I just returned from my fall trip to Engadin in the Swiss Canton of Graubünden. Amongst others, I was there to photograph Swiss alpine lakes. As expected in the Alps, I didn’t get everything I wanted. The weather tends to be very unpredictable and being in the right place at the right time can be quite a challenge. Getting a snow dump half-way through my trip didn’t help either. 🙂
Alpine Serenity
A mountain lake landscape photograph, showing a peaceful sunrise at Lai da Palpuogna with Piz Ela and other Swiss Alps reflected in the lake.
This photograph titled Alpine Serenity features a Swiss alpine lake called Lai da Palpuogna. It lies at the Albula Pass near Bergün. The names of the mountains in the back are Piz Ela (left) and Piz Üertsch (right).
The consensus in Switzerland is that Lai da Palpuogna is one of the prettiest lakes in the country. One of my goals was to catch it with beautiful soft early morning light, perfect mountain reflections in the water, larch trees in their brightest golden fall colours and of course a touch of the first snow. That combination didn’t happen, unfortunately … despite visiting the lake about 10 times. I can’t complain, though. It ain’t a bad place to enjoy a sandwich with tea while waiting for the first light to hit the scenery and it gives me a good reason to visit again next year. I got away with quite a few nice shots of the lake though … so you will get to see more of it in the future!
I photographed this Swiss alpine lake using a 24mm f/1.4 lens on a Nikon D800E. The exposure needed to be controlled a bit, so I used a gradient ND filter. The settings were: 24mm, 1/15s, f/11 and ISO 100.
Click on the photo to learn more about it or to buy a print or licence.
Cheers, Johan 🙂
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This Swiss alpine lake photograph is part of the Lakes landscape photography theme, which also includes:
Beautiful… Love the reflection.
Thanks again Marla ! :)
I LOVE IT !
Thank you !
Sorry you didn’t get what you hoped for. You got this shot and it’s amazing!
Nice to meet you and thanks for the kind words 🙂
Thanks Jorunn and Khalid ! 🙂
Imagin
Gorgeous image and reflection
@Gemma: thank you very much! 🙂
@Tri: thanks for the kind words 🙂
@Anna: many thanks Anna! 🙂
Very beautiful view a shot!
Amazing…..beautiful landscape and wonderful shot
Wonderful shot Johan !
@Steve: thanks for the wow Steve! 🙂
@Paul: yes healthy and satisfied. Didn’t get everything I wanted but that only means should do it again next year 🙂
@Marilou: thanks again Marilou 🙂
Spectacular as always and thank you for the wonderful info about this amazing lake and capture Johan !
Nature plays always with own rules. I very like this result Johan! I’m also glad to hear you are satisfied and healty back from the trip.
Wow!
A reflective piece of alpine perfection, lovely Johan!
Many thanks Michael ! :)
Magnifique, bravo Johan !
Merci beaucoup Thierry!!
This is beautiful Johan!
Thanks Brian Fitzpatrick! How’s are things?
Schitterend Johan, je zou deze zo om kunnen draaien 🙂
Haha Aline. Inderdaad, maar als je goed kijkt heeft er links net een vis gesprongen. Heb ik expres laten zitten om te voorkomen dat mensen dat doen 😉 Thanks!
Super beau!
Thanks Marie-france! 🙂
Stunning Johan!!!
Many thanks Heine!
It really is so special Johan and beautifully captured..
Thanks a lot Beverley, also for the tweet! How are things with you?
Grand!
Many thanks Sumit 🙂
Fantastic!
Thanks Mikko !!!
Very nice image Johan…would love to hike into this place!
Hey thanks and I can imagine Dick!
I can see why it’s considered one of the prettiest lakes, beautiful image Johan!
It is hard to do it justice Doug ! Unfortunately it snowed under before the Larch trees were yellow …
@Jayakumar: thank you!
@Jackie: thanks again 🙂
@Nora: many thanks Nora. Hope you are well! 🙂
@Mieke: dank je wel ! 🙂
beautiful!!!
Sweet light and reflection :)
Wow
@Walter: ben benieuwd wat je daarvan zou maken 🙂
@Christa: thanks Christa! 🙂
@David: thanks David! 🙂
@Michelle: many thanks Michelle 🙂
Amazing and stunning and gorgeous!
What a majestic view !! Stunning !
Impressive! Looking forward to seeing further images of this scenic lake :)
Many thanks Rohan !
@Walter: wat? Meertjes fotograferen of een maand op pad?
