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Sebastian Lehrke
@sebastian.lhe
Best of the week 49 at #nomadict 2020
During my early twenties, I was playing field hockey in Germany’s 1st division. To some, this may seem like a very ambitious goal to reach. But this was actually around the time when I went through one of the darkest chapters in my life. It’s when everything important to me seemed to be crashing down. I had sustained a serious knee injury during a very intense phase in the hockey season, and unfortunately for me, it wasn’t easy to treat. I had to stop playing hockey, and I underwent surgery. And also various other treatments were tried on me, even ones which have not undergone much research yet. But none of them worked, and so I experienced two to three years in constant pain. I was mentally exhausted, too, as the doctors told me I would never be able to play competitive sports again.
"That's when I decided to leave everything behind and start a new chapter in my life."
I applied for a US study program and found myself living in a completely new environment only two months later. In the US is where I discovered how enriching visiting other countries could be. It ignited a fire within me that encouraged me to visit many other places. When I returned from the US, I decided to live in different areas of Germany and other countries abroad. That way, I could experience different cultures, people, and the vast beauty of our world and my home.
While spending some time in Central and Southeast Asia, I came to realize that my phone would not be sufficient to capture the beauty and variety of our world’s natural phenomena. I wanted to inspire people so that they, too, could be able to break out of their comfort zone. Much like I did when I made the leap to go to the US. So I bought a Nikon camera. A small but versatile device that I figured would be perfect for someone like me, who was just beginning to explore the fascinating new world of photography.
"The decision to buy my camera was to be the best decision I could have made."
Photography allows me to go out with the camera in hand, away from all the stress of modern-day life. I’ll often find myself in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by picturesque scenery, and I suppose you could say that nature, for me, is like my “fountain of eternal life.” It stretches my body to its limits as I’ve spent many days trekking through treacherous terrain. And it also frees my mind from all the pressure in my daily life.
"But the friendships I've formed with other photographers along the way has been the best thing about my journey."
Now, of course, I’m not in contact with everyone I’ve encountered on my travels; it would be impossible. But they all play a particular part in my heart, and I’ve forged memories with them that I will never forget. I’m now pleased to say I have friends from many of the countries around the world. And that’s all because of photography and traveling.
"For every journey I go on, there are many great moments. But here are my favorite two events that I will never forget."
The first was when I camped with my brother in the Italian Dolomites, a mountainous region located in northeastern Italy. We had heard on the news that there may be some scattered thunderstorms, but we never thought just how bad it could get. A hell of a thunderstorm hit us! Luckily we found a small hideout at the cable car station, which enabled us to live another day. And afterward, these weird cloud formations had begun to form. It felt as if we were no longer on planet Earth. Like we had just been plucked out of the stratosphere and put somewhere in another galaxy. I could barely hold my camera straight as I was so taken aback by what was in front of me. That’s when I shot the photo of the small hiking path, leading directly into the peculiarly shaped clouds.
The second most impressive moment on my travels was in Kenya. As you probably know, Kenya has scorching weather and exciting terrain. But my story is not about that. It is about a group of wild animals’ strange behavior while I was volunteering at an African conservancy.
While there, I saw these tiny baby cheetahs. And the cheetah mother was defending her cubs from the large herds of zebras and ferocious wildebeests. It was stunning to see. And pretty bizarre because these cubs were no threat to these groups of animals. And what happened next, I could hardly believe my eyes. It was just pure chance that I instinctively pressed down my shutter of the camera and was able to get one sharp photo of what took place. The cheetah was chasing the zebras, and then, all of a sudden, one brave zebra decided to turn around and start courageously chasing the cheetah on its own.
"The hunter had now become the hunted."
The whole thing went down so fast that I couldn’t believe what just happened. And probably neither could the cheetah mother. Peculiarly, this event reminded me of myself when I was on the mountain where I was in the middle of a thunderstorm. Like the zebra, I was also trying to be courageous to go against the world’s norms, even at significant risk to myself.
You can probably see from my story so far that I’m a person who acts impulsively. I’ve been on a US study program, spontaneously taken a trip up the Italian Dolomites, and even went to volunteer in Kenya. So you could say, once my emotions tell me to do something, I do it. And once something is in my mind, an idea will be stuck there until I realize this dream. I won’t stop thinking about it. Non-stop! And one of those dreams was to build a van to travel around once the pandemic is over.
The whole process of refurbishing the van precisely to my liking was very intense. Honestly, when I began this project, I had no idea how I would do it. So I started with the mindset that I would try something, see if it works, and then redo it. The trial and error approach, I like to call it.
I had some friends who were willing to help as this was a quirky and unique project for them. But still, I don’t think I’ve cursed so much in my life before while refurbishing my little van. It was an extraordinary time with many ups and downs. But it was all worth it! I had a great summer where I found myself sleeping in remote places in my little van I now call Frieda. And I am looking forward to many more great adventures in the coming years with her.
"I particularly like the flexibility of traveling in a van, as I can just up and go whenever I feel like it."
Traveling has enabled me to visit places where I have captured some stunning photographs. One, in particular, was my image, which won Nomadict’s contest. I took it during my annual trip to the Italian Dolomites. And weirdly, when I visited that year, winter came in much earlier. This meant that many rich, vivid colors that would usually be there, were nowhere to be seen, which left me somewhat disappointed.
"So I needed to rethink which planned hikes and climbs I would go on due to more dangerous conditions."
So during this freezing day, I decided to hike to a less-known place due to the wintery environment. And as I arrived, I couldn’t believe what was in front of me – a thick layer of clouds rolling over the range of sharp edges and dropped down into the valley. Immediately I took my drone out and sent it up into the air, even though its battery levels were nearing non-existent. I had always dreamed of making a hyper-lapse of this type of natural wonder, and now I finally had the chance to do it. And I also took a photo. That way, I could freeze the moment in time and remember the story behind the image. I can remember the pure happiness, along with the exhaustion of having trekked all the way there.
When editing this photo, I didn’t have anything in mind about how I wanted it to turn out. I just wanted it to stay as natural as possible and focus on the layers of clouds and the natural colors. This strategy is how I edit most of my photos. I always want the image to show exactly what I saw there in the moment. Of course, that’s a subjective thing, but I never overdo my photos and focus. I don’t overdo any tones or colors. And I mostly stick to playing around with the tone curve while decreasing the saturation of the different colors. I tend to prefer warmer photos over the cold, greenish-blue style, though. That’s why I turn up the white balance a bit and focus on the warm colors.
"Another important thing for me when editing is to help lead a person's eye to the subject in the image."
I do this by using one radial filter and two or three gradient filters with different settings. And then to finish, I’ll use a tiny bit of sharpening and decrease the contrast or clarity because I’m not too fond of when edges of objects look too crisp and therefore unnatural.
Now, if I were to leave you, the reader, some advice on finding your own style, it would be this; Focus on only two or three settings and filters. I know how hard it can be to let go as you want to use every tool that’s available to you. But as soon as you realize you don’t need to do that, the whole process of taking photos and editing speeds up.
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