iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 20/10/2026

Kugelhorn (2022) (First dusting of snow near the peak complimenting the rich autumn colors/textures of the forest below) #TextureTuesday #LandscapePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Autumn #Texture

Portrait photo of a large mountain with the rocky upper third dusted in fresh snow and the steep slopes below a mixture of cliffs, meadows and forest, in beautiful rich autumn colors. Plain gray sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

Another light pollution map, here showing the VIIRS version. Same region & time span (2015-2025) #LightPollution #Mapping #GIS #DataViz #Europe #Animation

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

Added to my reading list... Just this weekend I was creating this little animation to visualize how light pollution has been somewhat decreasing in different areas of central Europe over the past 10 years, thanks to more public awareness, policies/regulation […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2026

Descent Into Oytal (October 2023) (Epic evening light shafts illuminating the lower parts of the valley, showing the path ahead which we took underneath the stars a few hours later. The upper part of the valley is one of Germany's true dark places (Bortle […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

B&W photo of a beautiful curved alpine valley, seen from slightly higher up and just before sunset. A bright light shaft is illuminating the steep mountain slopes on the right in the background. Most of the foreground is in shade already. A small foot path is leading down through bushy vegetation. (Much) further in the distance we can see it winding through the forest and meadows on the valley floor towards the light. Hazy sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 18/10/2026

Golden Cloud Core (2026) (Four months ago, the last light refracting in the clouds, spending a night in the central Alps at 2850 meters... 😍) #SilentSunday #LandscapePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Glacier #CloudAppreciation

A single large cumulus cloud with golden yellow tint is floating above large glaciated mountain peaks and the already almost completely dark valley in front. The view is from high up and the valley stretches out below us in dark shades of blue.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

Thin Layer Of Life (2026) (I love scenes like this, exposing just how thin and fragile this carpet of life is in the high mountains, considering the ages/centuries, the obstacles it took to overcome and the relationships needing to form for this varied life […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

A high alpine landscape showing a small plateau of rocks overgrown with mosses, small bushes and some isolated larch trees, all in beautifully rich autumn colors. The dense carpet of tundra life is interrupted by erosion and cliffs in the foreground, exposing just how thin and fragile that layer of top soil and vegetation actually is. Talus fields and bare rock higher up in the hazy background.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

Bernina Falls (2024) (Just one of many cascades forming these falls in their eponymous mountain range of the Alps...) #WaterfallWednesday #Photography #BlackAndWhite #NoirCountry #Waterfall #Alps

B&W photo of a waterfall with its stream temporarily splitting into two falls with a 90 degree angle in between them. Heavy flow and whitewater forming.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Invisible Chasm Ⅳ (2024) (Small section visible of the path leading down to the mouth of a glacial canyon, 300-400 meters below... Beginnings of the side moraine visible on the opposite side) #InvisibleChasm #TextureTuesday #LandscapePhotography #Photography #Abstract #Texture

Abstract photograph of an alpine glacial valley. The cropped view omits any larger context and is purely focused on resulting shapes, colors and textures. The slopes are glacial deposits, partially overgrown with grasses in autumn colors (yellows, greens, browns). Some exposed bedrock and sharp-lined side moraine on the opposite side of the valley. A small path leading down into the valley in the bottom right corner.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

Ashridge (2020) (Today, six years ago... On one of the first outings in the English countryside after the lockdowns) #LandscapePhotography #CloudAppreciation #Buckinghamshire

Photo of a typical English countryside with rolling hills, woodland ridges with trees in early autumn colors and big sky with layers of clouds (and some blue). The afternoon sun is casting long shadows in the foreground. A small hamlet in mid distance.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

Zugspitze (2021) (View of Germany's tallest peak, last glacier [remnants] and the absolutely grand Höllental below, state as of five years ago...) #MountainMonday #MonochromeMonday #LandscapePhotography #BlackAndWhite #NoirCountry #Alps #Mountains

B&W portrait photo of a large alpine landscape with the Zugspitze peak (2962 m) and its glacier remnants below as central motif. The mountain drops off steeply (over the entire height of the image) into the valley below, talus fields giving way to fields of dwarf mountain pines and alpine meadows below. The valley bottom is not visible and obscured by some white limestone cliffs in the foreground, the view being from a very narrow pass between the rocks with steep drop offs directly ahead.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

In The Puez-Geisler Range (2023) (One of the most photographed mountains in the background, albeit here from a more untypical POV...) #SilentSunday #LandscapePhotography #Photography #BlackAndWhite #NoirCountry #Alps #Mountains

B&W photo of a mountain scene in the Dolomites, a constellation of large boulders at the end of a talus field, some of them with small trees and bushes growing on and around them. In the background, on the other side of the valley, the large Langkofel group under a sky heavy with incoming snow clouds.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

@cartocalypse I can understand that, but so far I've hardly ever seen them in isolation and more as part of a preexisting tapestry of other stickers[1]. So sure, on one level I also find that sticker culture in general a nuisance in the mountains, but I think […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

Road sign marking the Sella pass in the Dolomites, but it's half covered (incl. the two poles the sign is mounted on) in layers of hundreds of stickers left by tourists from all over the place and the sign text is only partially legible...

