Torn
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An island on a little pond close to Káraný in a chilling January weather.
Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic
This island isn’t man made - nature presents us here with a torn mind of this complicated island. The January morning freeze painted the trees white, while it wasn’t cold enough to make the water freeze and hide the sand and mud texture of the island “lagoon”.
I took this photo on an early morning drive on January 2nd from vacations in the mountains to get a shot at a doctor’s and then coming back to join my group. This image - one of the first photos I took in 2020 - then became a strong symbol of a torn mind, dualities, things we need to reconcile… for me, this remained one of the strongest photos I took that year.
Rainbow Surfers
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An early bird couple takes a morning stroll on a beach on Xmas day at the Canary Islands.
Canary Islands, Spain
This Canary beach is actually a man made lagoon, which made the sea completely flat, especially in the early morning. Very soon, the beach got very full, but this moment must have had been serene from the ground, as it definitely was from the air as well.
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Sunbathers at a shore
Croatia
This was actually a little urban beach in a little bay in an originally fishermen village, with a road for cars being right next to it. Still, the few beach goers over there definitely didn’t mind and enjoyed their time.
This Croatian trip wasn’t intended to be a drone photo trip, but my Mavic 2 Pro drone being so lightweight, I carry it everywhere. And sometimes, it’s a nice opportunity for people in my company to take their own time off, since during my drone sessions, I’m the worst human being in the world - at least socially speaking.
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Early morning at a hotel beach
Canary Islands, Spain
A very early morning. You can imagine that later in the day, the beach got filled by very lively murmur of people. And yes, it was on the Christmas!
Treencarnation
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River mouth bringing dead trees and sediments into the lake.
Northern Italy
The river that flows from the Alps to the lake brings in all kinds of messages from the mountains - should it be trees or various colorful sediments. Of all the rather more complex images I took at this area this one strikes out clearly… a combination of happiness vs endings, tranquility vs. strong currents, merry colors vs. the blackness of decay. It really depends on what you want to see in this and there’s definitely tons more stories than what the simple view would tell.
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A swimming platform extending to the lake.
Northern Italy
The muddy coast of this very large Alpine lake wasn’t too welcoming for swimmers, so occasionally you could find these swimming platforms. Together with the water colored by all kinds of sediments brought by the rivers from the Alps, you can rightly feel like on a space mission.
Houston, We Have No Problem
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Fallen leaves and algae on the top of Slapy dam near Prague in the Autumn.
Czech Republic
The colorful pattern is created by a combination of leaves fallen down from the forests of the surrounding hills and various colored algae that grew massively during the summer. A fisherman makes his way through it to land shortly on the shore.
Cast Away
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A tiny island on a little pond in the Autumn.
Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic
South Bohemia is a region with hundreds of man-made lakes and ponds dating back to the medieval era. These ponds are scattered by many muddy islands, often providing home to many bird species.
This photo was taken during one of the most colorful autumn days and is a part of a rather large series of similar islands.
Fire Dragon Torso
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Start of a lava stream (flowing to the left for a few kilometers) at the Icelandic volcano.
South Western Iceland
Many volcanoes have side openings near to them, from which lava flows (not erupts, or just very lightly) down in long lava creeks. This one was about 3 meters wide at a maximum, but the hot lava lasted for at least a kilometer or two down the valley.
I was lucky enough to visit the Fagradalsfjall volcano on an active day, moreover, there were several of these side craters. The opening of this one reminds me of a fire dragon that's been released from the Earth. This was my first day in Iceland and I was concerned about the drone surviving when I flew so close to the lava - some 25 meters - and there indeed was very minor damage, but other than that, the drone survived for the next month in Iceland. Still, this photo from Day 1 remains one of the best from the whole trip.
Falling Light
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A late Autumn forest in bright afternoon sunlight.
Central Bohemia, Czech Republic
The Koněprusy area is a place covered by many fairly deep forests, which are also a favorite destination for many weekend hikers or tramps.
