© 2020 Nomadict. All rights reserved.
The fascinating perspective
of an artist
Vol. 7
Nomadict Art Gallery
As we conclude our year-long contest and you guys help us decide the cover page of our second magazine, we want to take the time to celebrate photography with all of you!
@conradgolovac, @yohanterraza, @eskil_bjerkestrand, @this.outdoor.love, @wandrmagazine, and @lostventurer 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!
This is one of my favorite images from a trip I took to the Faroe Islands in 2019. I had taken the ferry to the island of Kalsoy because of its well-known (and much-photographed) lighthouse at the far end of the island. After the slow and tortuous road through tunnels and past a herd of sheep, I ended in the town of Trøllanes, where I set off on a hike along the side of the snowy and muddy mountain slopes. Eventually, I arrived at the cliff, sitting beside the tiny lighthouse at Kallur. The winds were strong and I saw that some dark clouds were about to pass so I had to play it relatively safe.
The iconic image of the lighthouse is from a vantage point across the cliff with a very narrow path/ridge leading to the lighthouse. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get there because of the incoming hail and rain, so I decided I would fly the drone up to try and simulate the shot. To my dismay, it never felt right – fear of the weather suddenly striking in. But while the drone was in the air, I noticed the split in the clouds to the far south of the island and the sun peaking through. I decided to keep flying the drone further and further out to sea, racing against the incoming storm.
Eventually, I turned the drone around and pointed it back to the lighthouse. This was the moment I met this breathtaking scene. The sun had created an incredible show peaking through the clouds and I was able to see the deep waterways surrounding the narrow island. What makes the scene so photogenic to me is just how it encapsulates the Faroe Islands so well.
"There’s bad weather mixed with an incredible sunset. There are massive peaks against deep waters. Huge cliffs and soft slopes. A tiny town set against an immense landscape… a lot to consider when taking a photograph!"
However, at the moment, I didn’t have too much time to think and compose! Some hail had already escaped the clouds, so I had to just time it right. I shot a few frames quickly and tried to get the drone back to me and into a safer area as quickly as possible. With digital photography, I’ve got the luxury of shooting multiple frames with slight variations. Perfecting the framing or composition, especially with a drone, isn’t my first priority. To me, it was about getting the exposures set properly and understanding the limitations of the camera.
With landscape photography in inclement weather, sometimes it’s more about making sure your technical settings are correct rather than perfecting the composition. With this photo, I needed to make sure I could preserve the sky and the cliffs. The exposures between the two were just so vast, but I knew that it was more about saving the darks in the cliff than the brights of the sky. So while shooting, I exposed the cliff wall and deep tones of the sea. When it came to the sky, I had to play it a bit safe. The sensor of the drone doesn’t have the greatest dynamic range, so I wouldn’t be able to bring down the sky as much. But with it being a bright sunset, I felt fine letting the sky be overexposed and at some places, just white. This means that for the edit I have some room to play with the extremes, but I already knew the limitations I had set while shooting it.
"For the edit, I stuck with the color that was most present in the image: blue."
I wanted to make sure that I stayed true to the tones and hues the original image had, and enhanced them or made them a bit darker to give it a bit of a foreboding look. The cliff was huge and the circumstances ominous, and I wanted to convey that.
When shooting in places as remote as this one, I’d recommend always letting someone know where you are and checking in with that person when you are back. I met two other Danish photographers on the hike and we made a point to check in with each other when we were done and back on the bigger island. Especially in places that have such wild weather as the Faroe Islands, safety always beats getting the shot!
I was in Arière (French Pyrénée) in a lost forest in the mountains; it is not easy to find. It was the second time I went there, and every night, I would make a fire at the top, next to my tent, and I’d be watching the night sky. I only have good memories here.
This spot is surrounded by vast and wild forests. As I was exploring the area nearby my tent, a slight mist came in through the trees and created a unique atmosphere. So many beautiful paintings were revealed as a result of the natural circumstances all around, wherever I looked.
"All I had to do was take pictures!"
