Needless to say, journalists are often invited on press tours. For us, this is not just an opportunity to fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the event, but also to meet and communicate with unique people. During my trip to Krasnoyarsk, I became a lecturer boardspeskers, as part of an extreme weekend from Toyota. One of the speakers of the lecture hall was a photographer Kirill Umrikhin.
He talked a lot about his travels in pursuit of stunning shots. He told how these trips radically changed his life, taught him to think big and not be afraid to get involved in adventures. After that, we were able to talk in person. For me, this is not just an interview, but great opportunity show readers that when you sincerely love what you do and are not afraid to risk everything at once, you can hit the jackpot and go on an incredible and exciting journey of a lifetime.
Story 1. Raise the sails of the legendary Kruzenshtern
Location: the world's oldest sailing ship "Kruzenshtern". The history of the ship is unique - it passed through the Second world war, it was not destroyed, during the war it was not damaged. He went to Russia as a payment to the winning side. If he had stayed in Germany, he would have been sawn up for scrap. And in some incredible way, he got through the 90s. It was built as a cargo ship, but has long been helping students of maritime colleges learn the profession. When I was offered to go there and shoot, I agreed without thinking.
Travel time: 8 days at sea.
Route: Amsterdam - Copenhagen.
- Cyril, tell us how you ended up on a sailboat?
- I have been invited there for two years. The bottom line is that anyone can get on this ship. Moreover, Mikhail Kozhukhov, the founder of the Travel Club, made it so that everyone could get on it, agreed with the shipowners, and this is very difficult ... They wrote to me, they told me not to plan anything for July, and I agreed. I thought I had never sailed a yacht. Therefore, before that, I went to Norway on a small yacht for a week, then I also trained in Moscow and only then got to the Kruzenshtern.
- You were called to take pictures of life on the ship?
- I was called there to shoot mainly a photo essay from a drone, no one had ever done this before me. Because there are a lot of difficulties in the process, starting from the fact that the ship is metal, and this creates interference. Plus, you can’t lower the boat, sail on it and start the drone from there, because it’s very difficult. The boat does not catch up with the ship, nothing can be done on the move.
- You said that the sails of the Kruzenshtern were stuffed especially for you. Tell me about it.
- Oh, that's another story! Stuffing the sail takes about two and a half hours. That is, for me, 200 people filled the sails for two and a half hours to get a beautiful shot. When we did it on the first day and I showed the footage to the captain, he was very surprised. When you see your ship from the side, from above, the shots are like from a movie. We filmed two days in a row, and on the third day, at some point, he calls me and asks if we filmed everything. I answered yes. Then he told me that he was asking, because if we do not remove the sails in half an hour, we will crash into the ground.
- What was it like technically?
- Technically, it was perhaps the most difficult shooting in my life. It got to the point that the sailing master said: “Let him already crash into the sail, we will catch him, if only to return the frame.” Because everyone sees a beautiful frame on the screen, which is obtained, and at that time the drone soars in the sky. As a result, I made a one-minute video, especially for the guys. The photographer, who lives on the ship, saw and said that he went around the world for 14 months. For the sake of it, a boat was lowered four times in 14 months. That is, he had the opportunity to photograph the ship from the outside four times. I had this opportunity two or three days in a row thanks to technology, drones. Then he asked to send these photos to publish them in the book.
- What was the most difficult - starting the copter or landing?
- Of course landing. During the launch, we almost crashed into the flagpole. You take off in the shade from the wind, near the sail, and then you take off, and the drone immediately blows away. The ship is sailing at full speed, and it is technically very difficult to catch up with it. The ship is also rocking a lot. Therefore, it is very difficult to synchronize the drone so that it does not crash into anyone.
- How long were you on the ship?
- About 8-9 days. We walked from Amsterdam, from Den Helder. There was a festival capital ships. We left the festival on the Kruzenshtern in a parade. I was supposed to film the parade myself, but due to the fact that it was a NATO military base, we were forbidden to fly a drone, and the weather was not very good. We left Den Helder, circled the entire North Sea and entered Copenhagen. The North Sea is very difficult to navigate. We were running from the storm all the time.