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

Valle dei Sogni (2026) (Complete solitude in the valley of dreams — that's how it felt and how I will remember/cherish it...) #FootpathFriday #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Hiking

An large open cirque in an alpine valley with still partially glaciated peaks and ridges in the background and open grassy plain in the foreground. Rock & rubble deposits surrounding the creek bed, overgrown with small bushes in their rich autumn colors and some larch trees (still green). In the distance sparse forest of swiss pines on the lower mountain slopes below the talus fields and terraced rocks. Bright hazy dazy with mostly clear azure sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

Fire (2026) (Fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium L. in its best namesake form) (Re-upload, due to uploading wrong version earlier...) #BloomScrolling #NaturePhotography #Photography #Alps

A patch of dry fireweed plants, slightly backlit looking, at first sight, like actual flames against the alpine forest background...

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

Labyrinth (2026) The literal name of this section of a wall of almost a thousand meters[1] of near vertical ice, a slowly shapeshifting maze of seracs, flowing, fracturing, the light refracting and revealing the beautiful blue ice glow of the (dying) glacier […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

$Frontal view of a section of a wall of almost a thousand meters of near vertical ice, a slowly shapeshifting maze of seracs, slowly flowing, fracturing, the light refracting and revealing the beautiful blue ice glow of the (dying) glacier... In the foreground the near silhouettes of a steep cliff section with some small Swiss pines.$

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Also, this Czech Meopta Axomat 4 enlarger was the heart of my first darkroom and I spent many years of quality time experimenting with it in the dark... 🥹 Image credit: aukro.cz/meopta-axomat-4-color-bare… #Photography #Darkroom #History #Enlarger #Meopta

Photo of a boxed Meopta Axomat 4 enlarger...

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Found some of my old (and first) teenage years cameras and other photo equipment on the DDR Museum website. Artifacts from a truly different life... Some of these were already 15-25+ years old when I first used them in the '80s... More items/objects here […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

A Beirette SL 100 camera

Image credit:
https://www.ddr-museum.de/de/objects/1014111

A Penti II camera with leather case

Image credit:
https://www.ddr-museum.de/de/objects/1022863

An EXA 1b SLR

Image credit:
https://www.ddr-museum.de/de/objects/1013946

Slide viewer Malirex

Image credit:
https://www.ddr-museum.de/de/objects/1022851

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

Gurglerferner (2026) Beautifully rich textures and structures, emphasized by the hard light and created by glacial abrasion of this once great (and still utterly majestic) glacier flowing directly from the central Alpine divide. If you squint you can see a […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

B&W photo of a rocky high alpine landscape with a large glacier flowing diagonally across the image. A huge section/slope of exposed bed rock in the foreground, rocks glistening in the sun, leading down into a canyon (not shown). Further back, behind the ice flow, a ridge section of the Alpine divide with majestic peaks and several small side glaciers flowing into the main Ferner. Clear sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Gran Inversion (detail, 2026) (Detail of the edges of the amazing cloud inversion last week [see above] with the clouds sloshing up the slopes and spilling into the side valleys, before dissipating only two hours later...) #SilentSunday […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

B&W detail photo of the edge of a cloud inversion in the Alps, the thick white clouds sloshing against the densely forested mountain slopes and spilling into the hanging side valleys. A thin layer of mist sitting above the clouds in the background. No sky visible.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Gran Inversion (2026) (Gran Zebru (3851 m) and the glaciated Monte Cevedale (3769 m) and Adamello-Presanella Alps [with main peaks at 3539 & 3558 meters] towering high above the clouds floating above the valley) #SilentSunday #LandscapePhotography […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

B&W photo of a large alpine valley covered by a thick layer of white clouds and thin strips of wispy mist above it. Majestic mountain peaks in the distance, some of them heavily glaciated. The view is from a mountain pass above the clouds. Steep slopes with dense forest in the foreground.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Rocky Road (2026) (Even if hundreds of years old, some paths [in life] always will & should remain rocky as they can be good teachers...) #FootpathFriday #Photography #BlackAndWhite #NoirCountry #Hiking

