pixelmac PRO+
pixelmac
Waiting for sunrise

Waiting for sunrise



On top of the Lilienstein rock at the Saxon Switzerland area, Germany

On top of the Lilienstein rock at the Saxon Switzerland area, Germany
Read less
cameraOLYMPUS E-M1

settings Aperture f/6.3 ISO 200 Shutter 1/13 Focal Length 15/1 

upload_dateDec, 2015

Views

2696

Likes

Awards

Lucky 3 Award
Contest Finalist in My Escape Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Never Stop Exploring Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Unique Locations Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Zen Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Connecting With Nature Photo Contest
  View more
Peer Award
gman176 Vorster PhotosByJEM SURREALIMAGE davidjprosser jorgealbertopealozapealoza keithns12 +135
Top Choice
Drperry113 MjBain tonybruguiere chocolatcoco paaluglefisklund Cainey1958 chrisdunn +20
Superb Composition
GrigoriyBasov lyndellanne akphotographystudio RickJ Tilley JeremyElford Merlot +19
Absolute Masterpiece
Svenergy72 IreneNo CarolPatten larryollivier Morgado AnneEdward sayram +7
All Star
buzman juliewells_8964 Blueyeswgtn bkcrossman LucyCMorr BrianaK Denise_Marshall +2
Magnificent Capture
PiscesGirl andrewjackson derekianhughes randalpair alishaclarke
Outstanding Creativity
Deco52 Tammy526 khanspecial
Genius
sue-zon jennay510 marymwarnerthomas

Emotions

Impressed
EarlGrey1701

Top Ranks

Adventure Culture Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Adventure Culture Photo ContestTop 10 rank month 1
Adventure Culture Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Adventure Culture Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Adventure Culture Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
View more
My Best Capture Photo Contest vol2Top 20 rank
My Best Capture Photo Contest vol2Top 20 rank week 1
Capture Cliffs Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Capture Cliffs Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Comfortable Isolation Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Comfortable Isolation Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
My Country Photo ContestTop 30 rank
My Country Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Where Is The Face Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Around The World Photo Contest Digital Camera WorldTop 20 rank
Travel Photo Contest 2019Top 30 rank
Travel Photo Contest 2019Top 30 rank week 5
Travel Photo Contest 2019Top 30 rank week 2
Travel Photo Contest 2019Top 20 rank week 1
Behind You Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Behind You Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Celebrating Earth Day Photo Contest 2019Top 10 rank
Celebrating Earth Day Photo Contest 2019Top 20 rank week 1
An Unforgettable Adventure Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Swag ProjectTop 20 rank
The Swag ProjectTop 20 rank week 1
My Escape Photo ContestTop 10 rank
My Escape Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
My Escape Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 6Top 10 rank
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 6Top 10 rank week 1
Never Stop Exploring Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Never Stop Exploring Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
On The Edge Photo ContestTop 20 rank
On The Edge Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
On The Edge Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Unique Locations Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Zen Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Zen Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
High Vantage Points Photo ContestTop 10 rank
High Vantage Points Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 20 rank
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 20 rank week 2
Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank week 1
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 3Top 20 rank
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank week 2
My Best Shot Photo Contest Vol 3Top 10 rank week 1
The First Light Photo ContestTop 20 rank
One With Nature Photo ContestTop 30 rank week 2
People Enjoying Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
People Enjoying Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
80 Stays Around the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
80 Stays Around the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Pastel Tones In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Pastel Tones In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 2
Pastel Tones In Nature Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Faceless Photo ContestTop 20 rank
Faceless Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Faceless Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
A Sense Of Adventure Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Zen Moment Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Zen Moment Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
The Zen Moment Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
The Creative Landscape Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Creative Landscape Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
People In Large Areas Photo ContestTop 10 rank
The Creative Landscape Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
People In Large Areas Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
People In Large Areas Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Man In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Coast Or Inland Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Man In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 3
Coast Or Inland Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Man In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Coast Or Inland Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Alone With My Thoughts Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Man In Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Alone With My Thoughts Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Clash Of The Premiums Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Clash Of The Premiums Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Alone With My Thoughts Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Clash Of The Premiums Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
Creative Travels Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Creative Travels Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 2
Creative Travels Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Connecting With Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Connecting With Nature Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Standing At The Edge Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Resource Travel Inspiration Photo Contest vol2Top 10 rank
Resource Travel Inspiration Photo Contest vol2Top 10 rank week 1
Standing At The Edge Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
3 Comments | Report
p_eileenbaltz Platinum
 
p_eileenbaltz January 23, 2017
Breathtaking image! Voted in 'people in large areas' contest.
frankseltmann
 
frankseltmann October 21, 2017
hehe, das ist aber auch eine schöne Ecke da - schönen Moment hast du da festgehalten
MRueffer PRO+
 
MRueffer Feb 01
Great photo!!