- How did you plan the shooting?
- I had two drones. If one fell, then I had a second - that's all ( laughs). Every time I landed, I changed flash drives and took off again so that there was already some material. When we saw all this on the computer, it was incredible. This year they offer me to rent the rest of the sailboats. There are also "Sedov", there are ships that sail in the Pacific Ocean. Maybe I'm still going there.
Story 2. Conquest of Antarctica
- Tell us about your experience of traveling to Antarctica. How did it happen? It's insanely expensive!
- I believe that the most correct thing in life is to do what you love. Because in this case, you get to do your job cool. When you do your job cool, people notice you, and after that they want to invite you to such unique projects. In another way, you can get to them only by being an oligarch. Because a trip to Antarctica costs at least 50 thousand dollars, and that's without tickets. I'm not ready to pay that kind of money to go there. I went to Antarctica with Mamont Cup. "Mammoth" is a foundation that develops unusual adventures. After Antarctica, I realized that there are real travelers and discoverers on earth. It would seem that everything is already open, but there are things that no one has ever done. And such funds help budgets to make a new discovery.
"Mammoth" organizes a trip somewhere every year. Two years ago, I ended up with them as a drone operator. I am usually taken as a person who will take off with a drone where the rest will say that it is impossible to fly here. When the conditions are very difficult: wind, sea, ocean, mountains. They called me there two years ago, there was a free place on the research vessel. Then I said that everything is fine, but it's December 22-26, I have New Year's plans, and January was scheduled. I could not agree to a two-month expedition. Therefore, when they called me for the second time this year, I thought that it would be impossible to refuse Antarctica for the second time.
And I didn't guess. It is impossible to realize where you were, it was more like space: both in feelings, and in sensations, and in remoteness. Around you on a circle of 6000 kilometers there are only a thousand people.
- Do you often go on such trips?
- There are trips where they call me a photographer, somewhere as a drone operator. And other projects you have to organize yourself. It's much more interesting, but more difficult. First, an idea arises of where you want to go, then you assemble a team, find a whole team, sponsors, media support. It's a lot of stress, but when you see that people are happy, companies are happy, and you yourself are happy with your photos. And when you show it at exhibitions or in magazines, you see the result.
Story 3. Story with continuation
- Which of the latest projects are you proud of?
- I have just started filming in Krasnaya Polyana. I really want to show this region as a diamond of Russia. A place where there is nature, surfing, snowboarding. But this story is not over yet. Now I am organizing the next project. There are very distant islands where I am going to go on a yacht, having gathered a team. There, 9 out of 10 people do not even know that it is Russia. it Far East, Pacific Ocean. I want to try to work there. We have a team assembled, it remains to understand how and when we ride, because it is unsafe and not easy, we need to take everything into account. It's the season of storms, and for the shot we need a storm, but we also need to sail the ocean for two days on a yacht to the filming location and return from there.
And a small project that I did in October with Pasha Vishnev. There is an amazing place, almost no one knew about it - the village of Konduki. In the middle of the 20th century, there was a quarry there, which was abandoned after the revolution, because it was unprofitable to mine coal. They dug huge pits, which are now filled with blue water. It's very beautiful there. What the locals dug up, they piled into the mountains. The result was sandy mountains from solid ground, blue lakes and golden autumn trees in the background. Not a single person around. When we met with the operator, we simultaneously told each other that it was so beautiful there that it was not clear how to film it. Blue water, yellow trees and blue skies are just perfect. I hope that I will return there again, because the prospects for this place, in terms of filming, are colossal.
It is important to learn to dream
- When you started working as a photographer, did you initially think that everything would develop like this?
- I read several motivational books at school as a child. It was written there that it is important to dream. And my mother told me that it is important to do what you like and it is important to dream. When you find a dream, you reluctantly mentally already go to it. I, apparently, somewhere wrote and drew some of my dreams.
Mom recently found this at her home and wanted to show me. And my drawings matched one hundred percent.
