"Jan Erik Waider: Abstract Landscape Photography Inspirations"

[00:00:02] And I see a lot of big groups like photo tours, which I also always wonder if it's kind of, you recreate the same photo like everybody else.

[00:00:10] So for me, I see why people do that, but I think these kind of photo tours, they never really, I never got the idea that now in the end you just come home with the same photo and they're standing in line next to each other.

[00:00:23] And all of all the photos I see, it's kind of like they know what they're doing.

[00:00:27] It's just, they don't really.

[00:00:29] I mean, for me personally, I try to go out and let inspiration find me.

[00:00:34] So it's sometimes I don't know what I'm doing there, but just I hope that something inspires me.

[00:00:40] And if I know I go to that place and set up my tripod at this very same spot and do that very same shot, it's nothing that it's, there's no inspirational part in that.

[00:00:52] So it's, there are days that just you don't end up with any good shots, just part of the journey.

[00:00:57] But for me, I never kind of forced it.

[00:01:00] I just try to maximize the time out there and then see what speaks to me.

[00:01:04] But for that, you have to be maybe also on your own and not influenced by anything or anyone.

[00:01:15] Greetings and welcome to another episode of the Camera Cafe Show, the podcast where we brew up weekly doses of inspiration and insights with some of the world's most fascinating photographers.

[00:01:25] I'm your host, Tom Jacob, and behind the scenes are Tatiana Malovana and Richard Clarke steering this all in the right direction.

[00:01:31] This week, while the cold December winds blow outside, we're delighted to have a hot coffee and sit down with Jan-Erik Weider, a finite photographer from Hamburg, Germany, whose work captures the haunting beauty of the Arctic and the other cold northern landscapes, perfect for this time of year.

[00:01:48] Jan is very well known online for his amazing moody and abstract compositions, where he brings a fresh view to landscape photography focusing on those textures, patterns, and raw culture of these places like Iceland, Greenland, Alaska, or Antarctica.

[00:02:04] His work has been recognized by global brands such as Apple, Adobe, Xiaomi mobile phones, or Jeep and has been showcased in many prestigious publications.

[00:02:15] In this episode, Jan takes us on a journey through his evolution as a photographer, as he shares how his love for the North became both a personal calling and a professional niche.

[00:02:25] From his creative process and technical insights, to stories about photographing glaciers, lava fields, and polar bears, this conversation is packed with inspiration for aspiring photographers.

[00:02:37] Whether you want to find your own photographic style, learn how to turn a passion into a career, want to know more of how to start licensing your images, or simply are fascinated by the idea of capturing frozen worlds, this episode has something for everyone.

[00:02:53] So, sit back, grab your hot coffee, and let's dive into those icy landscapes with Jan-Erik Weider.

[00:02:59] Let's get rolling.

[00:03:01] Good evening, Jan there in Germany.

[00:03:05] Welcome on the podcast.

[00:03:06] It's a pleasure having you here.

[00:03:08] Thanks for having me.

[00:03:09] I'm excited.

[00:03:10] What have you been doing since last time we talked?

[00:03:13] I've actually been working on the videos I captured on my last Iceland trip in August and September.

[00:03:20] It was quite a lot of footage to go through to edit and export.

[00:03:26] So, this has been, yeah, one of them, the biggest tasks I was challenging.

[00:03:32] But now I'm almost finished.

[00:03:34] And then they were kind of turned into YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, and all that good stuff.

[00:03:41] I was going to tell you, Jan, that sounds perfect.

[00:03:43] A job for long, cold winter nights.

[00:03:46] But of course, you're the one who likes long, cold winter nights.

[00:03:50] That's true.

[00:03:50] That's true.

[00:03:52] That's true.

[00:03:53] Jan, just walk a bit back.

[00:03:55] How did your journey start into photography?

[00:03:58] How did it evolve from a hobby into a professional career?

[00:04:01] I guess I have to go back to around about 2010.

[00:04:07] I was traveling with a friend to Greenland, which was on my list for quite some time.

[00:04:16] And back in the days, I still had my Nikon D90 and some standard lens.

[00:04:22] I don't remember the exact one, but it was nothing fancy.

[00:04:26] That place was so overwhelming, I took thousands of photos, to be honest.

[00:04:31] And yeah, and then I'm on Flickr.

[00:04:33] Back in the days, I was still using Flickr.

[00:04:36] And it was more like for sharing with friends and family.

[00:04:38] And I didn't have any kind of audience or website whatsoever.

[00:04:42] It was personal use only.

[00:04:45] And yeah, some months passed.

[00:04:47] And then I got contacted by, I guess it was one of the first things that happened,

[00:04:54] like by Apple actually.

[00:04:56] They wanted to license one of the photos with the lakes on top of the glaciers.

[00:05:01] For some, I don't know what exactly, but it was, they couldn't tell me,

[00:05:05] but they actually wanted this photo.

[00:05:07] And I was kind of like surprised because it was not really my best photo.

[00:05:11] And it was shot through the helicopter windows and not even like from a technical standpoint,

[00:05:17] but for some reason it caught their attention.

[00:05:19] And I guess this is the starting point.

[00:05:22] And if I look back after that, I wanted to kind of take this further.

[00:05:29] And when was the moment, Jan, that you thought that maybe from this, I can make my living?

[00:05:35] After that, I was kind of like investing more time into uploading more to Flickr.

[00:05:42] And I also started a website called Northlandscapes, which is still my website and still my kind of brand.

[00:05:49] And in the beginning, there was not much happening.

[00:05:52] This was kind of like a one hit wonder, but I still kept going.

[00:05:55] I really, I was a web designer back in the days.

[00:05:58] I still am, but just doing it for my own personal projects.

[00:06:02] So I was already traveling a lot and already had my camera with me in Iceland and also other countries,

[00:06:09] not specifically only the North.

[00:06:11] So I was really putting a lot of energy into creating that website, uploading photos.

[00:06:16] Also starting with Behance, like other platforms to be active on.

[00:06:23] And it's maybe like since five years has become my job and my primary income.

[00:06:32] But between 2010 and let's say 2020, that was a long road.

[00:06:39] It was really, really, really challenging.

[00:06:41] Because I mean, landscape photography is, to be honest, I guess one of the most challenging genres of photography.

[00:06:48] Because usually you don't have like a client that pays you to travel somewhere.

[00:06:52] You have to find other ways of making an income.

[00:06:56] And for me, that has been licensing from the very beginning and still is one of the most important sources of income for me.

[00:07:05] And then, of course, Jan, it's also that you are more niche specified a bit in colder climates,

[00:07:12] which is my second question, really, that you know that most people, we enjoy warmer climates,

[00:07:18] but you are the opposite.

[00:07:20] You're the one who goes to the snow.

[00:07:21] So, yeah, I love the cold weather, but not so much the cold itself.

[00:07:27] I just love what the cold weather kind of creates, like the landscapes that create,

[00:07:31] like a winter storm creates.

[00:07:33] Or like if it's like minus 10 degrees and everything is frozen,

[00:07:37] I love to kind of chase these abstract details and small ponds.

[00:07:41] Or like if the lakes get frozen, I like to walk on them and then chase the textures and patterns.

