The year is almost over. Thus, time to review photographically the last year or half year, respectively. Why not by participating at the “Fotoparde”, because every half year Michael from Erkunde die Welt asks all bloggers at his “Fotoparade” to show their best travel photos of the last six months. Of course, I’m more than happy to participate again. For me it is the second time that I participate in the “Fotoparade”.
My first “Fotoparade” was dominated by my journey to Brazil and all the monkeys I had seen there. In the second half year of 2018 I did not participate in any long journey. Thus, in this “Fotoparade” I will show photographs that I have taken in the second half year on different short trips.
Michael from Erkunde die Welt presents photos for the “Fotoparade” which he took on a vacation in Austria resulting in the following proposed categories:
- Abtract
- View
- Totally awesome
- Landscape
- Red
- Animal
- Best photo
The rule is: at least 6 photographs, but the categories can be changed. As I cannot contribute any photograph to the category “Abstract”, I changed this category to “Silhouette”. And instead of “Red” I take “Blue” as a category.
Category: Blue
I took this photograph of a peafowl on the small island “Pfaueninsel” close to Berlin. As I needed to escape the rush of Berlin on a beautiful sunny day at the end of June (only two days left to July, thus, I count this day to the second half year), I spontaneously decided to take the train to the Wannsee. From there I took the ferry across the Havel to reach the Pfaueninsel. The Pfaueninsel is an island with an area of about 67 hectares. By the way, the Pfaueninsel is protected by nature protection legislation and belongs to the Unesco World Heritage. The name of the Pfaueninsel (Pfau – peafowl, Insel – island) can be attributed to the free-living peafowls that live on this small island. Of course, I met quite many peafowls on the Pfaueninsel on my walk where I took this photograph of a peafowl. No peafowl raised its feathers into a fan on this day, but nevertheless, the colors of the peafowls – especially their deep blue color – were quite impressing for me. Because of this deep blue color I assigned this photograph to the category “Blue”.
Category: Totally awesome
In the middle of October I went to the German Baltic Sea (Ostsee) for two days. To be more precisely, to Zingst. I decided to go to Zingst in October, as autumn is an especially good time to observe cranes on this peninsular. I have to admit that it was the first time for me to see the Baltic Sea. I had traveled already to Australia, South Africa or Brazil. But I had NEVER been to the Baltic Sea before. All the more I was enthusiastic to see the region and its nature. On one evening I participated on a boat tour at sunset in order to observe the cranes flying back to their sleeping places. We were so lucky with respect to the weather and the sunset was just incredible. Therefore, I put the sunset in Zingst into the category “Totally amazing”.
Category: Silhouette
I took a photograph again from Zingst into the category “Silhouette”. I took this photograph as well on the boat during sunset, but this time from the cranes. Sometimes the cranes passed by in a V-shaped flight formation which is very typical for cranes. However, sometimes they did not stick to this V formation all the time like on this photograph. I took this photograph during sunset, as already mentioned, when the cranes were flying to their sleeping places. For me it was an overwhelming natural spectacle which I will never forget. Next autumn I plan to visit the cranes again. I have already an idea to which place I will travel next season to observe the cranes.
Category: Landscape
For the category “Landscape” I could not decide between two photographs as I went both to the North and and to the South within Germany in the second half year. Both regions are so different and they could not be more contrasting. On one side there was the flat peninsular Fischland-Darß-Zingst at the Baltic Sea in the North. And on the other side the mountainous Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria. I got quite different photographs when comparing them both.
On the peninsular at the Baltic Sea I became aware of very special trees which are also known as wind dodgers. Because of strong winds, these trees grow into the opposite direction. You can also say that they “escape from the wind”.
On the contrary, the landscapes in the Berchtesgadener Land are determined by the mountains. On my hike to the marmots I took some rest from time to time in order to admire calmly the landscapes. When I spotted a grazing cow, I took a photograph of it together with the mountains in the background.
Category: View
I got a great view in the mountains of the Berchtesgadener Land onto the Königssee. Unfortunately, I had not enough time on my day trip to visit the Königssee. Nevertheless, I got a great view of the Königssee from above. With certainty, there are more beautiful places in the Berchtesgadener Land where you get a better view onto the Königssee. Anyway, I very enjoyed this view onto the Königssee and its beautiful green blue water which was very astonishing for me. Therefore, I take the view onto the Königssee into the category “View”.
