"Jan Erik Waider: Abstract Landscape Photography Inspirations"

"And I see a lot of big groups photo tours which also always wonder if it's how you recreate the same photo like everybody else. So for me, I see why people do that, but I think these photo tours, they never got the idea that now in the end, you would just come home with the same photo and they're standing in line next to each other. And all of all the photos I see, they know what they're doing. I mean, for me personally, I try to go out and let inspiration find me. Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing there, but I hope that something inspires me. And I know if I go to that place and set up my tripod at it, on this very same spot and do that very same shot, there's no inspirational part in that.

There are days that you don't end up with any good shots, just part of the journey. But for me, I never forced it, try to maximize the time out there and then see what speaks to me. But for that you have to be maybe also on your own and not influenced by anything or anyone."

Tom: Good evening, Jan, there in Germany. Welcome on the podcast. It's a pleasure having you here.

Jan: Thanks for having me, I’m excited.

Tom: What have you been doing since last time we talked?

Jan: I've actually been working on the videos I captured on my last Iceland trip. And August and September was quite a lot of footage, to go through to edit and export this has been one of the biggest tasks I was challenging. But now I’ve almost finished and then they will kind of be turned into YouTube videos, Instagram reels, and all that good stuff.

Tom: I was going to tell you, Jan, that sounds perfect job for long, cold winter nights. But of course, you're the one who likes long, cold winter nights to go outside.

Jan: That's true.

Tom: Jan, just walk a bit back, how did your journey start into photography? How did it evolve from a hobby into a professional career?

Jan: I guess I have to go back to around about 2010. I was with a friend to Greenland, which was on my list for quite some time. Back in the days, I still had my Nikon D90 and some standard lens. I don't remember the exact one, but it was fancy. The place was so overwhelming. It took thousands of photos to be honest. And then put them on Flickr. I was still using Flickr and it was more like for sharing with friends and family and didn't have any kind of audience or website whatsoever. It was personal use only.

And some months passed and then I got contacted by, I guess it was one of the first things that happened, by Apple, actually. They wanted to license one of the photos with the lakes on top of the glaciers for I don't know what exactly, they couldn't tell me, but actually wanted this photo. And I was surprised because it was not really my best photo. And it was shot through the helicopter windows and even like from a technical standpoint, but for some reason it caught their attention. And I guess this is point. If I look back after that, I wanted to kind of take this further.

Tom: When was the moment, Jan, that you thought that maybe from this I can make my living?

Jan: After that I was investing more time into uploading more, into Flickr. And I also started a website called Northlandscapes, which is still my website and still my kind of brand. And there was not much happening. This was kind of like a one hit wonder but I still kept going. I was a web designer back in the days. I still am, but just doing for my own projects. So I was already traveling a lot and already had my camera with me and also other countries, not specifically only the North. So I was really putting a lot of energy into creating the website, uploading photos, also starting with Behance, like other platforms to be active on.

And it's maybe like since five years, it has become my job and my primary income. But between 2010 and let's say 2020, that was a long road. It was a really, really, really challenging. Because landscape photography is, to be honest I guess, one of the most challenging genres of photography, because usually you don't have like a client that pays you to travel somewhere. You have to find other ways of making an income. And for me, that has been licensing from the very beginning and still is one of the most important sources of income for me.

Tom: And then of course Jan, it's also that you are more niche specified a bit in colder climates. Which is my second question really that most people, we enjoy warmer climates, but you are the opposite. You're the one who goes to the snow.

Jan: Yeah, I love the cold weather, but not so much the cold itself. I just love what the cold weather kind of creates. Like the landscapes that create it, like a winter storm creates. Or if it's like minus 10 degrees and everything is frozen, I love to kind of chase these abstract details and small ponds. Or if the lakes get frozen, I like to walk on them and then chase the textures and patterns. So I can handle the cold, I don't ever get a cold, almost never. So this is something I can really handle. But I'm more drawn to landscapes that kind of are affected by the colder temperatures. And this is kind of the main ingredient for my fascination especially Iceland and the polar regions in general, like Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland, also Norway and Svalbard and Alaska. So all these places that are usually not the places you would choose for a summer vacation, but for me it's kind of the perfect place to be.

Tom: And what led you to focus on the snow, this more abstract side of landscape, Jan, to find this hidden beauty in tiny details instead of sweeping vistas?

Jan: I guess I started like capturing everything that caught my attention, which was really literally everything. I never actually used the wide angle lenses a lot. So this is maybe the only thing that I skipped from the very beginning. For me it was almost pointless to take a photo because everything is in the frame. And I was already experimenting a lot with telephoto lenses from the very beginning. It's maybe the only exception. But then I guess I, since I took a lot of photos, I was traveling a lot, I started to feel a little bit bored by subjects. Let's rephrase it, it's seen a lot of photos from other photographers, of course, and then for me, it was always the challenge to create something that is offering a new perspective, something new to the discussion.