[00:07:46] And so it's more like I can handle the cold.

[00:07:50] So I'm not really, I don't ever get a cold, almost never.

[00:07:53] So this is something I can really handle.

[00:07:55] But I'm more drawn to the landscapes that kind of are affected by the colder temperatures.

[00:08:00] And so this is kind of the main ingredient for my fascination for especially Iceland and like the polar regions in general,

[00:08:09] like Antarctica, Iceland, Greenland, also like Norway and Svalbard and Alaska.

[00:08:16] So all these places that are usually not the places you would choose for like a summer vacation.

[00:08:22] But for me, it's kind of the perfect place to be.

[00:08:25] And what led you to focus on this more abstract side of landscape, Jan,

[00:08:31] to find this hidden beauty in tiny details instead of sweeping vistas?

[00:08:37] I guess I started like capturing everything that kind of caught my attention,

[00:08:41] which was really like literally everything.

[00:08:43] I never actually used the wide angle lenses a lot.

[00:08:46] So this is maybe the only thing that kind of I skipped from the very beginning.

[00:08:50] For me, it was kind of almost pointless to take a photo because everything is in the frame.

[00:08:56] And so I was already experimenting a lot with telephoto lenses from the very beginning.

[00:09:02] This is maybe the only exception.

[00:09:04] But then I guess since I took a lot of photos, I was traveling a lot.

[00:09:08] I started to feel a little bit bored by subjects.

[00:09:14] I have seen a lot of photos from other photographers, of course.

[00:09:17] And then for me, it was always the challenge to create something that is offering a new perspective,

[00:09:26] something new to the discussion.

[00:09:28] And this is mainly what kind of pushed me forward.

[00:09:32] And that kind of like led me to abandon, let's say abandon the classic vistas,

[00:09:38] the classic, so to speak, landscapes and focus more on details.

[00:09:42] So both like a macro perspective, but also like using a drone or like a helicopter or a plane.

[00:09:49] I'm always drawn to like some specific detail, which I haven't seen like framed that way,

[00:09:57] or which I maybe I've seen the whole river, but maybe not that detail in the sand.

[00:10:02] Or like I've seen frozen lakes, of course, but maybe not like focused on like a like 10 by 10 centimeter big area only.

[00:10:12] So it's just my natural curiosity for discovering something new and being able to capture it from my personal.

[00:10:20] Yeah.

[00:10:20] What kind of speaks to me.

[00:10:21] And this is kind of like something that evolves from like, of course, the classic landscapes to more telephoto based work to what I do now more like getting really close.

[00:10:32] So this is kind of usually I don't use a telephoto lens anymore.

[00:10:36] It's just more getting close to something or using the drone and that kind of abstract view to begin with,

[00:10:42] to kind of also fly quite close to my subject and also kind of see what speaks to me and kind of it's more about textures and colors and patterns for me.

[00:10:55] And Jan, if you work with this tiny textures and tiny details, how do you scout for locations?

[00:11:03] Because it's a bit more difficult because I guess you don't know really what you're going to expect more if you throw a drone up in the air.

[00:11:10] Yes.

[00:11:11] So usually it's kind of a mixture between like a gut feeling and also based on the experiences from the last trips.

[00:11:22] For example, Iceland, I've spent a total of maybe three years in that country, like over like 25 trips from 2010 up to now.

[00:11:32] So I kind of know how to read these, especially the glacial landscapes, also the glacial rivers.

[00:11:39] That's something I have a kind of good feeling for what to expect after a certain kind of weather phenomena or like after a certain period of cold weather.

[00:11:50] So I kind of know roughly what to expect.

[00:11:54] But then again, it's always a little bit different and sometimes totally different what you actually find.

[00:11:59] And then it's usually something in between.

[00:12:02] I mean, you have like pick a destination, you walk towards the destination and then in the middle you'll find something totally different.

[00:12:08] And then I spent like hours until like the day is over and I never really made it until my destination.

[00:12:13] But I'm still happy because I found something else.

[00:12:15] So this is usually a big part of my day to kind of chase A and find B, something totally different.

[00:12:23] And since I kind of, since I'm able to travel a lot and spend a lot of time out there, of course, the chances are kind of increasing to actually find something unique and maybe also something totally new.

[00:12:36] I don't remember who told that to travel is the journey in itself, Jan.

[00:12:42] You don't always need that.

[00:12:44] And talking about somebody who said something and somebody who wrote on your website, you have a lot of great series.

[00:12:50] But talk me a bit about the journey to the center of the earth by Jule Verne with the Snyfvall volcano in Iceland.

[00:12:59] Yeah, that's this kind of a place that kind of I discovered quite early on one of the first trips to Iceland, which is quite fascinating place because it's kind of like a small peninsula.

[00:13:10] And at the very end of the peninsula is like that volcano that also kind of inspired Jule Verne to his journey.

[00:13:17] So actually that volcano inspired him in person, like in that time he wrote the novel.

[00:13:22] And I can feel what he kind of felt because that place is special.

[00:13:27] So it's kind of that mountain like raises up from sea level to I forgot the height, but it's quite a big mountain.

[00:13:33] And then it goes down again so you can actually drive not to the top, but very far up.

[00:13:41] And then you can hike on the glacier.

[00:13:44] And yeah, I mean, Iceland has a lot of glaciers, but this is really a special place.

[00:13:49] So I spent a lot of time in that area on several trips because it kind of spoke to me as well.

[00:13:56] And yeah, there's some kind of I don't know.

[00:13:59] I don't find the right words, but it's it's a special place.

[00:14:01] You can feel it's different to like the other places.

[00:14:05] And so this is also maybe why I chose black and white, because it's a little bit more, maybe a little bit of nostalgia.

[00:14:11] I don't I'm not sure it's just the place that speaks in a different tone to me.

[00:14:15] Can I imagine you there sitting with the novel from Jules Verne reading it or you just went with the camera?

[00:14:22] Actually, I went with the camera, but I, of course, knew like the rough story, what it was about.

[00:14:28] And you can hike all the way up to the top, but it's not something you should do on your own because like they're like a lot of crevasses and kind of a dangerous place as well.

[00:14:39] The weather kind of changes quite suddenly.

[00:14:42] I mean, the volcano hasn't been active, but I'm not sure if it's totally dead.

[00:14:46] So a lot of volcanoes in Iceland, they're like dormant, but some of them, they won't erupt ever again.

[00:14:53] And some you don't know.

[00:14:56] So it's a lot of volcanoes on the planet.

[00:15:00] What's the closest you got to active volcano, Jan?

[00:15:02] That was like in the most recent years in Iceland.

[00:15:06] First volcano was, I guess it was 2016.

[00:15:11] I was able to fly over it.

[00:15:13] It was kind of in a remote area around Asker.

[00:15:16] I wasn't really getting that close, but I could feel the heat in the plane, which was kind of a little bit scary, but also fascinating.

[00:15:23] But to really get up close in person, that was like 2021, I would say.

[00:15:29] The first big eruption in Iceland, like which was really close to the airport.

[00:15:35] So in the first years of the eruptions, they kind of continued.

[00:15:38] And the last one was on my last trip in August 2024.

