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Jonas Hanspach
@jonashanspach
Landscape photographer based in Ireland
My passion for traveling is deeply rooted in my childhood. At the age of 5, I was away from home all alone for the first time in my life to spend the summer break on a farm and learn horseback riding. From the age of 9 I also spent every spring break skiing in the Suisse or Austrian mountains with a sports club of my local town. In addition, my parents took my brother and me on a lot of trips so by the time I was 15 I had seen quite a bit of Europe and beyond. At that time I decided to leave for longer than just a holiday and do an exchange year.
"I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah for a year and went to high school there which helped me become even more independent."
Funnily enough, none of these trips are very well documented. My family captures memories for themselves rather than with photos to share with others. This changed for me when I met my wife who is almost obsessed with capturing the big and the small moments in our lives. I remember being annoyed in the very beginning, thinking to myself “Oh come on, not another picture”. However, with the years I found it quite nice to have a visual memory so I started to take pictures myself.
I got my first DSLR, a Nikon D3200, when I decided to go explore Iceland on my own in 2014. I found joy in capturing the beauty of the wild landscape on camera. I went in July, so the days were extremely long and the nights very short. I remember hiking up a mountain by my Airbnb at 2 am to capture the sunset over the ocean. Sitting on top in the soft moss with no one around but me and the sun sinking into the ocean was a moment that gave me ultimate happiness. I will treasure that memory forever.
Back then I never did anything with the pictures, I shot in automatic mode and left all images unedited. This changed mid 2017, when I stumbled upon a YouTuber with the name Peter McKinnon and was so impressed by his work. I did some research and found many other amazing photographers like Hannes Becker, Marvin Kuhr, Jack Harding and Giulia Gartner. It just hit me, the desire to do something similar. Later that year, I moved to Ireland to do a Master’s program in digital marketing and used my spare time to develop my photography skills and explore the country with my camera – I fell in love with the country.
"Very few have really captured the beauty of the wild and rugged nature of Ireland and shared it with the world. I want to showcase how amazing this island actually is."
For anyone who hasn’t been here, the clichés are true; it rains quite a bit and can be very stormy, especially on the west coast. Of course you have beautiful sunrises/sunsets as well but they are more rare (and therefore you treasure them more). I would say that my photography style is a true reflection of what Ireland is like, it’s wild, moody and yet you always find some peace in it. I don’t limit myself to just shooting during sunrise/sunset. For me, standing on a cliff in a storm makes you feel alive. It’s exhilarating and helps you to be present in the moment without distractions. It’s almost meditative and thus peaceful for me.
The Wild Atlantic Way specifically is an amazing route, stretching over 2.500 km from the north of the Republic all along the coast to the south with some incredible cliffs. My favorite spots along the route are probably the Kerry Cliffs, Mullaghmore and Malin Head. All these spots are just wild, rugged and untouched nature that is very loosely populated. Despite these being my favorite spots, my favorite photo was actually taken at the Cliffs of Moher in the moodiest conditions in April last year.
"I love how the fog hits the cliffs and gives it this mysterious moody vibe."
At the time I was also experimenting a lot with my editing style but when I finished editing this one I felt true pride and thought to myself “That’s it” for the first time. It’s also the first photo I made some real money with since an old friend of mine was planning his album release and felt that my image would be the perfect album art for it. It’s called Interpolations by Mount Inertia.
To be honest, no matter where you are along the Wild Atlantic Way, you simply feel free and worryless whether that is standing on top of a cliff 500 meters above the water or on a white sand beach with crystal clear water. You definitely get to experience the full power of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland. I go out when others might prefer to stay inside wrapped in a blanket by the fireplace. This requires some understanding of the weather though, because shooting in these circumstances is not easy. For drone photography specifically it means developing a feeling of how much wind is too much. I’ve gotten a pretty good sense by now and know when I can fly and when I can’t.
"That meant testing the boundaries a few times but so far I have not lost a drone because of it, finger’s crossed!"
"As you can see, my interest in photography has made a 180 degree turn."
From the moment I got in contact with photography because of my wife, which sometimes even came together with annoyance, to being a passionate freelance landscape photographer myself. Ireland has helped me a lot to achieve that, not just in terms of the countless spots to practice photography, but also because of the master degree in Digital Marketing that I completed there. I’m so glad I chose to study something so practical for my professional and personal life. It helps me in so many ways.
First and foremost it helped me with building a brand. I designed my own logo and came up with my own color palette to provide a consistent experience across all my channels. People know what they are signing up for with me. I’m still in a very early stage with this but the ultimate goal is for people to recognize my work without my name associated with it.
Secondly it helps with strategy and promotion. As a marketer myself (I work full time at Hubspot), I have a good understanding of what businesses are looking to achieve so when I reach out to work with a brand I know what to tap into. That’s why I managed to have my first brand collaboration with a large brand like Moment. I also have quite a bit of experience with using tools like Google Ads and Facebook Ads which is coming in handy with my shop launch. I am doing a Giveaway to celebrate the opening. I have prepared three prizes:
1) A 36” x 24” Fine Art Print AND a Moment lesson of your choice! Click here to visit the link!
2) An A2-sized (16.5” x 23.4”) framed print ready to hang of your choice!
3) A framed print of the Cliffs of Moher & your own Wild Atlantic Way Passport
You can find all the details of the giveaway here.
I’m quite fortunate with my current situation. Hubspot’s amazing remote work policy allowed me to move out to the west coast of Ireland to be closer to the places I want to shoot. This had a huge impact on my photography and general happiness. The stories that I have been able to live when going out shooting are all unique and special to me. Whether it is the location, the sometimes perfect conditions that come together as if they are posing for you, the intense joy I feel when being alone overlooking the rough ocean, or the trips I make together with other photographers.
"One trip that I remember very well is when my wife and I visited Fair Head in Northern Ireland last year."
I had done some research beforehand and knew that Game of Thrones was filmed here. When we pulled into the parking lot of the farmer who owns the land he came out to have a chat with us. He told us that one day a location scout for the series showed up on his doorstep and wanted to have a look around. A few weeks later a whole committee of producers, directors and scouts arrived to finalize the terms and plan the shoot. The farmer described it as “the best day in his life” with a cheeky smile. As a little gift he gave us two slices of a tree that had fallen at the Dark Hedges (another GOT filming location) which we now use as coasters at home.
"With that story in mind we followed the path to the cliffs walking through the farmer’s sheep fields."
When we got there we looked at an absolutely beautiful cliffside and shot for quite a while, but also just sat down and enjoyed the view. It’s important to sometimes just put the camera away and be present in the moment. As beautiful as the job may sound, a travel and landscape photographer is often being faced with many challenges along the way. Many of these require perseverance, strength, and resilience, which is faced and overcome with passion. Though the biggest challenge may be to put the camera down and truly enjoy the views, capturing it with your own eyes and noticing the emotions generated within you.
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