Winter Wonder Venn

Blinding white dendritic structures branch out into a cerulean blue sky, the freezing air bites into the skin on my face, each step leaves a crunching sound in the cold silence. That’s the scenery in the winter landscape of the Belgian Venn around Signal de Botrange. A true winter wonderland dream.

We were lucky to catch the only sunny weekend this winter to stroll through the snow covered moorscape in the Venn. Like exploring the strange environment on a newly discovered planet we ventured on through alien forests and crystal planes: extraterrestial explorers on the search for new life forms. The contrast between the white of the frozen trees and the endless blue of the sky above us was mesmerizing. I didn’t know where to look next and what frame to catch with my camera.

Another stunning contrast were the pitch black waterways of the moor, darkened by their high content of humic acids, meandering through the bright snow cover. The lack of colour emphasizing the surface structure of the fluffy snow pillows and the playful reflection of waves and ripples of the water.

Every now and then the occasional pine tree towers over the empty snow planes like a dark monolith. Last relicts of a long lost civilisation that once ruled this part of the planet.

I am not a winter person, but days like this really make my heart sing. An unforgettable start of 2024. And probably the last post that will show images taken with my Canon EOS 350 D. I finally got myself a new camera and I guess there will soon be more new posts here on this blog. Spring is arriving fast now and all the little flowers and fresh leaves are begging to be caugth on camera.

Vipera berus

It’s been a while that I posted anything. That has been due to the fact that I accepted a new job in Aachen and I had to move and adapt do all the completely new conditions. I am still adapting actually. But one cool thing has happened: I met a cool guy that wanted to catch a certain snake species on camera: the Vipera berus, or „Kreuzotter“ as it is called in German. It is pretty much the only venomous snake species in the country and only rarely seen. However, roumor had it that it was seen in the moorscapes of the near Venn region in the borderlands of Belgium and Western Germany.

So, having identified our mutual interest in snakes and photography we ventured into the moor. Four consequent weekends we had to start our expeditions till we got lucky and almost stepped onto this beautiful baby adder. I am afraid my auto focus fucked me up a little, but it still is a wonderful specimen.

While my friend crawled on the floor with his huge tele lens, I got myself comfortable with my convenient semi macro lense and followed the little snake on its path. It was probably not longer than 30 cm, but beautifully coloured and didn’t mind us being around.