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Thomas Frenken

@thomas.frenken

Outdoor photographer based in Germany

Until 2015, I often headed to the mountains to go downhill by mountainbike. Because of that I was often outside, close to the nature and doing outdoor sports. I was a real adrenaline junkie, the higher and bigger the jumps, the better. Photography and videography were just tools to capture the jumps and record the descend with the mountainbikes. In 2015 though, I had a severe crash when going downhill and broke my cervical vertebrae.

"Thanks to a uncountable number of guardian angels I am totally healthy now."

I have felt an emptiness for several years because I didn’t want to exercise my hobby anymore. Then, in 2018, I picked up my camera again where I used to capture my jumps with, and started to take photos of everything that I found through the viewfinder. It didn’t take long until I found my favorite subject: Nature and landscapes

"I discovered that photography is a great medium for me to relax."

I work full time in sales which means quite a lot of stress, especially mental stress, and photography distracts me from daily life. It calms me down and I can fully enjoy the moment. I love hiking through wide meadows, roam deep in the forests and explore unknown terrain. It’s not just photography that interests me, but also everything that happens around it and that comes with it. My daughter was born in 2018, and she has been around with almost every picture. I want to show her the beauty of nature and wildlife as long as this is still possible.

"With the climate crisis going on, we can’t take the nature for granted anymore."
"It’s because of many other factors though that I want to live today and get the maximum out of my life."

We never know what will happen. I know that ‘live like it’s your last day’ is kind of cliché, but I believe it totally makes sense. With experience, I have adopted a certain lifestyle, which is about ‘making memories out of dreams’. We shouldn’t be held back because of anything: Listen to your heart and feelings, they will bring you to your destination and your dreams will become memories. Because of this lifestyle, I notice that I am listening more to my myself. I trust what my body and heart are telling me and listen less to what others are saying. I feel freer when taking my decisions, without letting the external influences interfere.

"Photography definitely contributed to achieve this; I have found a certain balance in life and it provides me with serenity."

I think that my approach to life is also why I am not really fan of planning my photos. Most of the times I took them at the moment itself without having thought about it before. Also, sometimes you need a lot of patience and often a planned photo doesn’t work out the way you planned it. I particularly have respect for wildlife photographers; those who wait for weeks or years to take a specific picture they have in mind.

"Personally I love wildlife photography; I have taken photos of animals both in wild and in wildlife parks."

Either way, it takes a lot of patience and often a dash of luck to be on the right spot at the right moment. Animals are fascinating in my opinion and I love watching how they act; their social behavior, how they move, how they look at me with curiosity and suspect… It’s very important to keep an eye on what’s happening around you and to treat the animals well. Of course you want a nice photo and you need to adjust your camera settings and all, but I believe that the protection of the animals is always priority. 

Anyway, I am totally at the start of my photography and I still have a lot to learn. When I started last year, I enrolled myself in an online course. This was great to obtain a technical foundation and a better idea of visual design. However, the more I photograph, the faster I improve. I go outside as much as I can, shooting and making mistakes. The constructive feedback I then receive helps me a lot. According to me, quality of a photo is established when taking the shot. A bad photo can’t suddenly become good after editing. The edit adds a mood to the photo by using colors and adjusting lights or shadows so it conveys a certain emotion. I want to show authenticity, the real moment and story behind the photograph. If I achieve that is up to others and will differ for each person. Now I am considering to take a course from Max Muench to deepen my knowledge and ameliorate my skills. He is one of my favorite photographers and inspires me a lot.

"The great thing is that, after having enjoyed spending time outside, shooting and editing, I also find delight in the kind of final step: sharing photos in social media."

What I particularly like is the community you can build and be part of by doing this. Of course I would lie if getting likes is not part of this joy, but mainly I like it to share my experiences and exchange ideas with this community of people passionate about photography, art or the outdoors. By sharing my photos I also hope to motivate people to go outside, using nature to distract themselves from daily life and to feel free. Finally, I am thinking about how to connect my photography with messages about fighting against the climate change since this is a serious topic that we should all not just know about but also work on.

Thomas Frenken
"I want to continue having my lifestyle, turning my dreams into memories. To do this though, I definitely need a healthy planet."
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