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Nick Heinimann
@roamwithnick
Landscape photographer based in the UK
Imagine how you felt like when you were a kid, how everything seemed so new, different and big. How short trips and visiting places you had never seen before were the most exciting. How the smallest thing aroused huge enthusiasm and marvel. Well, that was me. I have always been fascinated by the world and that has never changed. I remember like as if it was yesterday the feeling I had when I took my first photo of an insect on the ground. The clarity and definition was crazy as well as the exciting sound the shutter click. It was that day my passion was born; I was eight at the time. It fueled such a love for photography that I would only understand as I grew older. I took that photo with a Nikon D5300, a prize that my dad had won. This camera came with me everywhere I went and would take photos of everything. I would spend hours after school or on the weekend just researching different techniques and applying them. And when I tried out fast shutter photography and long exposure photography for the first time, I was amazed.
"The effects you could get impressed me and I thought it was so cool that I spent the whole weekend just playing with different settings and trying to get the best results."
"As time passed and I got older and better at photography, I thought to myself: “What exactly do I want to do in life, what do I want to be remembered for?”
I loved photography and traveling was in my blood as we had traveled with the family a lot since I was young. So, I Googled travel photography. I found it insane that you could make a living just traveling and taking photos so I completely fell in love with the idea and started to pursue it. It was great, fun, and I loved shooting outdoors, but after a while I started questioning what I was doing. What value was I providing? What deeper meaning could I give to my work?
I knew I had been lucky and privileged to be able to travel the globe, live these incredible experiences far away or close by home. But along the way, I had seen many not so fortunate people. That always touched me and the contrast with my own situation saddened me – wishing they could have the same opportunities to travel and see the beauty of the world as I had. I realized that through my photography, I could help other see the world.
"Even if they couldn’t be there physically, I can take them on a journey through a country or to a place. Meanwhile Instagram became a thing, and so @roamwithnick was arised."
My passion for photography and traveling comes from my love for the art of photography itself and for experiencing other countries, learning about other people’s way of life as well as connecting with them and embracing their culture. Now, being able to share the world through my eyes drives my passion, allowing people who can’t travel to see what the world is like, letting them dream. With that, I found the deeper meaning behind my work.
Nevertheless, I think there are various ways to give meaning to what you are doing. For me, there’s a “social purpose”, which fulfills me and makes me feel good in a different manner. And then I have my personal purpose, which I was reminded of when reading a story of a 90 years old woman: she said that she achieved everything she wanted and had an amazing life with a great husband but the one thing that she regretted deeply is not having lived life enough and not having explored the world. That hit me deeply. Because of that I try to visit as many places as possible when it’s financially feasible. The world is so beautiful and if you have the means and the ability to travel we should do it as much as we possibly can.
That can mean something different for everyone, but for me it’s to venture out, to discover, to travel, and to enjoy all these intensely. I would not exactly say I have a passion for traveling – it goes deeper. It is like a constant need and desire to explore places and experience new things. From booking to flying to touching the surface of a new country and to the excitement you feel just not knowing your way around and having to figure it all out… It’s like a new puzzle that you have to solve every trip.
"The puzzle for a photography trip is completely different from a holiday getaway though."
It may seem like an amazing thing to travel the world and be a photographer but I can honestly tell you that when I am traveling somewhere purely for content creation, I hardly get time to just look and take the atmosphere of the place in. It all starts with location research and scouting, and creating a plan including all the places I want to photograph. A detailed plan that allows me to cover as much as possible of the country/area. Next comes the whole networking, to see if there are any other influential photographers or any one else that knows the area. It’s always 10x better if you can find someone local to the area as they will be able to show you the true hidden gems and tell the true (hi)story of the place. I then prepare all my gear and look on Instagram for inspiration.
When it comes to the content creation I spend 10 hours a day shooting and creating with most of the times just having bars as snacks throughout the day, and covering as much ground as possible without losing time on anything else. I’d say I roughly sleep four hours a night on such trip. It is really exhausting but I absolutely love it. The euphoric feeling that rushes through my body when I am shooting and still when I look back at the photos… It’s a lot of work but the reward is much bigger. Importing all the images into Adobe Lightroom, where I do all my editing and then seeing the final image is just great. Sometimes, images that I thought were not that special end up being one of my most memorable and best photos.
"It’s the entire puzzle, the whole process from the beginning to end, that is addictive."
The process of creating one photograph is almost as challenging as the journey toward becoming a photographer. As with everything growth takes a lot of time, consistency and dedication. My photography journey was going really well until Covid-19 appeared, since then it has slightly taken a u-turn – which is normal. Last year I worked with One Plus on a summer campaign in which my work was displayed and featured alongside Nat Geo photographers, that was huge for me. I also managed to get selected as a speaker for The Photo and Video Show in Birmingham, UK, which is the biggest event in the UK when it comes to photography and videography. Last year was definitely my biggest and best year so far. Nevertheless, there have been so many ups and downs over the years so my photography is constantly changing and evolving in ways I never thought or expected it to do.
