Location: Turkey. Description: It is a cute village located at the foot of Baset Mountain, where a deep canyon opens to the plain. The village is full of caves that have witnessed the deep story of mankind, which has been going on since ancient times. The caves are filled with various human and animal figures drawn in red paints on the rocks, which are thought to belong to 10 thousand to 8 thousand years ago. Upon the arrival of spring months and the melting of the surrounding snow, these icicles form inside and outside of the cave, each of which reaches 3-4 meters, so this beautiful view worth visiting. This cave is the place where I spent my childhood. Last year we climbed back to the cave with three friends on a photo trip, and we took this photograph. The first thing that came to my mind when I took this photo was to introduce my village and its caves to the world, so I took part in the contest. I got very happy when I received the award in this contest. Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Lens: Canon 24-70mm - Aperture: f/6.3 - Speed: 1/250s - ISO: 320 - Fokal distance: 24mm
Pilot: Michael Maurer. Location: lake of the Rhone Glacier, Valais (Switzerland). Description: With Michael Maurer, one of the best pilots, I realized a crazy project. He had to do a bottom spiral over the ice-cold lake of the Rhone Glacier and then land safely on the shore. Although there is only a small landing site. Sure, for safety reasons we had an inflatable boat with us. Starting in the rocky terrain in the morning with downwind was a further challenge. Michael mastered both perfectly. Pure adrenaline for Michael and the photographer. Camera: Nikon D850 - Lens: Nikkor 105/2.8 mm - Aperture: f8 - Speed: 1/2500s - ISO: 320.
Location: Pitztal Glacier. Description: My twin brother (Matthias Jorda here in this image) and myself are travelling 2-3 times every winter to the glaciers of the alps. Mainly to the Pitztal Glacier - here in this photo. There are two reasons for this. On one hand we want to use this unique and beautiful world as an outstanding location for extraodinary action/snowboard photography and on the other hand even more important we want to document this fragile and very fast disapearing world for the generations to come. As you read this - this location of hunderts of thousands year old ice is already gone!! Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV - Lens: Canon 16-35mm - Aperture: f/7.1 - Speed: 1/250s - ISO: 1000 - Focal distance: 16mm
Location: Mont Blanc, Chamonix (France). Description: The photo is from July 2019. Along with Swiss climber Simone Bürgler I was climbing the Les Drus traverse over Chamonix. We got up at 2am in the Charpoua Shelter. We crossed the Charpoua glacier at night and arrived at the Point 3361 on the ridge by dawn. We climbed everything without ropes to go faster. The day was not very pleasant. No sun, a lot of wind... Camera: Nikon D 7500 - Lens: Nikol AF-S DX f/3.5-4.5 10-24 mm - Aperture: f/4 - Speed: 1/60s - ISO: 800 - Focal distance: 10mm
Location: Gastein (Austria). Description: Though this winter season was way too short, Sandra and I managed to get some good shots together in the Austrian Alps. This aerial shot of her looking back at a beautiful line she just skied may very well be my favorite photo of the season - it tells a story (look at that line!) and it just blew my head away the first time I saw it in black and white! Skier: Sandra Lahnsteiner in Gastein, Austria. Camera: DJI Mavic 2 Pro Drone - Aperture: f4 - Speed: 1/1600s - Focal Distance: 28mm (35mm equiv.) - ISO: 100
Location: Karambony, Tsaranoro Valley (Madagascar). Description: Climber Pedro Cifuentes, on the "Tough enough?" route in the Karambony, at the Tsaranoro valley (Madagascar). It's a track of almost 400m and a grade of 8c. Looking at the wall, I was powerfully struck by a section, incredibly aesthetic and colorful, and I wanted to photograph the climber in that area, but the path moved away from there. The day before, I was on a fixed rope photographing the climber, but given the complexity of the track, I was very limited and couldn't get an image that I liked. So I decided that the best thing would be to use the drone, take it to that area that I liked so much and try to get a good shot at the climber. Camera: DJI Mavic Pro2 Drone with camera Hasselblad 28mm - Aperture: f/4.5 - Speed: 1/120s - ISO: 100
Location: Dolomites (Italy). Description: For the start up company 720 Protections I had the pleasure to shoot their first helmet model 'Awake' in the beautiful Italian Dolomites. Equiped with the only two final prototypes we headed out to several iconic locations in the mountain regions of South Tyrol, Trentino and Veneto. This shot was taken in front of Cadini di Misurina mountain group located just a few minutes away from the famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Camera: Canon 5D Mark IV - Lens: Canon EF 24-70 f4 - Aperture: f/5.6 - Speed: 1/1600s - Focal distance: 50mm - ISO 200 - Extras: no filter.
