Hallig Gröde - Evening Light

Clouds and light scene while the sun is preparing to set in the west.

And again the clouds created a simply gorgeous sky, so that I was more or less compelled to take a series of photographs. ;-)

Hallig Gröde - Barn

Rural idyll, the upper part of the barn belonging to the house shown on the previous image.

Animals (except dogs ;-) are not to be found in each of the four barns belonging to the houses on the Knudtswarft. Cattle are only roaming the holm during the summertime, as guests too. Dairy farming was given up some time ago, the brent geese are eating too much of the gras during their visit in early spring.

Hallig Gröde - House on Knudtswarft

Protected by a ring dyke, the houses on the Knudtswarft provide home for 17 people, the four families, which permanently inhabit the holm.

Two more, the teacher and her husband live on the Kirchwarf, next mound so to speak. All houses have thatched roofs, yielding a very typical North Friesia look, which fits very well into the landscape. By the way, the two windows shown here are part of our holiday appartment facing west with a spectacular view over Gröde, the sea, and the neighboring holms and islands.

Hallig Gröde - Morning Light

Shortly after sunrise, the early morning light is simply gorgeous.

And enough of a motivation to get early out of bed. ;-) Luckily at the end of August, sunrise is moving to more friendly times. This image is a something of an experiment. The contrast range between the foreground and the sky was huge, so I used the digital blending technique to make a composite of two different exposures on slide film. Including correction while scanning the difference is approx. 3 EV.

Hallig Gröde - Wharf at the Watergate

Afternoon idyllic scene at the watergate.

At a convenient distance from the houses, near the watergate, there is a small wharf where the locals moor their boats.

Hallig Gröde - Catwalk

Crossing over one of the broader ditches along the way from the western jetty to the houses.

A foot path leads directly from the Knudtswarft and the Kirchwarft to the jetty and watergate on the west side of Gröde, frequently used by the locals. The deeper and broader ditches along the way are bridged by catwalks such as the one shown here.

Hallig Gröde - Clouds above the Kirchwarft (new)

Now this is a canonical picture of Hallig Gröde. ;-)

This day, with its marvelous, quickly changing cloud formations, sun and rain delivered just the right setting. [Update] As some people in the discussion at fotocommunity.de suggested, this is a new image of the same scene, more closely cropped. Also on fotocommunity.de you can find a alternate crop of this image with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Hallig Gröde - Rain is Coming

The downside of the fine stormy weather, from time to time clouds with heavy spells of rain come in from the sea.

As an umbrella would be most unfitting und inconvenient ;-), the best thing is to do like the sheep, turn your butt … eh back … into the wind and rain, and sit it out.

Hallig Gröde - Clouds above the Kirchwarft

Now this is a canonical picture of Hallig Gröde. ;-)

This day, with its marvelous, quickly changing cloud formations, sun and rain delivered just the right setting

Hallig Gröde - High Tide at the Stone Edge

Some time later, high tide is coming in and spilling over the stone edge.

Far from “Landunter” (not very far, though ;-), but the road along the stone edge to the west jetty is already flooded.