-- I so much wanted to take a photo of another location a kilometer from here but I managed to crash my drone a few days before that. Thanks to a friend who lent me her drone I managed to get to the place anyway, but my original location didn’t reveal anything that would speak to me that day. In some disappointment, I just flew around the area rather randomly, only to discover this forest. It had almost all leaves already fallen and the sharp yet low-angle sun created an incredible canvas out of it.
The Victorious Bush
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Bush took over former Soviet military barracks
Central Bohemia, Czech Republic
A quick victory of a bush over an empire is all that remains of a barrack at the largest military base of the former Soviet occupational army in Milovice near Prague. More than 80,000 Soviet soldiers were stationed there after the Soviet 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. Now it's an urbex area where wild vegetation is taking over. Also, curiously, a part of the base was converted to a natural reservation for wild horses and bisons.
Firetree
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Fallen tree amidst the wild Autumn vegetation and leaves
Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic
This tree was lying on a wild inhabited island on one of the many South Bohemia ponds. Thanks to the particular time of the year, it was glowing reddish colors that could be visible even on my drone preview screen. I edited the contrasts lightly to bring them even more up to reveal a true autumn fire…
Sand Flower 1
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A sand drill, bringing a sand on the carrier to create a cone of various segments of a diverse colored sand.
Central Bohemia, Czech Republic
A part of a larger industrial area and a river port.
The places which we deem ugly, even toxic, places that we associate with destruction of Earth – even those have a hidden side where a new kind of beauty emerges. I love exploring these places, almost giving them a chance to shine, to tell their story, to let them contribute at least some beauty to the world of natural beauty in which they seem to be the opposite.
Acidragon
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A wastewater substance in a puddle in the surface mining area.
North Western Bohemia, Czech Republic
Another of my photos which were taken on completely randomly discovered locations. I actually went to photograph something different, but parked right next to this puddle, which caught my attention right after the take off. Needless to say, I spent a generous time right at my spot looking at this colorful beast before flying to my final location (out of which, as far as I remember, not significant photo was made…)
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The last tree with leaves in a late autumn forest.
Central Bohemia, Czech Republic
This was so late in the autumn that virtually all trees had their leaves down. This one last standing hero remained and thanks to a very sharp sun that day, strong contrasts were created, strongly differentiating it from the rest of the already winter-ready forest.
I used to think that the forests in the time closer to winter than anything else are rather depressing places. But from the air, I learned that the undressing of the trees leaves some of them are still exposed in their full autumn beauty. Yes, even this tree will get ready for winter soon… but now it is like the candle waiting to be extinguished and the world falling to darkness.
Acid Flower 3
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A dump into a wastewater reservoir in an industrial area.
Western Bohemia, Czech Republic
The liquid waste is being dumped from the pipes on the bottom into a pond with already sedimented waste.
These dumps are very uninspiring from the ground and nobody comes to visit. However, from a bird's perspective, a wholly different realm opens up. I love flying, whenever possible, above these areas - definitely being avoided by an average tourist. But again, if you look at them with a different perspective, and a different attitude, perhaps, they reveal flowers of a wholly different kind.
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Two dead trees in the middle of an autumn-colored forest.
Central Bohemia, Czech Republic
In the autumn, it’s a real therapy to take walks in the forests around Prague. And there are a few places to capture the color madness from the air - even to realize that death, which met these two drying out trees, can highlight a beauty everywhere.
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The Lužnice river flowing south of Třeboň, CZ.
Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic
The Luznice river flows between two autumn-colored forests.
I used to go on canoeing trips with my dad and his friends as a kid on this river. I remember how joyful, adventurous and mosquito-ridden these trips were. These days, this experience gets a bit more orderly, but I still get good memories of these days even when looking at the river from the air…
Skyboat
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A fisherman in a lake deep in Oregon forests close to Mt. St. Helens.