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#Lilienstein #edge #morning #lonely #vista point #elbe sandstone mountains #Saxon Switzerland #fog #early morning #lonely
See all

Behind The Lens

Location
The photo was taken on the Lilienstein, a table mountain located in the "Saxon Switherland" area in southeastern Germany. It is a very beautiful and photogenic landscape (basically the german equivalent of Monument Valley and Bryce canyon). I was already in that region a few years ago with some fellow members of a photo forum. This shot was taken on my second visit. As the best and most spectacular landscape shots are done at sunrise, I had to climb the mountain in then night (with headlamp and flasnhlights). I was not familiar with the best vista points (depending on the weather and the time of the year), so I asked in a photo forum if there was any local who would like to join me on such a tour. I was lucky to find a guy who was willing to take a morning climb with a total stranger. The picture shows him while we were waiting for sunrise.
Time
The shot was taken at about 5:30 am on March 30th 2014. Originally we planned to go to another vista point, but as we got quite some fog in the night (you see the it in the valley of the river Elbe in the picture), my local "guide" decided to try the Lilienstein instead. As this location was nearer to our meeting point and had a shorter walk / climb, we ended up at our target spot quite some time before sunrise. At that time of the night, and on such an exposed spot, it was quite windy and cold. We were on a rock pleateau of abut 15x15 sq feet with the walls going down vertically maybe 60 feet. So we had to be careful where to go to get the blood circulation ongoing.
Lighting
The sun wasn't yet above the horizon, so we just got some gentle light, just enough to separete the silhoutte from the background. As he stould still, I could use a 13th of a second and combined with an aperture of f6.3 to get everything sharp.
Equipment
I used an Olympus E-M1 with the 12-40/2.8 which I mounted on a Gitzo GT3541LS tripod. (The tripod is extremely stable and a bit of overkill for this camera combination. I still had it from the time when I used a Nikon FX camera setup with much larger lenses.)
Inspiration
When my co-photographer walked on that spot (basically to move around to get warmer while we were waiting for sunrise), the view reminded me very much of the famous painting "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog" from Caspar David Friedrich. So I quickly repositioned my camera and took this spontenaous snapshot.
Editing
The image is almost straight out-of-camera, only a little bit of level adaptions to get a bit more structure in the rock formation, and some sharpening.
In my camera bag
Until a few years ago, I had a Nikon DSLR setup. As love different lenses, the equipment ended up to be quite heavy, so I changed to the micro four thirds system. The picture quality is now "good enough" (at least in most cases) for my taste and my camera bag (or backpack) is now much lighter. Currently, I have an Olympus E-M1. Most often, I use the Olympus 12-40mm/2.8, but when I travel light, I might just go with the Panasonic 20mm/1.7 and Olympus 45mm/1.8. If I need more reach, I either use the Olympus 50-200mm/2.8-3.5 (via adapter) or the Panasonic 45-175mm/4.0-5.6. I often have the Olympus 8mm/1.8 Fisheye or the 60mm/2.8 macro in my bag. That's the nice thing about the m43 system: Most lenses are so small and light, you can just take them with you...
Feedback
To get a great shot in great morning light, you have to go to the right location rather early. In order to get there safely, you'll either have to find someone who knows the way or you should scout beforehand in daylight. But going there with a fellow photographer is nicer anyways: You have a backup if anithing goes wrong, and someone to kill time while waiting. And always keep your eyes open for any unexpected opportunities. I didn't come to this location with that picture explicitely in my mind, but when the situation occurred, I took the opportunity.

See more amazing photos, follow pixelmac

It’s your time to shine! ☀️

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Already a member? Log In

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, and acknowledge you've read our Privacy Policy Notice.