🙂 een maand is wat veel 😉 maar meertjes fotograferen en watervallen staan nog op mijn te doen lijstje 🙂 (en nog heel veel andere dingen)
Wow, dat moet ik ook nog eens gaan doen Johan :-)
Stunning reflections and clarity Johan
@Rikard: worth a visit yes and lots of ops for hiking an biking! Have a look at Diavolezza. Seen guys on bikes do crazy stuff there 🙂
Well thank you Betty 🙂
@Jackie: thank you!
@Kamil: thanks Kamil! 🙂
@Bjarte: thank you Bjarte!
@Kamal: good to hear Sir! 🙂
Wonderful Johan! I need to spend some time in engadin. Looks like a good place to hike and bike :)
Beautiful shot !!!
This is very impressive Johan
happy Monday :)
Very soothing image sir….
That is a beautiful scenery with wonderful reflections :)
Many thanks Jeffrey !
@Nikola: thanks Nikola! Heb je het druk de komende weken?
@Jackie: thank you! 🙂
Wat had je gedacht Johan? Het weer is verschrikkelijk slecht hier op dit moment.
Volgende week ga ik naar Engeland voor paar dagen verder heb ik wel ruimte om iets in te plannen… Laat even weten wanneer en waar..
nog geen idee qua timing. Ik ben nu in NL voor 2 weken. Zal ook even afhangen van het weer. Gatver nu …
:-)) erg ja
@Heine: I can imagine! Good to hear all is well 🙂
@Dalibor: many thanks Dalibor! 🙂
@Dominique: thanks!
@Victoria: thanks and have a great week Victoria 🙂
@Kurt: Many thank Kurt! Sad to hear about your lack of good skies. That’s tough. I had a mixed bag as well, but in the end I can’t complain.
@Shawn: thanks again Shawn! 🙂
@Enzo: merci beaucoup Enzo!
@Wilfried: thank you for that 🙂 Glad you like what I did with the place. Looks kinda different than when we checked it out together 😉
Absolutely awesome
Great perspective and not to mention reflection Johan
Majestic.. Well captured!
Fantastic shot again dear Johan ! have a fantastic weekend
Looks awesome!
Wonderful scene Johan
Beautiful place and capture. The early hour paid out!
Wow! Splendide paysage et reflets Johan
Spectacular reflections and beautifully captured! SO envious of those clouds. I had no clouds on my whole trip except for one brief sunset. Stunning capture Johan! Sounds like an excellent 4 weeks.
Beautiful lines and colour contrast Johan! I’m sure a wonderful place to make pictures.
It sure is Shawn ! Thanks for the kind words and nice to meet you :)
Same here Johan. Wonderful body of work!
Epic mountains… epic trees… epic reflections… epic scene. Another winner Johan. I’m looking forward to seeing more from your trip.
Epic comment John 🙂 Thank you for that! I will personally show you this place one day! Am going through my results as a first pass. Some good stuff in there. Think it will be good to leave it for a few weeks. Might do Ireland images first ;)
Ya big tease :p
Hehe. Just gradually preparing you John 🙂
Glad you like them Michael ! 🙂
Thanks for the wow Jany ! :)
Wow! Magnificent!
Absolutely stunning reflections Johan!
“Peaceful” is the word, Johan! Gorgeous scene – the reflection is so perfectly still, I could have sworn it was a long exposure.
Many thanks Baldur! 🙂
Beautiful shot !!!
Thank you Rita !
Gorgeous landscape ! I like the symetry of the composition, the beauty of the light and reflections. Great work.
Merci Jean-Michel!
Hey thanks Mark !! 🙂
Thanks again Mady 🙂
Beautyful WORK !!!!
So great! Awesome work as always Johan !
This is exactly my kind of mountain lake scene. Oh how I miss Switzerland!! And I miss you too Johan 🙂 I am glad to hear/see that your trip went well. This image is really lovely.
I am of course only posting these scenes to make you feel home sick :o) Likewise Athena and thanks!
@Thierry Bouriat : merci Thierry 🙂
@Meg Rousher : thanks. You ok? Missed you around here!
@Heine J Melgaard : many thanks Heine! Hoep all is well with you !?
Doing great Johan, Thanks, Loving this cooler weather and it’s migration season 🙂
Good to hear Meg! 🙂
All is well here Johan, miss the Alp’s thoug…
Fantastic capture 🙂
Beautiful Johan !!!
Of course we like it,Johan, photo and story :-))
@Enrique : many thanks for the woow Enrique ! 😉
@Annick : thanks for the compliment and visit Annick! Nice to meet you 🙂
Stunning scene
Many thanks Steve!
Stunning capture Johan !
and so well done! Congrats!
Woow this is really beautiful Johan ! bravo!