And this is mainly what kind of pushed me forward. And that kind of like led me to abandon, let's say, the classic vista, the classic landscapes and focus more on the details. So both a macro perspective, but also using the drone or a helicopter or other plane, I always drawn to some specific detail which I haven't seen framed that way. Or which I maybe seen the whole river, but maybe not that detail in the sand. Or seen frozen lakes, of course, but maybe not focused on10 by 10 centimetre big area only. So it's just my natural curiosity for something new and being able to capture it from my personal view.

And this was something that evolves from the classic landscapes to more telephoto based work, to what I do now, more like getting really close. Usually I don't use a telephoto lens anymore. It's more getting close to something. Or using the drone and that kind of abstract to begin with, also fly quite close to my subject and also see what speaks to me. And it's more about textures and colours and patterns for me.

Tom: And Jan, if you work with these tiny textures and tiny details, how do you scout for locations? Because it's a bit more difficult, because I you don't know really what you're going to expect and more if you throw a drone up in the air.

Jan: Yes. So usually it's a mixture between like a good feeling and also based on the experiences from the last trips. For example, Iceland, I've a total of maybe three years in that country, over 25 trips from 2010 up to now. So I know how to read these especially the glacial landscapes, also the glacial rivers.

That's something kind of a good feeling, what to expect after a certain phenomenon or after a certain period of cold weather. So I know roughly what to expect. But then again, it's always a little bit different on sometimes totally different what you actually find. And then it's usually something in between. I mean, you have like a pick a destination, you walk towards the destination, and then in the middle you'll find something totally different. And then I spent like hours until the day is over, and I never really made it onto my destination, but I'm still happy because I found something else.

So this is usually a big part of my day chase A and find B something totally different. And since I'm able to travel a lot and spend a lot of time out there, of course, the chances are increasing to actually find something unique and maybe also something totally new.

Tom: I don't remember who told that “To travel is the journey in itself” Jan. And talking about somebody who said something and somebody who wrote, on your website you have a lot of great series put there. But talk me a bit about The Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne with the Snæfell volcano in Iceland.

Jan: Yeah, that's a place that I discovered quite early on one of the first trips to Iceland, which is quite fascinating place. Because it's like a small peninsula and at the very end of the peninsula is that volcano, that also inspired Jules Verne to his journey.

So actually that volcano inspired him in person, in that time he wrote the novel and I can feel what he felt because that place is special. So that mountain raises up from sea level, I forgot the height, but it's quite a big mountain. And then it goes down again. So it can actually drive not to the top, but very far up and then you can hike on the glacier. I mean, Iceland has a lot of glaciers, but this is really a special place. So yeah, I spent a lot of time in that area on several trips because it kind of spoke to me as well. And yeah, so there's some kind of, I don't know, I don't find the right words, but it's a special place. You can feel it's different to the other places. And this is maybe why I chose black and white, because it's a little bit of nostalgia. I'm not sure, but it's just the place that speaks in a different tone to me.

Tom: Can I imagine you there sitting with a novel from Jules Verne reading it or you just went with the camera?

Jan: Actually I go only with the camera but of course, I knew the rough story, what it was about. And you can hike all the way up to the top but it's not something you should do on your own, because there are a lot of crevasses, and it's a dangerous place as well, the weather changes suddenly. I mean the volcano hasn't been active, but I'm not sure if it's totally dead, a lot of volcanoes in Iceland, they're like dormant. Sone of them won't erupt ever again and some you don't know. And there's a lot of volcanoes in the valley.

Tom: What's the closest you got to an active volcano, Jan?

Jan: That was in the most recent years in Iceland. First volcano I guess it was 2016. I was able to fly over it. It’s in a remote area around Askja. I wasn't really getting that close, but I could feel the heat in the plane, which was a little bit scary, and also fascinating.

But to really get up close in person, that was like 22 or 21, I would say. The first big eruption in Iceland, like which was really close to the airport. In the first years of the eruptions, that was kind of continued. And the last one was on my last trip in August 2024. But the first ones that you could get closer, it was not that dangerous, so you were really able to walk into the lava field, which was moving slowly towards you. Then I was able to be like a two meter distance to the lava that kind of coming down the mountain slowly and breaking up and all these kind of textures and then it was really something else.

So I spent a couple of days there and then captured it also from a very close perspective. But that I will never forget to be that close to a new land being born and formed in front of your eyes. That's really something special.

Tom: And you never lost a tripod in a lava field?