This was about 10 years ago, and the photo remained in a folder, waiting to be edited. When I finally pulled out this shot from its folder, I processed it according to what has influenced me in my artistic journey. My main inspiration has been paintings, and it clearly appears in this edit. I edited it as if it was a painting, not only because I wanted to and love the effect of it, but also because I needed to break free from the old photographic rules I had been stuck with for a long time (not modifying the original image, for example). It took my time to make the perfect balance between every element and color, playing with warm and cold ones. 99% of my post processing is done in Lightroom. Every shot is different to work on but this rendering depends mostly on a balance between tone curves, contrast and color grading by adjusting the shadows and highlights. This is very precise and you have to keep in mind what a romantic painting is about. But most importantly, the moment where you take the shot is capital. Don’t think “epic”, think “story”.
"I wanted this picture to be a composition of sweet and dark memories and hope, using light and a good balance between hues."
Now you might think I paint myself, but actually, I don’t. I did when I was in art school but because I hate to get my hands dirty, I gave up quite quickly… So I may not like traditional painting, I do love paintings. By working on this picture, I learned how to paint digitally and most of all, to express my vision of landscape photography. A result that combines my childhood inspirations and the contemporary ones like music, horror stories, and romantic paintings. This shot – this forest, as illustrated in the best books for little dreamers, was a turning point in my photography career.
A couple of years ago, I traveled through six Asian countries. I explored Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia…and when I reached Indonesia, I was terribly exhausted. So, I didn’t plan to do any tough hiking there – but as you know, plans often don’t go as planned.
On Instagram, I discovered the volcanoes on Java island such as Bromo and Semeru. Bromo is located near a small village which is hard to find on the map, so I booked a cab, and in the morning, around 3 am, I roamed through the jungle searching for the most epic viewpoint to the volcano and the caldera. For the next two hours, I struggled with myself and the onerous hike. Half an hour later, I was finally on the point where I could try to find the right composition while waiting for the sunrise.
"The shot was made directly after sunrise, before the golden hour. I was so excited with the epicness of the moment – it was all there: the landscape, the light, the fog... I felt so lucky!"
The erupting volcano was the main focus for me. But the three-division of white/black/white created by the clear sky and the hovering fog around the dark volcano made the scene so photogenic. The slight orange glow in the background made the composition perfect and complete.
The raw file was quite dark despite my manual settings while shooting. I didn’t want to use higher ISO due to higher grain, but when editing, I was focusing exactly on lights and blacks. Also, I overexposed the sky with the whites and desaturated the blues which helped me to make it seem like the photo was shot during the golden hour instead of a little before that. After editing, the white balance was slightly warmer than the original. My overall approach was “less is more” because this is what works well for me – when it is naturally edited.
The tough hike, while I was already exhausted, was totally worth contemplating the scenery. I didn’t realize the potential of this photo until I got back home after two months of traveling, which was a great surprise. I’m so glad and proud of myself that the universe gave me such chance and that I did my best. The main lesson learned: Appreciate moments like this, follow your curiosity, and always go forward to your dreams.
"You will be rewarded anyway, and the happier you are in the present moment just because you are there, the better your photographs will be!"
This photo was taken on an early moody morning while I was driving between Volda and Stryn in Norway. If time allows for it, I like to take smaller side roads into the countryside to expose myself to new and unfamiliar scenes, because you never know what beauty you might stumble upon when you stay curious and remove expectations. The moment I encountered this scene I thought to myself, right there is all that is needed in life; everything else isn’t absolutely necessary. These thoughts and feelings lead me to reflect upon how the simplest of things in life hold inside them the key to happiness.
"What makes this scene photogenic, is that it represents in so many ways deep and mystic Norwegian folklore."
At the same time, it is a very peaceful scene that invites you to take a curious and imaginative perspective and start to wonder. My intention behind the edit of this photo was to bring a sense of my childhood nostalgia to the scene. As if it was from one of those fairytale books my parents read to me when I was young. By reducing the saturation, bringing the hue towards a less green and more yellow tone, to me, brings a more mystical fairytale feel to the photo. One of the most vital steps of editing this photo was to remove some disturbing logs and bushes that grew in the river. I also added a gradient at the top of the image with a negative dehaze to create a more hazed-out top and enhance the foggy layer at the top.
"I chose this composition consciously, placing the cabin in the lower right of the corner to represent the forest as the Authority and to have the cabin as a part of the forest and not the dominating subject of the photo."
Usually, I tend to lean towards clearer and more majestic compositions revealing more landscape and using the effect of scale, but the process of creating this photo thought me that there is so much potential in less is more. This is not particularly new to me, but seeing this scene served as another reminder in life; that it is not about the number of things in life that matters, but rather the quality.
