Landscape nominee

Detail of Lauterbrunnen valley, Switzerland.

Wedged between thick clouds; the Spissbachfall.

This was just one of those days where you would keep rubbing that cloth on the front element, hoping that you've brought enough of those. The atmosphere was this moody all day but certainly reached its peak by the time most tourists where having supper.

I drew inspiration from the cinematography by the late Andrew Lesnie of the Hobbit and LotR trilogies here. It's in essence a series of complex curves adjustments and creative dodging and burning to highlight the waterfall in the pouring rain.

(The title is an homage to the hair-raising 2003 film by Kevin Macdonald. If you're into mountains, this one is worth two hours of your time.)

I'm a professional landscape photographer from the Netherlands, passionate about conveying ethereal qualities through both photography and post-processing.

Photography started when I was about nine years old and held my dad's Pentax for the first time. I focused on landscape photography specifically about a decade ago, as a means to keep my turbulent mind occupied in the outdoors in order to appreciate nature even more. My dark and moody visual style sprung for an appreciation for The Lord of the Rings films and the art of card game Magic: The Gathering. Getting lost (sometimes literally) in the few remaining bits of wilderness we have in Europe, is always on my mind and I create art that suits that fantasy-fueled wanderlust.

Most of my life, I felt I am different. I care not for politics or cars or having the latest gadgets. I care (worry) about the environment, look forward to human settlement on Mars and hope that artificial intelligence cares enough about its creator. But small things matter to me as well. As I'm writing this, there's a happy cat purring on my lap and my loving wife is cooking the best vegan dinner.