@Yasmin : thank you Yasmin 🙂 And I am looking forward to winter already, but before I need some time to work on images and catch up a bit. I feel like a nomad at the moment 🙂
@Michael : ow it certainly is and not only from this side. I also have a couple of nice ones from the opposite side 🙂 And I guess this is not bad either 🙂
Lai da Palpuogna looks well worth your 10+ visits =) – to bad you didnt got to capture it the way you intended Johan, but on the other hand, you got to enjoy it more then once and that´s pretty great all by itself 🙂 Nice shot too
Welcome back my sweet amigo Johan .
Always a pleasure to see your images and details.
Gorgeous image!!!.
Winter is coming, keep warm with your delicious hot chocolate… 🙂
Looks fantastic Johan! How much post-processing was involved here? I am fine, thank you very much for asking :)))
Thanks again 🙂 Nope, not a lot of post-processing needed. The filters did a good job. So mostly a bit of doding and burning and the regular Lightroom stuff 🙂
Gah! Stunning, Johan !
Thanks for the “gah” Kerry ! I kinda liked the sound of that 😉
What a great picture Johan … but it reminds me of something. Some very talented alpine photographer once told me to never put the horizon in the middle of the picture 🙂 can you imagine that ;-)
Thanks Matthias! That very talented alpine photographer was very right. Normally it is good to put the horizon on the top or bottom third …. however sometimes rules should be broken to get a more pleasant result. In case of shooting a mirror like this that rule should not be applied … in my humble opinion 🙂 Try it. Putting the horizon on a third here in this case would only be possible on the upper third which would require going wider and a lot lower. This would make the bottom 3rd very boring and the upper two thirds less interesting because everything would be smaller. More importantly the composition would not be balanced anymore and less strong. Obviously putting a foreground subject in could help, but in my opinion that would introduce a distraction this image doesn’t need. I obviously I tried in this case in between sandwiches :D
I agree with everything you say Johan. I just could not resist to tease you with this :-))
I know Matthias , but still I thought I’d better answer it seriously 🙂
@Ralph: may thanks Ralph 🙂
@Naghmeh: thanks for the wow Naghmeh ! 🙂
@grzegorz: very true! I have not tried in this case though 🙂
Water so clear that without a filter you can drink it straight from the river.
Wow! Superb! :))
Beautiful photo and wonderful reflections
@Grzegorz: thanks. I like to admire both 🙂
@Mutita: thank you!
So beautiful ..
Piękne krajobrazy lepiej podziwiać z piękną kobietą .
What a superb crystalline image my friend! I feel the early morning breeze…
I still feel it too Mamo. There is something about these types of early ventures that makes life a real pleasure 🙂
So stunningly beautiful Johan !! I love the composition !
many thanks David! 🙂
superb!
many thanks Didier! 🙂
Beautiful light and reflections! :)
Many thanks Sairam :)
Johan the details and clarity are so good here, also the reflection and composition rocks.
thank you very much Markus! Really glad you like it. Hope all is well with you?!
Nice pic
haha dank je wel El! 😀
So beautiful!
Thank you very much! Hope all is well with you ?!
Wow, amazing capture. Awesome reflection on the calm water, looking like a mirror
thank you very much Eric 🙂
Wonderful Johan
thanks Benoit ! 🙂
Wonderful capture and reflections!
Thank you Florian and nice to meet you ! 🙂
@Terrie: that is nice to read Terrie! Thanks for the compliment! 🙂
@Sumit: many thanks Sumit!
@Paul: it was Paul and thank you 🙂
@Andreas: thank you very much Andreas!
@Karrie: thanks Karrie! 🙂
@Deborah: nice to hear that Deborah and thanks for the compliment! 🙂
@Michael: thanks Michael!
@Aamir: glad you like it Aamir and nice to hear that you missed me 😉
@George: thanks for the kind words George 🙂
@Mona: thank you Mona! 🙂
@Gemma: many thanks Gemma!
@Shelly: thanks Shelly 🙂
@Rodolfo: thanks for the compliment Rodolfo! 🙂
@E.E. Giorgi: thank you Elena!
@Оксана: thanks 🙂
@Natascha: inderdaad Natasha. Heeft wel wat toch! 😉
@Margaret : thank you Margaret 🙂
@Jerry: thanks for the compliment Jerry and yes those sandwiches were awesome 🙂
Beautiful
What a great place to enjoy the breakfast, Johan!! 🙂 A beautiful view and a great work!
Have a great day! :)
Great picture you have there. Seeing that scene live will be rapturous. Almost unbelievable!
Lovely capture!
Incredible photo! Beautiful colours and composition. If it were mine, I’d frame it!
Love the reflection! This is just stunning!