"The most important thing for me is that I am always doing better than the previous year as a result of my personal and professional development."
"The one thing that has really helped me to improve my work is learning from others."
I learn a lot from other creators on YouTube, that’s essentially how I learnt everything I know now, but photography is constantly changing so it is necessary to adapt along with these alterations. I would learn and study how others edit their photos and buy their courses purely to get an insight into how their creative brain works and how they go about their work. This has helped me tremendously in the way I approach my work, how I use my creativity and how take my photos. Some creators do things I never thought of doing and edit in ways I never thought to be possible – we cannot do what we cannot image, but we can leverage the power of diversity and be inspired by others. Making the imaginary impossible possible.
"Negotiation and networking, besides all technical aspects, is utterly important too."
This has really helped me land some awesome work and clients. Networking and just getting in touch with other photographers on Instagram is something I would highly recommend and it can really help you grow professionally. Additionally I’ve learnt more about how Instagram works and how to establish a personal brand. Hiring a social media manager was a decision that really paid off as it has helped me to grow quite a bit. Though above everything, I feel that consistency, perseverance and just pure dedication is what has helped me grow the most professionally.
"I guess the most (im)possible shot that required 200% of dedication and perseverance is the airplane shot I took in New York."
I visited the city quite frequently last year and there was this one building which always had planes flying over. I got this great idea of getting a shot with a plane right in the middle, and I wanted it to be at sunset too. I just had to do it, which was much more complicated than imagining the photo! I spent a least three months trying to get the shot. The hardest part was to capture the plane right in the middle of the buildings because you cannot always see the plane beforehand and they go pretty fast. I ended up calculating how many seconds it took for the plane to disappear from my sight and then to be in the centre of the building. Over those three months I got up early tons of times to be there for sunrise and went back in the evening if sunset seemed to be promising. There were four times that I totally missed the shots while the sunset was amazing – that hurts. I was so close to giving up, but didn’t allow myself. I wanted that shot. And I wanted it without using Photoshop. To be honest I still feel overwhelmed and baffled that I actually achieved it, after having put so many effort, after hundreds of missed planes and disappointments, the satisfaction and pride is huge.
"That is the real reward of dedication. A long term reward, because it’s something you never forget."
"That is the real deal with photography; the impossible shots you had in mind, worked hard for and truly earned to get, will always stay with you."
I remember that marvellous beach in Portugal, Praia da Ursa. I had never been to Portugal but I had heard so much about it and this beach called Praia Da Ursa was recommended by our hotel receptionist, he said it was by far the most amazing beach he has been to in his life. And he was right. It is a phenomenal beach and the big rock in the water makes it something special. The “problem” with me is that I try to push myself to the absolute limit and try to create the impossible shots, so I wasn’t satisfied with the nice but easy shots I could get from the main path. Let me first tell you that it’s at least a 400m down hill hike to the actual beach. During our descend to the beach, there was another passage uphill, which led to a cliff overlooking the whole beach. Naturally, I followed that path. I went as far as I could go while considering safety, as there was a good 50m drop right in front of me. I took photos of the whole beach from above and the ocean but it was not until one person got up from his towel and started walking to the beach that I got this visualisation of an insane shot. One that you see on those 300k photography accounts where every shot is incredible and mindblowing. I just needed him to walk a little further…
"So I was there, standing on a cliff edge with a 50m drop waiting for this person to walk toward the water. I kept saying “come on, just move a bit closer, just a little bit.”
I felt both super excited and really scared as I was shooting with a canon 5Div and a 7-200mm lens which weights like 5kg together so I had to be extremely careful. It took the person 15 minutes to finally make his way to the beach where he stood perfectly in the middle of my frame and right before the water. I have 100 images of that exact shot and until today I can’t believe that it actually happened. It is by far my most memorable shot. It’s my favorite shot too. Although it was dangerous and I’d never recommend doing it, it was totally worth it. I felt some sort of connection between me and a higher power – somehow it just knew I needed this shot and luck was in my favour. The euphoria I felt after the shot, the smile, the happiness… I remember it like if it were yesterday.
"When it comes to content creation, my style completely depends on where I am."