[00:15:43] But the first ones that were kind of like you could get closer.

[00:15:46] It was not that dangerous.

[00:15:47] So you were really able to walk into the lava field, which was kind of moving slowly towards you.

[00:15:54] And then I was able to maybe like a two meter distance to the lava that kind of like coming down the mountain slowly and breaking up and all these kind of textures.

[00:16:05] And then it was really something else.

[00:16:07] So I spent a couple of days there and then, yeah, captured it also like from a very close perspective.

[00:16:13] Then I used to telephoto lens again.

[00:16:16] Otherwise, I would get burned.

[00:16:17] But that was kind of like something that I will never forget to be that close to, like a new land being born and formed in front of your eyes.

[00:16:26] That's really something special.

[00:16:28] And you never lost a tripod in a lava field?

[00:16:31] No, no, no, no.

[00:16:32] Just the drones, but a different story.

[00:16:35] But not the tripod.

[00:16:37] I rarely use a tripod actually.

[00:16:39] So I didn't even carry one to the lava field.

[00:16:41] So it was more like from, it was happening quite quickly.

[00:16:44] So it's not something you, it was happening a lot at the same time.

[00:16:49] So I was moving around quite often to find new areas where like there's more activity.

[00:16:54] And the last area where you've been like 15 minutes ago, it looks already almost solid rock.

[00:17:00] So no, no fresh lava pouring out, but then it cracks up open again.

[00:17:04] And then you see the inside is still kind of like lava and everything is moving.

[00:17:09] So it's kind of a really, really crazy event to witness in person.

[00:17:15] I imagine.

[00:17:16] Yeah, you would say you are the one that looks for bad weather instead of good weather to make your pictures.

[00:17:23] I mean, people generally would consider that type of weather.

[00:17:26] I guess most people would consider it bad weather.

[00:17:29] But for me, it's like, I like to call them these in-between moments.

[00:17:33] So it's right before like snow shower comes or like right after a snow shower when the light gets kind of like soft.

[00:17:41] And then the sun maybe comes out a little bit between the clouds.

[00:17:45] And of course, like the minus 10, maybe minus 15.

[00:17:49] That's enough for me Celsius.

[00:17:50] Then when it's really crisp and cold and the air is also like, I love the air and it's really cold.

[00:17:56] And so, yeah, it's maybe not all bad weather.

[00:17:59] 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.

[00:18:06] But if there's a little bit of rain, then there's always something you can do, especially if I do a lot of like geological.

[00:18:13] I mean, rocks in general look quite interesting if they're wet because then the black, the dark rocks look really, really shiny.

[00:18:20] So there's always something or you can go on the beach and the black sand, for example, in Iceland, it's really also when it's wet, it's kind of like almost shining.

[00:18:28] So there's always something to do.

[00:18:29] But I prefer also like if there's no rain or just a little bit of rain.

[00:18:34] But yeah, so this is usually the not so bad weather.

[00:18:38] Yes, we'll come back to travel a bit later in the podcast, Jan.

[00:18:43] But now let's talk a little bit about gear.

[00:18:47] What are you using these days, Jan?

[00:18:50] I switched from a Nikon D850 full frame camera to a Nikon Z8 right now.

[00:18:57] So the mirrorless, yeah, sister cameras, so to speak.

[00:19:00] So they're quite similar, but it's just a mirrorless system.

[00:19:05] And in terms of lenses, I love the 24 to 120.

[00:19:12] This is the lens I use maybe almost 80% of the time right now, which has you can get really close.

[00:19:20] So it's not officially a macro lens, but I use it for that purpose.

[00:19:25] And it's perfect, I mean, and also have some primes.

[00:19:31] But yeah, usually I just carry around the 24 to 120 and the macro lens, which I have in my backpack.

[00:19:37] But I don't use it that often because it's challenging.

[00:19:40] You need a lot of light, of course, and a tripod, which I don't like.

[00:19:44] So what I usually have it with me.

[00:19:46] And I also have the 100 to 400, which is also quite nice if you want to capture some details from a glacier, for example.

[00:19:53] Maybe a place where you want to get closer, but it's just not possible because there's water.

[00:19:58] It's dangerous to get too close to a glacier, of course.

[00:20:00] So then I use the 100 to 400 with a teleconverter like 1.4.

[00:20:05] That gives you quite a nice focal length.

[00:20:09] These are kind of the lenses I use, but not much more.

[00:20:13] And with these long lenses, you're never interested in any wildlife there, Jan?

[00:20:18] Personally, yes, of course.

[00:20:20] I love animals.

[00:20:21] But for my portfolio and Antarctica, it was just too crazy.

[00:20:25] So I couldn't stop to kind of capture these animals.

[00:20:28] But usually it's not for chasing animals.

[00:20:30] It's just for chasing details in landscapes.

[00:20:33] So, I mean, they don't run away.

[00:20:34] But like I said, sometimes you just can't get closer.

[00:20:36] It's just too time-consuming sometimes to kind of, yeah, to hike to some places.

[00:20:42] So it's nice to have it.

[00:20:45] And for your drone, what you're using, Jan?

[00:20:48] Most of the time, the Mavic 3.

[00:20:50] If it's a job where you kind of need some higher resolution, I would kind of rent an Inspire.

[00:20:56] But usually it's the Mavic 3 I use for almost all of my work.

[00:21:00] It's quite flexible and it's small.

[00:21:02] You can carry it around without kind of having to carry a big suitcase with a drone.

[00:21:07] So it's quite nice.

[00:21:09] What's the flight time you get from this drone?

[00:21:11] It depends.

[00:21:12] I always try to get as close as possible to the location where I want to fly for several reasons.

[00:21:18] But the most important reason is, of course, like flight time.

[00:21:22] So I guess it's around half an hour if you don't fly too far away.

[00:21:27] And even a little bit more, but it really depends on the wind.

[00:21:30] And if you do a lot of flying around or you're more like static.

[00:21:34] So, but this is a big advantage in comparison to the older Mavic 2, which is still a great drone,

[00:21:40] but the battery life was a problem.

[00:21:42] So this is really great for me to, yeah, to not fly back all the time and change batteries.

[00:21:46] Sometimes I still fly like a total of three hours in one location until I have all the perspectives or everything I want to capture.

[00:21:53] And then, yeah, it's really good to have a lot of battery life.

[00:21:57] That's really critical almost.

[00:22:00] And for your Z8 now, you feel that there is any advantage using mirrorless?

[00:22:06] There are some advantages.

[00:22:09] I actually bought it for like another project of mine where I kind of do a lot of self-portraits.

[00:22:15] It's a totally different project.

[00:22:17] And the Z8 has some really nice out-of-focus capabilities.

[00:22:22] And this is something that the Z850, the Z850 knot hasn't had.

[00:22:27] And of course, video.

[00:22:28] Video is way better on the Z8.

[00:22:30] So this is also like one of the main reasons.

[00:22:33] And the lenses are also like, I mean, they have been also really good on the Z850.

[00:22:38] But the new set lenses, Banycon, it's really almost, it's another step up.

[00:22:44] It's really nice to have like this quality.

[00:22:48] And they're quite affordable.

