This photo was taken during my friends' (Xavier Caihol and Lucie Viguet-Carrin) three month sport project, "Crossing of the Alps", which consisted on crossing the Alpes from Dolomites to Nice by cycling, skiing, climbing and paragliding. I went with my friends for a week to take some pictures.Camera: Nikon D7200 - Lens: Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-5.6 - Aperture: f/3.5 - Speed: 1/2000s - ISO: 100
Many years ago I often went to climb in this amazing place with my wife. I've always loved this cylindrical cave and the central arch that overlooks the open valley. Some time later we moved to live in British Columbia, Canada, but the image of the cave has always remained in my mind. My unconscious brain kept figurating a photo that could show the full beauty of this suggestive place, suitable for hiding a "pirate's treasure". One night, while I was sleeping it became clear to me the exact position where to take the photo and how to show the arch and its particular cylindrical shape. As soon as I woke up very motivated in the morning, I began to "torment" my wife about this image that I finally had clear in my mind. I promised myself that when we returned to Italy, we had to go back to the cave to take this photo. As soon as I returned to Italy, I immediately went back there with my friend Elena Poli and finally took exactly the same image that was so clear in my mind. I climbed for few meters a route in the middle of the cave, opposite side of the arch, hanged on a bolt and took this photo.Camera: Canon 5d Mark IV - Lens: Tamron 15-30mm F2.8 D2 - Aperture: f/7.1 - Speed: 1/160s - ISO: 200 - Focal distance: 15mm
Snow had been forecasted at high altitudes, so I went to Urkiola Natural Park with the intention of taking some photographs in the beech forest. I usually go alone because I focus more on what I like to capture in my photographs. There were times where it was snowing and thus, I decided to immerse myself in the forest without a tripod. Shortly after, I saw that there were more people walking in the area, and after noticing those trees, still with the autumn-colored leaves, I took advantage of the moment when that couple passed through the hole, to take the photo. The truth is that I had a fruitful morning with that winter environment.Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III - Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm F4.0 L USM - Aperture: f/9 - Speed: 1/320s - ISO: 500 - Focal distance: 40mm
Kevin climbs self-belayed on a day of great waves. He feels the wall vibrate due to the violence of Cantabrian sea and smiles.Camera: Nikon D7500 - Lens: AF-S Nikkor 18-140 f/3.5-5.6 VR - Aperture: f/3.8 - Speed: 1/4000s - ISO: 200 - Focal distance: 23mm
After a much needed storm in the Tetons we set out to capture Veronica Paulsen ripping up the untracked face of an iconic Jackson peak. On the hike towards the face I found this small patch of trees that gave a very unique perspective of the face and knew all I had to do from there was not miss my moment as Veronica counted down her drop in.Camera: Nikon Z 6 - Lens: Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR-S - Aperture: f/ 3.2 - Speed: 1/4000s - ISO: 100 - Focal distance: 200mm
Extreme mountain descent on MTB.Camera: Canon 5D Mark II - Lens: Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM - Aperture: f/2.8 - Speed: 1/1200s - ISO: 100 - Focal distance: 24mm
This photo was taken during the fall in 2021, in a 2 days exploration over the Mer de Glace, in Chamonix, with a friend and athlete Jeff Mercier, one of the best ice climber in the world. Through this photo, I wanted to transmit both the beauty of this fragile element, the ice, as well as managing to capture the action of the climber and his precarious. I chose this image because there is a nice contrast between the color of the climber's outfit and the deep blue of the ice, as well as between the power of the action and the softness of the light that comes from above. This image sums up everything I love when I shoot ice climbing. I am a big fan of Canon brand. I use a Canon 5d mark III, unbreakable and super resistant under extreme elements. Most of the time I have 2 lenses with me, the EF 24-105 f/4 and EF 16-35 f/8, but I don't take a lot of gear with me, since I already have enough to carry with all the mountain and climbing gear! I find that when you don't have a lot of lenses and the conditions don't allow you to bring gear, it forces you to think more about the framing. It boosts creativity.Camera: Canon 5D mark III - Lens: EF 16-35 f/2.8 II USM - Aperture: f/5.6 - Speed: 1/80s - ISO: 800 - Focal distance: 16mm
