Sunset over Lake Zug

Lake Zug and a beautiful sunset – a promising combination, since the city is located on the eastern shore of the lake with a wide view to the west, where the sun sets.

Sometimes they exist, those days when all the things come together that give a landscape photo that certain something. A few clouds, beautiful light during sunrise or sunset, reflections in a body of water. Or simply beautiful colors, for example after a long period of rain, when the air seems washed clean.

During our evening visit to Zug on Lake Zug, the camera was with us rather routinely. Sometimes I just deliberately take only a 50 mm lens with me in a city to virtually force myself to use the “foot zoom” – in other words, I have to go to the exact spot where I see the subject in the viewfinder that I envision. Of course, if I had a 24-70 mm lens with me, for example, this would be easier in parts – just turn and set the desired focal length, press the shutter button, and I’m done. However, I must also say that I simply love the Canon RF 50 mm lens, a fixed focal length, because it is extremely fast and crisp to every corner.

The city center of Zug, especially the old town, is actually quite respectable due to the old half-timbered houses and narrow streets, but doesn’t really inspire me to use the camera – a landscape photographer in a city is probably just a difficult combination. Shortly before sunset, our foray has led us down to the lakeshore of Lake Zug. And here we now have a beautiful backdrop of Rigi, Pilatus and in a mixture of clouds and light fog banks the setting sun. Since we have probably just had luck – but sometimes that must be. The decision to photograph Lake Zug without long exposure is quickly taken, because the light waves give the photo even more depth and structure, while a completely smooth lake would probably only have seemed unreal here. Apart from that, the reflection of the sun comes into its own even better.

A few pictures later it gets dark, the sun sinks behind the mountains in the west and our city trip to Lake Zug ends after a very photogenic sunset with a successful shot in the box. I wonder what this evening looked like from the summit of Grossen Mythen? Probably also very strong – but unfortunately you can only be in one place at a time.