Time for a landscape photograph in colour again! This photograph features an alpine mountain river that runs down from the Swiss Alps in the background. The main mountain in the back is Piz Tavrü. Piz Tavrü is a mountain that is part of the Sesvenna mountain range. It is situated just north of the Ofen pass. In the foreground, you see a pine tree forest and the rocks of the river bed. It was very close to sunset. As a result, the Alps and a part of the forest are nicely warmed by last light.
Alpine mountain river sunset
A mountain landscape, featuring an alpine mountain river in the Swiss National Park flowing down from the Alps at sunset.
This alpine mountain river was photographed in the Swiss National Park in Graubünden in Switzerland. The Swiss National Park is a great place to be for landscape photographers, especially in late spring and autumn. Plenty of great hiking trails and loads of unspoiled scenery and wildlife at hand!
I captured this photograph with my 14-24 f/2.8 wide-angle lens. Shot it at 14mm to give a lot of depth to the image. No filters were used (quite an investment for the 14-24 lens used). I had two alternative captures of this scene. One with and one without that old tree trunk to the right. I opted for the one with the tree trunk. Think the trunk balances the composition a bit. Was I right?
Cheers, Johan 🙂
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This mountain landscape is part of our Mountains & Hills landscape photography theme. You will find many more photographs of the Swiss mountains there as well as mountain landscapes from other parts of the world, including:
Please visit our Swiss Landscape Photography portfolio if you prefer to see photographs from Switzerland only. Alternatively, check out our Waterfalls & River Rapids photography theme to find more photographs of mountain rivers.
¡ Que paisaje ! es alucinante, espectacular , maravilloso ,no encuentro palabras para poder describirlo ,Johan . Gracias por compartirlo .
Muchas gracias Teresa!
Johan Peijnenburg
such a wonderful image..do u have a tutorial on the same? the light everyting looks fabulous..i am always wondering whether this output can be achieved from a camera..can u say about the processing done?
thank you! Actually I haven’t done a lot of processing on this one 🙂 You can get this out of a good camera. You might need to use a gradient filter though as the sky is a lot brighter than the foreground. The most important thing is to shoot at the right time of day. This was shot just before the sun went down 🙂
tanku 🙂
Fantastic. I can’t decide which part of the pic I like best.
thank you! Everything maybe?
Lol, Johan, I do like it all, but my eye goes immediately to the movement of the water and the bluish grey of the rocks. But when I finally look up from that and see the mountain, I’m, like, whoa! It’s just an all-around great shot. Congratz.
Wow!!! Cudowne;, kadr, kolorystyka, użyty czas, światło!!!
Thank you. I understood the “wow”. The rest you will have to explain 😉
Excellent shot, reminds of the Rockies, I can just imagine what this would look like during spring run off.
Thanks! A pretty amazing load of water comes down this in Spring Trever! I miss the rockies :)
Fabulous shot
Muchos gracias Javier 😀
Fantastic!
Thank you and nice to meet you Carola :)
Awesome picture !!! I loved especially the way of water ! between stones it looks great !
thanks. One of my favourite shooting areas 🙂
@Myrna: thanks Myrna!
@Hans: a dream I live in. I am a very lucky man! Thanks Hans!
fantastic .. just .. fantastic
And what a scenery .. aaaah dream
whish…love the processing my friend! :-D
Johan Peijnenburg, a wonderful perspective and composition.
Many thanks Markus !!
Beautiful. Love the down low perspective.
Thanks again Kerry !
@Yasmin: ok ok posted again now. Just for you 😉
@David: thank you for the compliment!
Love the low POV in this image
Missing more of your stunning art, dear Johan … :)
Masterful work with exposure/light. The balance between sun and shade is exquisite. Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend~!
Thanks Michael! Hope you are enjoying yours as well!
@Jens: thanks Jens and nice to see you around again 🙂
@shane: many thanks Shane!
@Suzie: thanks for the very kind words. Glad you like it and that it is useful to you 😀
Stunning image, specially for amateur photographers like me, just to see such images is a teaching lesson in itself, also reading all the discussions is again a learning process!
gorgeous! love that water flow and the light hitting the pea
Lovely low viewpoint!
@Paul: thanks and thanks for the share. Just circled that page!
@Robin-Angelo: thank you Robin-Angelo. That is very nice to hear!
@Margaret: thanks again Margaret! Hope all is well?
All is well Johan, especially when I can enjoy one of your masterpieces!!
😀 Margaret
Too busy shooting to post a new one now. Hopefully in the course of the week!
Incredibly beautiful!! I love that white water and the angle that you used!! The colour is awesome my friend!!
I love the composition that you choosed. Nice job
Splendide
@Fabio: many thanks for the compliment and the feedback Fabio!
@Robert: danke vielmals Robert! Really nice yes and very close to Austria as well!
Very clever perspective, and an excellent exposure!
hey David. Thanks for the kind words+
Your welcome, and that sounds good Johan
Great photo and wonderful area! Johan
congrats for the PhotoExtract! Really deserved, Johan! I think the trunk adds nicely to the compo.