I took this picture near a new moon phase. I was up there with some friends and spent the night at the lake to shoot the milkyway.Camera: Nikon D810 - Lens: Sigma 14mm 1.8 - Aperture: f/2 - Speed: 20s - ISO: 4000 - Focal distance: 14mm
During the pandemic, when the climbing gyms were closed, we were so willing to climb that bouldering outdoors in cold temps still sounded like a great way to spend a day off. We made this shot with Łukasz Kudła in Grota Komonieckiego – a grotto located in Beskidy mountains in Poland. It’s a place known mostly for its tiny waterfall that freezes in winter making a winter wonderland mood. The perfect bonus is that there are also bouldering problems inside, so it was an obvious choice to go there for a climbing session and a photo shoot as well. I was shooting on a super wide-angle lens of 14mm to have the whole scenery in the frame. To reduce the high contrast between the inside of the grotto and the much brighter outside I used 3 flashes. One pointed on Łukasz, the second right behind him, to lit up the background directly where he was climbing, and the third one behind the ice curtain to have some light going through the ice. It was a difficult scene to lit up without having any light stand within the frame. Also, the high contrast forced me to have the whole picture very underexposed to avoid the overexposed spots where the flashes were hitting the surface (especially the ice). The editing part was mostly focused on the exposure correction, a lot of dodging and burning, and a small reframing (there was too much space on the right side).Camera: Canon EOS R5 - Lens: Canon EF 14mm f2,8L II - Aperture: f/5.6 - Speed: 1/320s - ISO: 200
Jacek Ciaś bouldering in Bor, one of the biggest czech bouldering crags, also called sometimes as a "small Fontainebleau". Several hundred blocks within a 15-20 minutes walk in the crag, superb quality sandstone, mostly easy landings and a beautiful forest.Exif: Canon 5D mk 3 - Lens: Canon 70-200 2.8 L - Focal distance: 185mm - Speed 1/1250s - Aperture: f/2.8 - ISO: 2000
After a rainy day I was running through Vall de Núria and during the descent, I went to see the well-known waterfall Salt del Grill. I liked the rain and those colors, so after eating something in my van, I went up again with the camera to take some pictures. I managed to take this one running with the waterfall in the background.Camera: Canon 70D - Lens: Tokina 11-16 2.8 - Aperture: f/2.8 - Speed: 1/250s - ISO: 1600 - Focal distance: 11mm - Tripod: Benro Travel Angel - Flash: Godox
Every year a dedicated team of snowboarders and skiers travel to one of the last remaining glaciers in Tyrol. Mostly we go to the Pitztal Glacier. There are two reasons for this: first, by going there every year, we see how fast this beautiful and very old glacier world is disappearing due climate change. After the photo is taken, usually about 4-6 weeks later, this unique location of thousand of years old ice is gone forever. We want to document this fast disappearing world for the generations to come. My children won't be able to see this anymore. Second, we use this beautiful glacier world as an outstanding location for extraordinary ski/snowboard photography. In this photo, rider Jochen Mesle skis over a very fragile ice cave.Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV - Aperture: f/5.6 - Speed: 1/1000s - ISO: 400 - Focal distance: 16mm
Whilst working on a documentary project about extreme kayak, we travelled all over Iceland until we reached Aldeyjarfoss. It’s one of the most scenic waterfalls I have ever seen due to the energy of the water and the strange basalt rock formations on its sides. It was late afternoon and the sun wasn't quite as strong, so we had this epic dim light.Camera: Sony A7 III - Lens: 24-70mm - Aperture: f/5 - Speed: 1/2500s - ISO: 640 - Focal distance: 70mm
Immersed in an atmosphere of ice crystals, the alpinist seemed to walk through the sky.Camera: Nikon D850 - Lens: Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 - Aperture: f/8 - Speed: 1/1600s - ISO: 200 - Focal distance: 19mm
One of those moments where everything comes together. The location, the light and the riding! We arrived at the peak of the mountain just before sunset. The light was awesome, because the sun was shining through the peaks of the mountains, causing long shadows and lifting the mist in the valley. It was a very pleasant and exciting nature adventure.Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark4 - Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f4 L-IS-USM - Aperture: f/18 - Speed 1/800s - ISO: 400
