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Stefanie Solfrank
@_.heliophilia
Landscape photographer based in Germany
Everything started with my first big journey in 2017. After I finished my studies and worked for about one year, I finally saved enough money to realize my dream of going on a special trip. And this time it shouldn’t be a last-minute offer – staying in one hotel for one week, relaxing all day long on the sunbed and having daily cocktails at the bar. I wanted more, I wanted to discover more of this world and wanted to experience a real adventure. So at the end of December 2017 I finally fulfilled my dream and headed to the other side of the world together with my boyfriend Joe (@johannesjuretzka). New Zealand was calling!
Two days before departure we decided spontaneously to upgrade our camera equipment. Instead of using our smartphone camera as usual we bought a semi professional camera.
"When we got onto the plane in Munich, I had no idea what impact this trip would have on our lives."
Directly after the arrival in Auckland we picked up our small and somehow ancient camper van and started an unforgettable road trip. I was so impressed by the beauty the country has to offer. The diversity of the country and the wonderful nature immediately captivated me. Glaciers, volcanoes, mountains, beaches, geysers, glow worm caves, waterfalls… I tried to capture all the impressions with the camera to freeze all these special moments and share them with family and friends at home. Traveling in a camper van was an incredible way to explore that beautiful country. I enjoyed waking up in a different place in the heart of nature every day. Never have I been out in nature for such a long time continuously.
"We were only in the camper van for driving and sleeping and spent every other second outdoors. I felt so wild and free!"
One month and about 40,000 km later we were back in our apartment in Munich, where everything was as how we left it. But we were no longer the same. If someone had told me that only four weeks could have such an impact on me and Joe I would have called him crazy! But this journey showed me that traveling really changes your perspective – all these impressions led to some sort of awakening. I came across an appropriate quote by Mary Anne Radmacher:
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” For me there is an incredible amount of truth in this simple statement. This quote just fits perfectly and sums up what happened to us."
The road trip through New Zealand has not only awakened my love for traveling and adventure, I really found my happiness in traveling and exploring the outdoors with a camera in my hand! And so did Joe. Discovering this common passion was the best thing that happened to us during the trip. To share a passion with your partner is one of the greatest gifts you can get in a relationship.
"New Zealand was the beginning of a new chapter in our lives."
During the first days in New Zealand I just pressed the shutter button and tried to capture as many moments as possible. However soon I wanted to understand how my camera really worked to get more out of my photos. A camera provides so many opportunities and I wanted to know how to tackle it. I still can remember Joe and me lying in our campervan searching for videos on YouTube which could teach us the basics to capture the overwhelming night sky. Back at home I continued with this huge learning process and I also taught myself how to use Lightroom. I wanted to improve my overall skills, and I still do. I immediately fell in love with the process of creating something with the camera and can’t get enough of it!
To capture great natural sceneries, especially mountains, fascinates me the most, that’s why I try to spend every free weekend outdoors. Lucky me that I live near the mountains! I can explore great sceneries very easily. Instead of partying till 3 or 4 in the morning on the weekend, like I did in my early twenties (and I wouldn’t want to miss), I now prefer to get up at this time to shot sunrise somewhere out in nature. Nothing beats the feeling standing on top of a mountain, surrounded by glowing mountain peaks and capturing those views with my camera!
"That’s the reason why the passion for photography of course also has an impact on my travel destinations and the way of traveling."
After travelling to New Zealand, photography trips to Scotland, Iceland, the Dolomites, Switzerland, Finland etc. followed. Instead of travelling to busy cities, I am drawn to the quiet places in nature. It is almost like an addiction to explore and capture new and stunning places all over the world – I can no longer imagine traveling without my camera. Photography has sharpened my awareness; I perceive nature much more intensively and notice small things that I would never have notice before like colors, structures, different light conditions. I would say that photography brought me closer to nature and led me to explore the world in a more deeper sense.
"The thrill of witnessing the Aurora Borealis with my own eyes and capturing it was one of my biggest dreams since I connected more with nature and photography."
That was one of the reasons I went to Iceland last year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the lights. That’s why I decided to give it another try and went northbound again with Joe and some friends. This time to Finnish Lapland. When we arrived in our accommodation late in the evening, Finland welcomed us with a clear and starry night sky. I was super nervous – would we be lucky to see the northern lights already in our first night? At least the basic conditions for the lights to be seen were given. We just put down our suitcases, wrapped up warm and set off in search of the magic lights. But we had no luck that night. The next day we did a deep weather analysis to find the best night for a snow mobile tour. Two days later we sat on the snow mobil. Together with a local guide we aimed higher and escaped from the lights of the village.