Wow, what a shot, Johan. Full speed ahead! :)
good to see you back Tom. Thanks. Hope all has settled down a bit 🙂
Beautiful work! Nice rocks details and movement. ☺
Thanks Aileen :D
Lovely shot Johan ;-)
Well thank you John :)
Always a pleasure Johan ;-)
@Nora: many thanks Nora. Nice to see you around again 😀
@Людмила Танасевская-Караваева: thank you+
Very, very ..
love the light on the tip of the mountain, great shot Johan :)
@Kurt: thank you! Me too 🙂
@Paul: thank for the feedback and compliment Paul!
@Rigober: merci Rigobert!
@Alexandre: many thanks !
Very good, very good, Johan Peijnenburg
Magnifique photo, bravo Johan Peijnenburg !
Fabulous shot Johan. Like how the water leads my eyes to the peaks. Superb framed!
Yum. I love places like this. Wonderful capture Johan! My kinda place. 🙂
Tremendous POV here, well done and grand to “meet you” via the wonder of G+ and a share I received just now.
thank you for the very kind words and nice to “meet you” as well 🙂
Greats shot Johan!
Thanks a bunch Sumit!
Congrats, Mr. Peijnenburg! This was a must! :-)
Well thank you Wilfried! It’s always nice to be in there :D
congratulations on getting on the top 10! :-)
Thank you Elena :D
@John Dunne: thank John! Yes, was tempted to remove it but liked it as is 🙂
@David Orr: many thanks David!
Breathtaking capture !!
Beautiful vista Johan. Just a hint of a cloud at the edge of the frame :-)
Yes it does sound like our national parks. I just wish we had more of them, although the area where I live does a good job with local parks and has plots of land set aside for nature to take over. These places are so much fun to visit.
Same here Meg. There could be more, but that will be just a matter of time 😀
@Mikko: thanks Mikko. Nice parallel 😀
@Debby: 😀 Thanks!
Congratulations on making Jarek Klimek’s top 3 again Johan :-)
absolultey stunnig! water dragon try capture a mountain.. 🙂 very beautiful!
@Shawn: glad you like it!
@Hengki: thanks! To the point as always 😀
@Daniel: many thanks Daniel!
@Jim: the feedback is highly appreciated Jim! Thanks!
@Sandy: glad you like it and thanks for the feedback!
@Johan: thank you! Highly appreciated!
@Anette: you are so high-tech 😉
Always Johan 😀
Love this low angle Johan – agree with your choice. Very nice work.
Wonderful and good choice on the tree trunk, Johan!
Love the composition and how the river leads to the peak. Very nice!
Beautiful landscape scene!
Go with the flow
Love the stream-level perspective on this…
@Sophie: many thanks Sophie!
@Andrew: thanks for the very kind words Andrew! I always hate it when I have to leave the park again!
@Anette: thank 😀 An loads of wildlife as well 😉 Aren’t you on hols?
@Jean-Michel: merci! Very kind words and yes I am very very lucky!
@Emanuele: glad you like it Emanuele!
@Meg: thank you. It is very nice. I guess it is a lot like the national parks in the US. There is just one road in the middle of the park, from which many hikes depart, no houses and they let nature to its thing basically 😀
OMG that details are freakin amazing Johan, and love the light and comp. I would love to just wonder along the stream. Great image.
Love this Pov Johan !!
Superb photo of landscape and great light captured Johan ! Beautiful!
I like the skilful composition : the foreground pretty stones and the background sweet light. How lucky you are to live in the Alps, this paradise for photographers ! :-))
Looks beautiful Johan
Wonderful capture Johan, It looks like a great park for picture hunting :)
Thank Matthias! I can relate to that feeling. I have the same when I am taking them 😀
@Bernhard: thank you and nice to meet you!
it´s a beautiful landscape!
your pictures always give me the feeling of vacation Johan 🙂 just great!
Many thanks Milena and Sinead :D
Wow! What a view! I really love the composition and the light. Great work (as always)!
Amazing work!
Speaking of gorgeous LE photos! 🙂
You obviously timed out the light perfectly. I wouldn’t have guessed you could capture this beautiful scene without a filter. Wow!
Thank you Jerry 😀 Yes, waited a while for the sun to hit the mountains and being in the shade gave me the exposure time I wanted.
BTW – I think you made the right decision to include the tree trunk. I think it helps to bring the small side stream into the scene.
Thanks for the feedback Jerry !
@Dalibor: glad you like it Dalibor 😀
@Peter : make it work Peter! 🙂
@Dominique: thanks Dominique! Nah had the big stopper on me, but this was the effect I was after. Nicely dynamic 😀
@Andy: thanks for the nice feedback Andy! Yes this river goes wild when the white stuff gets to deal with warm weather in sprig. I was there 2 weeks before I took this shot as well and the river was almost full then!
@Wilfried: thanks for the kind words Wilfried! Looking forward to haunt rivers like this with you again 😀
@Jany: thank you Jany!!
@Christof: glad you like it Christof! And thanks for the feedback. Yes these rivers go wild in Spring!