[00:22:49] So yeah, it's a mixed bag of reasons.

[00:22:52] But it's mostly the video part and having these kind of AI features to detect a person in the frame.

[00:23:00] So this has really become handy for that self-portrait project.

[00:23:05] But instead of that, the Z850 is such a great camera.

[00:23:09] So I used it a lot over all those years and never let me down.

[00:23:13] Especially not in a rainy and a cold.

[00:23:16] On these days, it was still working.

[00:23:18] Never had any issues whatsoever.

[00:23:22] Let's talk a bit about traveling.

[00:23:25] You explored Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica.

[00:23:28] I don't know what all northern countries.

[00:23:31] Any special preparation for being out in the cold like this?

[00:23:36] For me, like clothing is also like one of the most important parts of gear.

[00:23:42] Some people forget about that sometimes.

[00:23:44] So if you spend a lot of time outside and sometimes you get wet, sometimes you get too cold.

[00:23:49] And it's always good to have some...

[00:23:51] I do carry a lot of backup gear and also like a bit of clothing.

[00:23:55] It may be a German thing, but I feel good to have kind of like, yeah, some backup for the most critical parts of my gear and clothing.

[00:24:03] So I would say, yeah, clothing.

[00:24:06] And for the camera, not so much.

[00:24:08] I mean, you have some kind of...

[00:24:10] There's some like...

[00:24:11] They look like plastic bags where you can protect your camera if it really starts raining.

[00:24:15] I mean, it's okay if it's a little bit of rain, but I wouldn't go to the extremes and would leave it out in the rain.

[00:24:20] Even though people have tried that with Nikon and it still works.

[00:24:23] But my greatest fear is that the moisture gets inside the camera and then you have a big problem.

[00:24:28] No, it's really not that crazy.

[00:24:29] I mean, gloves, it's always a good investment to invest in good gloves that still work and can still operate the camera.

[00:24:38] So, but besides of that, good pair of boots, good jacket.

[00:24:42] And that's really nothing crazy, to be honest.

[00:24:45] Nothing too crazy.

[00:24:46] Of course, if you're like...

[00:24:48] I mean, the cold is not really that hard on me, but if it's something that's a little bit more critical for you,

[00:24:53] then of course I would invest in a little bit more professional clothing.

[00:24:57] But it's not that crazy in the countries.

[00:24:59] I mean, Iceland sounds more...

[00:25:01] In the winter in Iceland, it's not that cold.

[00:25:03] Greenland was challenging.

[00:25:05] It was the first time where I also saw the camera slowing down.

[00:25:08] It was still working, but it was really, really slow.

[00:25:11] And also my fingers, I couldn't really feel them anymore.

[00:25:15] But it was almost 20 degrees minus.

[00:25:18] So this is too cold for me.

[00:25:19] That's not really fun anymore.

[00:25:22] So, Jan, when you...

[00:25:25] You have already, like, say, a certain destination in mind for next year?

[00:25:32] Or you wait for some special events that might happen and then pick your destination?

[00:25:39] Usually I have some rough ideas.

[00:25:42] But for next year, for example, I have already two Iceland trips scheduled.

[00:25:47] One in January for a month in the wintertime.

[00:25:50] And then a longer one in late summer and a little bit of autumn.

[00:25:56] But if it's Iceland, for example, I don't do a lot of planning because I've been that often that I kind of do it a little bit more spontaneously.

[00:26:04] Also, if it's a trip more like Alaska, for example, was my first time this year.

[00:26:11] So we did a lot of...

[00:26:12] I went with two colleagues.

[00:26:14] We did a lot of planning before we actually arrived there to be sure that we don't miss something and also see how accessible the places are.

[00:26:24] This is something I...

[00:26:26] Yeah, I like to do my research and usually have a map.

[00:26:30] I can use my maps by Google.

[00:26:32] I kind of pin all the locations, write a little bit about it and just see if they fit into my itinerary or if it's just maybe too far away.

[00:26:40] Sometimes you don't really know if it's a good idea to drive that much.

[00:26:43] But it's a mix.

[00:26:45] I don't plan everything out in detail because usually I do have a lot of time.

[00:26:51] So this is something which is a great advantage, I would say, in landscape photography.

[00:26:56] If you don't have to cram everything into one week, then you kind of have to do a little bit more planning.

[00:27:01] And so if it's a really bad weather day, then I just sit in front of my laptop and edit and work and try to not kill time by forcing it to...

[00:27:13] And yeah, just see where the weather takes me.

[00:27:17] You're a bit like these digital nomads.

[00:27:20] Because Jan, 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.

[00:27:27] You don't go back to the cosy nose of a hotel in the night to sleep.

[00:27:31] You will stay in your van all the time.

[00:27:33] Yes.

[00:27:34] Walk me a bit through important things you should take if you want to do an expedition like this.

[00:27:41] And for me, it's the best way is to take my own van from Germany to Denmark and take the ferry to Iceland.

[00:27:49] Because then you can take all that stuff you need for food and also your equipment, clothing, a lot of clothing.

[00:27:58] And also like if you have some props for...

[00:28:02] I can talk about myself.

[00:28:03] Portrait project involves a lot of props and I work a lot with fire and like old vintage items.

[00:28:10] So I can take that all to the van and take it to Iceland.

[00:28:13] And it's always challenging if you have to rent a rental car.

[00:28:17] And then for me, it's definitely challenging to kind of limit myself to two suitcases.

[00:28:23] But so it's a big advantage if you can take your car because then I have like a familiar surrounding.

[00:28:28] I know I have like a lot of batteries to charge my gear.

[00:28:31] In the middle of nowhere, I can still use solar power depending on the weather.

[00:28:35] But so this is really a big advantage and I can work without kind of getting...

[00:28:41] I mean, I can have a proper desk.

[00:28:42] I have a laptop with me.

[00:28:44] I can even take a screen.

[00:28:46] So it's really quite a comfortable place to work.

[00:28:50] So this is also a big advantage because in the evenings, I usually like to do some kind of editing

[00:28:54] from the photos or videos I captured on that day to see if they turned out the way I expected them.

[00:29:02] And or sometimes I also upload something already and see maybe how...

[00:29:09] If it's for a client, of course, I have to sometimes do that.

[00:29:12] But sometimes I also like to post them on Instagram and other kind of social media sites

[00:29:17] to kind of see how the people react to the photos to maybe capture some more

[00:29:21] or see just how the reactions are.

[00:29:27] And energy-wise with solar power or with internet connection,

[00:29:32] these days, yeah, this gets...

[00:29:34] This is all easier, I guess, by now, no?

[00:29:37] Oh, yeah.

[00:29:38] That's definitely...

[00:29:38] I mean, I've been doing that kind of digital no-one thing since...

[00:29:43] Maybe 20 years or longer, like 2004, 2005.

[00:29:49] Yeah, it's almost 20 years.

[00:29:51] And in the beginning, it was really challenging to find kind of a hotspot

[00:29:55] that you can connect your laptop to.

[00:29:57] And now Iceland, especially Nordic countries, they have good 5G connection.

[00:30:03] There are a lot of open Wi-Fi.