"On top of the fell the magic happened - Aurora Borealis was dancing for us!"
Words cannot describe how impressive this phenomenon is. I had goosebumps all over my body and I just couldn’t believe it! This was by far the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I’m incredibly grateful for this experience. We consider ourselves very lucky, because there is of course no guarantee to see Aurora Borealis when staying just one week. But this night was one for the books! We warmed up by an open fire in a Lappish hut and enjoyed hot drinks and barbecue sausages while listening to the exciting stories about Aurora Borealis and Lappish traditions of our guide. I will remember this night for the rest of my life. Also, I definitely got hooked on the blazing colors in the sky and want to go back north this year.
"Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you."
I once read this quote on a toilet door in a pub. Somehow I liked it, because it was not the overused quote “don’t dream your life, live your dreams”, which everybody has heard a thousand times before. This quote had a deeper sense and I connected with it. You can interpret it as how you wish, but for me it’s saying that dreams show what the soul desperately wishes for. In this way, dreams become a kind of compass for our physical, mental and spiritual health. If you fulfill your dreams, you will get closer to your soul. And if your soul is healthy, your whole body and mind will be too. This is roughly my vision about life, and photography is a great tool for me to visualize that “book” and to capture the realized dreams in images.
"Editing is a great tool for me to transcribe my vision into a photograph. Children forget time and space when they are playing and I feel the same way when I’m editing pictures."
I don’t notice the time passing by, I don’t notice the growling of my stomach and I don’t think about worries or problems. That’s why I really love this creative part! Over the last years, Lightroom has become the most important tool for my photography. Since many of the photos in my feed are not taken by me, it is even more important for me to add my personal touch to the picture with my own editing style. I like dark and moody edits slightly more than airy, light ones but they both appeal to me. Finding your own editing style is a long development process. Similar to photography, you have to be patient with yourself and it is best to play around with the settings as much as possible. My goal is to find a consistent editing style so that others instantly recognize my work just by seeing a single photo.
I would say that sometimes Instagram was an obstacle for me, especially when it comes to editing. Actually, it’s both a curse and a blessing. I obtain inspiration and connect with like minded people, but there was also a time when Instagram somehow limited my creativity and restricted me in my photographic and creative development. Especially in the beginning I was extremely influenced by all those stunning pictures available on this platform. I constantly compared my pictures with other people’s work. I only saw what they could do and what I couldn’t. I started to do the same shots and in the end, I only created bad copy cats.
But I suppose it’s kind of natural and somehow part of the process and of course, it can be useful to keep an eye on other people’s work. It’s an opportunity to learn from them, especially when you’re just starting. Nevertheless, at a certain point you have to get rid of comparing yourself to and copying other people’s style and try to find your own. Of course, this is a process and takes a lot of time. The best way to find your own style is to photograph and edit as much as you can.
"Like any skill, the more often you do it, the better you will become at it."
The constant exchange on all those photography related topics and issues with Joe also helped and still helps me a lot. He is pushing me to develop my creativity. Since photography is Joe’s and my passion in common and fascinates the both of us so much, it is a daily topic we talk about intensively. It’s great to inspire and learn from each other. @johannesjuretzka is my partner, my best friend and my best travel buddy. We have been a couple since 2012, have been living together since 2015 and during the trip through New Zealand, we found out that we are also made for each other as travel buddies. Being together 24 hours a day and living in cramped conditions in a camper van was no problem at all. Photography in combination with travelling has become our greatest common passion. It was great to start this chapter together from the beginning and dive deeper into the topic together, to learn more and more together and to inspire each other.
"This shared passion makes it easy for us to break out of everyday life and experience special moments together. It has brought us even closer together."
We have the same expectations of a journey, share the same motivations and interests: Hiking, photographing, enjoying nature, watching sunrises and sunsets… I have this ever favorite photo of the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. Although the photo is now almost two years old, it is still one of dearest. I will never forget how we broke through this thick layer of fog hiking up the mountain and suddenly had an incredible sea of clouds beneath us. The scenery felt so unreal! The mountain peaks looked like islands in the sea. I’ve never seen such a cloud formation before and it really blew my mind! Standing on the top of a mountain and looking down to a cloud carpet is definitely one of the best feelings you can get in the mountains. While we were waiting for sunset we enjoyed the view with a Kaiserschmarrn at the hut up there! The light and scenery got better and better and finally it turned into a cotton candy colored sky. We sat there for hours and were full of joy.
"Sharing this rare view with the one you love is simply priceless. Sunsets and adventures like these are what keeps me going."
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