Nice to see your contribution after quite some time. I like the composition and reflections utilized to create an engaging composition
Beautiful shot Johan!
Very peaceful indeed, quiet perfection that dawn brings. Beautiful photo Johan. I always look forward to seeing your imagery!
Wonderful shot!
Gorgeous view!
wonderful shot and reflection Johan. I love the line under the trees and the tones, great light too,
VERY BEAUTIFUL Johan
Stunning reflections! :)
Gorgeous mirror for a gorgeous sky!
Everything in this stunning photo is just as it should be Johan . Bravo my talented friend!!! And I hope the sandwich taste good too? ;-)
How gorgeous Johan !! I love those reflections!! Beautiful!
Net een spiegel. :)
Many thanks Dermot !
@David: thanks for the compliment David! 🙂
Fantastic symmetry, and an excellent exposure Johan
Stunning shot Johan, very beautiful indeed.
Thanks for the compliment Anatoliy ! 🙂
@Ian: yes it is awful. Dunno why I keep at it 😉 Thanks!
It must be hard having to look at this scenery all the time Johan – I feel for you. 😉 Beautiful shot.
Thank you Mady 🙂
@Joann: many thanks !
Stunning light! so high quality!
This is beautiful, Love the reflection…… hard to tell where it starts and where it ends! 🙂
thanks Sheila and you are very welcome 🙂
@Margaret: many thanks Margaret! Appreciated 🙂
@Joan: that is a very nice way if putting it and very nice to read Joan. Thank you for that 🙂
You deserve that Johan and I am not trying to flatter you, it’s just a fact…
I am blushing now 😉 Thanks again!
I knew it :)) Like those “alter Schinken hinter Omas Sofa” nur viel besser :))
Now try to get that, lololol
Great image, I have expected that from you :)
I think I get you Anette and there is more to come from this location 🙂 Thank You ! 🙂
you are always very welcome for some nice comments from me 😀 It looks like a painting, so nice :))
Yep! Thanks again. Did I sent this one to you earlier via Mobile?
Yes you did Johan :))
An immense beautiful capture Johan. There are so many ways to look at this shot and eather way it comes out perfect. I as a foreigner already have a weak spot in my heart for this beautiful country called Switserland but when a Swiss person looks at this shot he must fall in love with his country once again and be very pleased to have the priviledge of living there….
You might not have got the picture in your minds eye Johan, but you certainly have a perfect view of mountains and their reflections here 🙂 And a very valid reason to go back :)
Fabulous photo Johan, and what a nice place to come back to 10 times for morning photos! It looks vaguely familiar, but must just be similar to a few places here. It looks like you were waiting for something even better than this, buts its hard to picture more here…a dusting of snow maybe?
Many thanks George! I went back with pleasure each time. Caught it with crappy weather as well though 🙂 I wanted to get this one with the trees a yellow and a dusting of snow indeed. That is a challenge though as this place gets snow usually quite early in Autumn. So luck, patience and endurance will play a big role in getting what I want. Might take another few years :)
@Rosie: it definitely is a a gorgeous place Rosie! 🙂
@Grzegorz: many thanks for the very kind words Grzegorz! Glad you like it 🙂 I have two zooms that include 24, but I always grab this fixed 24 f/1.4 when I want to be near 24! The results are always very crisp with loads of micro contrast. Gotta love that! How have you been ?
I love those photos with the mirror reflections. Your work is pure beauty with fantastic light on the mountains with amazing sky and clouds. I am sure waiting for the morning light with the sandwiches with Swiss cheese was a great pleasure. Is your 24mm lens a fixed lens? Quite bright… it must be a killer for the Milky Way or Aurora Borealis shooting… Superb details on your photo Johan!
Oh so beautiful a place Johan
Many thanks Claudia ! 🙂
@Jenn: hey Jenn thanks! Hope all is well ?! You should visit this part of Switzerland one day if you haven’t yet 🙂
Thanks Johan – No we haven’t been there yet, we do need to venture out of Suisse-Romande more!
it is worth it Jenn. And Engadin at the end of October with all the pretty colours is dirt cheap as well 🙂
Gorgeous Johan !
Just great Johan :))
@Renay: thank you ! Nice to meet you 🙂
@Елена: glad you think so. Thanks! 🙂
I understand when you have one image in mind and nature gives you another. Good for you making the best of it!! And like you said, having a sandwich and a cup of tea in that location, well, you could do a lot worse! 🙂 Can’t wait to see more.
It might take me a couple of years to get what I want Barb. This area usually gets covered with too much snow fairly early in Autumn, which makes it hard to reach and hard to shoot like I want to. Will try of course 🙂 Thank you for the visit and compliment !