[00:30:05] It's not like in Germany where you have to kind of ask for a password.

[00:30:08] Most of them are open.

[00:30:09] And then you have Tesla Mini, which you can also carry around.

[00:30:14] It's quite affordable.

[00:30:15] So you have a lot of options to connect to the internet and also do some backup.

[00:30:20] I sometimes also manage to backup all my stuff while traveling,

[00:30:24] using Wi-Fi, using 5G to kind of...

[00:30:27] If something happens, I have already backed my stuff on hard drives and also in the cloud.

[00:30:33] So nothing really could happen to the photos and videos.

[00:30:37] But yeah, it's not really a challenge anymore, to be honest.

[00:30:39] It's just something you kind of...

[00:30:42] You know, find your personal preference.

[00:30:45] And I haven't really changed anything drastically in the last few years.

[00:30:50] Maybe food is the real challenge if you're not a good cook.

[00:30:54] Yeah, that's true.

[00:30:54] I mean, I feel like in the highlands of Iceland, there's nothing.

[00:30:58] So yeah, I like to cook with friends, but I'm not so much...

[00:31:01] I don't really like to prepare fancy meals for myself.

[00:31:04] So it's mostly like basic cooking.

[00:31:07] But I still like to eat healthy, but it's not something crazy I do.

[00:31:10] But still like to bring a lot from Germany.

[00:31:14] And also I know the places where I can get some fresh vegetables and fruits.

[00:31:21] But yeah, the supermarkets in Iceland, it's quite similar to Germany.

[00:31:24] It's a little bit smaller, but you get almost everything you need.

[00:31:27] And yeah, you just have to restock a little bit more often than maybe in Germany.

[00:31:31] Because sometimes there is a distance of maybe one hour or something where there is nothing.

[00:31:36] We cannot go shopping.

[00:31:38] You ever get strange looks of local people of Iceland looking at this photographer in his van?

[00:31:45] Oh, not so much.

[00:31:46] Maybe some people kind of like the van because it's kind of a good compromise between like...

[00:31:52] They like the American cars.

[00:31:54] They drive around a lot of big trucks and all the GMC buses.

[00:31:59] And I talked to a lot of Icelanders and they kind of like the kind of...

[00:32:03] You can still use it in Reykjavik.

[00:32:05] Like it's a good city car, but still it's a good capable...

[00:32:08] I mean, it's not an off-roader.

[00:32:09] I put everything...

[00:32:11] It's a Volkswagen T6 van.

[00:32:13] So it's a transporter, but I did all the kind of available upgrades to it.

[00:32:18] Like it has all-wheel drive because I lifted it and snorkel everything installed.

[00:32:24] So I can go to all the places I want to go without going to the extremes.

[00:32:30] So, I mean, you have to cross some rivers, of course, but I would never cross like the dangerous ones, not even in a more suitable car because it's just...

[00:32:38] If it goes wrong, it's a bad situation.

[00:32:42] So, but yeah, it takes me to like crazy places.

[00:32:44] So this is really nice.

[00:32:46] And yeah.

[00:32:47] I mean, it brings you to lava fields, but more can you ask for?

[00:32:51] These were quite accessible.

[00:32:53] So there was the fun part.

[00:32:54] But yeah, it takes me to like the glaciers.

[00:32:56] It's just a small, like the more challenging part because like the glacial landscapes are kind of rugged.

[00:33:02] And so there you need a kind of proper car.

[00:33:05] And I like the technical aspect of driving.

[00:33:07] So if it's like one of these kind of monster trucks, Icelanders like to drive, it's quite easy.

[00:33:12] You just drive all over everything.

[00:33:14] But with a smaller car, you have to be a little bit more technical and kind of like it.

[00:33:18] I mean, it has some small dance here and there, but so far nothing.

[00:33:21] I think basically it's broken or something.

[00:33:24] So it's...

[00:33:24] I like the challenge.

[00:33:26] Let's talk a bit about when you're back home, the real work starts, so to say.

[00:33:32] And something you do a lot, which is licensing.

[00:33:36] The business model you work with, I think it's not an easy one, Jan, since you have to keep pushing yourself always.

[00:33:43] That, you know, that the last success won't last.

[00:33:46] How do you personally manage that?

[00:33:49] I mean, I do have like an intrinsic motivation, which is almost an obsession.

[00:33:54] So it's really something I like to spend a lot of time with my friends and family.

[00:34:00] But all the other time, actually, a lot of that gets kind of invested into photography.

[00:34:06] I mean, being out there, also editing, also kind of seeing what's new.

[00:34:11] Maybe there are some new tools I could try out to make my work easier.

[00:34:14] But I really enjoy both sides.

[00:34:17] I mean, I love to be out there, but I also love to edit my work because I really find that process...

[00:34:23] Yeah, it calms me down.

[00:34:25] It's...

[00:34:26] I really enjoy it because you can...

[00:34:28] I mean, my photos don't look like they're heavily edited.

[00:34:31] I do tweak a lot of kind of subtle details.

[00:34:35] And if you kind of...

[00:34:37] In the end, it's still a lot of time that goes into a photograph until it's finished.

[00:34:43] And the same for the video.

[00:34:45] It maybe doesn't look that way, but it's still a lot of tweaking.

[00:34:49] And...

[00:34:49] But I kind of enjoy that to kind of have something in the end that looks a little bit different

[00:34:53] to what I usually see from that place or something.

[00:34:58] Sometimes it's really something I've never seen before.

[00:35:00] And so, yeah, it's a lot of time in front of the laptop, of course.

[00:35:05] But I also love the marketing part.

[00:35:08] So it's...

[00:35:09] There's really not much I don't enjoy being a photographer.

[00:35:12] But, of course, you have to always push yourself.

[00:35:16] And this can be...

[00:35:17] Definitely can be a little bit...

[00:35:20] Yeah, challenging.

[00:35:21] Like the mental aspect to always kind of reinvent yourself.

[00:35:25] And, yeah, this is...

[00:35:27] Especially on social media.

[00:35:28] You have to kind of find your personal way that works for you.

[00:35:32] And I'm happy that I kind of found mine, which is kind of not stressful anymore.

[00:35:37] I don't...

[00:35:37] I do a lot of planning.

[00:35:39] I use these kind of tools to kind of...

[00:35:41] To post something on the most important platforms every day or every second day.

[00:35:46] So this kind of doesn't need me to be on Instagram every day at maybe 7 in the evening to post something.

[00:35:54] And I like to do that for the next 30 days.

[00:35:57] And then the month is kind of scheduled.

[00:35:58] And then I do it for the next month when this kind of queue is running out of photographs.

[00:36:04] And then I plan the next month.

[00:36:05] So I did a lot of kind of tweaking my workflows and to kind of maximize the time to be outside and do the editing and not so much the stuff in between that no one likes.

[00:36:20] 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.

[00:36:36] For those entering indoor in that world, Jan, can you give me like a global idea what to expect?

[00:36:45] Not going into details.

[00:36:47] The cost of travel versus what in reality you can sell your images for.

[00:36:54] This is quite...

[00:36:56] It's really hard to give you a number because it really depends on what clients you work with.

[00:37:01] I started with...