Basically, I wanted to be a sports photographer since the 10th grade. I loved snowboarding and therefore wanted to shoot it. I wanted to travel. Previously, these were business trips from magazines, then from brands, now there are some own projects. This is developing, and it is important for me to look for new ways. It is important for me to tell, to involve people in sports and photography. I feel that by teaching people or developing myself, I get the opportunity to move on and not stop. What it will lead to, I don't know. What has become of it now? AT beautiful picture, wonderful emotions and in fulfillment of my goal - for people to get up from their sofas and go traveling, looking for adventures, doing sports, in a healthy way life, traveled around Russia.
The crisis gave motivation to study Russia, not to go to the Alps, to the States, but to find new places with us.
The best camera is the one you have with you.
I am often asked what to shoot. It doesn't matter if it's a super expensive camera or not. It is important to take pictures, to get emotions and pleasure. One of the most important values in life that we can get here and now is adventure and travel.
And during the adventure it's hard not to take pictures, so you need to get up and do it. Get up and seek adventure, no matter where, in the city or at work. If they are not, then there is some kind of wilting. It is important to constantly strive somewhere. You need to find what you want to do and do it.
A new photo project by Kirill Umrikhin, Nikon Ambassador in Russia, takes viewers to a sparsely populated and almost unexplored corner of the world - to the Commander Islands with their volcanic landscapes, rare animal species and endless water surface.
Yacht Liberty, Lisinskaya Bay, about. Bering
Nikon Z7 | 1/640 s. | f/4 29mm | ISO 250 | NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4S
Armed with cameras Nikon D850 and Nikon D5, as well as the new Nikon Z 7, Kirill went to really unusual travel. A few travel photographers and those who take pictures of wildlife and extreme sports get to the Commander Islands. While traveling on a yacht along the Aleutian and Kuril-Kamchatsky trenches, which stretched for 6000 km, Kirill's team survived several storms. However, she was able to reach the islands and became the first group of kitesurfers to kitesurf at this point in the Bering Sea. Opening up new possibilities
Kirill is known as a travel and sports photographer, so he wanted to show the spirit of the Commander Islands through shooting surfing and sailing. However, the unique wildlife of the islands and the locals allowed Kirill to reveal his talent from a new angle and prove himself as a nature and documentary photographer.
Lisinskaya Bay, about. Bering
Nikon D850 | 1/1600 s | f/8 15mm | ISO 400 | AF-S FISHEYE NIKKOR 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED
“Information about the Commander Islands is difficult to find, so when planning a trip, I turned to the Commander Reserve for help,” Kirill recalls. “However, when we arrived at the place, the reality exceeded all our expectations. The wildlife of these places is incredible. Beaked whales, killer whales, rare species of seabirds and more than a quarter of a million fur seals live here - this is a fifth of their population.
In his project, Kirill also spoke about the inhabitants of the islands. About 700 people live in Nikolskoye, the only village in the Aleutian region of Russia. There is a school, a hospital and even a stage for celebrations. On the crest of the elements
In addition to stormy weather on the way to the Commander Islands, other adventures awaited Kirill. He was able to join wild nature and the water element of these unique places: Kirill and his team went kitesurfing in the Bering Sea, which no one had done before. “During this trip, I wanted to talk about the unique connection between man and nature - the simple life of the islands and the elements that reign here. Surfing in waters where no one has ever surfed before taught me the truth: the world is not getting smaller. It still has mysterious and intriguing places waiting to be told."
The village of Nikolskoye, about. Bering
Nikon D850 | 1/4000 s | f/1.8 35mm | ISO 200 | AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
The main thing is to be ready
Choosing equipment for the trip, Kirill decided to take a reliable camera Nikon D5. It has 153 focus points and 99 cross-type sensors, ideal for high-speed shooting of extreme sports. With an unprecedented 45.4 million pixels of Nikon D850, Kirill's favorite AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens enabled him to capture wildlife above and below water without missing a beat. Kirill also got the chance to try out the new Nikon Z 7 mirrorless camera paired with the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S zoom lens, capturing stunning scenery and emotional portraits of locals.