Jan: No, just the drones, but a different story. I don’t use a tripod actually. So I didn't even carry one to the lava. And it was happening quite quickly. And it was happening a lot at the same time. So I was moving around quite often to new areas where like there's more activity. And the last area where you've been like 15 minutes ago, it's looks already almost solid rock. So no fresh lava pouring out, but then it cracks up open again. And then you see the inside is still lava and everything is moving. It’s really, really crazy event to witness in person.

Tom: I imagine, yeah. You would say you are the one that looks for bad weather instead of good weather to make your pictures.

Jan: I mean, people generally would consider that type of weather, I guess most people would consider it bad weather. But me, I like to call them these in between moments. So it's right before a snow shower comes. Or like right after a snow show, when the light gets kind of soft and then the sun maybe comes out a little bit between the clouds. And of course, the minus 10, maybe minus 15 that's enough for me, when it's really crisp and cold, I love the air and it's really cold. And yeah, it's maybe not all bad weather. So if it's raining, like really heavy, so I'm not really going out because for me it's also not really something to do. But if it's a little bit of rain and it's always something you can do. Especially if I do a lot of geological I mean, rock and rocks in general look quite interesting if they're wet because then the dark rocks look really, really shiny.

So there's always something, or you can go on the beach and the black sand, for example, in Iceland, when it's wet, it's kind of like almost shining. There's always something to do, but I prefer if there's no rain or just a little bit of rain, but so this is usually the not so bad weather.

Tom: Yes. We'll come back to travel a bit later in the podcast, Jan, but now let's talk a little bit about gear. What are you using these days?

Jan: I switched from a Nikon D850 full frame camera to a Nikon Z, 8 the mirrorless, sister camera, so to speak. So they're quite similar, but it’s quite interesting a mirrorless system. In terms of lenses, I use the 24 to 120. This is the lens I use maybe almost 80 percent of the time right now, which you can get really close, so it's not officially a macro lens, but I use it for that purpose and it's perfect. I also have some primes, but usually I just carry around the 24 to 120 and the macro lens which I have in my backpack, but I don't use it that often because it's challenging. You need of lights, of course, and a tripod, which I don't like. But I usually have it with me and also have the 100 to 400, which is also quite nice if you want to capture some details from a glacier, for example, or maybe a place where you want to get closer, but it's just not possible because there's water. Just, it's dangerous to get too close to a glacier, of course. So then I use the 100 to 400 with a teleconverter, like 1.4. That gives you a quite a nice focal length, but these are kind of the, the, the lenses I use not much more.

Tom: And with these long lenses, you're never interested in any wildlife there?

Jan: Personally, yes, of course I love animals. But for my portfolio not. In Antarctica it was just too crazy, so I couldn't stop to capture these animals. But usually it's not for chasing animals, it's just for chasing details in landscapes. So I mean, they don't run away, but like I said, sometimes you just can't get closer, it's just too time consuming sometimes to hike to some places, so it's nice to have it.

Tom: And for your drone, what you're using?

Jan: Most of the time the Mavic 3. If it's a job, something where you need some higher resolution, I would rent an Inspire. But usually it's the Mavic 3 I use for almost all of my work. It's quite flexible and it's small. You can carry it around without kind of having to carry a big suitcase with your own. So it's quite nice.

Tom: What's the flight time you get from this drone?

Jan: It depends. I always try to get as close as possible to the location where I want to fly for several reasons. But most important reason is of course flight time. So I guess it's around a half an hour if you don't fly too far away. And even a little bit more, but it really depends on the wind. And if you do a lot of flying around or you're more like static. So, but this is a big advantage in comparison to the older Mavic 2, which is still a great drone, but the battery life was a problem. This is really great for me to not fly back all the time and change batteries. Sometimes I still fly like a total of three hours in one location and to have all the perspectives or everything you want to capture, and then it's really good to have a lot of battery life. That's really critical almost.

Tom: And for your Z 8 now, you feel that there is any advantage using mirrorless?

Jan: There are some advantages. I actually bought it for another project of mine where I do a lot of self portraits. It's a totally different project. And the Z 8 has some really nice out of focus capabilities. And this is something that the set 850 hasn't had. And of course video, video is way better on the C8. So this is also the main reasons. And the lenses, I mean, they have been also really good on the D850, but the new set lenses by Nikon it's really out of focus. It's another step up. It's really nice to have this quality and they're quite affordable.

So, yeah, it's a mixed bag of reasons, but it's mostly the video part and having these kind of AI features to detect person in the frame. So this is really handy for that self portrait project. But, beside of that, the D850 is such a great camera. I used it a lot over all those years and never let me down. Especially not in a rainy and a cold on these days, it was still working. Never had any issues whatsoever.

Tom: Let's talk a bit about traveling. Jan you explored Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica, I don't know what, all northern countries. Any special preparation for being out in the cold like this?

