{"id":16364,"date":"2012-11-08T15:09:12","date_gmt":"2012-11-08T20:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightstalking.com\/?p=16364"},"modified":"2020-03-26T05:25:44","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T09:25:44","slug":"a-grand-trip-the-transfagarasen-pass-and-conclusions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lightstalking.com\/a-grand-trip-the-transfagarasen-pass-and-conclusions\/","title":{"rendered":"A Grand Trip – The Transfagarasen Pass and Conclusions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fans of the BBC series, Top Gear will recognize the Transfagarasen Pass as the greatest driving road in the world. It is a 93km stretch of alpine tarmac, ordered by the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1970, its construction cost the lives of 40 soldiers. It crosses the beautiful Fagaras mountains and at its highest point rises some 2034 meters above sea level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2012-10-17<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The steepest part of the ascent<\/div>\n\n\n\n

With sunrise at 7.43, I set off from Sibiu at just after 6am to make sure I reached the pass as the sun rose. As I was approaching from the north, I knew much of this side of the pass would be in shadow but decided to use HDR to try and bring life to the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drive to the uppermost point of the pass was both exhilarating and scary. Because of the time of year, the road<\/a> was more or less deserted, which gave me time to \u201cenjoy\u201d the precipitous unprotected drops into the valley below. At various points on the ascent I stopped to take shots, the cold and wind making photography hard. I had prepared for the coldness, the highest levels of the pass can be 15 C lower than the lowlands but the wind was a problem. Using a carbon fibre tripod, has it\u2019s benefits but coping in wind is not one of them. I partially relieved the problem by weighing it down with my camera bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Untitled_HDR2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
From the top looking north<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The top of the pass was spectacular – two small lakes, the centerpiece. Again I shot HDR<\/a>, the sun just coming over the mountains behind, causing some intense contrast. I also used a slow shutter speed to smooth over the lake\u2019s water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With about an hour of shooting and getting cold it was time to drive the southern, sunlight section. After stopping several times,  I made one stop below the tree line to capture some of the spectacular autumnal colors. On  pulling away from this stop, my car started to have problems, stuttering under load. Being 40 miles from the nearest large town and with no other cars or phone signal, I decided the best policy would be to nurse the car to civilization, forgoing, unfortunately, Dracula\u2019s castle and the spectacular Vidraru Dam. The problem with the car turned out to be a feather sucked into the air filter, which was frustrating, as it I could have easily solved it back on the pass, but in hindsight, it was probably the best policy to get to civilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2012-10-17<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"2012-10-17<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"2012-10-17<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The Highest point of the road<\/div>\n\n\n\n

So what conclusions and lessons do I take from this photography trip? Well firstly, all the planning in the world is not enough. Whilst I had most bases covered, the cock up by DVLA delayed my journey by more than two weeks. This had knock on effects of poorer weather and the need to get to the Transfagarasen Pass before the winter snows closed it, usually in late October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n