“The combination of these three cameras and lenses ensured I was ready for any shooting situation, whether it was sailing in rough waters, climbing Steller Peak or surfing with whales and fur seals.”
Sunset from the Liberty
Nikon D850 | 1/1000 s. | f/4.5 15mm | ISO 640 | AF-S FISHEYE NIKKOR 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED
Equipment set
Kirill used the following equipment on the project.
Cameras
Lenses
NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, AF FISHEYE NIKKOR 16mm f/2.8D, AF-S FISHEYE NIKKOR 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED, AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, AF- S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G, PC-E Micro NIKKOR 45mm f/2.8D ED, AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR, AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR, Teleconverter AF-S TC-14E III
About Kirill
Nikon Ambassador in Russia Kirill Umrikhin is one of the most famous Russian professional photographers. In recent years, several of his personal exhibitions and master classes have taken place. In 2013 and 2014, Kirill became one of the winners of the all-Russian Best of Russia photo contest. In addition, the jury included his photo of the avalanche station ("In the whirlpool of stars") in the top ten best photos of the competition.
This young photographer has definitely taken his own unique niche in the world of professional photography: Kirill doesn't just shoot athletes, he is interested in extreme or, as he says, active sports, mainly those that involve boards. Apparently, therefore, his photographs are difficult to confuse with anyone else.
- Please tell us how you discovered the world of photography and how long ago did you start taking pictures?
- I started filming when I was in high school. I liked to draw, I studied at an art school, but I lacked perseverance and patience. Photography embodied my ideas much faster.
Around the 10th or 11th grade, I firmly decided that I wanted to become a photographer. After graduating from school, I went to study at the Institute of Journalism and Literary Creativity in the department of photojournalism, and I must pay tribute, they gave me not only the right education, but also the opportunity and time to do work and what I love.
- Did you study photography on your own or professionally?
- Learning photography is a rather conditional thing, it is difficult to teach it. Learning must take place within each person. To learn anything, you need to spend a lot of time on it. I promised myself that every day I would spend 2-3 hours on my business; I used to spend much more time.
From my freshman year I worked on the editorial board of the snowboarding magazine Onboard, and in my third year I became the chief photographer and photo editor of the mountain bike magazine Mountain Bike Action. I was also very lucky: in my life there were and are various meetings with people who shared their experience. This is much more important than ordinary training. Personally, I would like to mention Vitalik Mikhailov and Nikita Morozov, who explained a lot to me in snowboard photography, and the guru of travel photography in Russia, the chief photographer of National Geographic in our country Andrey Kamenev. These people helped me a lot in my development as a photographer.
- How did you get the idea to photograph extreme sports?
- Since childhood, I have been rollerblading, skiing, then skateboarding and snowboarding, I have always loved to travel with tents. My whole life, one way or another, is connected with extreme sports. I did not make a choice as such, everything was quite prosaic.
- What sport do you like the most?
- Every year something new comes into my life. I have always loved shooting in the mountains. In summer it could be a bicycle, in winter - a snowboard or skiing. Aesthetically, I really love board culture: surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding and the like. Recently, I regained my sight, starting to shoot surfing from the water with an underwater box. It's like nothing else, which means you can discard everything you knew before, because all this will only drag you down. In addition to boards, I love wheels, but only when there are two of them. Cars don't excite me the way bikes and motorsports do. In general, a lot depends on the season: in summer you want the ocean, and in winter you yearn for mountains and pure snow.
- Extreme sports are always, one way or another, associated with risk. Risk for you - a way of life?
- I would say this: life in the city, ordinary simple life, it is also associated with risks. Hundreds, thousands of times more people die in car accidents than in the mountains. Many misunderstand the concept of "extreme sports". In the world now it has become more often called Action Sports, that is, active, more advanced, new. At times it is no more extreme than athletics or boxing. Professional athletes, in extreme sports they are called riders - they are not enemies to their health, and what they do is deliberate actions, and not throwing them into the embrasure. As for being a photographer, yes, it often comes with the same risks as for a rider. An avalanche in the mountains does not make out who stands in its way. The main thing for you is to always think about safety, from knowledge about the properties of snow to the ability to provide first aid. But if we talk about shooting surf, here the photographer sometimes risks more than the rider, being in the depths of the reef, and not waiting for the waves beyond.
