History & Location
The King’s House on Schachen (German: Königshaus am Schachen) is a small villa at Schachen, Wetterstein Formation, about 10 km south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, built by Ludwig II of Bavaria. The castle was constructed between 1869 and 1872. The King’s House on Schachen is located at Schachen, Wetterstein Formation, about 10 km south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria. It can only be reached via a 10 km forest road, on a three-hour hike, ascending 1000m either from Schloss Elmau or Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which provides a view of Zugspitze amongst others. [Wikipedia]
Gear
It wasn’t the first time we went to the King’s House. But this time we decided to do it as MTB tour. One thing I learnt from the previous Bike & Hikes: as soon as the camera is in the back pack – I will hardly take any photo. It feels just too cumbersome to stop, get off the bike, get the camera out, [photo process], pack in, get on the bike and ride on. So, I tried having the camera directly mounted at the shoulder strap using a camera clip.
The good news is that I feel ways less reluctant to stop, get off the bike and take a photo. Especially quick shots are easier – whenever a nice view opens up along the track the camera is instantly available. So definitely a recommendation to use a clip! The price is a reduced comfort: Due to the posture of the arms, the camera and lens are always a little bit disturbing. But fortunately, never too bad. Also, if I knew that I would ride a rather dirty track I would have to think about s.th like a rain cover for camera and lens (probably a shower cap or so).
Bike vs Hike
Besides the (obvious) sporting aspects the choice of means of transport has one major impact to the photography during the adventure: Concentration and Focus! Hiking is slower and one can spend a lot of time and focus in just looking around and searching motives. On a bike the main focus will (or should!) likely be in front of the tire. Especially in steep (or faster) passages. As the movement is usually faster, it is harder to spot motives.
Photos
Besides some global adjustments, and some more saturation in the sky, the main issue were the traffic signs and the people in the foreground. The traffic signs were rather easy, the people on the other hand were more challenging. Indeed, it would have been better to wait on location until the people had left the place of the photo …
This view just blew me away when I came around a corner. This is the king’s house! Processing wise, the foreground trees needed to be brightened up. The sky on the other hand needed to be darkened and increased saturation.
Pretty similar as above: darkened the sky – increased saturation. Added some vignetting to lead the view into the image and raised the contrast of the meadows.
Our bikes! Besides some global contrast adjustments in the foreground, the background needed some dehazing. The remaining parts was stamping: The insect right besides of the handles is a little disturbing. More disturbing was the big plant left of the bikes.