Location: Picos de Europa, Vertiente de León (Spain). Description: At the end of May 2019, returning from the Vega de Liordes, I was surprised by the fog, and when I reached the heights of the Port of Pandetrave I decided to stay for the night due to lack of visibility. Finally the mist opened and when the stars began to be seen I photographed my shadow projected onto the fog. Camera: CANON EOS 5 MARK IV - Lens: SIGMA 14 mm 1.8, serie ART - Aperture: f/1.8 - Speed: 10s - ISO: 3200 - Focal distance: 14mm - Extras: tripod & light beams.
Location: Rodellar, Huesca (Spain). Description: Dani Andrada climbing the "Superforzudo Estrella" route in early autumn. Daniel Andrada has been climbing for more than 30 years, and is an international benchmark both for his climbs and for his opening of new routes. His main obsession is climbing. He has no special interest in the media (photographs or videos), so taking photos of Dani becomes almost a matter of chance. In this case I was hanging on a fixed rope photographing another climber who was climbing another route just on the opposite side. When Dani started climbing, I turned around and took the chance to "catch" him with the luck of having just behind him the colorful autumn of the trees. Camera: Canon 5D MKIII - Lens: 70-200 - Aperture: f 3/2 - Speed: 1/1000s - ISO: 500
Location: Ludvikov (Czech Republic). Description: I had previously been climbing in Ludvikov a few times already. Every time I visit the sector with the best boulder problem in the area: "Pistolnik". And every time I wondered how to photograph it so that the photo would be at least a bit of as good as the movement that this piece of rock offers. I wasn’t happy with the results with the photos I've taken there so far, but I think during the last visit I finally managed to do something that stands out. We were climbing on other blocks around and waiting for the moment, when the sun will get behind the hill to avoid the harsh lighting spots going through the trees. After a couple of tries, Anna found this feet-first promising beta, and for me it was the perfect combination for a frame. I set up the flashes and decided to use a longer focal length to compress the whole scene and make a proper foreground, which would also hide the distracting crash pads. Camera: Canon 5D mk IV - Lens: EF 135mm 2L - Aperture: f4.5 - Speed: 1/200s - ISO: 1000. Focal length: 135mm - Extras: 3 additional radio triggered flashes were used to light the scene.
Location: on the way to the Wildspitze, Pitztal, Tyrol (Austria). Description: I shot the picture in October 2019, when the very first snow of the season offered us a beautiful skitouring day to start into the new winter season. I was on the mountain with two good friends, Anika and Gunther, to climb the highest mountain of Tyrol, the Wildspitze, in beautiful conditions. Untracked and in complete silence. These are the days you’ll remember for a long time. We were already on the glacier for two hours, starting from the winter room of the closed Taschachhaus, when I saw the morning rays arriving slowly behind the mountain crest in front of us. In that moment, I tried to find a position on the shadow line. The situation is not faked at all. It just shows the situation how it was. It’s a clear and simple image building, but sometimes being at the right time in the right place is just enough. I shot with a focal length of 24mm to get a very wide view. Technically I tried to find the right ISO and AV to get enough light in the still dark shadows, as well as a nice looking sun. Camera: Canon EOS 5D III Lens: Canon EF 24-70 mm f/2.8L II USM - Aperture: f/13 - Speed: 1/640 - ISO: 640 - Focal distance:
Location: Val d'Aran (Spain). Description: After waiting for the snow in the Pyrenees for weeks, glorious thick powder days arrive. When the mountain and the powder snow fill the souls of the most fanatical. Athlete: Marc Moga. Camera: Olympus E-M1 MarkII - Lens: Olympus Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 - Aperture: f6,3 - Speed: 1/4000s - ISO: 250 Focal distance: 14mm
Location: Sustenpass, Bern (Switzerland). Description: The photo is a night photo of bouldering at Steingletscher at Sustenpass, Bern, Switzerland. Climber Thomas Adank climbs the boulder problem called "Comme longtain..." and graded 8A+. The Technique: the photo is a 4 minute exposure with 2 strobes on the second curtain, triggerd with a speedlight. Problems to solve: Triggering with speedlight IR range... It was a challenge for timing the climber which had to start climbing in darkness and had to be in this position for the strobes. Camera: Canon 5DS R - Lens: EF16-35mm USM II - Aperture: f/6.3 - Speed: - ISO: 640 - Focal distance: 20mm