- What do you like most about the genre of extreme photography?
- I like the moment, I would even say a moment. Extreme sports photography is something that can't be repeated at times and is very easy to miss, and besides, I like to bring other genres into sports photography - it can be portrait or landscape photography - and mix them: that is, you see how someone rides on the slope of the mountain; you can take a close-up of his face, emotions; you can take a full-length shot with snow that flies out from under skis or a snowboard; or you can shoot the whole mountain, where a person will be a small point. All three shots are about extreme sports, but from completely different angles, it all depends on what you want to show people.
- What is the hardest thing about shooting like this?
- The most difficult thing begins when you work with these people for a long time and they become your friends, and then one of them, God forbid, gets injured. It's one thing when you're shooting at competitions: you're a photojournalist, you're documenting the event, and if someone falls down, you keep shooting; it's another matter when it's your friend and he does something, including for the sake of photography. You can no longer just be a photojournalist, you feel your full involvement in what is happening. And all other questions in terms of organizing trips, heavy hikes with a photo backpack and so on are household trifles in comparison with this.
- To what extent is photography capable of conveying all that amazing range of feelings that you experience when traveling and playing sports?
- Photography conveys what is happening as far as the skills and abilities of the photographer. You can often hear: “It was so beautiful there, you have no idea! This cannot be conveyed by photography ... ”The task of every photographer, no matter what he shoots, is to try to show what surprised him and touched his feelings. For the last five or seven years, there hasn't been a month that I haven't gone anywhere. Remembering all the trips, unfortunately, is impossible, and that's when photography comes to the rescue. Some shots are more working, some are made in a fit of feelings or under the influence of something, and they are the key to what happened to you there. It's great if you not only experience new feelings, but also can convey them to others through the picture.
- You travel a lot. Can you tell us about the most interesting, in your opinion, your shooting?
- The most interesting trip is the one that was no more than six months ago. And you can say differently: the best trip is the last one, because you still remember all the emotions and experiences, all the sensations that were with you. I take every trip as an adventure. Leaving the house, you open yourself to the world, take out your camera and go towards what will happen. Then, sorting through the archives, I, of course, find and set aside interesting things that will be valuable to me later. I will never forget filming the Red Bull X-Fighters in Cairo: the world's best motofreestylers jumped at sunset with the Pyramids of Giza in the background. I will not forget how I filmed base jumpers from a small platform almost at the very top of the Ostankino TV tower. Or one of the last shootings in Mauritius from a helicopter, when we were lucky to catch the biggest waves this year that came to the island.
- According to some data from the Internet, your trips take about 140 days a year. How do you manage to do everything, and how is such a schedule compatible with work?
- 140 days is almost as much as I spent last year only in Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi. We decided to name the exhibition that way because the numbers are similar: the Rosa Khutor resort is open 140 days a year, and I spent almost all the time there, being its ambassador and chief photographer. I structured all my work in such a way that I do not need to be in Moscow. I solve most of the cases with the help of mail and phone, I agree on filming only on those dates when I'm at home. I am surprisingly lucky, but the trips fall so smoothly one after another that it is extremely rare that I have to refuse or endure something.
- You became the photographer of the year according to the jury of the annual award of the Russian snowboarding industry Russian Snowboard Awards. What determines your success: character traits or maybe the love of extreme sports itself attracts good luck?
- In the year I received this award, the winner was not chosen by the number of likes, but by questions of authority in the snowboarding industry. Everyone was there: company managers, journalists, website editors, and, of course, riders. I was very glad to receive it then, and it became a kind of confirmation of my work. One of my main goals is to develop action sports, or extreme sports, as you like, in Russia through photography, organizing various events, work with riders, holding master classes or exhibitions. What is the reason for success? I always want to move.
- Our editors decided that you deserve the title of one of the. Was it a surprise for you?