Category: Animal
As already mentioned, I was searching for marmots on my hike in the Berchtesgadener Land. On one beautiful sunny day in August I walked up to the Königsbachalm in the Berchtesgadener Land, because I had heard that close to the Königsbachalm live marmots. I got the advice from several people to hike to the Königsbachalm as early as possible as the marmots will draw back during the morning. Firstly, because they do not like the heat, and secondly, they are shy animals and do not enjoy many hikers around them. Although I was at the Königsbachalm quite early, the marmots did not really show up at the beginning. Only around 9 a.m. they started to leave their secure den. There were few hikers around and I observed them and some cyclists only from afar. Although it was calm on this morning and the air was quite fresh, the marmots hid in their dens at the beginning and only later when the air was warmer they appeared. Then, one of the marmots sat down in the meadow observing the surroundings. As I kept my distance to this marmoset, it did not vanish again.
Category: Best photo
As marmots are very photogenic according to my opinion, I decided to take one photograph of a marmot as my best photo. When one marmot was bathing in the sun, I tried to sit down in the meadow as inconspicuously as possible. The marmot remained in this position for several minutes. I did not want to disturb it and I tried not to move. It was very calm. Only me and the marmot in that moment. The only noise came from my camera. Thus, I decided to put away my camera after some photos and I just enjoyed the moment with the marmot. As much as I enjoy taking a photograph, sometimes it could be disturbing. I would have enjoyed to take a close-up of the marmot, but the focal length of my lens were not long enough and I would have scared away the marmot if I would have approached. Thus, I decided to put away my camera after some photos and enjoyed the warming sun like the marmot.
At this point I want to say thank you to Michael from Erkunde die Welt, because I imagine it is a lot of work to read all the blog posts of all the people who participate in the “Fotoparade”. And I also assume that it is not an easy task to select the best photos. For me it is also a great way to get to know and explore more travel blogs.
If you want to read my other contributions to the Fotoparade, you will find them under the following links:
Fotoparade – My best travel photos of the first half year of 2018
Fotoparade – My best travel photos of the year 2019
Fotoparade – My best photos of the year 2020
Fotoparade – My best photos of the year 2021
The following blogs participated in the “Fotoparade”:
