Brewing, a thunderstorm above the Swiss alps

By Johan Peijnenburg

Here is one of my new landscape photographs that feature the beautiful Swiss Alps. This mountain landscape photograph features the Swiss Alps in wintertime. I captured it just before a thunderstorm on a very chilly day in January 2010. I was hiking in the mountains close to where I live at an altitude of about 1300 metre (4,265 ft). From there I have quite a magnificent aerial view of the Intyamon valley in the Gruyère region in Switzerland.

Brewing, a thunderstorm above the Swiss alps

Aerial view on the Gruyère valley and the Swiss Alps in winter time, just before a thunderstorm.

It was getting darker quickly, and it looked like the weather was going to turn bad soon. So I captured a series of photographs and hurried home. The photos from the series didn’t turn out to be keepers … except for the one in this post which I really like. Hope you do as well!

I ran into the photograph again a few days ago, when I was selecting photographs to upload to my Google+ profile, and I remembered that I never blogged about it. So here it is. By the way, if you are on Google+ make sure to visit and connect!

Cheers, Johan

199 thoughts on “Brewing, a thunderstorm above the Swiss alps”

  6. Scott Masterton says:

    wonderful shot, I like the dark brooding feel to the whole scene, and thank you for mentioning me in another post. appreciated.

    Reply
  8. Don Spenner says:

    This may be my second comment Johan , but every time I see this it takes my breath away. Outstanding piece of work. Have you viewed any large prints of this yet? A good weekend to you.

    Reply
    • Johan Peijnenburg says:

      It’s interesting to see that everybody is finding this one again now Don 🙂 I should repost it as I think it is the first image I posted on here.

      I haven’t viewed large prints of this yet, but that goes for many of my images. Need to work on that. Have a great weekend as well Don!!

      Reply
        • Johan Peijnenburg says:

          It’s been sold as a print a few times Don. Did get nice feedback from the buyers. I do not self-fullfil at the moment, so I don’t actually see the prints come by.

          Reply
          • Don Spenner says:

            More to sell, I’m sure. Who does your fulfillment, If I might ask? Johan and are you happy with them. 

          • Johan Peijnenburg says:

            my images are hosted at PhotoShelter. They have various options. I picked BWC Photo Imaging. They are in the US (Texas). Most of the traffic on my site and buying customers are from the US, so that’s why I picked them. I should also set-up with a print company in Europe, but haven’t found the time yet.

          • Johan Peijnenburg says:

            Yes it is precious Don. That’s the main reason why I post less often nowadays. Need to balance stuff and make sure I shot enough. 

    • Johan Peijnenburg says:

      Hi Markham. Thank you. No didn’t take this from a plain. I was on a high mountain on the other side of the valley. To me aerials don’t have to be taken from a plane. If the position is elevated enough and the image gives enough of an aerial feel it will qualify for me. What’s your definition?

      Reply
  27. Cameron Siguenza says:

    So beautiful – I grew up in the mountains of Northern BC and near the Canadian Rockies – anyways, you take very lovely photos Johan 🙂

    Reply
    • Johan Peijnenburg says:

      Thanks dene’! It was special. Have to say that the Alps do bring some nice surprises once in while. You can’t really hunt for them though. It’s often a matter of just being out there 🙂 I do go out a lot around bad weather to increase my luck a bit …

      Reply

  85. Pingback: Rocky alpine peaks and a brewing storm | Alpine Nature & Landscape Images | NiO Photography

    • Johan Peijnenburg says:

      Thanks Robert! I had to look up the term “brooding” (not native in English) though. Learned a new word new to day 🙂

      Reply
  87. Francesco Gallarotti says:

    I love how the light coming from camera left hits the profile of those peaks… the framing at the top and bottom is simply perfect, adding tridimensionality to this powerful image

    Reply
  88. Andy Brown says:

    Perfect white balance here to really bring out the beauty in those snow-capped mountains… I really like the low cloud and the silhouetted tree at the fore!

    Reply
  93. Wilfried Haferland says:

    Hey Johan, great shot! At first, it looks like 4000m+ peaks, but the trees give it a proportion… I really like the snow in the middle regions, sometimes it reminds even of Himalaya. Great!

    Reply
  97. Tuan Le says:

    That’s a beauty! I like how the mountain range is lit up and is emphasised by the darker foreground and clouds on top.

    Reply
    • Johan Peijnenburg says:

      Folletto: this was taken in the Gruyère region (Bas-Intyamon valley), where I live 🙂 On the other side … then I was probably close last week … visited the Swiss/Italian National Park!

      Reply
  109. Gonçalo Motta says:

    I can feel it. This really makes me fly away into my own thoughts.This most certainly has a life. You captured the temperature, the humidity, the motion, the mood, the weight ,the smell and the sound. Landscapes don’t usually leave me like this. But this is one of the absolute best I’ve seen.

    Reply
    • Johan Peijnenburg says:

      Thanks Jean-Pierre. Glad you like it. I did take some effort to get it as it is, but I like it very much also and very happy not having to dive in to coding for a while 🙂

      Reply
  122. Simon Kitcher says:

    This is a fantastic image Johan I love the depths of light and dark stacking upon each other. the composition is just a delight for the eye.

    Reply
    • Johan Peijnenburg says:

      Yeah, I live about 400 metres lower then where I was. The 5th image on top of this page is from the same valley. Happy man 🙂

      Reply
  131. Sam Horne says:

    What I actually like here is the difference in texture… you have the jagged mountains with black and white contrasting shades right next to each other, and then really smooth gradients on the top and bottom, impressive stuff.

    Reply

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