- Certainly yes. I even remember how I sat quietly in the morning in Mauritius and I began to receive letters that someone added my blog as a friend. Six months ago, I became disillusioned with LiveJournal: there is only politics on the main page. Of course, I respect Navalny, I like to read Rustem Adagamov and a few other people, but in general, LJ will be overtaken by a crisis. I decided to stop blogging there and went to tumblr.com, changing the concept: not writing long stories, but just posting one or two photos. Your article inspired new life to my journal. I started writing there every day, since I am now in Moscow and there is a lot of unpublished unique photographic material. I noticed that there were more readers, I saw the return and realized: I need to continue; in Russia there is not a single more or less popular blogger who would write about extreme sports, and this is a very popular topic. I am ready to apply for this position.
- How many readers do you have this moment, you can say?
- There are about 2,000 subscribers to my blog, over the past month my blog has been visited more than 100,000 times, not counting the reposts on many sites, and I consider this an unprecedented indicator for our small world of extreme sports. I give people unique content. These are not just trips in the style of Ilya Varlamov or Sergey Doli, this is shooting the best riders in Russia and the world, unique places where it’s hard to get to, and it’s simply impossible to be in such a company.
- Are you currently shooting Nikon? Have you already decided that this is a technique for real professionals?
- Yes, as a person who has been shooting Canon for about seven years, having tried everything from 30D to 5D Mark III, I am ready to say that I like Nikon and suit everyone, but you will not drag me into an argument about who is cooler. I recently described my path to a serious transition from brand to brand, and after a year of work, I am happy.
- What do you think, what character traits should be inherent in a sports photographer in the first place?
- Lack of laziness, enthusiasm, endurance, patience. You need to be prepared for difficult working conditions, for stress, for unforeseen situations, to be able to gather at the right time and remain calm. I would say that shooting extreme sports is not for the weak, both physically and mentally.
- Name five facts about you that are not related to photography.
- Love my life. Married to Chekhov. Like the mountains and the ocean. I work as a team manager at Quiksilver, Roxy and DC, responsible for the largest and strongest team of riders in Russia. Pages in the passport end much earlier than its validity period.
- What is your favorite quote about life or photography?
- “I understand what your trouble is: you are too serious. A smart face is not yet a sign of intelligence, gentlemen. All the stupid things on earth are done with this facial expression. Smile, gentlemen, smile!” - the final quote from the movie "The Same Munchausen" in 1979 with Oleg Yankovsky in the title role.
Questionnaire. about the author
First name, last name, age:Kirill Umrikhin, 25 years old.
Technique: Nikon D4, Nikon D800 plus Nikon professional lens series.
Exhibitions, awards, achievements: photographer of the year according to the Russian Snowboard Awards, author's photo exhibitions "Running: 6 stories", "140 days a year", Made in Ocean. Participation in other photo exhibitions and shows.
Source of inspiration: life and travel.
Best advice: the photographer should shoot more, think and be able to choose shots.
Kirill Umrikhin is the most famous extreme blogger and photographer in Russia. At the same time, Kirill perfectly captures nature. And you will see it right now!
Double rainbow over Mauritius.
The famous sheer shores of Los gigantos in the south of Tenerife.
Volcanic sand of Fuerteventura. I really love using ND and shooting water with long exposures. There are always interesting effects.
Supermoon in August, when the Moon looked 20-30% larger than usual. I decided to go to the Teide National Park to photograph this phenomenon.
Since last year, I started filming surfing from the water with an underwater box. During these shootings, you can find a lot of interesting moments outside of the sport itself.
Dolphins of Mauritius. This frame has been on the cover of my iPhone for a year now. These animals are simply amazing, you are directly charged with positive energy from them. It is not so easy to shoot them, they are very fast and do not like to pose for a long time.
The famous "cover" view of the island of Mauritius. Taken from a helicopter.
Rare vegetation of the island of Fuerteventura.
Crocodiles from Fuerteventura Zoo.
Ideal place for wedding ceremony on the island of Barbados, Caribbean Islands.