Jan: For me clothing is also one of the most important parts of gear. Some people forget about that sometimes. If you spend a lot of time outside and sometimes you get wet, sometimes you get too cold and it's always good to have some other. I do carry a lot of backup of gear and also backup of clothing. Maybe a German thing, but I feel good to have backup for the most critical parts of my gear and clothing. So say clothing.

And for the camera, not so much. I mean, you have some kind of bag that looks like plastic bags, but you can protect your camera if it really starts raining. It's okay if it's a little bit of rain, but I wouldn't go to the extremes and wouldn’t leave it out in the rain. Even though people have tried that with the Nikon and it still works. But my greatest fear is that the moisture gets inside the camera and then you have a big problem. No, it's really not that crazy.

I mean, gloves it's always a good thing. Good investment to invest in good gloves that you can still operate the camera. But besides of that, good pair of boots, good jacket. And it's really nothing crazy, to be honest, nothing too crazy. I mean, I, the cold is not really that hard on me, but if it's something that is a little bit more critical for you, then of course I would invest in a little bit more professional clothing but it's not that crazy in the countries.

I mean, in the winter in Iceland it's not that cold. Greenland was challenging. It was the first time where I also saw the camera slowing down, it was still working, but it was really, really slow. And also my fingers, I couldn't really feel them anymore, but it was almost 20 degrees minus. So this is too cold for me. That's not really fun anymore.

Tom: Jan, do you have already a certain destination in mind for next year? Or you wait for some special events that might happen and then pick your destination?

Jan: Usually I have some rough ideas. But for next year, for example, I have already two Iceland trips scheduled. One in January for a month in the winter time and then a longer one in the late summer and a little bit of autumn. But if it's Iceland, for example, because I've been that often that I do it a little bit more spontaneously. Also if it's a trip more like Alaska, for example, was my first time this year. So I went with colleagues this year and we did a lot of planning before we actually arrived there, to be sure we don't miss something and also see how accessible the places are.

I like to do my research and I'm usually have a map. Like I use my maps by Google, but I pin all the locations, write a little bit about it and just see if they fit into my itinerary. Or it's just maybe too far away. Sometimes you don't really know if it's a good idea to drive that much.

But it's a bit mix. I plan everything out in detail because usually I do have a lot of time. So this is something is a great advantage, I would say in landscape photography. If you don't have to cram everything into one week, then you have to do a little bit more planning. And if it's a really bad weather day, then I just sit in front of my laptop and edit, work and try to not kill time by forcing it, and just see where the weather takes me.

Tom: You're a bit like these digital nomads. Because when you go to Iceland, for example, you're the one that will rent a van and be out in the van day and night. You don't go back to the coziness of a hotel at night to sleep. You will stay in your van all the time.

Jan: Yes.

Tom: Walk me a bit through important things you should take if you want to do an expedition like this.

Jan: For me, the best way is to take my own van from Germany to Denmark and take the ferry to Iceland. Because then you can take all that stuff you need, food and also your equipment, clothing, a lot of clothing, also if you have some props. I talked about Myself Portrait Project, it involves a lot of props and work a lot with fire and like old vintage items. So I can take that all to the van and take it to Iceland. It’s always challenging if you have to rent a rental car and then, for me, it's definitely challenging to limit myself to two suitcases. But so it's a big advantage if you can take your car because then I have a familiar surroundings and I have like a lot of batteries to charge my gear in the middle of nowhere. I can still use solar power depending on the weather, but so this is really a big advantage. And I can work, I have a proper desk, I have my laptop with me, I can even take a screen. So it's really quite a comfortable place to work. So this is also a big advantage because in the evenings, I usually like to do some editing from the photos or videos I captured on that day, see if they turned out the way I expected them. Or sometimes I also upload something already and see maybe how if it's for a client, of course sometime I have to do that. But sometimes I also like to post them on Instagram and other social media sites to see how the people react to the photos, to capture some more or see just how the reactions are.

Tom: And energy wise with solar power or with internet connection these days, this is all easier I guess by now, no?

Jan: Oh yeah, that's definitely. I've been doing that kind of digital things since maybe 20 years or longer, 2004 yeah, it's almost 20 years. In the beginning it was really challenging to find a hotspot to can connect your laptop. And now Iceland, especially in Nordic countries, they have good 5g connection, there are a lot of open wifi's. It's not like in Germany where you have to ask for a password, most of them are open. Then you have Tesla Starlink mini which you can also carry around. It's quite affordable. So you have a lot of options to connect to the internet and also do some backup. I sometimes also manage to pick up all my stuff while traveling using wifi, using 5g, if something happens I have already my stuff on hard drives and also in the cloud. So nothing really could happen to the photos and videos. But yeah, it's not really a challenge anymore to be honest. It's just find your personal preference and I haven't really changed anything drastically the last years.

