© 2020 Nomadict. All rights reserved.
The fascinating perspective
of an artist
Vol. 6
Nomadict Art Gallery
For the last four years, we have had the pleasure to work with a myriad of talents. Together, we have written more than 1000 articles with the sole purpose of bringing some joy and curiosity to your day through inspiring and didactic stories. Grateful to still be here with you and a growing community, we are preparing ourselves to wrap up 2021, finish this year’s weekly contest, and look forward to a creative 2022 in which we will, once again, release a new print magazine.
@christineseilerphotography, @philine.bernard, @florianhoferphoto, @patmeierphotography, @farblos.story, and @c_sofikitis are joining us on this special occasion, and as a thank you, we have put together a new giveaway!
We will now introduce you to the photographers and the 6 Limited Edition Prints carefully selected for the GIVEAWAY. Get ready to be inspired by their unique pieces of art as we discover their artistic perspective!
Sometimes nature calls me and I feel a strong urge to go on an adventure. It may just be for a few hours, a few days, or sometimes more.
I spontaneously decided to go to the location of the photo as the weather forecast looked promising for the next few days. I packed my backpack and climbed up a mountain in the last few hours of daylight. When the night fell, I realized that it was an extremely cold night in subzero temperatures and that I was not alone. I could hear the pitter-patter of the curious ibexes, as I snuggled into my bivouac bag. Sleep was an unsure thing.
Waking up an hour before sunrise, I had planned to boil some water for a warming tea and then photograph the sunrise. However, the light in the distant valleys had already started to turn pink. Needless to say, breakfast, sleep and warmth definitely took second place because nature waits for no one.
"This moment was a massive realization of that simple fact. I took my telephoto lens out of the backpack and started clicking."
The natural separation of the many different layers in the valleys and the gentle mist, enhancing its silhouettes, worked a treat. I soon became very aware of the need to capture this very moment. I was glad I did; having returned to the same spot several times and been graced with pink skies to contrast the bluish tones in the valleys, that very first capture remains elusive.
Especially in a place like this, where it offers some of the best views of the majestic 4k-peaks in the area, it is often tempting to mount a wide-angle lens on your camera and capture as much of a scene as possible. However, I tried to create something simple yet striking. I find that long telephoto lenses of 200mm and more work best with this approach. It helps to simplify your compositions and avoids cluttering them with too many distractions. This is why I carry my heavy, long lenses pretty much everywhere. It’s always worth the sweat and the pain. Always.
Editing this image was fairly straight forward. I did some basic post-processing in Lightroom, adding contrast and sharpening, alongside some tonal contrast to make the layers stand out slightly more. I then did a very light split-toning by cooling the darker areas and adding soft magenta tones to the brighter areas. The original picture was quite saturated and I reduced this in my final edit because I was looking for a soft, calming capture.
"Not overdoing my edit was key."
When editing pictures for a long time you get carried away sometimes and can risk over-edit your images. Before I finish editing on my favorite pictures I always step away, have a cup of tea or sleep over it and then go back to do the final touches.
This image was proof to me that less is so often more in photography. It reinforced my love for simple and clear compositions, which I find work best as prints. It’s easy to get carried away with overthinking images, especially when you’re in epic locations. Sure, there are times when you want to show the entire scene and shoot wide. But I encourage everyone to try to focus on details and small parts of the scene. For me this works best with my 500mm prime lens which does not allow me to zoom in or out. I have to use my creativity to find compositions that work. That zoomed in focus makes for a concise and simple picture which is very often a lot more fascinating and even more striking. It takes the person to a place within a place. And to me, that’s what makes my work worthwhile.
Over the past years, I have seen many amazing pictures on Instagram of one part of Switzerland I had never been to. Although the pandemic disrupted the lives of many of us, it also has a positive side: I started exploring the area around me, allowing me to discover new parts of my country.
The Appenzell, especially the Alpstein area, is about a 2 ½ hour drive away from where I live. I decided to give it a try and go there to do some hiking and take pictures. The first time I went was during late spring and the beauty of nature was breathtaking. Everything was green at that time and at first, the landscape was just hilly, but in the background, you could see the huge and majestic mountains.
The weather conditions on that day were just perfect for hiking and photography; it was warm and a little bit cloudy. I hiked to a very well-known lake called Seealpsee. From the point where I took the picture, you can see the lake and the mountains in the background.
"The scenery was just perfect and the view was breathtaking."
What I like about the picture is the whole composition. You can see the colorful flowers in the foreground. In the center of the photograph, you can spot the mountain lake and in the back, you see the huge mountains. I think the whole composition gives the picture a lot of depth and it shows the grandness of the landscape. In general, I like adding depth to my pictures and I like to look for a nice foreground.
For my editing, I always work in Lightroom which is the program I like most. For this picture, only little editing was necessary. The weather conditions were perfect on that day and the picture came out nicely. I cropped the image for Instagram and it still had all the important elements in it. I highlighted the lake in the center of the picture. Furthermore, I slightly adjusted the green colors as I wanted to add a little bit of a dramatic touch to the photo to highlight the grandness of the scenery. At the end of the editing process, I added a slight vignette.
"Since the day that I discovered this new part of Switzerland, I have been various times, and each time I find new interesting photo spots."
I have fallen in love with it! I also realized how important the weather conditions are for photography. When you go on different days to the same location again and again, you can see what a huge difference it makes. The better the weather conditions, the less work you have with editing.
If there is anything I would recommend, it would be to go back to the same place regularly and experience yourself what different weather conditions do to a location and your photos. And of course, I’d recommend you to visit this specific part of Switzerland!