Oregon, North Western USA
I admit: there are so so many photos I have from my drive from Seattle to Portland, capturing the incredible beauty of the wild forests in the autumn. But somehow it happened that this tranquil moment - which I could take anywhere in the world, right - won my heart over all the other ones. Just stay with the image for a bit and you may also get that feel…
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A dead end of the Labe river meeting autumn fields.
Central Bohemia, Czech Republic
A field with a tree line in autumn colors and water covered by algae.
I discovered this part of Labe - the biggest Czech river, here flowing through a very flat and agricultural country - pretty much randomly on a bike trip. I didn’t have much time so I flew only for may be 20 minutes looking for interesting areas, lucky enough to discover this somewhat ethereal area.
Between Love and Hope
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A path literally between two ponds called Love and Hope
Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic
This curious path separates two man made ponds. My theory is that the curious shape was there before the ponds, which probably only filled the areas on the side of an already existing road between villages in this part of South Bohemia.
Heart of Rychleby
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A former quarry now filled with water.
Nothern Moravia, Czech Republic
This quarry heart is one of the many man made tiny lakes in the very remote area of the Rychlebské mountains on the border of the Czech Republic and Poland. These quarries are a fantastic destination for a couple day hike through the wilderness of the mountains, but from the sky, they reveal even another level of beauty. And mind you, since I don’t artificially create new shapes in the photos during the post production, this heart is “really” there.
Cracked Waters
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Gulls over a dried out pond with a few centimeters of water.
Eastern Moravia, Czech Republic
The Czech Republic saw some heavy droughts in the Spring 2020. Many ponds dried out, especially in South Moravia. When rains brought a few centimeters of water in later, it did not dissolve the dry mud and a "cracked water" pond full of birds was born.
-- This was one of the few trips we were able to make during the initial onset of Covid 19 and I loved every minute of it. This photo also brings back some nice personal memories from that trip.
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A view of the little peninsula of Hvalnes from above the sea
Southern Iceland
From the perspective of Iceland, you are the beginning of the world and everything feels “down to the South”. The Hvalnes lighthouse is an area that definitely invites you to have a look from a bit away - for which you need a ship (I didn't have) or a drone (I had!). It was a wildly windy day and I was seriously concerned that the drone wouldn't come back from the sea, but it did and brought this amazing panorama with it. I had an extreme luck with good light and excellent wind and weather conditions…
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A flock of wild geese during sunset on a glacier river.
Northern Iceland
A wide river about a kilometer before it flew to the ocean on the northern coast of Iceland.
-- I was at this location a few times until I got very lucky with weather conditions and a full day of sun and low wind (quite a rarity in Iceland and many of good photo intentions stay just on paper due to the conditions that Ódin creates for us there). This was one of the last photos I took that day. Even standing with my drone controller on the ground, I was completely taken away by the tranquility of the moment. Actually, even now when looking at this photo I hear the silence that started preparing the entry of the night…
Moon Herons
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A dried out pond before the Fall fish-takeaway season.
Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic
In the autumn, fishermen in the Czech Republic remove water from many of the medieval man made ponds they manage so that they can take out fish and especially carp for the Xmas season - with carp being the preferred meal of the Xmas Eve dinner in the country. The "mud ponds" are then a haven for many bird species.
The Swan Lake
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Swans at a pond.
Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic
-- This is one of my most tranquil photos. I feel like this is the Swan Lake that was the inspiration for the ballet, the Tchaikovsky music and everything else which is somewhat ethereal, flowing, quiet, slow yet powerful… I took a polite distance to these swans but had been observing them from their perspective for quite some time, totally forgetting about the areas I originally planned for that day's shoot. I totally don’t regret it.
Smooth Landings
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Wild geese on a glacier river at the beginning of sunset.