Tom: Maybe food is the real challenge if you're not a good cook?

Jan: Yeah, that's true. I mean in the highlands of Iceland there's nothing. So, yeah I like to cook with friends, but I don't really like fancy meals for myself. So it's mostly basic cooking, I still like to eat healthy, but it's not something crazy I do. But still take a lot from Germany and also I know the places where I can get some fresh vegetables and fruits. But yeah, the supermarkets in Iceland, it's quite similar to Germany. It's a little bit smaller, but you get almost everything you need. And you just have to restock a little bit more often than maybe in Germany. Because sometimes there is a distance of maybe one hour or something where there is nothing, where you cannot go shopping.

Tom: You ever get strange looks of local people of Iceland, looking at this photographer in his van?

Jan: Well, not so much, maybe some. People like the van because it's kind of a good compromise. They like the American cars, they drive around a lot of big trucks and old gypsy buses. You can still use it in Reykjavik, like it's a good city car, but still it's a good capable. I mean, it's not an off road. I put everything, it's a Volkswagen T6 van. So it's a transporter, but I did all the kind of available upgrades to it. Like there's a all wheel drive because I'm lifted it and, everything installed so I can go to all the places I want to go without going to the extremes. I mean, you have to cross some rivers, of course, but I would never cross the dangerous ones, not even in a suitable car. Because if it goes wrong, it's a bad situation. So takes me to crazy places. So this is really nice.

Tom: I mean, it brings you to lava fields. What more can you ask for?

Jan: These were quite accessible. There was the fun part. But yeah, it takes me to the glaciers. This is more challenging part because the glacial landscapes rugged and so. There you need to prop car and I like the technical aspect of driving. So if it's one of these kind of monster trucks Icelanders like to drive, it's quite easy. You just drive all over everything. But with a smaller car, you have to be a little bit more technical and I like it. I mean has some small dance here and there, but so far nothing broken or something. So I like the challenge yeah.

Tom: Jan, let's talk a bit about when you're back home and the real work starts, so to say, in something you do a lot, which is licensing. The business model you work, I think it's not an easy one, so to speak. And since you have to keep pushing yourself always that the last success won't last. How you personally manage that?

Jan: I mean, I do have an intrinsic motivation, which is almost an obsession. I like to spend a lot of time with my friends and family. But all the other time actually gets invested into photography. I mean, being out there also editing. Also kind of seeing what's new, maybe there are some new tools I could try out to make my work easier. But I really enjoy both sides.

But there, but I also love to edit my work because I really find that process it calms me down. I really enjoy it because you can see my photos don't look like they're heavily edited. I do tweak a lot of subtle details and. It’s still a lot of time that goes into a photograph until it's finished. And the same for the video. It maybe doesn't look that way, but it's still a lot of tweaking. But I enjoy to have something in the end that looks a little bit different to what I usually see from that place. Or sometimes it's really something I've never seen before. So it's a lot of time in front of the laptop, of course. But I also love the marketing part.

So there's really not much I don't enjoy being a photographer. But of course you have to push yourself and this can be a little bit challenging. Although like the mental aspect to always reinvent yourself. And this is especially on social media, you have to find your personal way that works for you. And I'm happy that I found mine, which is not stressful anymore.

I do a lot of planning. I use these kinds of tools to post something on the most important platforms every day or every second day. So it doesn't need me to be on Instagram every day at maybe seven in the evening to post something. And I like to do that for the next 30 days and then the month is scheduled. And then I do it for the next month when this queue is running out of photographs and then I plan the next month. So I did a lot of tweaking my workflows and maximize the time to be outside and to do the editing and not so much the stuff in between that no one likes.

Tom: Jan, I think you also do some online, not really classes, but one on one talks with people about more the business side of your work or how you tackle your kind of photography work. For those entering in that world, Jan, can you give me like a global idea what to expect? Not going into details, the cost of travel versus what in reality you can sell your images for.

Jan: This is quite hard to give you a number. Because it really depends on what clients you work with. I started with licensed my work to everyone that wanted to license. And I really could have charged more looking back, but in the beginning, I just was happy to get the deal. But it really depends. I mean, you license your photos to a smartphone company and they use it for wallpapers, of course, it's a way bigger number than just maybe a website for the contact page, like some small photo here or there. So it really depends on what you're planning to photograph.

If that it's quite a niche thing and you really stick to it and people really associate you with that subject, you can charge more. But if it's just like a classic landscape photo of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland and nothing really special going on, it's really tough.