Panorama of the famous bay in the French city of Etretat in Normandy. These sheer cliffs were painted by Van Gogh, Claude Monet and other artists.
Small a private house in the North of France in the city of Amiens.
Coast of Normandy after a storm. I have been there twice, in July and December, and the weather was always the same: rain and 15-18 degrees.
The mouth of the river Seine near the town of Le Havre in Normandy.
River Nile from the window of an airplane.
Sunrise in the Swiss Alps, Laax resort.
A shot that won last year's The Best of Russia photo contest. Cycle of stars in Krasnaya Polyana.
One of the most beautiful places on Earth - Basque Beach near the city of Biarritz on the Atlantic coast of France.
Bavaria, early morning on the way to the airport.
A huge banyan tree that can cover a huge area due to its vine branches, which turn into roots when they reach the ground.
Fisherman's boat, Mauritius.
First flowers, March 2014, Switzerland.
Lake Geneva, Switzerland.
Night road around the island, Mauritius.
This frame hit the screensaver of the Olympic Games in Sochi. I found out about it already on the spot, but I could not do anything. Also, this frame was taken as a screensaver by ESPN - the world's largest sports channel. View of Mount Kamenny Pillar, Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi.
Summer view of the rocks in the town of Etretat, Normandy, France.
Wheat fields at dawn in Brittany, France. The sun appeared only for 10 minutes, when I managed to take this picture.
Lighthouse hotel in the Norwegian city of Alesund.
Californian desert near Mammut ski resort.
Sunset view of Mauritius.
An inverted month in the Southern Hemisphere.
The most beautiful time for filming is late sunset or otherwise Blue hour. It is still light, but there are already city lights and a faint glow of sunset.
I chose two main genres for myself: extreme sports photography and travel photography. They are inextricably intertwined.
What equipment do you shoot with?
My main camera now is Nikon D4s. Camera for taking pictures from the water or for working with the landscape - Nikon D800. In the first camera, I appreciate the speed, while the second is the leader in quality in digital photography.
- Name three favorite photos (someone else's or yours).
I would name three photographers whose pictures, philosophy of life, I really like. Of the classics - this is Robert Capa (Robert Capa) or Henri Cartier-Bresson (Henri Cartier-Bresson).
From contemporary photographers Great shots by Clark Little, Tim McKenna
- Who or what inspires you?
Most often, I look for inspiration on trips, in different places, in cities or people. In sports photography, inspiration often comes from an athlete when you want to take a shot with him and he understands you. And the result is excellent.
- Name your favorite work of art. Why does it attract you?
As such, I don’t have a specific favorite work, but I really like the works of the Impressionists: Claude Monet, Van Gogh and others. First of all, I like the richness and abundance of colors and shapes. Often very ordinary everyday scenes, which are vividly and expressively embodied in their paintings.
- What is a good photo for you?
First of all, this is a picture that I like. Usually this is a combination of a good moment with an interesting composition of the frame. I have now launched a project to raise money for the publication of a book with my best shots, where everyone can participate in its release by ordering a copy.
- Name your favorite place to travel. Why? What is the story behind this?
In addition to traveling to the seas and oceans, I really like to travel to different cities. Paris is one of my favorites. One day in December I decided to go there to celebrate my birthday. Accurately a day earlier, heavy snowfall began in the city. Actually, it's a rarity there. The city was just covered with snow and a very interesting series of pictures of fabulous Paris came out.
- The most memorable shooting. What exactly does she remember? What were some interesting moments?
The most memorable was a couple of years ago when I flew to Mauritius to shoot windsurfing. By the end of the trip came a violent storm. I even had to change tickets to catch him. Waves over 10-12 meters high came to the shores of the island. We rented a helicopter to film them and some of my friends (Olya Raskina, Seva Shulgin and Sasha Zlobinsky) came out to ride them. It was unforgettable.
- Where and at what time in the past would you like to be and shoot?
I believe that any place and time is good if you have a camera and a desire to take pictures. You just need to be able to look for beauty and love the world around you. Well, if you fantasize, then I would like to be at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and capture tsarist Russia, like Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky.
