rivers in the Oberland, including the Kander. Lake Thun was created after the last ice age and was originally part of the historic combined Wendelsee (”The Spiral Lake”). Passenger ships have operated on the lake since 1835 and there are currently ten passenger ships in total, operated by the local railway company BLS Lötschbergbahn.
Steam rising from Lake Thun
Published on 26th October 2019
A new perspective – Faulensee
Short sequence of aerial views of Faulensee in Switzerland.
Published on 9th July 2018
Improving low-light drone photographs
A quick tip on how to get better image results from your Mavic drone in low-light conditions.
Published on 5th July 2018
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.
Published on 20th April 2018
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.
Published on 25th March 2018
Forever young
We’re incredibly lucky to live in such a beautiful place, and incredibly lucky to be able to enjoy the sight of the Blümlisalp paddle steamer, which passes our home every day in summer, hooting loudly as it arrives at the…
Published on 22nd August 2017
Firsts of August
1st August is Switzerland’s Bundestag (or federal day), so Jo and I usually take advantage of the day off work to celebrate our adopted home. Here are some photographic mementoes of the day trips we’ve made. Interlaken, 2006 Brienzer…
Published on 1st August 2017
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. Approaching Sundlauenen by ship St. Beatus Caves, Beatenberg Sundlauenen quarry The funicular from Beatenbucht to Beatenberg Traditional…
Published on 12th July 2017
Thunersee and Brienzersee – Pure Switzerland
The region I’ve been calling home for sixteen years.
Published on 2nd March 2017
Heaven is this
Sitting, cross-legged, a couple of arms’ length from the edge of a two-and-a-half-thousand foot drop to the valley floor, watching clouds drift across the lake into the distance.
Published on 18th December 2016
Gwatt lake shore, Thun
The shore of Lake Thun at Gwatt is a great place to photograph the sunrise and the sunset.
Published on 20th April 2016
Oberhofen Castle
A thousand-year-old castle on the lake shore near Thun, with wonderful gardens, terrific views, and a hideously ugly restaurant.
Published on 17th April 2016
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…
Published on 21st March 2016
Alpine Paradise – Beatenberg
Completely inappropriate to the season, but what the heck. A beautiful sequence of clips filmed – mainly with a drone – in and above Beatenberg, looking over the lake shores I call home. The film was made by Maximilian Eckmann whilst staying in…
Published on 11th February 2016
Below the water line
Low water levels in Lake Thun in winter reveal large expanses of foreshore.
Published on 25th January 2016
The wider angle
First shots with two new acquisitions: a super-wide lens and an RR90 shutter release cable.
Published on 22nd January 2016
In the shadow of the giants
The Niesen casts a clearly triangular shadow when the sun is low in the sky.
Published on 12th January 2016
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…
Published on 24th October 2015
Patrouille Suisse at Spiez, Switzerland
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
Lake Thun, Switzerland
Published on 21st July 2015
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…
Published on 27th June 2015
Faulensee, Switzerland
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
Bawald, Switzerland
The hike from Aeschiried to Brunni, high above Lake Thun, affords spectacular, panoramic views down to the lake, to Interlaken, and as far as Brienz.
Published on 17th May 2015
Faulensee, Switzerland
1st August is Switzerland’s national day, and fireworks and communal events are the norm. On Lake Thun, in the Bernese Oberland, the main ships of the local transport company parade around the lake and the surrounding villages time their…
Published on 17th May 2015
Unterbergli, Switzerland
At Unterbergli, on the way to the Sigriswiler Rothorn, there is a large meadow on the privately owned alp. Access is on foot only, and entails a 450m metre ascent of a pretty steep path through the forest. Once…
Published on 9th May 2015
Spitzi Flue, Switzerland
Spitzi Flue is the very Swiss-German-sounding name of a huge promotory of rock on the “Sigriswilgrat” (or mountain ridge). Although the rock looks a bit small in this photo, it’s actually the tip of a rockface around 500 metres high. (Compare…
Published on 9th May 2015
Sigriswil, Switzerland
I’d heard people refer many times to the “Niesenbänkli”, a bench on the slopes above Lake Thun which afforded the absolute best view from its northern side to the Niesen on the opposite shore. As the weather forecast was…
Published on 7th May 2015
Square landscapes with the X-T1
Where my love for the square image format comes from, and how it is achieved in the Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.
Published on 30th March 2015
Gwatt nature reserve, Thun
I just came across a short film I made in January and posted to YouTube at the time. Filmed with my X100 and edited quickly in iMovie, it shows the publicly accessible lake-shore nature reserve at Gwatt, some fifteen minutes’ drive…
Published on 10th December 2014
Schlächtenwald
There are plenty of little, almost unnoticeable roads around here, which lead up valleys and through forests to remote farm buildings and dead-ends. I like to pore over the Kümmerly + Frey maps – the Swiss equivalent of the British…
Published on 21st October 2014
Big old hill
One of the most challenging hikes I've done: up the steep and winding path through the forest from Beatenberg to the summit of the Niederhorn.
Published on 17th September 2014
Taking to the water
A group of canoeists, kayakers and stand up paddle-boarders in a range of coloured boats on Lake Thun this morning.
Published on 8th August 2014
The Swiss Pyramid
The triangular Niesen towers over the Lower Simmen Valley and the towns of Spiez and Faulensee, on the shores of Lake Thun in Switzerland. The glowing clouds behind the mountains in the distance aren’t illuminated by towns, but by lightning storms…
Published on 25th July 2014
Thunersee nature reserves
The Swiss aren’t generally as keen on nature reserves as the British. Despite the stupidly beautiful countryside, there are comparatively few places like RSPB reserves (over 200 in the U.K.) and the National Trust (who is the U.K.’s largest individual…
Published on 9th March 2014
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…
Published on 15th December 2013
Interlaken Golf Course
I took a walk up through the woods from Heimwehfluh, near Interlaken. The top of the walk, after half an hour or so of wheezing and muscle aching, was high above the end of Lake Thun. Aside from enjoying…
Published on 25th November 2013
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.
Published on 12th October 2013
Lightning on the calendar
One of my landscape photos is chosen for a 2014 calendar, complied from submissions from the Swiss Twitter community.
Published on 1st October 2013
Twalender 2014
Here in Switzerland, a few active photographic members of social media website Twitter have decided to pool their resources and initiate a calendar of Swiss photos for 2014, featuring photos from a Flickr group entitled “Twalender 2014”. (Kalender being…
Published on 20th August 2013