I guess the most important thing nowadays is to really find a unique voice or a unique style. It can be anything. It can be your style. It can be your subject. It can be, like with me, more geographical focus. But I think it's really necessary, if you want to make a living, but also if you want to make a little bit of money here and there to maybe finance your gear.

I'm really happy it works out, but it's coming in waves. So you have some month, which not much going on. And currently I have some interesting inquiry about documentary. They want to use archive material. And this is something really challenging to do marketing for these kinds of jobs. You have a lot of photos out there on a different websites and social media platforms, also maybe LinkedIn, have a good website, have your website optimized that Google actually finds your photos and other people as well. It's a lot of stuff that goes into being visible.

Tom: Because how many images you have online, John, for licensing?

Jan: For me, it's roughly about two and a half thousand in my library. So I built that website it actually can search for keywords or moods, and if you look on the collection. So usually it's time consuming if you just have a standard squarespace website. For example, like an image editor that is looking for something specific, it has to click on all these series or collections. And quite a new feature on my website, but I'm kind of proud of it. It was a lot of time, but it really works well, for photos and video. It can really enter like Iceland glacier and you see all the photos I can offer you for licensing and makes things easier.

But still people have to find that website and that is the same problem, you need to be visible. But not to be too laud about that, because if you post the link all over again and people are not interested in licensing, they are going to mute that guy. It's just talking about this business all the time. And you have to find the balance.

And again, on Instagram, my audience is not usually on Instagram. So this is something that photographers forget that, posting about prints and licensing on Instagram. It's a 0. 01 percent of your audience that may be interested in that. And the other people are maybe annoyed if they see it too often. One of the biggest realizations for me was that Instagram is important to get discovered for people working for ad agencies or bigger clients that find you on Instagram do a little bit of scouting here and there. But usually the clients, especially like for prints, they're not an Instagram. They're maybe on LinkedIn or other websites. But it’s quite challenging to find the best places where you can actually advertise your services as a lens and landscape photographer.

Tom: Jan, you learned some important lesson while protecting your work or navigating license agreements or something like this?

Jan: Yeah, I would say it's not really a lesson. It's also more of a realization that you cannot really protect your work. Of course there are watermarks and stuff like that, but it's the same. If you start using them too heavily, then people won't enjoy your photos anymore. I guess everybody has seen photos where the watermark is the first thing you realize. The first thing you see in photo, and it's just not working for me. If someone wants to steal your work, they will do it. So you can nothing about it.

I stopped caring, to be honest. So I don't really even want to know where my work gets used without my permission. There were some services from companies that promise you that they will protect your work or they can chase down who is using your work without permission. And I tried these services, but it really never worked out. People were too far away or they were like in countries where they cannot pursue. So it's really about, you have to accept that and it gets easier every day. So also like video from Instagram, from reels, you can download everything and then just do it.

And also these people usually are not a client you lose because most of these people are not willing to pay anyways, anything for a photo. I mean, of course you can sue them. But like I said, it's not that easy. Because you have to invest money first for a lawyer and then you realize, Okay, that person is in a country where it’s really hard to win the lawsuit. And then you leave it be. I care about my work, of course, but the other element is that you have to accept it. Because it's just impossible to protect. Same with Pinterest and other websites, 10% of my photos are not uploaded by myself. So it's just a link to some Amazon page. It's just stupid, but it's the way it is. I have to accept it. And I don't think there's any good way to do it with watermarks without kind of disturbing or destroying your artwork.

So maybe if you have video in the end, I usually include some titles or some copyright information at the end of the video. But if they cut it out. So actually people uploaded stuff to stock photo websites, videos from YouTube, they downloaded the 4K versions, and then cropped out some parts and re uploaded it to some stock footage websites. And they didn't even really care, and they didn't even do anything about it, so.

Tom: I will tell you Jan, I have two daughters. But the youngest one, she's ten, and she makes videos for TikTok. But she will only make them for herself. I said, But why you don't put them out? She says, No, no, because then people will steal them.

Jan: Okay, this is also a way to do it, to approach it, but yeah.

Tom: Editing wise, Jan. I think we talked about it before just a little bit. But I think it's a bit like to say crucial step in the finishing product of your photography? It's something you enjoy really, post processing?

Jan: I do. Sometimes I'm annoyed by the software, side of things, and everything's a little bit too slow for me. Because I worked with Lightroom for I don't know how many years. But it gets a little bit slow sometimes because I have a lot of photos in my library and since I know where everything is. I usually have a vision and I'm quite quick to start editing, to tweak around and use the sliders. And it's more like a playful approach, I would say. Maybe sometimes I really start at the top and just work my way to the bottom and everything, just to see where it takes me and then I start over again and do fine tuning. So most of the time I start with the colours. This is the most important part for me to do the split toning and with the colours in general to get that right from the very beginning. And the rest is mostly like contrast and the highlights and the shadows. But colour is a really, really important aspect in my editing especially the split toning aspect, which is a little bit rare, in landscape photography it's more like a film thing. I feel that splitting really enables me to create the mood. Or when colouring the highlights or the shadows, it’s really helping me to realize my vision better than all the other features in Lightroom or Capture One.

