Oberdrum, Osttirol, Austria is a small village or Dorf of around 500 inhabitants a few kilometers outside Lienz, a busy town in the Osttirol. Though a significant tourist centre this area is remote (a three hour delightful bus journey from Innsbruck through Italian Sudtirol) and is relatively quiet compared with much of the Alps. The scenery of the Dolomites with towereing peaks is dramatic and invites exploration. These photos were taken in the golden hour on a December evening (though the later photos a year later than the earlier ones. All were taken with my Leica Q3 with a 28mm lens.
On this central street there’s a light dusting of snow highlighted by the street lights. But what drew my attention were the Christmas decorations on the house to the left. Lights often appear welcoming on a cold night. Also see the traces of aeroplane vapor highlighted by the setting sun.
Taken from a similar position as the above photo, the street light illuminates the scene though old agricultural gear is just visible. The deep blue sky indicates golden hour and houses down the road are still visible.
From a different angle I was drawn here to the outines of the mountains contrast with the streetlight and just still visible road.
The reflected light on the mountains here is much more pronounced and against the dark foreground creats an errily dramatic scene. I really like the texture of the mountain light overshadowing the houses beneath. There is snow there but still only light despite being December, which creates a texture mixing the white and rock and trees underneath.
Nearer to Lienz here the local cemetrey is illuminated by candles and lights. reflected in the snow. There were a few poeple there (an indistinct image can be seen lower left) and we were there to light candles on the grave of a relative of my wife’s.
A radiant abstract figuration with bokeh of the cemetery lights
Here we see the strong contrast between the lights of the house against the mountain while contrasting in turn with the rich blue sky. The house light enables us to see something of the foreground field speckeled with snow.
I like the depth in this photo standing back from the detail, there’s a garden in the foreground, trees breaking a clear view of the streets but lights illuminating the road overshadowed by the mountains. The roads create diagonals dividing the photo into segments. The road running left-right leads to Lienz. Again the mountains have a strong presence creating a diagonals in the upper half of the photo. The lighted buildings centre the photo creating I hope a sense of warmth against the cold night.
This photo isn’t really golden hour but night time. This was at the edge of the villiage at the end of my early evening stroll. It’s the only photo here in monchrome because I was trying to create a profilmic abmiance with the car lights against the dark – only the road fencing is illuminated.
Taken from a similar position as one of the above photos, but a year later, the snowscene is illumated by the light offering varying quality and texture if light deending on proximity to the light source.
Here we move to the centre of Lienz looking towards the Christmas Market. In the golden hour there are plays of light and reflections against a darkening sky.
Again looking into the Lienz Christmas or Advent Market, the stands (now closing) are surrounded by light and reflections and the street leads to the snow-capped mountains beyond.
Agian in Lienz, I was struk by the imposing red building with shops and a cafe. It is framed on either side by the Christmas decorations while the empty square allows the reflections to spread invitingly towards the viewer.
Taken from a similar viewpoint as the above photo, but closer into the market, there is a play of light and dark with the stands each capped with snow on the roofs.
Here there is a loger view where there’s still a crowd aroind the gluhwein bar – a hub of light and activity against the cold empty foreground.
Moving away from the centre of Lienz, this is taken from the bridge over the Isel River. The snow on the banks is still illuminated leading aluringly towards the Grandhotel on the left and the mountains beyond.
Taken from the bridge over the Insel through the girders, I wanted to frame the images of mountains, snow and buildings through this rather marvellous structure.
Here we see the bridge with the road illuminated by the oncoming car headlights.
Here I liked the activity against the opening of the bridge – the cyclist, pedestrians moving in opposing directions, creating a busyness against the tranquility of the mountains as they at least appear from this viewpoint.