1. Claire from Blue Bayou
2. Sabrina from Smiles from abroad
3. Charnette from Wir auf Reisen
4. Kathi from Kulturtänzer
5. Steffi from Steflei Fotografie
6. Manu from Worldcalling4me
7. Florian from Phototravellers
8. Johannes from The world through a lens
9. Martin from Lichttraeumer
10. Isa from Lustloszugehen
11. Ina from Mit Kind im Rucksack
12. Andreas from Reisewut
13. Jörg from Misses Mister
14. Rainer from Lost Photo
15. Anito from Gailtal on Tour
16. Horst from Austria Insider Info
17. Christina from Trip to the Planet
18. Cornelia from Silver Travellers
19. Esther from Esther’s Travel Guide
20. Michelle from The Road Most Travelled
21. Barbara from Chien Normandie
22. Melanie and Ricardo from Tausendfremdeorte
23. Sabine from Ferngeweht
24. Carina from Routinebruch
25. Gina from 2onthego
26. Romy from Etappen-Wandern
27. Geheimtippreisen
28. Sabine from Moosbrugger Climbing
29. Selda from Travellife
30. Daniel from Rucksackträger
31. Aurora from Aurora will wandern
32. Elke from Fotografische Reisen und Wanderungen
33. Bianca from Little Discoveries
34. Gerfried from WoMo Guide
35. Saskia from Aiseetheworld
36. Björn from Bergtouren im Allgäu
37. Helmut from Wandern Reisen und mehr
38. Ines and Thomas from Gin des Lebens
39. John and Marc from 1thingtodo
40. Hubert from Travellerblog
41. Andreas from Travel Bloke
42. Lisa from Imprintmytravel
43. Katja from Hin-Fahren
44. Evelyn from Barfuss im Sand
45. Lynn from Lieschenradieschen
46. Sophia from Sophias Welt
47. Julie from Julie en voyage
48. Nicola from Suitcase and Wanderlust
49. Sanne from Travelsanne
50. Katrin from Côte d’Azur Unlimited
51. Urs from Philippinen-Blog
52. Biene and Tobi from als nuff!
53. Brina Stein from Kreuzfahrtautorin
54. Nathalie from Nat Worldwild
55. Kerstin from Fräulein K Unterwegs
56. Birgit from Seh-N-Sucht
57. Burkhard from Pixelwo
58. Mario from Explorer Vibes
59. Chris from Web und Welt
60. Polly from Weltgefühle
61. Miriam from North Star Chronicles
62. Marc from Reisezoom
63. Kathrin from Travlgedengl
64. Florian from Unser om und umzu
65. Christine from Christine unterwegs
66. Miriam and Eva from 2 unterwegs
67. Melanie and Thomas from Reisen-Fotografie Blog
68. Chris, Victoria and Liam from Nesting Nomads
69. Angela from Unterwegs mit Kind
70. Viola from Reise Geheimtipp
71. Martina from Places and Pleasure
72. Franz from Cruisetricks
73. Kerstin and Klaus from Willkommen Fernweh
74. Julia from Mein Weltbuch
75. Birgit from Travelsome
76. Verena from Hinter dem Horizont
77. Chris and Silvi from Mogroach
78. Alexandra from Traveling the World
79. Herbert from Servus Servus
80. Anja and Anne from GoOnTravel
81. Jürgen from Jürgen Bloesl
82. Daniela from Travelmixbestager
83. Tobias from Tobias Hoiten
84. Torsten from Tberg
85. Wolfgang and Judith from Reiseleben
86. Ina from Genussbummler
87. Tobias from Weltschaukasten
88. Anke and Thorsten from Moose around the world
89. Silvia from Abenteuerzeilen
90. Anna from Immer unterwegs
91. Nicole from Ausreisserin
92. Jessi from Lens & Feather
93. Roswitha from Bruder auf Achse
94. Christina from Reise weise
95. Hartmut from 58 Grad Nord
96. Andrea from Anwolf
97. Silvia from Art is passion
98. Romy from Snoopsmaus
99. Liane from Die ReiseEule
100. Alexa from Weltenwandlerin
101. Iris from Ich reise immer so
102. Maike from Op jück un zuhuss
103. Sebastian from Dr. Basty’s Funk ‘n’ House
104. Carina and Daniel from Lost in travel
105. Steffi from Segeln mit Yemanja
106. Barbara from Reisepsycho
107. Sabine and Nico from Lovely shots
108. Christian from My Travelworld
109. Daniel from Take a hike
110. Kirsten from Sirenen und Heuler
111. Gerald from TravelLens
112. Torsten from Tberg
113. Cordula from Abseits der Pfade
114. Anne from Anne Art
115. Diana from Kurzreisen und Meer
116. FotoRistretto
117. Simone from Kult Reiseblog
118. Patrick from Pixel und Spaetzle
119. Stefan from Schwerti on Tour
120. Martina from Wanderhunger
121. Barbara from Tief im Allgäu
122. Hannelore from Hanni macht Faxen
123. Stefan and Nadine from Travel more – babble less
124. Audrey from Audrey im Wanderland
125. Nora and Patrick from Spaetzle to go
126. Nicole from Preissnbeere
127. Karl from Karl reist
128. Karin and Markus from Fotonomaden
129. Carola from Travelling Carola
130. Barbara from Barbaras Reisen
131. Jessica from Yummy Travel
132. Jennifer from Jennifer Alka Photography
133. Reiseflut
134. Katharina and Andre from Dive the globe
135. Farina and Steffen from Oceans and Mountains
136. Bedürfnisorientiertes Familienleben
137. Petrina from Moment: New York
138. Julia and Marcel from Fernwesen
139. Christine from Cache ‘n’ Travel
140. Miriamo from Dream and Travel
141. Bernhard from Der Amateur Photograph
142. Susanne from Borboletta meets world
143. Beate from Reiselust-Magazin
144. Eva from Days Weekends & more
145. Kate from Katetravels
146. Feli from Berlinerin in Frankreich
147. Andrea from Naturfreundin
148. Daniela from Sinne und Reisen
149. Vanessa from The Travelling Colognian
150. Anna from Familie Reiselust
151. Gudrun from Reisebloggerin