Tom: And you already see this when you capture the image with your camera?

Jan: Often yeah. In the beginning it was not like this. But now I really see if I stand in front of a wall of ice, in front of a glacier and I'm capturing the bubbles of air trapped inside the ice, I instantly have a feeling why I want to take that photo. I'm also not that type of photographer that spends like an hour to create the perfect shot. I know how capable my camera is. I know how to work with Lightroom to get what I want. So I trust the equipment. And then the software we have available nowadays to help me reduce the time in front of the glacier to get the perfect shot, perfect lighting. Of course, the basics have to be good or good enough, but it doesn't have to be perfect in the camera. Then I know what I want to do with the colours. Or sometimes I want to keep it as is. Sometimes I think, Okay, I want to go more into a little bit darker. Or have some fade coming in to have a little bit of a light source at the top and use a lot of the sliders for up some areas or darken some areas. Although in the end, it's like 15 sliders coming into the photo from various angles. Everything is subtle, but it adds up to the final photo where there is a lot of editing involved.

Tom: You sometimes edit the picture and then let it and come back to it later, Jan?

Jan: Not on purpose, to be honest. Sometimes there's something else that needs my attention, or just time is running out, I need to go to sleep. But usually I like to start and finish. And sometimes I just can't do that.

With the video sometimes it get frustrated a little bit easier, because it's so time consuming. I really don't like to came back with six hours of footage. Doesn't sound too crazy, but it was. If you have to compare like five video clips, each like 30 seconds with the same scene, maybe waves crashing over some rocks. And you have to find the best one, it's a little bit annoying because everything looks quite similar. And then you have to really pay attention because if there is some moving of the drawing that you don’t want, you can't use that clip.

With video, I leave things for maybe a week and get back and this is what I did in the last couple of weeks. And that actually helped because sometimes I really think differently now. And then you have like a fresh perspective. And with photography I usually start and finish it on the same day with a series. And about the title and the description that takes a little bit of time, then I’m still sitting there for a couple of days. And then I start publishing it on beyond and the website and later on then Instagram and the other platforms. But yeah, it's quite straightforward with photography

Tom: Because you also have your own Lightroom presets on your webpage.

Jan: Yeah. It’s something that I started to optimize the workflow within Lightroom, started to create my own presets because of the locations I revisit over and over again. You can definitely see that there are some base presets that work on, almost all of the glacial images, for example. I created them for myself.

And then guess I sent them to one friend one day, a couple of years ago. And they quite liked them. Then I just started offering them on my website. So it's quite an important source of income for me. They're quite I wouldn't say popular but people really enjoy using them. And I get a lot of emails from people that are like positively surprised that it's actually working for their photos because they're kind of niche. I mean, you have one polar landscape preset pack. So it just works on ice landscapes. You cannot use them for beach scenes. Or there's one forest landscape preset pack, which is just optimized for the colours you find in the forest. And so that's probably the reason why they work so well.

That's not one fits all because there's no preset that fits all the situations. And I still use them personally. Even though they're quite old, they're still timeless because I mean, it's landscapes, they don't change drastically. So yeah, this is something I also enjoy doing, creating products that kind of give value. Also see how I can market them.

And if there is maybe an ebook one day, I will have that email list and I can send out that information to all the people that purchase my presets, if this is kind of relevant for them. I enjoy that marketing side of things. So kind of a numbers guy.

Tom: And you realize that there are only 24 hours in a day?

Jan: Sometimes I do, and sometimes not.

Tom: I want to talk a bit about Instagram. Because you're 10 years now going to Iceland. Did you see personally some changes with the upcoming of Instagram and the kind of photographers that sometimes this brings with it, Jan?

Jan: Yes. Especially I would say in the last five years. In the beginning, it was not that drastical change. But in most recent years there were a lot of people that were kind of question if they are really want to experience Iceland. Or if they only focused on getting that shot, like the chart, from this very same perspective everybody sees from maybe that waterfall. I see how they kind of travel. I mean, it's white sneakers, so they're not going on any kind of hikes. They're still white on the last day of their trip. So they just stop their car and take some photos and they kind of rush it.

And I almost feel a little bit because, I mean, there's so much you can experience if you just slow down a little bit and maybe take that hike. It doesn't have to be like that extreme hike, but there's so many places where there's no one, just park your car and walk, start walking. And you really get that feeling for Iceland, that kind of being in the middle of nowhere, that landscape for your own.