[00:37:02] I kind of licensed my work to everyone that kind of wanted to license.

[00:37:07] And I really, yeah, could have charged more looking back.

[00:37:11] But in the beginning, I just was happy to kind of get the deal.

[00:37:14] But it really depends.

[00:37:15] I mean, if you license your photos to like a smartphone company and they use it for wallpapers, of course, it's a way bigger number than just maybe for like a website for the contact page, like some small photo here or there.

[00:37:29] So it really depends on what you're planning to photograph.

[00:37:33] If it's something 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.

[00:37:44] But if it's just like a classic landscape photo of like one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland and nothing really special going on, then yeah, it's really tough.

[00:37:54] I guess the most important thing nowadays is to really find a unique voice or like a unique style.

[00:38:01] It can be anything.

[00:38:02] It can be your style.

[00:38:03] It can be your subject.

[00:38:04] It can be like with me, like more like the geographical focus.

[00:38:09] But I think it's really necessary to if you want.

[00:38:13] I mean, of course, 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.

[00:38:21] So I'm really happy it kind of works out, but it's it's coming in waves.

[00:38:25] So you have some month which much going on.

[00:38:27] And then then there's like I currently have some interesting inquiry about documentary.

[00:38:32] They want to use archive material.

[00:38:34] And so this is something really interesting.

[00:38:36] But jobs come out of the nowhere.

[00:38:39] So it's really challenging to kind of do marketing for these kind of jobs.

[00:38:45] You have to have a lot of photos out there on different websites and social media platforms.

[00:38:51] Also, maybe LinkedIn, have a good website, have your website, website optimized that Google actually finds your photos and other people as well.

[00:38:59] So it's a little, yeah, it's a lot of stuff that goes into being visible.

[00:39:06] Because how many images you have online, Jan, for licensing?

[00:39:10] On my website or like you?

[00:39:12] For me, it's it's roughly about two and a half thousand in my library.

[00:39:16] So I built that website.

[00:39:18] It actually can search for like keywords or like it's based on collections, moods and like maybe waterfalls.

[00:39:26] If you look on the collection and only want to find waterfalls.

[00:39:29] So usually it's time consuming if you just have like a standard Squarespace website, for example, that like an image editor that is looking for something specific.

[00:39:38] He has to kind of click on all these series or like collections and quite a new feature on my website.

[00:39:43] But I'm kind of proud of it.

[00:39:45] It was a lot of time, but it's really works well.

[00:39:48] And for photos and video.

[00:39:49] So you can really like enter like Iceland, Glacier and you see all the photos I can offer you for licensing.

[00:39:56] And just makes things easier.

[00:39:58] But still, people have to find that website.

[00:40:00] And it's the same problem.

[00:40:02] So you have to be kind of visible and and not to be too loud about these things.

[00:40:08] If you kind of post the links all over again and people are not interested in licensing, they want kind of like unmute that guy.

[00:40:14] It's just talking about this business all the time.

[00:40:16] And so it's always have you have to find the balance.

[00:40:19] And this is and then again, on Instagram, my audience is not usually not on Instagram.

[00:40:24] So this is something that most photographers forget that posting about prints and licensing on Instagram.

[00:40:30] It's a 0.01% of your audience that may be interested in that.

[00:40:36] And the other people are maybe annoyed if they see it too often.

[00:40:39] So that's a big one of the biggest realizations for me was that Instagram is important to get discovered for people like working in the and for ad agencies or like bigger clients.

[00:40:51] They kind of find you on Instagram, they kind of do a little bit of scouting here and there, but it's usually the clients are especially like for prints.

[00:40:59] They're not on Instagram.

[00:41:00] They're maybe on LinkedIn or like other websites stumble upon.

[00:41:03] But it's yeah, it's quite challenging to kind of find the best places where you can actually advertise your services as a landscape photographer.

[00:41:15] Jan, you learned like some important lesson while protecting your work or navigating license agreements or something like this?

[00:41:24] Yeah, I would say it's not really a lesson.

[00:41:26] It's also more of a realization that you cannot really protect your work.

[00:41:31] I mean, of course, there are watermarks and stuff like that, but it's the same.

[00:41:35] If you start using them too heavily, then people won't enjoy your photos anymore.

[00:41:39] I guess everybody has seen photos where the watermark is the first thing you realize, the first thing you see in that photo.

[00:41:46] And it's just not working for me.

[00:41:48] If someone wants to steal your work, they will do it.

[00:41:51] So you cannot really do anything about it.

[00:41:53] I stopped caring, to be honest.

[00:41:55] So I don't really want to know where my work gets used without my permission.

[00:41:59] There are some services from companies that kind of promise you that I kind of protect your work or you can kind of chase down.

[00:42:09] Who is kind of using your work without permission.

[00:42:12] And I tried these services, but it really never worked out.

[00:42:15] They were like people who are too far away or they work like in countries where they don't kind of, they cannot, cannot pursue.

[00:42:22] So it's, it's really about, you have to accept that and it gets easier every day.

[00:42:26] So also like video from Instagram, from reels, everything is kind of, you can download everything and then people just do it.

[00:42:34] And, and also these people usually, they, it's not a client you lose because most of these people are not willing to pay anyways, any, anything for a photo.

[00:42:44] So it's not about, yeah.

[00:42:47] I mean, of course you can sue them, but like I said, it's quite, it's not that easy because you have to invest money first for your lawyer.

[00:42:55] And then, and then you realize, okay, that person is in a country where it's really, really hard to kind of, yeah, to win the lawsuit.

[00:43:03] So, and then you, yeah, leave it be.

[00:43:05] So for me, it's, yeah, it's good to come to that point that I, yeah, maybe stop.

[00:43:11] I care about my work, of course, but I, the other element is kind of, yeah, you have to accept it because it's just impossible to, to, to protect yourself from.

[00:43:21] Same for Pinterest and all these websites.

[00:43:23] It just, I guess 10% of the photos of my photos are not really uploaded by myself.

[00:43:29] So it's just a link to some Amazon page to just stupid, but it's the way it is.

[00:43:33] So you have to accept it.

[00:43:35] So I don't think there's any, yeah, good way to, to do it with watermarks without kind of disturbing or a lot of destroying your artwork.

[00:43:46] So maybe if you have video in the end, I usually include some titles or some, some copyright information at the end of the video.

[00:43:54] So, but if they cut it out, so it's actually people uploaded stuff to, to stock photo websites, videos from YouTube.

[00:44:02] They downloaded the 4K, 4K versions and then cropped out some parts and re-uploaded it to some stock footage websites.

[00:44:10] And they didn't even care.

[00:44:11] And they didn't even, yeah, they didn't even do anything about it.

[00:44:15] So yeah.

[00:44:17] Also something I don't want to know.

[00:44:20] I will tell you, Jan, I have two daughters, but the youngest one, she's 10.

[00:44:25] She makes videos for TikTok, but she will only make them for herself.

[00:44:31] I said, but why, why don't put them out?

[00:44:33] He says, no, no, because then people will steal them.

[00:44:36] So there you go.

[00:44:39] Okay.

[00:44:40] Okay.

[00:44:40] This is also a way to do it.