Prachtig Johan, Beautiful!
hey dank je wel Anja! Alles goed?
Ja, alles gaat goed, met jou ook Johan . Ik zag je een tijdje niet voorbij komen. Maar deze springt er meteen weer uit :-)
Het laatste half jaar is een beetje een gekkenhuis hier. Ik kom nog wel aan fotograferen toe maar heel veel tijd voor G+ en andere social media heb ik niet gehad. Laatste 4 weken was ik full-time op pad in het zuid-oosten van Zwitserland. Net weer terug. En volgende week weer weg … daarna wordt het lekker rustig gelukkig.
Dan moeten we nog maar weer even geduld hebben. Maar dat is vast weer de moeite waard.
Komt vast goed Anja :)
Looks awesome..!
Amazing
Thank you very much Javier! 🙂
@Debbby: dank je 😀
@Anna: thank you very much 🙂 Glad to be back! Hope all is well with you?!
@Kaatje: dank je wel! Daarom woon ik nou in Zwitserland 😀
dat kan ik mij erg goed voorstellen;)
dacht ik al, maar NL is ook wel ok toch?
ik kijk ook in NL mijn ogen uit…de wereld is zo mooi;) fijne avond Johan.
Thank you for asking! I’m feeling a little under the weather…. Colors are changing slowly here. We didn’t have any snow yet!
Have a nice evening! :)
I received a pile of snow just before the colours arrived, Pretty initially but not nice in the days after when it started melting. Guess that is Autumn as well 🙂
I hope we could still enjoy the Autumn before the big freezing temps!
I’m looking forward for more of your images! :)
I think I have enough nice stuff in the pipeline Anna. Maybe I will manage to post at least once a week again as of mid November 🙂
Toppertje
Wonderful landscape!
Geweldig mooi!
Excellent work! Beautiful reflection! Welcome back!
Fantastic reflection and picture Johan
Many thanks Lammert !! Dank je wel :)
@Mikko: thanks Mikko! 🙂
@Leyla: thank you! It is going from freezing cold, to warm and sticky to very windy here 🙂 Autumn! ;)
Wow… this is spectacular image and great place, wonderful reflections and great compositions… I can just feel the fresh air, compare in Houston sticky, warm & humid…
beautiful!
Very inviting image, my friend, excellent colour and reflections.
Many thanks for the compliment Don! Hope all is well with you!?
Nice Johan!! what a fantastic way to open up this morning.
and a fantastic way to start a photographic morning Grant! Glad you like it 🙂
Stunning image, Johan – beautifully done…
Hey Shawn! Thanks 🙂
Wunderschön :-))
danke dir! 🙂
Wow, look at those reflections – beautiful…
Thank you very much Tania !! :D
Amazing beauty! Perfectly done!
thank you and nice to meet you 🙂
So beautiful, Johan! Nice to see you’ve been busy!! ;)
Very busy Sandra, but with the stuff I love to do 🙂 Thank you! Hope all is well over there!?
Busy with stuff you like is always a bonus!
Things just keep moving along here. We’ve had one snow fall do fat and it’s starting to get cold now. It won’t be long before I have new snow pictures. :)
Good to hear! I got treated with 25 inches of snow in the middle of this fall trip. Plenty of new snow images here … it was quite pretty but no what I was aiming for ;)
Enjoying my sandwich, tea and the view here right now, Johan … :o))
I am still as well in my mind Robin ! I enjoyed it every time I was there 🙂 Thank you!
Welcome back Johan! 🙂
Love the tranquility of this scene, my friend. I can see why you’d want to return to this place time and again.
Hey Tom! Glad to be back 🙂 Glad you like it! It is a great place to spend the first hour of the morning! My challenge next year is to add yellow tress and fist snow to the scene 😀 How have you been?
I’ve been here and there so and so, Johan. 😛
No complaint worth sharing really. :)
good to hear and have fun at Halloween! 🙂
Wunderschöne Landschaft mit grossartigen Spiegelungen Johan!
danke vielmals! Du bist gans nah an diesen See in ein paar Wochen 🙂
Gern geschehen Johan!
Sobald ich die Gelegenheit habe werde ich diesen See auch besuchen.
♥ ~❤❤❤~ ♥ :)
thanks thanks thanks 😀
Lovely!
merci beaucoup Philippe! 🙂
Stunning capture ! 🙂 Wonderful scene.
Many thanks Britta!!!
Interesting text and beautiful capture Johan Peijnenburg !
thank you ver much Sofie! 🙂
Fantastic image.
Thanks Barbara! 🙂
Marvelous view
This picture is beautiful