Exploring Luxembourg's Moselle
Luxembourg is divided in several geographic regions. I have explored some of them extensively, but the Moselle to the east of the country has long eluded me! Not any longer though, since I put much effort in visiting this part of the Grand Duchy this year…
I remember getting asked a few years ago about why I had not more pictures of the Moselle region. The answer is rather simple: it's not close by from where I live! And well, there are so many other places to visit in Luxembourg! The closer a landscape, the better you can get to know it. The more you visit a place, the higher your chances are to get that one amazing picture. Further away places require more planning and certainly a bit of luck for those picture-perfect conditions...
A year of exploration
I challenged myself this year to visit parts of my adopted country that I had only passed through rapidly or which I had not visited at all yet. One of these places was Luxembourg’s southern Minett. Another was Luxembourg’s Moselle, which, in my 12 years living in the Grand Duchy, I had never taken the time to explore…
What I mean by exploring is rather time-intensive. Exploring requires research and scouting for interesting locations, getting recommendations from fellow photographers, visiting the area and hiking through the landscape and last but not least creating compelling images. I heavily associate exploring with creating photographs that I like.
I have come back to Luxembourg’s Moselle several times this year. It all started back this summer, when I decided, together with my friend and fellow landscape photographer Alfonso Salgueiro, to hold a new photography workshop at the Moselle. We had visited the Mullerthal and the Upper-Sûre Lake during our two previous workshops, and we knew that there was potential in doing a workshop at the Moselle too. We set out to explore the Moselle on a few scouting trips and held our workshop in early August. It was a fun experience and it left me eager to come back and explore this part of the country further…
Staying until nighttime also proved to be a productive choice, since the villages along the Moselle light up at night, while drive-through traffic allows for some creative long exposures. On our first night exploring for interesting locations we also witnessed the comet Neowise which was passing close to Earth at that time.
Golden Vineyards
A family day trip under the rain took me back to the Moselle in early autumn this year. While the Moselle is a beautiful place during summer, it becomes magical during autumn! The vineyards turn from green to yellow and contrast with the surrounding landscape. Driving through the now golden vineyards was mesmerising and I knew I had to plan for some more shootings in this region.
A few days later I had done my research and chosen a location for a sunset shooting. It turned out to be an amazing evening with perfect conditions!
I also tried to capture some different perspectives over the vineyards from the air, using a drone.
I kept visiting the Moselle in the following weeks, during sunrises, sunsets and during the day as well, hiking through various villages and finding more interesting locations. And although the light was not always on my side, I can now say with confidence that I know this part of the Grand Duchy somewhat better. However, there are still many places here that I need to have a closer look at! I will definitely keep on coming here…
Belgium’s High Fens provide ample opportunities to create interesting landscape photography.