Monday, January 6, 2014

In the Mountains [Part 1/4]: The Journey into the Valley

This here is a new series of images that were taken on Saturday, January 4th. My friend Selma and I made a drive to Rujište, a small village located on top of a nearby mountain. Snow was nowhere to be found. When we left Mostar it was a sunny day, and when we arrived on the mountain, dark clouds began to form on the horizon. It would actually rain that very same night, so we did in fact manage to get nice images with a moody sky and some of the sun on the horizon. 

This is a multi-part series. Other parts include:
Part One: The Journey into the Valley
Part Two: Still life in the Valley
Part Three: Return through the Forest
Part Four: Lunch and the drive Home

click on the images for a bigger view

This is really the first thing you see once you make the drive up. I immediately parked my car and went to the edge of the cliff and took the next couple of photos.


A sign welcoming you to the mountain. The height of the mountain is 1050 meters above sea level (which is approximately 3.444 foot).


Dark clouds circled in the landscape, with the sun still visible in the valley. That's where we wanted to go first and it's a longer hike down there.




As we made our way down, the clouds began moving in closer, reminding us, that in a few short hours the darkness of the night would return.


Along the path, interesting objects can be found in the woods, like for example a mini trailer parked on a side path.





This Sycamore tree Forest would greet us on our way back later. Climbing down we could already see the other side of the path that would take us back up. More on that in part three.




To our surprise we discovered a newly plastered road leading far into the mountains. Later we came across a sign that said that this road leads to the Boračko jezero, which is a lake near the city Konjic, further up north. I think this road is worth a drive, a we may just do that soon.



The pine tree forest was all around us. And some parts are very thick and moody.






Coming closer to the valley, the sky was much more inviting and blue, with few white clouds.



It takes around 30 minutes to reach the valley. And while that doesn't seem like much, it's actually the return that takes a bit longer. While getting there was all down the mountain, returning, was a hike up the hill. In the second part I will show you the images we made inside the valley, that also include a very nice water spring and mini lake. But more on that tomorrow.

39 comments:

  1. WOW Mersad ....thats a beautiful serie...... i like this post very much.

    thanks for sharing all these places.

    Greetings, Joop

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  2. It's not the kind of weather I like but it does lend itself to spectacular photographs. Having been away rather a long time (internet deprivation) I'm hoping I haven't missed too many of your fabulous photographs.

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    1. The clouds especially lend themselves for some good aerials.

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  3. I like those pine trees, the kind like where you are standing.. so beautiful and toyota might want to use that first photo to advertise their cars... really beautiful shot of the car and the scenery... so many beautiful trees would make me very happy

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    1. The pine trees were really beautiful, especially in the places where they covered a larger ground.

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  4. The thought that first came to mind when I saw your first photo was that it's exactly the kind of picture that car manufacturers like to use in advertising their vehicles. This looks like a beautiful area, and you captured it well. The clouds in the sky add their own beauty to the scene. Looking forward to more from this outing.

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    1. It reminded me of that too when I saw it first. It just needs a logo and slogan :) Thanks for visiting. Part Two will be up tomorrow. I'm currently writing it.

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  5. Superb captures of an incredibly beautiful place, Mersad!! I love the view, the mountains and the gorgeous scenery!! Thanks as always for sharing your travels with us!! A beautiful way to begin a day!! Have a great week!

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  6. This is beautiful scenery. I assume these are HDR. the processing is perfect.

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    1. These are not HDR. I shot the images in RAW format and adjusted the different plains of light (foreground and background) manually in Camera Raw.

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  7. Nice views! Looks like a lovely place. Can't wait to see part two.

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    1. Hope you enjoyed all the other parts Linda.

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  8. Wow! It takes away my breath and I want to be there and see the world from this point of view. Beautiful pictures Mersad! Fantastic view!

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  9. Wonderful photos and beautiful views, Mersad! I love the photo of you looking though the pines. Looking forward to part 2.

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    1. Thank you. Hope you enjoyed part two as well.

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  10. lovely skies and rugged country.

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  11. Lovely spot to hike and take photos!

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  12. What a beautiful spot. I don't think I would like to spend much time in that little cabin though...looks rather desolate and cold

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  13. These are gorgeous! It reminds me a lot of the western U.S. Great mountains and beautiful trees!

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    1. It does have that feel now that you mention it, Thanks for stopping by.

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  14. Absolutely brilliant, Mersad. Gorgeous series of photos. A fantastic tour!

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    1. Thanks Linda for stopping by and commenting.

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  15. More beautiful images from you. I look forward to seeing more.

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  16. Tolle Aufnahmen und wundervolle Landschaft. Also die Wolkenformationen machen das Ganze in meinen Augen noch spektakulärer^^, und die erste Aufnahme könnte aus einem Werbeprospekt kommen....solltest du mal an derern Werbeabteilung schicken ;-)

    Hab einen wundervollen Tag und herzliche Grüsse

    Nova

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    1. Danke Nova. Sollte ich vieleicht versuchen :)

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  17. that first photo looks like a car ad, they should pay you!!! i was going to ask how long it took because it looks so far reaching, but a half hour and down and a little more back isn't bad! ha, love the shot of you peeking through the pines!

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    1. It was half an hour down, but the climb up was much longer, because it's all up hill, and also we stopped a lot to take the images. We were a good two hours out there.

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  18. Gorgeous photos, Mersad! What a beautiful place! I love outings like this, when I can get lots of lovely shots of mountain views and scenery. Love the fall-colored leaves! And those dark clouds really add some depth. Really nice!

    Yes, I am thoroughly enjoying the new camera! :-)

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    1. Thank you Marie. Glad you're enjoying your new camera.

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  19. which software do you use to edit these photos?
    hạt hạnh nhân


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  20. Great shots, Mersad. And as I've said before, it does remind me of the dry side of the Cascade Mountain Range.

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