Pictures of the year: Sunrise on the road bike
The early bird catches the worm. The saying has a special meaning in the life of a photographer and leads to an acute lack of sleep. The best atmospheric pictures can definitely be taken at sunrise - okay, sunset is also possible of course ... The situation is exacerbated around the summer solstice, when you have to be on location with your camera at the ready before 5 a.m. to catch the magical light.
As a photographer, you can count yourself lucky if you can turn it into a family event, as in the case of this picture. In this case, photographer Markus Greber "only" had to get his wife Sabine and their son Thomas out of bed at a late hour.
Pictures of the year: Sylvenstein reservoir
The quietest road for road cycling is certainly neither behind nor in front of you when you cross the Faller Gorge Bridge over the Isar dammed in the Sylvensteinsee. Nevertheless, the structure is definitely worth a photo stop. After all, it marks the entrance from the north in the direction of the Karwendel.
Lucky for those who - like photographer Baschi Bender here - have a photo drone with them and can thus utilise a particularly impressive perspective. Incidentally, the picture was taken during a gravel cycle tour from the source of the Isar to where it flows into the Danube. All in one day, of course! You can read the story in the June 2022 issue of TOUR.
Pictures of the year: Gravelbike
Photographer Markus Greber is known for his creative tinkering - always on the hunt for the perfect, unusual picture. This motif is comparatively simple, but rather daring. To illustrate the speed and dynamics of gravel biking, Greber sat on his e-mountainbike, took the camera in one hand and used this setup to chase after his colleagues Stefan Loibl and Julian Schulz along forest paths.
Fortunately, he is not only a master with the camera, but also a recognised experienced biker, so that the action went well and this great picture was taken.
Pictures of the year: TOUR-Transalp
In the racing bike universe, there are hardly any more famous hairpin bends than this one just below the top of the Stelvio Pass. Fuelled by dramas from stages of the Giro d'Italia just like the TOUR-Transalp this pass is at the top of the bucket list of many narrow tyre fans.
For TOUR photographer Uwe Geißler, too, it is always a great challenge to leave the accompanying motorbike in order to capture new views of the legendary passages.
Pictures of the year: Tuscany
Classic road bike terrain - Tuscany offers challenging, hilly routes with magnificent views. Particularly recommended: the area around Massa Marittima. The roads here are particularly well maintained and there is little car traffic. There are also the typical cypress avenues, picturesque little villages and, of course, good coffee, as espresso is actually called in Italy.
Sabine Greber and Alice Hutmacher once again had to get up early and battle the February cold for this one. It was definitely worth it, at least from a photographic point of view ...
Pictures of the year: Cold
How do you actually depict the cold? You can feel it, but you can't actually see the cold. And thickly wrapped racing cyclists don't always make an attractive picture. But the cold can produce beautiful visual effects, such as thick clouds of breathable air.
These combined with the most important ingredient for a great photo, namely beautiful light, can perhaps result in a pretty picture that shows something that you can't actually see.
