I've been wanting to make more photography-centric blog posts for a while now, specifically when it comes to travel and landscape. The motive is relatively simple: there's some resources for location scouting before a photo trip (Location Scout is an example), and there's waaaaay too many blog posts vying for every tourists ad revenue for just about every place imaginable (which is the majority of sites that come up with a simple search such as "travel photography Salzburg Austria"), but there's not a whole lot of sites that get straight to the point.

So I'm going to try to create blog posts of what I would want to see when researching a place. These are my tentative requirements:

Nothing too wordy. Not necessarily because humans have lost the ability to read for more than 5 seconds, but more because I'm concerned with the story of the images and how they were shot rather than writing a novel about it.
A bit technical. I'm going to try to put the camera settings below each image that was thought out and planned. Some images are simply going to make the blog because it pertains to the location or I like it a lot, but that may change in the future.
Location heavy. When I search a potential location, it's great to come across someone who describes the location in some detail. Is it a 5 minute walk from the car lot or an hour hike in the woods, etc.

-Neal

AUSTRIA 2018

The Dean and I went to Austria on a whim in March. Because there was essentially zero planning, we tried to fit in some classic locations but did a lot of wandering around as well. We were there for about 4 days, spending 3 in Salzburg and 1 in Hallstadt.

Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f11 | 8 sec | ISO 100 | Streetlights composited in to sunset photograph

The Salzach runs right through the Old Town, and there are several pedestrian only bridges that cross. This is looking NW from the Makartseg bridge.

Much thanks to my wonderful mother for hanging out in a grocery store while I was taking this photo in the cold.

This image is available for print, click here to visit our store.

Sony a7rii | 55mm 1.8 | f14 | 1/13 sec | ISO 50 | 5 image stitched panorama

This location is about a 10 minute walk West of the Museum Der Moderne Salzburg. I am a bit bummed because the composition is so great but the trees look sad and the melted snow isn't my favorite, so it's on my list of spots to return to in the fall or snowy times.

Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f18 | 13 sec | ISO 50 | 5 image stitched panoramic

This is a pretty classic view of Salzburg from Museum Der Moderne Salzburg. You can walk here from the Fortress on a few different trails, or take a lift up the mountain for a few euros.

Sony a7rii | 85mm 1.8 | f13 | 1/25 sec | ISO 50

I used the Sony Smooth Reflections App to smooth out the water in this one. The bridge pictured here is the one I was standing on in the first image.

Sony a7rii | 85mm 1.8 | f10 | 1/320 | ISO 100

This is Hohensalzburg Castle, which is touristy inside but is pretty neat (although overpriced). Photo wise I couldn't find any great compositions, but google images tells me that they are out there...

This was from a lookout spot that seemed pretty popular between the Fortress and the museum.

Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f9 | 1/100 | ISO 50 | 3 image stitched panoramic

Petersfriedhof Salzburg. Once again, this would be a way more eye-catching composition if it was just after a snowfall.

Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f2.8 | 1/800 | ISO 50

Inside the Catacombs. It provides some neat photo opportunities looking down at the city, but it is a pretty short adventure for 2 euros.

Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f10 | .6 sec | ISO 50 | 3 image stitched panoramic

This image is available for print, click here to visit our store.

So I had seen some images of Hallstadt in the past, it's a regular on a lot of Instagram feeds, but we did almost no research before taking a day trip out there from Salzburg. A pertinent piece of information is that developers in China built a replica of the city, so loads of tour buses of site seers (spelling?) go there to see the real thing. It was super touristy, and we were definitely not there during peak time.

It takes 2 trains and a ferry to get there from Salzburg. If you plan on arriving for sunrise, note that the earliest train-ferry combo that could get us there (at least during March) left Salzburg at 4am and put us there right as the sun was rising around 7:30, so during the summer sunrise may not be an option.

This church is obviously the well known location, but taking the Furnicular or hiking up to the scenic view is super cool.

Sony a7rii | 35mm 2.8 | f19 | 1/250 sec | ISO 100 | Smooth Reflections Sony App

Sony a7rii | 55mm 1.8 | f15 | 1/4000 sec | ISO 125

There were loads of burd friends.

Thanks for reading/looking with your eyeballs! If you enjoyed this format and/or think it would be helpful for other people wanting to get images in Salzburg and Hallstadt, sharing it on the interwebs and social media is always encouraged.