[00:44:41] Yeah.

[00:44:41] To approach it.

[00:44:42] But yeah.

[00:44:43] Yeah.

[00:44:44] Editing wise, Jan, I think we talked about it before just a little bit, but I think it's

[00:44:49] a bit like to say crucial step in the finishing product of your photography.

[00:44:55] It is.

[00:44:56] It's something you, you enjoy really?

[00:44:59] Definitely.

[00:44:59] I do.

[00:45:00] I just, I mean, sometimes I'm kind of like annoyed by the software side of things and

[00:45:06] everything's a little bit too slow for me because I worked with Lightroom for, I don't

[00:45:10] know how many years and, but it gets a little bit slow sometimes because I have a lot of photos

[00:45:15] in my library.

[00:45:16] And since I know where everything is, my editing is quite, I usually have a vision and I'm quite

[00:45:22] quick to start editing, to, to, to tweak around and use the sliders.

[00:45:28] And it's more like a playful approach, I would say.

[00:45:31] So it's, it just, maybe sometimes I really started top and, and, and just work my way

[00:45:36] to the bottom and tweak everything a little just to see where it takes me.

[00:45:40] And then I start over again and do fine tuning.

[00:45:42] So it's most of the time I start with the colors.

[00:45:45] So this is kind of the most important part for me to, to the split toning and, and, and

[00:45:50] with the colors in general to kind of get that right from the very beginning.

[00:45:54] And the rest is mostly like contrast and yeah, the highlights and the shadows, but it's color

[00:46:01] is a really, really important aspect in my editing.

[00:46:03] So, and yeah, especially the split toning aspect, which is a little bit rare in landscape photography.

[00:46:09] It's more like a film thing, but I feel that split toning really enables me to create the mood or when coloring the highlights or the shadows.

[00:46:20] It really, yeah, it's, it's helping me to realize my vision better than all the features in Lightroom or like Capture One.

[00:46:29] And you already see this when you capture the image with your camera?

[00:46:34] Oftentimes I do.

[00:46:35] Yeah.

[00:46:35] In the beginning it was not like this, but now I really see if I stand in front of, for example, like a wall of ice in front of a glacier and I'm capturing like the, the bubbles of air trapped inside the, the ice.

[00:46:50] I, I instantly have a feeling why I want to take that photo.

[00:46:54] I'm also not that type of photographer that kind of spends like an hour to create the perfect shot.

[00:46:58] It's more, I know how capable my camera is.

[00:47:02] I know that I, uh, how to kind of work with Lightroom to, to get what I want.

[00:47:08] So, and I kind of trust like the equipment and then the software we have available nowadays to, yeah, to help me reduce the time in front of the glacier.

[00:47:19] To kind of get the perfect shot, the perfect lighting.

[00:47:23] And of course the basics have to be good or good enough, but it doesn't have to be like perfect in the camera.

[00:47:29] So, but yeah, then I know kind of, it's what I want to do with the colors or sometimes I want to keep it as is.

[00:47:36] Sometimes I think, okay, I want to go more into everything a little bit darker or like have some fade coming in to have a little bit of light source at the top.

[00:47:46] I use a lot, a lot of the sliders for like a little bit of, yeah, like brighten up some areas or darken some areas.

[00:47:54] So it's also in the end, it's like 15 sliders coming into the photo from various angles and, but also everything is subtle, but it adds up to the final photo where there is a lot of editing involved.

[00:48:09] You sometimes edit a picture and then let it and come back to it later, John?

[00:48:14] Not on purpose, to be honest. Sometimes I just, there's something else that needs my attention or like just time is running out. I need to go to sleep, but usually I like to start and finish.

[00:48:24] And sometimes I just can't do that. But, and with the video, sometimes I get frustrated a little bit easier because it's so time consuming.

[00:48:33] I really don't like to scroll. I came back with six hours of footage. It 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.

[00:48:48] And then you find, you have to find the best one. It's kind of, yeah, it's a little bit annoying because everything looks quite similar and then, and you have to really pay attention because if there's some movement of the drone, which is not what you wanted, then yeah, you kind of can't use that clip.

[00:49:04] 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 things differently now. And then you have like a fresh perspective.

[00:49:16] And then, but with photography, I usually start and want to finish on the same day with a series. And then it's about the title and the description that takes a little bit of time. Then it's still sitting there for a couple of days. And then I, I start publishing it on Behance and my website and later on then Instagram and all the other platforms. But yeah, it's quite straightforward with photography.

[00:49:40] Because you also have your own Lightroom presets on your webpage.

[00:49:45] Yeah. Yeah. It's also something I, I started quite early to kind of also optimize the workflow within Lightroom and started to create my own presets because of the locations I revisit over and over again.

[00:49:59] You can definitely, yeah, see that there are like some base presets that work on, yeah, almost all of the glacial images, for example.

[00:50:08] So I created them for myself and then I guess I sent them to one friend one day a couple of years ago and I quite liked them. And then I just started offering them on my website. And yeah, it's really at 17 or 18. I started with that. So it's, yeah, it's, it's a quite also like an important source of income for me.

[00:50:27] And they're quite, I wouldn't, 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.

[00:50:40] I mean, I have one polar landscape preset pack. So it's, it just works on ice landscapes. You, you cannot use them for like, like beach scenes or there's one forest landscape preset pack, which is just optimized for like the colors you find in the forest.

[00:50:57] 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 situations and I still use them personally. So it's kind of, even though they're quite old, they're still like timeless because I mean, it's landscapes. They don't change that drastically.

[00:51:13] So yeah, this is something I also enjoy doing, like creating products that kind of give value to others and also like the, yeah, to kind of see how I can market them. And if there is maybe an ebook one day, I will now have that email list and I can send out that information to all the people that purchase my presets if that's kind of relevant for them. So yeah, I kind of enjoy that marketing side of things. So kind of a numbers guy.

[00:51:41] Jan, you realize that there are only 24 hours in a day.

[00:51:45] Sometimes. Yeah, that's sometimes true. Sometimes not so much.

[00:51:49] I want to talk a bit about Instagram because you're 10 years now going to Iceland.

[00:51:59] Did you see personally some changes with the upcoming of Instagram and the kind of photographers that sometimes this brings with it, Jan?

[00:52:10] Yeah, sadly, yes.

[00:52:14] And especially I would say in the last five years.

[00:52:18] In the beginning, it was not that drastically, not that of a drastically change.

[00:52:22] But in most recent years, there are a lot of people that were kind of questioned if they are really want to experience Iceland or if they only kind of focused on getting that shot, like the shot they like from this very same perspective, like everybody sees from maybe that waterfall.

[00:52:40] And I see how they kind of travel.

[00:52:43] I mean, it's white sneakers, so they're not going on any kind of hikes.

[00:52:47] I mean, they're still white on the last day of their trip.

[00:52:49] So yeah, they just stop their car and take some photos and they kind of rush it.

[00:52:53] And so I almost feel a little bit sad because, I mean, there's so much you can experience if you just slow down a little bit and maybe also take that hike.

[00:53:05] It doesn't have to be like that extreme hike, but there are so many places where there is no one.

[00:53:11] 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, experiencing that landscape for your own.