Northern Iceland
Glacial rivers are a major attraction for my aerial photography as Iceland is a true paradise in this regard. These incredible patterns created by the interaction of the river bed, various sediments brought from the mountains, combinations of many incoming streams and the profile of the surface can provide endless possibilities for abstract discoveries. However, the best views happen when you manage to encounter the true local inhabitants of these magical places… like these geese.
Let Me In
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Glacial river before finding its entrance to the ocean.
Southern Iceland
This mesmerizing puzzle of shapes, patterns and shades is painted by a river flowing from nearby glaciers straight to the ocean - provided that there isn’t a lava sand barrier between the river and the waves. It took the river about 600 meters around the shore to finally find the opening and enter the Atlantic ocean. This day was very dark, windy and rainy and flying around taking photos was quite an adventure. It was only back home that I realized that what I saw from the top is quite incredible.
Glacial Veins
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A glacial river tries to find its way over the lava sand barrier to the ocean.
Southern Iceland
Only from the air when flying above the shore, I saw this incredible almost optical illusion of the river looking almost 3D thanks to the play of sediments. But… it’s completely flat (except the little sand barrier between the river and the ocean), there is no ice and the water is free flowing. After checking the maps afterwards, I realized that this pattern is just temporary, aerial maps from other periods showed a very different image. So, it’s likely gone now as well… how lucky we are to be able to witness this!
Many of my locations were not planned in advance and I found them by mere coincidence. This magic place is one of these, not being at all among the tourist attractions of Iceland. I drove around the shore and saw the river from the road, wondering how it gets to the water.
Interstellar Beaches
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The black sand lava beach on the South Iceland coast.
South Eastern Iceland
This beach - along with its many sisters - featured in quite a few of recent movies and TV shows and for a reason. It looks straight from another planet. Combine this with the very bad weather that day (thanks drone for surviving) and quite disastrous light conditions, we can really feel that Earth transformed to something else this particular afternoon…
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A yacht in the Adriatic Sea.
Croatia
A sail between the Croatian Islands Brac and Hvar. It's a very busy sailing area.
-- This day was actually very bright, sunny, one joyful summer experience in Croatia. I took my drone and myself off the beach and chased - from a polite distance - a few of the yachts around. When shooting against the sun, the epic contrast hid everything in sight and we are left only with the boat, the waves, the reflection… and nothing else. Sometimes I feel I’d enjoy, if for a few days, to live in a world as simple as that.
Acid Flower
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A pipe pumping some oily waste to a partly frozen wastewater pond.
North West Bohemia, Czech Republic
Odkaliště Venuše (“Sludge pond Venus”) is probably the last place where you’d look for beauty in the Czech Republic. In the middle of a land destroyed by mining and industrial activity is a pond with a content you don’t even want to think of. Yet - here we are presented with a magically pretty flower… an acid flower, perhaps.
That January afternoon was truly a mix of all extremes of what feelings you can have about a countryside and this image is a part of a larger series of similar acid beauties.
Czech Submarine Base
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A curious structure at a pond.
Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic
I often say it’s a submarine base of a Czech Navy. Well, we have no military navy, yet even submarines, as a happily landlocked country. I have no idea how this facility works - so I'll choose the parallel universe where there's a sub or two waiting underwater for their time that will come one day.
I actually came here a couple years later to make the same photo... only to realize the water looked completely different this time! You can see that photo on my instagram.
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Fish farms near the coast.
Croatia
-- We were driving to the beach that sunny day when we suddenly saw these ships somewhat in the distance in the sea. Me carrying the drone pretty much everywhere asked to stop and I took some time exploring what’s going on, before we indulged in the summer fun on the beach. The nets and the ships and boats around provided an unexpectedly visually satisfying view…
Whitefalls
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Mumlava river, nearby the waterfalls, in the winter.
Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic
This was taken during a trip right before the New Year's eve and everything was so right that week - hopefully that feeling got somehow translated to how I saw the winter forest that day and captured it for us here.