B&W photo of an old hiking path made of arranged rocks, in a similar fashion of ancient roman roads. The path is surrounded by forest and large boulders and is leading towards a steep drop-off in near distance. The path is partially in the shade of the trees, but the bright light creates a hard contrast. Clear bright sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Non-virtual Reality (2026) (The office this week... Meticulously planned weeks/months ago, then been waiting for the right time/weather/season, now capturing a year's worth of impressions in just a few days...) #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Autumn #Color #Glacier

A path leading into the distance through a stunningly colorful alpine landscape with glaciated peaks in the background. In foreground, a dense carpet of small bushes and grasses in intensely saturated autumn colors (reads/oranges/yellows). Rocks and small groups of larches and Swiss pines dotted here and there. A mountain creek meandering through the meadows in the large cirque in the back. Hazy pale blue sky with some wispy clouds forming.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Glacier Gate (2024) (Ever shapeshifting, ever collapsing, ever shrinking... 😢) #SilentSunday #LandscapePhotography #Alps #Glacier #Autumn

View of a semicircular glacier gate (the tip of a glacier) with small seracs covered in rubble and outflow delta of muddy gray waters, all seen from a few hundred meters directly above. In the foreground is the steep grassy slope with vegetation in beautiful autumn colors (oranges/reds) and some small bushes and swiss pines trying to hold onto the almost vertical drop...

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

The Quiet Place (2024) (Actually only half true. More up close, glaciers are full of the most amazing sounds... yet from this distance, higher up, all you can hear is the wind and your own breath/heartbeat...) #SilentSunday #LandscapePhotography #Alps #Glacier #Mountains

View of a large glacier flowing below its surrounding glaciated landscape of ~4000 meter peaks with huge ice falls and 1000+ meter tall rock faces dusted in fresh powder snow. Clear blue sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

Alpine Autumn (2026) (No extra saturation, only polarization. For those never been in the mountains around this time of the year, these colors sure might look artificial to you...) #FootpathFriday #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Hiking #Autumn

Portrait photo of a treeless alpine landscape with low-growth tundra vegetation in rich, earthy autumnal colors (oranges, yellows, browns, reds...) A narrow rocky footpath is zigzagging up the steep mountain slope towards a small piece of horizon in the top-left corner with soft azure clear sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

Tomorrow is photo chem recycling day (every six months here): This means impending darkroom session today, checking vintage grades, measuring pH levels, filtering and replenishing various concoctions/solutions... #AltProcess #Darkroom #Kallitype #Photography #FineArt #PrintMaking

A dozen or so handmade kallitype prints of different sizes and tones, scattered on my sorting table for review. The prints mostly depict mountain landscapes in the Alps.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

After The Drought (2026) (Temporary bounce back of lush greens, at least for a few weeks, after an extremely hot & dry summer in the Alps...) #SilentSunday #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Forest #Alps #Mountains #Hiking

An extremely lush sub-alpine mixed forest (willows, larches, spruces, firs etc.) with steep slopes and cliffs of the valley sides further back on the left and tall jagged mountain peaks in the background. Sunny day with clear blue sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

Getting Drenched At 2500 Meters #FootpathFriday time! A welcome brief refreshment on the way up, on my hike two weeks ago, the view from ~10 secs... 😍 #LandscapePhotography #Video #POV #Alps #Mountains

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

September Descent (2026) Beautiful late summer day & mood, on the way back down into the valley. Only another few precious weeks until the snow arrives (hopefully)... Also, just to illustrate that black & white conversion/editing always offers a huge […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

View down into a beautiful side valley in the Alps from just above the treeline, the lower parts covered in dwarf mountain pines and dense spruce forests. Steep slopes on either side, some cliffs visible on the left. Two large mountain peaks are rising up almost vertically on the opposite side of the main valley ahead. Hazy day with clear pale blue sky.

The same picture as #1, converted to black & white using custom weights to map the individual luminance of various primary hues.

The same picture as #1, converted to black & white using simple HSV desaturation.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

Oh my, I just bought something from eBay for the first time in 15+ years — wish me luck! My last experience (selling a laptop then) was super stressful, when the buyer ended up being a fraudster and it took months to get the money... This time I ordered a […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

B&W photo of a dry press for baryta prints. The top part of the press is a sheet of thick canvas cloth, spanned over a slightly curved metal heat plate below.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

Evening Walk (Last night, stopping by at one of our fave places on the way back from commemorating an important family day in the mountains...) #EveningWalk #LandscapePhotography #Lake #Alps #Mountains

A mountain lake with deep teal colored water during the last light of the day. A patch of reeds in the bottom-right corner. The other side of the lake is a densely forested ridge, tall mountains behind it, their tops catching a little bit of the alpenglow warm sunset light. Clear blue sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

