Michael Kraus (@michael_kraus_photography) is a Bavaria-based landscape and nature photographer. “My goal in landscape photography is to always capture the most beautiful lighting and mood in my images. Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria has always been on my list for this.” He beautifully captured the castle with his Sony Alpha 7 IV and Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master and we connected with him to learn more about this image, our Photo Of The Day.
Photo by Michael Kraus. Sony Alpha 7 IV. Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master at 18mm. 1/30-sec., f/16, ISO 64
See how landscape and nature photographer Michael Kraus snapped this otherworldly image of Bavaria's 'Fairytale' Castle with the Sony Alpha 7 IV and Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master.
“In this photo I imagined exactly how it should be, with the fog at the height of the castle and the setting sun next to the mountain," he explains. "Now I had to wait for the perfect moment. Almost exactly after three years the moment had come, and I sat in my car and drove to the castle, which was an hour's drive away. Once there, the conditions for the fog were still right. Now it was a one-hour walk and a very difficult ascent to a small clearing in the forest, where you have a clear view of the castle.”
Kraus arrived a little later than planned and had to quickly set up his tripod to catch the sunset in the image. “I got the tripod up, and the special thing about that day is that it was the right day…I had my brand new Sony Alpha 7 IV with me and was able to take photos with it. Of course I also had my Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master in my backpack which I also used for this photo. My goal was to get a sunstar on the edge of the mountain, which worked immediately on the first image. My settings were 1/30-sec., f/16, ISO 64”
He continues, “For me these are great moments when you wait so long for a picture, as in this case just over three years, and then the moment comes and the wait was worth it. When I got home, I immediately went to post-production. After all, I wanted to present my work to my followers. With Adobe Photoshop I edited my photo, which was important to me in the process of creating the dreamy look I wanted for this castle that Bavaria calls the ‘fairytale castle.’ After about 30 minutes of processing, I achieved this result.”
See more of Michael Kraus’ work on Instagram @michael_kraus_photography.