White Star
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Winter in the forest Hvězda ("Star").
Central Bohemia, Czech Republic
One of the oldest forests in Prague is around the summer castle Hvězda (“Star”, because of its shape) where the kings of the nearby Prague Castle would go to hunt and enjoy their time with whatever kings did over the weekends those days. While the summer castle itself is a true medieval gem, I love the various shapes and forms created by the forest especially during winter. Oh, and it’s also my childhood area as I grew nearby and as kids we would spend quite a lot of time there (much to the disdain of our parents and their concerns that something would happen to us over there, which of course even increased its attractiveness for us).
Winter Crossing
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First snow at the Aurora Spa park.
Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic
This was a very special moment that lasted for about 2 hours in its entirety… The park got covered by the first snow that managed to cover some areas but left the trees - some still in autumn colors - only slightly touched. The sun melted everything soon but before that, I managed to get my drone out and freeze that moment for us for much longer than 2 hours…
The First Snow
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The first snow at the reserve.
Central Iceland
This was only the second day after the first snow which formed only a fine carpet over the still-visible black lava bedrock and the ponds still didn't freeze. It was already fairly difficult to get to this area even in my 4WD and later in the evening that day, the rangers closed the reservation for normal entry for about 8 months, so I was very lucky not with light and weather that day, but also the timing. Yes I did plan to spend several more days in this area, but the photos I managed to take definitely pay back for this result of weather games.
-- Like many other of my Iceland photos, this was taken with proper permissions by Icelandic authorities. Although it does take a bit of time and money to arrange for it, I definitely advise having them. Iceland is a drone paradise and we want to be responsible pilots, not spoiling nature or the atmosphere of it for others.
Baby Island
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A micro island covered by autumn vegetation in the middle of a glacial river.
Northern Iceland
This river has a wide delta stretching for more than a kilometer before entering the Atlantic ocean. The colorful surface - which you can see really only from the skies - is caused by sediments brought by the stream from the mountains and their interaction with the bedrock. I could fly there for hours… no, days… and still find mesmerizing new abstract views.
Bursting Out
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A pseudocrater covered by autumn moss.
North Eastern Iceland
Myvatn Lake - It is not a classic volcanic crater because it is not "connected" to the magma in the earth and has never spewed lava. Still, these craters were created thanks to lava streams from nearby volcanoes flowing over a wet surface in the past, creating massive explosions of steam.
This was one of my last photos of the day. It was too late and very quickly the wind began to rise from the south (at the top of the photo), which brought a lot of clouds, fog and rain. My drone very much dislikes these conditions, so I took this picture and headed for the landing quickly.
Saving Astronaut Ryan
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The DC3 crash site.
Southern Iceland
In 1973, a United States Navy DC plane ran out of fuel and crashed on the black beach at Sólheimasandur, in the South Coast of Iceland. Fortunately, everyone in that plane survived. Later it turned out that the pilot had simply switched over to the wrong fuel tank. The remains are still on the sand very close to the sea. The photo is almost a rescue mission for a pilot crash landed on another planet - these little red dots are quad bikes of a tour expedition.
Interstellar River
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A river on a black moss beach covered with autumn-colored moss.
Southern Iceland
The black sand beaches in South Iceland look especially otherworldly in late September.
Treever
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Braided river in Southern Iceland.
Southern Iceland
Many river streams where the colors are created by mixing the sediments from the mountains and icebergs and the river bed of black lava sand and mud.
This photo is a crop of a huge 600 megapixel composite I made with my drone covering a larger area of the river. I then opened it at home, taking crops of the source image and looking for patterns and rhythms.
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A river flowing from a glacier to a lake.
Central Norway
This river was just a few kilometers long, originating in a glacier and flowing in a nearby glacial lake.
