My name is Patrick Gross and I’m 22 years old. I would say that I was born to be passionate about photography. Thinking of my childhood, I remember myself being a little sprog, running through the kitchen of our hotel during carnival with my dads camera, trying to portrait the cooks. When I grew a little older and acquired a mobile phone, I remember myself trying out the ‘pro mode’ to play a bit with the different variables such as exposure – not really having a clue which effect it had that time. This was fun; trying to get some sharp images by holding my mobile phone in my hands for a 10 second exposure (I really thought I could do it). Although this obviously didn’t work, I continued photographing everything I liked, especially nature. Getting to the age of 18, I had the opportunity to obtain my driving licence so I could get to a lot more photogenic places. At that same time I also bought my first DSLR because I clearly noticed that mobile phones are technically limited in terms of photography.
I remember my first trip to the Plansee in Austria, I started early in the morning at 1am to arrive just in time for sunrise and it paid off! I had one of the most beautiful mornings in my life and I knew: This is my passion. Not just photography on its own, but all that comes with it such as travelling, exploring and hiking. I also knew that I had one of the probably most beautiful regions just a short drive from home: The Alps. So since this day, I regularly have done trips to Southern Germany, Austria, South Tyrol and Switzerland, complying my passion.
Nothing’s more impressive than seeing this huge ball of fire (dis)appear behind the massive mountains while the colors are changing every second. This is also what makes it so challenging, light is changing so quickly that you always have to concentrate on your camera settings, but sometimes you just have to force yourself to enjoy nature instead of focussing on your camera. The other part of the challenge is the way up to the peak, especially if you have to get up at 1am in the morning for sunrise. When I take some of my friends with me hiking up to the summit they often say things like: ‘when do we finally arrive?’, ‘is there a long way left?’ or just ‘Patrick, I hate you’. But then I tell them that they won’t regret once they see the view upon arrival, and they always agree, happy that they made it to the top.
Many people actually don’t know what they are missing when they are sitting in their room, playing FIFA. I want people to go out and enjoy our fascinating nature. I want them not to think that it’s something usual because our nature is not usual; it’s special, and wonderful. That’s what I realized myself as well: Photography made me view the overall beauty of nature, not only the supposedly special moments like sunrise, but also every other moment. Our nature has so much to offer! Now I know every moment is a special moment in the life of an adventurer, and that the best pictures are often taken when weather is unexpected, not only at sunset or when having a clear blue sky. Actually, my Iceland trip taught me that there’s nothing better than fog and impressive clouds; they make landscape photos interesting. So I stopped looking at the weather forecast and take the weather as it comes because every weather condition can be the perfect one.
When I walk around I often think about how to make a cool photo with the given circumstances. I feel as if I act like an intelligent camera myself. Photography became part of me like breathing and without it, I would’t be as happy. Also because when I’m taking photos I can turn off all the other daily issues and in my opinion having a break from everyday’s busy life is very important.
It would really be the jackpot to live out my hobby as my job and I am working on it, improving my skills mainly by trial and error as how it works with anything else in life. When editing a photo, I want to make it as good to put it on my wall and say ‘wow, that looks professional’. And of course I hope others would say the same. I don’t know if it will be like this, but one thing I know:
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