Unsuccessfull hike to Noir Flohay

It was my first photo walk after the holidays. As usual I tried to plan my visit upfront hopefully to get some chances for taking some decent photographs. The weather forecast for the Baraque Michel was fog and heavy clouds. And according to some webcam data there was snow on the Baraque Michel. A combination of Snow and fog can certainly result in compelling and moody photographs.

I planned to photograph the gnarly trees at Noir Flohay. It is a place on top of the Baraque Michel. The trees at this location are the dead remains of a big fire years ago. I have photographed those gnarly trees some time ago but only with my widest lens (Fujifilm 16mm F2.8) in cold, drab and rainy conditions. There wasn’t a lot of snow at that moment.

Yes there was a lot of fog during the short trip with the car. But arriving at the Barque Michel the weather completely cleared. Blue sky and a beautiful sunrise. I was to late for getting a composition to my liking of the landscape with that beautiful orange light of the sunrise.

For getting to Noir Flohay you have to walk on a wooden scaffolding. It is not safe to walk in high snow on Baraque Michel. I met a friendly photographer at the start of the trail to Noir Flohay. He warned me that the wooden scaffolding was really dangerous. It was completely covered with ice. I did not have any clamp ons, so it was not safe to go to Noir Flohay.

I got in to a conversation with the friendly photographer. We also exchanged our photography accounts. His website is www.heartsensefotografie.nl. Because of the situation I suggested to walk to another part on the Baraque Michel. I wanted to show him the locations where I took the tree scapes in foggy winter conditions; see the images in my post about “winter scenes at Baraque Michel” (post 7).

The light was really harsh so it was difficult to take any compelling photographs. I used the black and white settings on my camera. I did take some images. My favourite one of the trip is the featured one in this post. Shot with the Fujifilm prime the 50 mm F2.

After leaving the Baraque Michel I did explore another location nearby. But the light was not suitable for taking any more photographs. And yes, Noir Flohay will have to wait for another time.

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