And then the other sad part is that more people started to ignore fences. And then there are some areas that we want to protect wildlife and nobody's allowed in there and people use drones in places where it's just not allowed, right next to that sign. It's makes me angry because in the end it gets for everyone because they don't differentiate if you like it. Just someone who wants to take a photo for a personal memory. You're just not allowed there anymore with the drone or like even on foot. So these places change quite quickly.

And of course, Iceland has become quite a popular tourist destination and infrastructure needs to hold up. And so they build in a lot of new parking places and the infrastructure for that. And you have to pay for parking now in several places, which wasn't like that in the beginning about. And I see a lot of big groups photo tours which also always wonder if it's how you recreate the same photo like everybody else. So for me, I see why people do that, but I think these photo tours, they never got the idea that now in the end, you would just come home with the same photo and they're standing in line next to each other. And all of all the photos I see, they know what they're doing.

I mean, for me personally, I try to go out and let inspiration find me. Sometimes I don't know what I'm doing there, but I hope that something inspires me. And I know if I go to that place and set up my tripod at it, this very same spot and do that very same shot, there's no inspirational part in that.

There are days that you don't end up with any good shots, just part of the journey, for me. I never forced it, try to maximize the time out there and then see what speaks to me. But for that you have to be maybe also on your own and not influenced by anything or anyone. So this is for me the most important ingredient. So I just don't invite a lot of friends on my tours. Because I need that feeling that sometimes I can get quite lonely on some days. If you're just forcing it a little bit too much, but from that moment or from that feeling, a lot of good work also can rise. So it's very important part of my work to really enjoy the purest form without distractions, without car next to me, without the hotel nearby. So, that really shows, I guess, in some of the series.

Tom: What's the most silent place you've ever been?

Jan: I guess, the first place that comes into my mind is the highlands in Iceland. Because you almost have no vegetation and if you find vegetation, it's just moss and lichens or something that not really interacting with the wind. There's almost no birds. The birds are usually on the coastal areas like seagulls and the typical you find. But in the highlands, it's just so quiet. No trees, the rivers are there, but they are almost silent because it's not like in Germany. We have a lot of rivers, but usually a lot of current. So it's kind of moving and making a little bit of sound. But in Iceland most of the rivers are not that deep, so they don't make sounds. And sometimes it takes a while, kind of feel that something is strange, but it's not something that pops your head, like right away. It's the absence of sound, of any kind of sound. So, yeah, the highlands of Iceland can get quite.

Tom: So Jan I have to ask, we will ever see Jan wider in Africa or in the Gobi Desert?

Jan: Yeah, I would say yes because the desert is something special. I've explored all the icy deserts, but for example Mongolia or also Africa would be really interesting. Because the dunes and the sand and the textures, something that really fascinates me as well. A little bit thinking about opening up to different geographical locations, since my focus is becoming more on the abstract element of landscapes. Of course, there's a lot of ice, but it's also a lot of water and sand and rocks. So maybe I will slowly use my name instead in next couple of years to make the first step to open other types of landscapes. It will always be the abstract element. For example, the desert you mentioned it would be a good fit. Because I already have a lot of series from Iceland with sand and the colours are quite similar, or from some quarries in Germany. But you also can find some details that look like sand dunes, which are actually dunes, but not the big ones, but they look like could be also in the desert. So it wouldn't be breaking with a visual language. I do have a lot of countries on my list that be interesting. Like not countries, but specific locations, of France, north of Spain, like the coastlines, really interesting.

Tom: I was thinking more climate wise, how is your heat resistance?

Jan: Let's say 25 degrees Celsius, that's enough for me and everything beyond 30, I just stopped working. So you cannot put me there. I would have to limit myself to interesting landscapes, which are not getting like crazy hot. Australia will be maybe the first exception. I have a lot of colleagues and I saw so many photos. It's just stunning. The landscapes you find there, the abstract landscapes and the colours and textures. Maybe I have to convince myself. But usually it's more of the climate zones where I grew up here in Germany. But we can also get like quite hot summers. So that's usually why I travel to Iceland in the summer or Norway, because it's more bearable.

Tom: Last question. If ever a polar bear comes checking you out, what will you do?

Jan: Hmm. If I'm in the middle of nowhere I'll probably say my prayers because that's not a good thing. Because they're faster, can be quite aggressive. That's probably not a good idea. If I'm protected, I will definitely take out my camera and capture some portraits of the polar bear. But, yeah, it's usually not a good thing to see them too close.

So one of the few bears that are really need food so badly that they usually will attack you. And it's just their instinct. And all the other bears you can usually get away with, but the polar bear, not so much. I'm not sure I'm a tall guy, I would stand a chance against the polar bear. So it's something I want to avoid getting too close.