Room With Another View (2026) (Same as [1], only here showing parts of the large drop into the glacial canyon(s) below...) [1] mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/1172632635091… #MountainMonday #LandscapePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Glacier #Hiking

View of a mountain hut at the mouth and confluence of two high alpine glacial valleys with a large section of exposed bedrock dropping down toward a narrow canyon, carved by glacial creeks. It's late afternoon and the ridge on the right is casting harsh shadows. The hut and side buildings in the top left corner are still in the bright sun, surrounded by yellow/brown grasses among the bare scraped off rocks... No sky visible.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

Room With A View (2026) (When 2430m elevation is near the bottom of the valley and the glacier(s) almost still reaching till the doorstep when that hut was built in 1928... now retracted by almost 4km...) #SilentSunday #LandscapePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Glacier #Hiking

View of a mountain hut at the mouth of a high alpine glacial valley with steep rocky mountains on either side. The view shows the entire valley with the remaining glacier near the highest peak in the background and its outflow creek meandering through the valley. It's mid afternoon and the ridge on the right is casting harsh cold shadows. The hut and side buildings, on the other side of the valley, is still in the bright sun, surrounded by yellow/brown grasses among the bare scraped off rocks... Clear blue sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026

Perspective Reset (2026) (Carved by glaciers, houses for scale, colors for delight... the path ahead, to be taken 8 hours later...) #FootpathFriday #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Autumn #Alps #Mountains #Glacier #Hiking

Photo of some smooth U-shaped glacial hanging side valleys in the central eastern Alps, parts of their remaining glacier fragments near the peaks the background. The lower slopes are covered in dry grasses in a mix of beautiful autumn colors. Talus fields and rocks of different colors higher up. Clear blue sky. A small gravel path is curving along the side of the main valley, passing two tiny-looking huts (near a talus field in the bottom center of the image).

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

Fog Over Forggensee (2026) (From the same place and morning as [1], only a few mins earlier... breathtaking light and peaceful scenery!) [1] mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/1172338901205… #MorningWalk #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Fog #Trees #Lake

View of a large lake in the foothills of the Alps with a thick layer of low-hanging clouds illuminated by and glowing with the first soft peachy/pastel light of day. The clouds/fog are obscuring the horizon line and most of the mountains in the background. Only their top ridges are visible. Some meadows and trees surrounding a small pier with some boats in the foreground. A solitary fishing boat is in the middle of the lake, below the fog.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

Invisible Chasm Ⅲ (2026) (From where I was standing, there's a 400 meter drop in between, a (hidden) suspension bridge crossing the canyon and the path then continuing almost vertically through the crags of the exposed bedrock on the opposite side...) […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

Photo of a deep canyon created by thousands of years of glacial abrasion with hundreds of meters tall cliffs of exposed bedrock (with cellular-automata-like patterns) on the opposite side and steep talus slopes, overgrown with grasses, on this side of the valley. It's early autumn and the vegetation in the foreground is already in shades of golden brown/orange, creating a color and textural contrast to the gigantic bare rock opposite.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

Fog Over Forggensee (2026) (Stunning light & fog encounter on a recent early morning walk...) #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Fog #Trees #Autumn #Mountains

A group of trees in some fields near the forest catching the first warm yellow morning light. The leaves of some trees are already turning orange. In mid-distance low hanging white clouds are floating as a thick dense layer above the lake (itself 99% invisible), their tops illuminated in soft peachy pink pastel light. The mountain peaks of the Ammergauer Alps visible above in the distance. Otherwise clear pale blue sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Colors Of The Mountains (Unedited RAW file from yesterday's hike, only cropped & framed...) #MountainMonday #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #Alps #Mountains #Hiking

Wide-format view of an alpine mountain landscape with a lush mixture of vegetation (mostly grasses, mosses, berry bushes, swiss pines) in early autumn colors and rocks of different textures/colors. Glaciated (barely) peaks in the background. Waterfalls from different directions. Clear blue sky.

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Karsten Schmidt @toxi.mastodon.thi.ng.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

Revisiting An Ancient Friend (...aiming higher/further today, before the days are getting too short, possibly attempting to record a new addition for my #TimeFade project[1], but will decide on final route when I get near the glacier... This image is from […] [Original post on mastodon.thi.ng]

Beautiful, remote glacial high alpine landscape on a bright sunny day in autumn. The trees and meadows in the foreground are all in their best colors. Small water falls coming down on the right side. In the background, a majestic, still mostly glaciated mountain ridge of ~3500 meter peaks. Clear blue sky with a single small cloud.

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