-- Norway is a true photo paradise, but actually a somewhat challenging environment for aerial photos. The beauty of Norway is often hidden in its mountains and canyons and waterfalls and these are traditionally hard to capture with my favorite 90-deg top down camera orientation. But, when it comes to braided glacial rivers, it’s a whole different story and a bit of a photo paradise.
Crack in the world
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A highland creek floating over a ferrous soil.
North Western Bohemia, Czech Republic
In Krušné hory, you can find many meadows with highland bush and vegetation. It’s also where many creeks originate, join each other and perhaps disappear somewhere in the woods again. When adjusting contrasts of this image, the reddish color of the ferrous soil became immediately visible.
I saw a comet
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A forest on the top of a mountain ridge.
North Western Bohemia, Czech Republic
I found this place by a pure coincidence - as is the case of quite a few other photos here - when flying from a site that actually didn’t prove to be as appealing as I’d have guessed from the online “satellite” maps (this also happens quite often). But I’m glad I did. And after seeing this photo in large prints, I understand why people sometimes take this part of the forest to their homes!
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South Moravian hills and fields in early spring.
Southern Moravia, Czech Republic
The large agricultural country area of South Moravian hills is quite difficult to photograph from above - but when you get to the right place, it literally flies. I I spent a lot of time with this photo sailing on its waves, because it contains several almost optical illusions (sometime due to eroding surface due to removed trees, which is nothing great actually), at the same time the colors of the South Moravian spring are difficult to interpret, let alone when you want to extract the spirit you feel there.
-- I found this particular place between Bílovice and Čejkovice by chance, it is not one of the usual South Moravian photo locations.
Sailing the Spring
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South Moravian hills and fields in early spring.
Southern Moravia, Czech Republic
The large agricultural country area of South Moravian hills is quite difficult to photograph from above - but when you get to the right place, it literally flies. I I spent a lot of time with this photo sailing on its waves, because it contains several almost optical illusions (sometime due to eroding surface due to removed trees, which is nothing great actually), at the same time the colors of the South Moravian spring are difficult to interpret, let alone when you want to extract the spirit you feel there. I found this particular place between Bílovice and Čejkovice by chance, it is not one of the usual South Moravian photo locations.
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An unnamed pond in a former surface mining area near Chomutov
North Western Bohemia, Czech Republic
This mining area - including long abandoned surface mines and other mining operations - is a surprisingly fantastic location for admiration of a truly hidden beauty. From the land, the country seems beaten, broken or even destroyed - and it actually quite is. From the air… there’s a whole new world opening, given some hope to this hard tried area. This little pond didn’t look so intriguing on the map, but I thought I wanted to take a bit of a relax at its side while driving from a day of shooting. I almost didn’t want to take the drone with me - and glad I did.
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Fagradalsfjall Volcano, about 3 weeks before ceasing activity.
South Western Iceland
This day of shooting at the volcano resulted in many other fascinating views like straight from a Tolkien book. In these late phases of the volcanic activity, the lava eruptions occurred just every other 10 minutes or so. You could very well anticipate them, as the air filled with a strange hissing sound for a few seconds before the eruption, which then lasted no longer than about 10 seconds. I found the smoking volcano more intriguing though!
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A mountain top in the South East Iceland coast.
South Eastern Iceland
-- Often I love driving to a tourist destination only to find out that its surroundings are often just as interesting. This was the case - I was driving to the very popular Stokksnes beach, but this caught my attention. I parked on the side and spent about 1 hour there, actually missing the Stokksnes at all due to bad weather coming very shortly. I don’t regret it!
Obsidian Heart
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A glacial delta river at the South Iceland coast.
South Eastern Iceland
Sometimes people don’t believe this isn't photo manipulation in Photoshop. And I always reply with my mantra: what you see was really there. No editing of shapes or adding stuff to my photos. Let’s just agree I was very lucky to have spotted this black heart. It did bring some rather dark symbolism for me in the following weeks so I don’t have an easy relationship with this photo, but I guess what else to expect from a heart that intense…