Deep Mountain Canyon Panorama

Following an unknown mountain river has led to some great findings. After walking up the river for a couple of hours, me and my brother were amazed to hear the sound of a powerful waterfall roaring. We had no knowledge of a waterfall on that river and as this was our first time there had no idea where the sound was coming from. After some exploring we managed to find it: the river was suddenly falling of a steep cliff before carving into the mountain and getting lost underground, only to reappear again a couple of hundred meters downstream.

The weather turned cold suddenly and rain began to fall so the steep cliffs were really slippery, but we knew we had to explore this beautiful place. As the rain fell the river swelled and the waterfall roared even louder. I was near the waterfall and felt it’s true force – drops of water flying through the air swept by the currents and lifted into the cold air. We climbed down as low as we could to get a view of the steep slope. Couldn’t get all the way down to where the water was disappearing into the mountain but got low enough to see the whole place from below.

I used my trusty wide 10 mm lens but it was still not enough to capture the whole scene so I made a panorama from three shots. I used f/11 at 1/2 seconds (had to use a closed down aperture to get everything in focus) and ISO 100. This shot was especially hard to get because water was pouring on to the lens from the rain and from the waterfall, but at the end of the day it was worth it. the green moss on the roots and rocks, the steep cliffs, the tall pine trees up in the distance seen from an unusual angle – all helped to create a photo of a wild hidden and dangerous world. This angle emphasizes the steepness of the place and think it manages to transmit part of my feelings from this dangerous experience.

This photo is part of my exclusive Stocksy collection: https://www.stocksy.com/1217967

Stocksy Top 5 of the Month – July 2017

It’s that time of the month when I bring you a selection of my top five photos on Stocksy from the previous month. It was a tough decision because there were a lot of new uploads the last month and every one of them was carefully chosen. These are my Stocksy top 5 picks for the month of July:

Abstract colorful light near spider web

Tree under starry sky at night

Aerial view of country road

Cave entrance

Sun rays shining trough enchanted forest with fog

sun_rays_in_foggy_forest — Sun rays shining trough enchanted forest with fog

Frozen Mountain Waterfall

Man at Giant Cave Entrance

Always amazed by the wonders hidden in this gorgeous wild valley. You can find this photo and many more here: http://www.photocosma.net/

Man in Enchanted Forest

man-on-path-in-enchanted-forest — Man on path in enchanted magical forest

Man on the Edge of the forest

Man on the edge of forest at sunset — Man on the edge of the forest trough fog at sunset

I’ve always found interesting how different people see different things in a photo. Some look at the photo above and see a man walking out of a forest, some see the man entering the forest, a person with imagination could say that this is an apparition of a ghost in a surreal forest. A sad person could say that the man in the picture is walking sadly at sunset. An insecure person could say that it’s a photo of a man lost in the woods. A single image can be interpreted differently by different people.

The way we perceive reality differs, so our interpretation of art differs too. I think art is the interpretation of reality through the mind of the artist. But the result is also subject to interpretation. So everybody takes from art what they need at a certain moment in time and space.

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Hidden valley exploration

hiiden valley with man exploring — Man exploring hidden valley with steep cliffs

There are a lot of hidden valleys that are still unexplored near the place that I live. I often go trough these wild valleys in search of natural wonders and inspiration, and there isn’t a single time I come back without finding something really interesting and worth photographing. You can’t access these places with any kind of transportation, there isn’t any cell phone signal and even GPS signal because of the huge steep cliffs that border the various valleys, so these places feel really remote and wild. Because of this isolation, they have managed to remain pretty much uncharted. It is always a relief to explore such places.

This is a photo take on the same tour as the macro shot here. The river that shaped these rocks and formed beautiful steep gorges still flows today and has a permanent stream of water, so advancing is really difficult. There are also fallen trees and branches that are obstructing the way, not to mention the narrow path that someone exploring this place has to follow. I remember that the first time I was there I really wanted to go further and see new wonders awaiting me around the corner, but the water was just too high so I had to call it a day. I returned many times and every time I managed to go a bit further than the last time, finding some of the most giant caves and some of the most beautiful gorges I have ever seen. Sometimes it’s difficult to come back in one piece, and I have found myself stranded on narrow steep pieces of land because of the rain, but nothing beats the feeling of discovering new things even after years of exploration.