It was a cloudy and cold November day in the north of Iceland, just a few kilometers away from the town of Akureyri. I come here as often as I can; it is close to home and makes a great scene for many of my photo shoots when I do portrait or product photography. It is a special place – A place of freedom. I can look around 360° without seeing anything except pure nature. To me, that is freedom.
This particular photo was taken as the light broke through the clouds and illuminated just the peaks, with behind me the waves of the ocean. I often plan a photograph even before I head out, but this time, I was just out for a short walk with my dog when I saw this perfect picture coming together.
"I chose the composition by following the light and simplicity, and my emotions were leading when editing the shot."
At first, I leveled out the shot and I did a slight crop to get rid of some distraction in the foreground, leading the focus even more onto the illuminated peak. After that, I darkened the horizon to create a bit more drama. I took out most of the colors except the blue hue and set the tint of white balance slightly into the greens. Finally, I added the mood of the day into this shot by fine tuning the photo. Bringing up the whites and turning down the blacks for higher contrast was key. The crop of the photo also did a lot in this regard. It was cold and moody, and I felt the mystic atmosphere in the air which made up the beauty of the scene. I tried to recreate this when editing this unexpected shot.
"If there’s anything I learn from these kinds of shots, it’s that I do good in having my camera with me - always - even if it's just for a short walk. A great moment is sometimes just around the corner waiting to get captured."
As often as I can, I travel to our family home in the French countryside. Located in a small village in the Champagne-Ardennes, there’s nothing but hills, forests and farmer’s fields all around. I love observing the seasons here, because every moment looks like an idyllic painting.
This photograph was taken a few days before summer, in June, last year. In the midst of a global pandemic, this place feels like a sanctuary. Mostly, I like to grab my camera and go for sunrise or sunset walks, or cycle to neighboring villages, capturing the simple life. During spring, these fields look incredible: Wildflowers everywhere and fields look like this.
This photograph makes you feel as if you’re in the midst of the field. There’s no end as grain fades in the horizon. The grain in front has incredible details and pops out of the frame. It has depth and power, yet it looks very flowy and soft.
"Most of the time, when you just pass by this type of field, you’ll observe the field as a whole instead of observing it up close. When you look close enough, you’ll notice the details!"
I wanted to create a composition that makes the viewer part of the field and not miss the details. As if you’re the same length as the grain, still seeing the horizon in the far back.
I chose a minimal edit, enhancing the mysterious, calm vibe. Due to blue hour, the colors were a great starting point, but I decided to create a slight fade for the mystery. I enhanced the blueish vibe and highlighted the grains. Additionally, it was vital for me to compare a few edits and look at them for a while, to see which one drew my attention. After my initial edit, I left the picture aside for a day or more. That way, I could judge if I was still happy with the creation afterwards. I learned that a few adjustments can create a huge difference.
With this photograph, I’d love to challenge people to search for the beauty in simple things. You’ll learn that it’s endless, creating a ripple effect of curiosity and wonder.
This image is part of a photographic section called Aquatic Destiny; a series of photos taken at Lake Kerkini. Our father had made a series of pictures at this lake about 30 years ago, in 1997. In 2018-2019, my brother (Petros Sofikitis) and I decided to go to the lake all year round and make a new series of images which will be presented with our father at exhibition spaces in Greece and hopefully abroad.
The reason we visited the lake many times and at different times, is because the scenery there is a living organism and is constantly changing. Nevertheless, the colors of the lake are always beautiful by themselves. So, I have not changed much while post-processing the photograph, except that I have highlighted the tree a bit. The greatest importance in landscape images is the time, and therefore the natural colors of the place and the landscape.
"That's why I gave the biggest importance to going to this place several times at dawn when the lake is calm - To find the lake "in peace."
In this photo, as in all the photos, I am constantly learning the huge importance of being patient and not in a hurry and trying to let nature elicit the photographs. Nature in particular deserves calm, identification and observation – Attention. In this photo, it’s like you are looking down at a view that provokes wonder, where the object of observation expands your vision from the tree to its reflection, to the water of the lake, and the mountains in the backdrop. One can never know for sure what calls the attention more, making it mysteriously attractive.
We were on summer vacation with our VW van in Norway. We started in Hannover and explored the south of Norway up to the Geirangerfjord. From there we drove 24 hours to Bodø and then took the ferry to Lofoten. We visited this part of Norway for the first time.
The whole day we had been driving on the island Senja, photographing many different spots. Towards the evening, we were looking for the viewing platform Bergsbotn. This is a 44-meter long platform with a view on the impressive surroundings of the Bergsbotten mountain range, the Bergsfjord and other mountains. On the way there, we drove by a small village called Bergsbotn as well (having about 60 inhabitants) and stopped on the roadside because I wanted to take a look at the map. The place seemed to be deserted.
"When I looked out of the window, I had exactly the scene in front of my eyes as you can see on the photo."
I thought it was a perfect composition: The high grass in the foreground, behind it the white fishermen’s hut with the cove, and the mountain in the background. To make it more perfect, the evening light was great. To get this photo I didn’t even have to get out of the car; I just opened the window.
What I like is that the picture reflects the essence of Norway; mountains, water and cabins all in one shot. So, the composition was pretty much done in camera. With the editing, I had to lighten the image as it was quite dark when I opened the photo on the Mac. I also desaturated the colors a bit and sharpened the overall photo, which is something I do with most of my photos. Other than that, I didn’t change anything in the photo. I always try to keep it as original as possible.
It is crazy how beautiful and photogenic the Lofoten Islands are. Norway is incredibly beautiful but I feel the Lofoten islands are Norway in a nutshell and it’s just a very special place. I can recommend everyone who has been to Norway before to travel directly to Lofoten the second time. It’s hard to describe how it feels to drive through endless beauty that doesn’t stop to amaze you. It is so worth it!
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