Clear Skies and Minus 14 Degrees

On the 31st of January this year we went on an early morning hike in the Harz mountains. There was severe snow fall the weeks before and this was one of the first days where the forecast promised clear skies for the higher altitudes – and this time it was correct. Moreover, it was one of the most gorgeous mornings I experienced in quite some time. We had to share the small mountain top Achtermannshöhe with several others who had the same idea, but the light of the slowly rising sun was capturing everyones attention.

I remember the two hours we spent there regularly, and especially how the blue and purple light illuminated the landscape before the sun conquered the horizon. It was also my first attempt to capture a panorama shot with my camera, but I made several mistakes during the process: The only usable part of my attempt is the featured image in the beginning of this post which is merged from three different photos and spans more than 15.000 pixels. Enjoy the images.