The Bavarian Alps, a place where the mountains meet the sky and embrace azure lakes. A place where flowers bloom on the meadows and forests grow on hills. A place where you will see beautiful fairy-tale-like old houses and cottages, completing the unforgettable picture of the Bavarian Alps. It’s a place where every photographer must take pictures and every traveller must visit at least once in their life!
I was really excited about this trip to the Bavarian Alps with the kids, and of course, our four-legged companions. I knew it would be spectacular to see the Alps in Germany for the first time, but my expectations were far exceeded by the real-life experience. From the moment the landscape transformed as we continued along the road and the magnificent mountain views emerged, I was in awe.
For every mountain lover, it’s hard to express these feelings in words. Every time I experience something like this, I am left speechless. If you are like me, you feel a mix of humble admiration, eager curiosity, and a deep sense of fascination, all while recharging your energy in nature. You can’t take your eyes off the spectacular views.
This awe doubles if you are a photographer, videographer, or content creator. In my opinion, the Bavarian Alps are one of the few places in Europe where, during the golden hour, you can capture the most beautiful photos, whether you are a family photographer or a landscape photographer. So, let’s see how our spontaneous family photoshoot turned out just under the mountains in a beautiful German village in the fairy-tale region of Oberstdorf of the Bavarian Alps.
As I mentioned in my previous post, “A Family Road Trip to Prague,” planning your own family photoshoot sometimes doesn’t meet your expectations. Often, you can get caught up in planning every detail (like the best location, perfect timing, and ensuring the kids are ready). However, in our experience, the ‘perfect moment’ for capturing family photos rarely happens. After many failed attempts and setbacks, I’ve discovered that the best approach is to JUST TAKE PHOTOS during everyday moments in a low-key environment. You’ll be surprised by the results. With a bit of planning, like coordinating outfits (which can turn mundane photos into something remarkable), the key is to be flexible, relaxed, and enjoy your precious moments. This is the essence of family and holiday photography.
In our case, we knew that somewhere in the Bavarian Alps, we would put on our Sunday-best outfits and attempt to capture some holiday memories. However, we often got caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily chores, like making healthy lunches, preparing snacks, soothing and carrying teething babies, and so on. There wasn’t any super-great opportunity for a formal photoshoot. On our second evening in the Bavarian Alps, we took our dogs for our daily evening walk, and I grabbed my camera without any expectations at all!
During our walk, my four-year-old son suddenly spotted a stone that looked like a small mountain and started to climb on it. While Jacob had Ollie in a swing and was walking our two dogs (yes, he is a great daddy!), I stopped in this little corner (literally a few meters from our cottage) and watched Lucas enjoying ‘the moment’ in the Alps.
For me, this is exactly what I love to capture: little children being present in their own world, playing freely and being in what parents call a flow-state, when they are not concerned with their surroundings. While Lucas was climbing his little peak and proudly calling out, “Mummy, look at me, I am a palaeontologist and I climbed a mountain,” Victoria was fascinated by the green Alpine meadow. I opened my camera and started to document these tiny moments of pure happiness. Not just artificially posed family photos but capturing candid childhood memories.
I wasn’t very familiar with my new Sony Alpha VII, which I bought especially for our family, as my old Nikon D500 wasn’t fast enough to capture the kids’ movements. Or perhaps I wasn’t using it well? Anyway, I just tried to see what I could shoot with my new Sony. Later that night, when I reviewed our pictures, I was so surprised by the sharpness and number of good shots I got in such a short time.
I felt like an old-school cameraman, moving around the kids and trying different perspectives and angles. I knew that framing Lucas climbing his little ‘mountain’ with the Alpine peaks behind him would create a deep and more captivating image. After a while, Jacob returned from the forest with both dogs, and Ollie was running back to us too. I finally had the chance to capture all of them together, and Jacob even took the camera to snap some pictures of me with Victoria.
As the evening dusk turned the sky to shades of blue, we went back to our cottage to prepare dinner and continue our nighttime routine. As you can see, sometimes the most precious family photos are those captured in a few minutes during seemingly mundane daily rituals, like an evening walk with dogs. I was absolutely happy that I gave it a try and managed to capture our candid childhood memories in the Bavarian Alps.
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Beatiful❤️🎬
Thank you!