If I am on the coast my edit will be about conveying beach vibes, making colors pop, but if I am in a city like New York it’ll be all about the hustle and bustle of the city and its architecture, using darker colors and therefore transmitting a different atmosphere. Places like Iceland is another story though, there you can find so many variations of landscapes that I usually shoot different genres on one trip. That is what I love about travel photography, every trip is a unique adventure and comes with a different style of photography and new vibes. You constantly need to adapt and stay creative. When editing I first tried to stick to a preset but I felt that it limited the epicness the photo could achieve as not all the colors are similar or the preset simply doesn’t work on a photo.
"So now I edit photos with my basic adjustment and tone curve first and then depending on the photo, I continue editing accordingly."
Most of the times I would edit the same photo a few times in different ways and decide what I like best. I feel that helps me learn just as much and I really get to know my preferred style, which settings match what type of photo, etc. What helps a lot too is to visualise the photo before it is shot, so for most of my photos I’d have the exact image in my mind of how I want it to look. I’d shoot the photo with that image in mind and when I start editing, I create based on the vision I had. I know many photographers do that too, which means that it is truly an effective strategy to approach post processing.
A photo can tell what words sometimes cannot. I always try my best to tell a story visually without having to actually write any words, be it through the framing, composition or edit. I feel that before you take any photo you need to ask yourself a few questions and understand exactly what it is that you are trying to convey with the photo. What emotions are you trying to evoke from your audience ? If you couldn’t add a caption, what do you want your photo to say? How do you want your audience to react? There is so much thought that has to go into a single photo… It’s all part of visualization, and it’s part of you, who you are as a person.
"These visualizations for me were brought to a whole other level when I set foot on Iceland."
It’s so otherworldly; the landscapes are unbelievable and tremendously vast. It’s insane. There is so much more to explore; even if you feel you have already explored most of the island, probably thousands of hidden gems are yet to be discovered. In my first trip to Iceland I completely over exhausted myself. I was so excited as Iceland was a place I had always dreamt about – on photos it just seemed like a fairytale and I wanted to be in there too. We went in summer so there was pretty much sunlight 24 hours a day – amazing for photography, but this is what led to my downfall. I am pretty sure I shot for 16-18 hours a day, barely got sleep, and did that for five days straight. We drove from Reykjavik to Budir (the famous black church) and then all the way up to Vestrahron and back to Reykjavik which was in total 1080 km in only five days. It was great but super exhausting – when I got home I slept for a good two days.
"This trip changed the way I organize my trips and create content, because not only was it dangerous driving and shooting totally sleep deprived, but it had also an impact on my body."
It has taught me that you need to take at least a few minutes a day to just stop, breathe and take it all in. And we need sleep to give your mind a break, refresh it and be creative. No matter how amazing a country or place can be, there is a limitation to how much you can create even if we want to challenge these limits. I learnt that, instead of trying to capture everything, it is much better to focus on capturing insane photos of the locations you can healthily get to and spend more time taking in the moment, living the experience, and feeling intensely happy and energized.
"My photography journey so far has been my greatest professor in life."
The most valuable things I’ve learnt through my photography; the people I met, the travels I made, the shots I took. It provided me with moments of happiness and helped me to overcome moments of hardship… All the people who have encouraged me through my tough times, when I felt like quitting or when I needed financial support, will always be the biggest contributors to my success and I will never forget them. Everything you go through in life shapes the person you become, so I believe I use these experiences as well as my Malaysian roots and where I came from and incorporate them into my photography.
"We all start on the same level and it is up to ourselves to climb as high as we want to, but we need some help here and there."
So whenever someone asks me for help I always try to do as much as I can. And when people tell me that they admire my work, I receive the compliment and stay as humble as possible because whoever praises your work at whatever stage in your career, a compliment shouldn’t be taken for granted. There are also times that people hurt me or bring me down by saying or writing awful things. At the start it used to bother and affect me alot, but I have thought that these people just look for trouble and try to interrupt one’s happiness because of whatever issue they have themselves… Most of the time I reply in a sarcastic or funny way and don’t let it affect me anymore.
On the other hand, getting recognised and having people you look up to comment on your work, be featured alongside them or even just speaking with them really sparks new energy and a strong drive to improve. It’s difficult to say exactly what situations or experiences have allowed me to develop myself both personally and professionally as everything somehow ties in together and works as one.
"Loving what you do and doing it out of passion rather than anything else is what, at the end, is the best to develop yourself I believe."
This positive energy gets you anywhere and through anything, while along the way, you do good for others. I believe the connections with other people and the mutual support is something you really need to appreciate. Explore the world, live your best life and cherish the people who matter the most to you. No success is a real success if you needed others to get there and don’t show your love and gratitude, whatever it is. I am the one working hard to accomplish something, and acknowledge the contribution of others that enabled me to achieve my goal in any way, big or small. For me, recognizing and remembering the role others have played in my successes, make the success even more beautiful and meaningful. Something I am proud of.
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