@peter paul: thanks! Appreciated!
@Julia Anna: I surely am 😀 Thanks for the feedback! Glad you like it!
@Chris: many thanks Chris! Unfortunately I didn’t move any closer. I already was at a spot I shouldn’t be 🙂
@Nikola: dank je wel man 🙂 Thanks!
@Ada: thank you. It was 😀
@Michael: thanks and thanks for the feedback!
@Stefanie: thank you. Appreciated!
Nicely balanced composition Johan! I wonder if the river bed, which seems so broad, actually fills during spring runoff, or is this the remnant of receding glaciers?
Beautiful capture Johan!
In fact I suppose you lost your Big Stopper during the hike and you are ashamed of telling us the truth 😉 lol
beautiful Johan Peijnenburg
wish I was there…
Wonderful coloured alpine landscape with fine lights, Johan fantastic.
Very appealing picture Johan, especially the fine lines in the water are amazing! Here is what I think About the “trunk-thing”. For me the trunk does not balance the composition. To do so, his tone should differ more in comparison to the stones.
BUT I think he is important to give further information: He tells me that this small river can be very strong from time to time. So strong that he is able to transport trunks or even pull out trees. Therefore, I think it’s good to have the trunk there :-)
beautiful
The tree trunk supports the impression in a very fine way. The right exposure time makes for that perfect movement of the river and I like the contrasty stones in the foreground, captured by the line-leading side rivers. Thank you, Johan!
Very nice (mooi man :-)) work Johan, love the pureness here!
Love it Johan! The water texture is spot on. As for the tree trunk I think it works just fine. In fact if it was a bit closer it might have worked even better?
Wonderful tracking paths you’re traveling on Johan! Indeed the best place to be for a landscape photographer. Love this shot and you were right about the trunk. :)
Loving the touch of light on the left trees Johan, a very beautiful scene! :)
like it – I don’t find the tree trunk element distracting at all – it fits there.
Many thanks Margaret and Ada! On my way to the biggest glacier of Europe now :D
@Shelly: thank you!
@Toshiro: many thanks for the kind words and the feedback on the trunk !
have an amazing trip!! bring great photos to share with us!!!
I like the tone and the angle of this image. I like the tree trunk to be there.
this is absolutely a dream image! Superb!!!
Gorgeous!
@Dominique: many thanks Dominique!
@Robert : glad you like it Robert!
@Celso: thank you!
Beautiful Johan !! I love the rich texture and wonderful colour!! It’s outstanding!!
many thanks!
Beautiful work and composition ;)
Great work Johan! your choice is best! makes the whole image natural.
Johan, wonderful composition with the leading lines drawing me into the shot.
Beautiful scene and colours Johan. I can’t decide what I think about that old piece of wood. Maybe post the other one for us to compare. :)
thank you Athena! Might post the other one later. It’s mountainmonday today though, so I am off to the mountains 🙂
Great with the stream and the light! Graubünden is a beautiful landscape :)
So far my favourite part of Switzerland Evelin 😀 Thanks for the kind words!
I can understand that, but the Alpstein is also very nice :))
If I am not walking on a glacier on Sweptember 1st, I will come to check it out Evelin !
That’s very good :)
Beautiful landscape!
thank you Wes!
@Sudip: thanks a bunch for the very kind words!
@Mike: I have mixed feelings about the tree trunk, but it has a function … sort of 😉 Thanks for the compliments!!!
oh we should not bully the poor tree trunk to much, it doesnt distract 🙂 – but i do think that your other photo without it might be even better :-)
😀 The one without has a bit less depth as it was shot at 18mm … enough more tight to exclude the trunk. I liked the scene at 14mm better … maybe I need to do magic in PS and see how it looks without 🙂
not sure about the tree trunks right to exist 🙂
but superb.work Johan, looking mighty inviting. And composition and fl indeed give a great sense of depth
very nice :-)
SO much to like about this photo Johan, the detail in the foreground…the stream leading your eyes to the mountains, with a really nicely lit peak capturing your attention there…just a super shot!
wonderful shot and place!
Thanks Gemma, for the feedback and sharing :)
@E.E. Giorgi: many thanks Elena 😀
@Bill: yes, for sure. This was in May at an altitude of about 1900 metres. Thanks for the compliment!
Bet that water’s cold. Nice shot!
wow, beautiful shot!
Merci beaucoup Didier!
@David: thank you!
Stunning!
Super Johan Peijnenburg
@Ian: many thanks!
@Dietmar: thank you for the compliment and thanks for the feedback. Curious to see what others will say 🙂
I wanna go back :-)
soon 🙂
superb shot! I’m not distracted by the trunk (its colour is close to the stones) but I might have preferred without it
Beautiful natural touch!
Very nice composition with the foreground.
many thanks! What do you think about the tree trunk. Distraction or balance?
Johan, that location is so powerful that with or without both images would be great.
Thanks again!
Thank you Manuel !
@Yasmin: glad you like it as always! 😉
Oh dear friend simply exquisite this image!, well as always… :)
Nice…!!!