The photo above was taken on an autumn day, the leaves not quite fallen from the trees. The human figure you see is my brother, with whom I was in quite a few risky situations due to our desire to uncover the secrets of this valley. I needed a human silhouette so the viewer would get a feeling of the size of the cliffs, so I told him to go forward and used an ultra-wide angle lens to capture this shot. I used a f 11 aperture to have everything in focus, and the shortest shutter speed that the light and my lens allowed. This kind of photos are usually used for environmental campaigns and also – like many of my photos – for horror movies posters. I think it has something to do with the unknown, the mystery of such photos, because they give a sense that you don’t know what may come after the next corner. I really like this feeling too, so I will be taking and posting more images from this place in the future. The “hidden valley” series is always expanding.

You can license the image exclusively here: https://www.stocksy.com/987261

A brief moment in time

birch trees mountain golden light

The most important thing in becoming a better nature photographer is understanding the fact that a photo is not “taken”, but something that is given to you. You can spend days in the wild, travelling long distances on foot, having your heavy gear ready at all times yet come back home empty handed. Days later, that special image you have been searching for is still missing because a series of factors were not met: the weather was not quite right, the light fell from the wrong side, the season was not the right one, the lens you used was not the best for a given subject, etc. But sometimes, everything falls right into place and all the conditions are met. You are given a great moment in time, a spectacular view with just the right conditions to highlight the beauty of nature.

It was the case with the image above, an image that received a lot of praise. I planned this trip months before and waited for the autumn season. When the conditions were right, I started my long journey towards the mountains. It was a cold November day and as reached the mountain’s base it started raining. It didn’t last for long so I was able to start climbing. The slopes were really steep so I had to stop often to catch my breath. On one of these stops I was given a spectacular view: a ray of light poke trough the clouds and fell right onto the birch forest at the bottom of the mountain. I already had my tele lens fitted on my camera, there was plenty of light for a fast shutter speed and given the years of experience, I framed this shot almost automatically making use of all the elements I had. Everything fell into place. I love how the light highlights the color of the birch forest and also the side of the cliffs, giving depth to the photo. I also love how the trees appear so small compared to the mountain, and give a sense of the true size of the cliffs. The beautiful mountain landscape, the autumn colors, the special light, all contribute to this shot and make it a fantasy fairy tale autumn mountain landscape. It has that fantasy atmosphere I search for in an image.

A great image is a matter of being at the right time in the right place, and have nature give you the perfect conditions for it.

You can license this image here: https://www.stocksy.com/851046

At the start of a surreal journey

mysterious forest — Mysterious dark surreal forest with fog trough trees

When I took this photo back in 2009 I already had some experience with photography, but I think this was the moment when I managed to detach myself from all the technical clutter, to clear my mind and really see nature in a new light. All the technical stuff became automatic and I could just concentrate on the mood, on the feeling and be absorbed into the mysterious surreal world that was unfolding before me. If there was a moment when the way I saw photography changed, this was it.
It was a rainy June afternoon. The rain was pouring down so bad that it was impossible to take photos. Everything drenched, water flowing everywhere. Luckily, I got a small window of opportunity when the rain stopped.

The difference in temperature was so great that a nearby mountain was wrapped in fog. I entered the dark mountain forest and realised that this was something special – the late hours of the afternoon, the thick fog, the eerie mysterious twisted trees – it all made the place look like something out of this world. I had a feeling that I was going to have again and again in the coming years. I was inside some other place. The world outside was no longer important. The surreal world I was in had a haunting silence, full of mystery and wonder.

Next thing I know the rain started pouring down again with even more force. The equipment was soaked, I was soaked. I stayed for a couple more shots. It was worth it. After a little while the fog disappeared. The gate to this fantasy world was closed, and I didn’t know for how long. Luckily it was closed only for a short time, and the mysterious forests series became one of my favorites, still in the making today. Everything changed that Sunday afternoon…

You can license the image here: https://creativemarket.com/PhotoCosma/623172-Dark-mysterious-Halloween-forest