Often, we go through life as a constant problem-solver: How can I make this situation better? How can I gain something from this interaction/moment/experience? I personally find life to be the most exciting when I manage to stay present, curious, non-judgmental, and open. And as a result of holding those values dear, I happened to stumble upon this beautiful scene revealing itself.
Luna, my dog, and I got up at 2 am for a 3-hour drive to the starting point in Graubunden/ Switzerland close to the Italian border. It was pitch black, and only the moon gave us some directions. We had 2.5 hours of hiking ahead of us. We both were pretty tired from the short sleep we had and the long drive. Luna is a sensitive dog, so she was up all the time and quite nervous.
The first hour we just had to hike up an old gravel road before we would enter a dark forest. It wasn’t full moon yet, but it was already pretty bright, so I turned off the headtorch during this time. I have always been really scared going into a dark forest on my own, but this time, I had a goal I desperately wanted to reach. I had to fight this fear. In addition, Luna adapts to my fear, and therefore, I had to be brave. Otherwise, it would be too stressful for her.
"Calming myself down with soothing thoughts, I started to feel more relaxed and focused on the silence and peacefulness. It worked, and as the tension left my body, Luna calmed down as well."
After another 1.5 hours, it became brighter and we reached the lake. I was more than happy to finally see the horizon brighten up. I always wanted to see this place before sunrise. It’s the time with the most beautiful pastel colors in the sky and mixed with the golden larches and the mountains, it just had to be perfect. The whole area is fascinating, and once I arrived, it proved to be very photogenic at this hour of the day indeed. It is an open field with a beautiful lake that seems black during the day and with all the golden larches around, it gives an awesome contrast. In the back, you can see the massive peaks partly covered in snow. The leading lines and the pastel tones around the moon were the finishing touches to make the photograph complete. When finding the composition, I tried to fit everything in the scene. I hadn’t planned the moon in this shot, to be honest, but it made it even more perfect!
I always make a video with my phone to keep the right colors which I then use when I get to editing the photo. I usually take a while before I edit a photo I took – when I feel it, I will start. When I do it like this and follow my instinct, editing usually only takes 10-15 minutes. I try to be realistic and not create a fairy tale landscape. It’s already more than beautiful out there and I wanna catch that and show it.
"My priority is being outdoors, going for a hike, doing outdoor sports, visiting the mountains… I want to see new places and be open to experiences without expectations."
No matter where you go, where you are, there is always something that stands out or that is new to you. With high expectations, though, it’s harder to see it. Go into an experience with the intention to be curious, amazed, and surprised, and you will see how positively that affects your interpretation of what you see and what is happening.
The ocean is my happy place, it’s a source of inspiration for me. Seeing the waves come and go has some sort of soothing effect on me that I cannot explain. The ocean can be a raging place with big waves and danger. But it can also be so peaceful at the same time. It truly fascinates me.
I captured this wave in Portugal. I had landed in Porto two days before, where I met some friends. They knew about my love for the beach and the ocean, so they took me to the beach on the third day of my stay. It was a bright sunny day, which you wouldn’t expect when looking at the photo. We arrived at a sort of pier and I walked to the end of it to stop and stare in awe at the ocean, thinking how big and powerful the ocean is.
I’ve always wanted to capture a wave, but I’ve never been able to achieve it before. I find photographing them quite hard due to how precise the timing has to be. Nevertheless, I was determined to at least try to get one photo. So I stayed a little longer than my friends, I took my 70-200 mm lens out and started hunting for waves. I was above the waves on the pier, pointing at the ocean and looking far and close, downwards, left and right, continuously searching for waves. After about 30-40 minutes of attempts and failures, I managed to capture this shot. I remember seeing this wave pass near the coast at the last second. I quickly pointed at it and pressed the shutter.
"When I looked through my viewfinder afterward, I knew this was the one. I was beyond excited to finally have gotten the shot I’ve always wanted."
Capturing the photo was the first part. Next, the edit, which I feel is 50% of the process. Although it was bright and sunny that day, that was not the emotion I felt when looking at the ocean. I felt the sheer strength, the power of the waves – this gave me a more dramatic feeling. Hence, I decided to edit in a way that would give someone that exact feeling. An edit that would convey the elegant force of a single wave in the vast ocean, which radiates a special calmness at the same time. It’s tough to explain such a feeling, but I hope when you look at the photograph, you will understand.
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