Tom Fähndrich (@tofenpics): Best of the Week 47 at #nomadict
Tom shares the journey behind his winning photography, from a passion for exploration and remote places to field lessons, composition choices, and color grading.
Tom Fähndrich
@tofenpics
Winner Best of the Week 47 at #nomadict
Tom Fähndrich reflects on his journey as a photographer, shaped by travel, unpredictability, and patience, and shares the field lessons, creative decisions, and story behind his winning photograph.
A journey driven by curiosity: How travel shaped my photography
My passion for photography comes from a deeper fascination with travel, adventure, and discovery. I’ve always been deeply curious about the world and drawn to exploring new places, especially remote, untouched landscapes. At the same time, I’ve always been sensitive to aesthetics and beautiful imagery. Photography naturally became the bridge between these two worlds.
Through travel and adventure photography, I’m able to explore the planet while slowly building a personal archive of what I consider some of the most beautiful places on Earth. Each image becomes both a memory and a testament to the journey it took to create it.
Four lessons I’ve learned from years of outdoor photography
Over the years, shooting outdoors has taught me lessons that go far beyond technique.
First, the best images often happen at the most unpredictable moments.
Second, it’s essential to maximize your chances, say yes more often, go a bit further, wake up earlier, and make the extra effort.
Third, chance plays a huge role. Letting yourself be guided by it often leads to the most meaningful photographs.
And finally, the strongest images usually come from moments you couldn’t plan at all. Those moments give photographs a real story and make them feel alive.
Winner
Best of the Week 47
My winning image was taken in a place I had dreamed of photographing for years. It’s remote and not easy to access, which made finally reaching it feel like a real achievement. I stayed there for three days to make sure I captured everything I had envisioned.
Getting there was an adventure in itself – waiting for the rain to stop, dealing with unexpected challenges, and even crashing a drone along the way. All of these experiences make the image unique and rare, and that rarity is part of its value.
When editing, I always aim for colors that feel as close as possible to what I imagine in my mind. I spend a lot of time balancing tones and contrast so everything works together naturally.
In this image, I wanted to highlight the contrast between deep tropical greens and the intense blue of the water. The goal was vibrancy without excess, colors that feel powerful, yet realistic.
Color grading is the most vital part of my workflow. I focus on achieving balance between colors, light, and shadows. Photography, in my view, is all about balance, between dark and light, warm and cool, softness and contrast.
I spend most of my editing time refining these elements until the image feels coherent and harmonious, and nothing distracts from the story I want to tell.
My most important project: The journey itself
I wouldn’t single out one specific project as the most important. For me, the real project is the journey itself: traveling, discovering new places, and capturing them through my lens.
What excites me most is creating new adventures, planning them, building partnerships to make them possible, and returning with images that tell real stories. At the same time, this work allows me to highlight how precious our planet is and how worth protecting it truly is.
Looking ahead: Where I see myself in ten years
In ten years, I hope to continue pushing this project further, traveling more, exploring deeper, and creating even stronger visual stories. Alongside photography, I’m especially passionate about developing my work in video, which allows for a more immersive and emotional form of storytelling.
Motion, sound, and narrative give me additional tools to bring places to life. My strategy is simple: continuously raise the quality of my work with every journey, refine my visual language, and get as close as possible to what I imagine in my mind.
Ultimately, my goal is to have the creative freedom and financial stability to fully dedicate myself to this vision—combining photography and video to document the world’s most beautiful places in a meaningful way.
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