Waiting for Summer

This image shows an alpine hut in Eastern Switzerland. I took it in early 2021 and I still vividly remember the cool night temperatures so close to the snow line.

 

The hut was still in hibernation and would stay that way for a while before waking up to its busy life during the short alpine summer.

 

The sight of the abandoned hut perfectly matched the gloomy mood at the height of the COVID pandemic. The dark mood I associated with this image might be the reason why it remained ignored in my publication pipeline for so long.

 

When I stumbled upon the image again today, not only did I realize that I had taken it exactly 3 years ago, it was also obvious that I had completely misinterpreted its mood: the spring Milky Way in the sky and the receding snow were sure signs of the end of winter and the dawn washing out the contrasts in the sky announced the approaching day.

 

In hindsight, the image no longer has a gloomy mood, it is full of signs of hope. The time to publish this image has definitely come!

 

EXIF

Canon EOS 6D, astro-modified

Samyang 24mm f/1.4

iOptron SkyTracker Pro

 

Sky:

Stack of 7x 45s @ ISO1600, f/2

 

Foreground:

Stack of 5x 90s @ ISO3200, f/2.8

Done