[00:53:23] And yeah, and then the other sad part is that people, there are more and more people started to ignore like fences.

[00:53:30] And then there are some areas that we kind of want to protect wildlife and nobody's kind of allowed in there.

[00:53:37] And people use drones in places where it's just not allowed, like right next to that sign.

[00:53:42] So it's, it really makes me angry because it kind of, in the end, it gets destroyed for everyone because they don't differentiate.

[00:53:49] If you're like an influencer or just someone who wants to take a photo for just a personal memory, you're just not allowed there anymore with the drone or like even on foot.

[00:53:58] So these places change quite quickly.

[00:54:02] And of course, Iceland has become, yeah, quite a popular tourist destination and the infrastructure needs to kind of hold up.

[00:54:09] And so they kind of build a lot of new parking places and, and the infrastructure for that.

[00:54:15] And like you have to pay for parking now in several places, which wasn't like that in the beginning.

[00:54:21] And I see a lot of big groups like photo tours, which also always wonder if it's kind of, you recreate the same photo like everybody else.

[00:54:29] So for me, I see why people do that, but I think these kinds of photo tours, they never really, I never got the idea that now in the end, you just come home with the same photo and they're standing in line next to each other.

[00:54:44] And, and all of, all the photos I see, it's kind of like, they know what they're doing.

[00:54:48] It's just, they don't really, I mean, for me personally, I, I, I try to go out and let inspiration find me.

[00:54:56] So it's sometimes I don't know what I'm doing there, but just, I hope that something inspires me.

[00:55:01] And, and if I know I go to that place and set up my tripod at a very spot, this very same spot and do that very same shot.

[00:55:09] It's nothing that it's, there's no inspirational part in that.

[00:55:14] So it's, there are days that just, you don't end up with any good shots, just part of the journey.

[00:55:20] But for me, I never kind of forced it.

[00:55:22] I just try to maximize the time out there and then see what speaks to me.

[00:55:26] But for that, you have to be maybe also on your own and not influenced by anything or anyone.

[00:55:32] So this is really the, for me, the most important ingredient.

[00:55:36] So I just don't invite a lot of friends on my tours because it's just, for me, I need that feeling that kind of sometimes can get quite lonely.

[00:55:46] And some days if you're just forcing it a little bit too much, but from that moment or from that feeling, a lot of, yeah, a lot of good work also can, can.

[00:55:56] Rice.

[00:55:57] So it's, it's an important, well, very important part of my work to really enjoy the purest form of landscape without distractions, without the car next to me, without hotel nearby.

[00:56:12] So that really shows, I guess, in some of the series.

[00:56:16] What's the most silent place you've ever been, Jan?

[00:56:20] The most silent place, I guess.

[00:56:24] The first place that comes into my mind is kind of the highlands in Iceland.

[00:56:29] Because you almost have no vegetation.

[00:56:32] And if you find vegetation, it's just moss and ditches or something that it's not really interacting with the wind.

[00:56:39] So you, and there's almost no birds.

[00:56:42] The birds are usually on the coastal areas like seagulls and the typical birds you find.

[00:56:48] And, but in the highlands, it's just sometimes it's so quiet.

[00:56:52] No trees.

[00:56:53] The rivers are there, but they're almost silent.

[00:56:56] Because it's not like a, like in Germany we have a lot of rivers, but there's usually a lot of current.

[00:57:01] So it's kind of moving and making a little bit of sound.

[00:57:04] But in Iceland, most of the rivers are not that deep.

[00:57:09] So they don't make sounds.

[00:57:11] And yeah, you kind of, sometimes it takes a while.

[00:57:15] You kind of feel that something is strange, but it's not something that pops into your head like right away.

[00:57:21] That it's the absence of sound, of any kind of sound.

[00:57:26] So Jan, I have to ask.

[00:57:27] We will ever see a Jan Weider in Africa or in the Gobi Desert?

[00:57:35] Yeah, I would, I would say yes, because desert especially is something that, I mean, I've explored all the icy deserts.

[00:57:43] But for example, Mongolia or like also Africa would be really interesting.

[00:57:49] Because yeah, the dunes and the sand and the textures, something that really fascinates me as well.

[00:57:56] A little bit thinking about opening up to different kind of geographical locations.

[00:58:02] Since my focus is, it's becoming more on the abstract element of landscapes.

[00:58:08] But of course, it's a lot of ice.

[00:58:10] But it's also a lot of water and sand and rocks.

[00:58:15] So maybe I will slowly use my name instead of north landscapes in the next couple of years to kind of make the first step to also open up to other types of landscapes.

[00:58:27] It will always be the abstract element.

[00:58:29] But I would think like, for example, the desert you mentioned, would be a good fit because I already have a lot of series from Iceland with sand and the colors are quite similar.

[00:58:40] And also like from some quarries in Germany.

[00:58:45] But you also can find some details that look like sand dunes, which are actually dunes, but not the big ones.

[00:58:52] But they look like could be also in the desert.

[00:58:54] So it wouldn't be a break from a, I mean, I would not be breaking with a visual language.

[00:59:00] I do have a lot of countries on my list that would be interesting.

[00:59:04] I like not countries, but specific locations.

[00:59:08] North of France, north of Spain, like the coastlines.

[00:59:11] Really interesting.

[00:59:13] I was thinking more climate-wise.

[00:59:16] How is your heat resistance?

[00:59:19] Let's say like 25 degrees Celsius.

[00:59:22] That's enough for me.

[00:59:23] And everything beyond 30, I just stopped working.

[00:59:26] So you cannot put me there.

[00:59:27] So I would have to kind of limit myself to interesting landscapes, which are not getting like crazy hot.

[00:59:35] Australia will be maybe the first exception.

[00:59:37] This is really something that I have a lot of colleagues.

[00:59:39] I saw so many photos.

[00:59:41] It's just, it's stunning.

[00:59:43] Like the landscapes you find there, like the abstract landscapes and the colors and textures.

[00:59:48] It's, yeah, maybe I have to kind of convince myself that.

[00:59:51] But usually, yeah, it's, it's more the, yeah, climate zones where I kind of grew up here in Germany.

[00:59:59] But we can also get like quite hot summers.

[01:00:01] So it's, that's usually why I kind of travel to Iceland in the summer and or Norway because it's more bearable.

[01:00:09] You will make it your, Jan.

[01:00:12] I think so.

[01:00:14] Last question.

[01:00:16] If ever a polar bear comes checking you out, what will you do?

[01:00:21] Hmm.

[01:00:22] If I'm in the middle of nowhere, I'll probably say my prayers because that's not a good thing because they're fast.

[01:00:29] They can be quite aggressive.

[01:00:31] So that's probably not a good idea.

[01:00:33] If I'm kind of protected, I will definitely take out my camera and capture some portraits of the polar bear.

[01:00:41] But yeah, it's usually not a good thing to see them too close.

[01:00:45] So one of the few bears that are really, I need food so badly that they usually will attack you.

[01:00:50] And it's just their instinct and all the other bears you can usually get away with.

[01:00:54] But the polar bear, not so much.

[01:00:56] So, and I'm not sure.

[01:00:58] I'm a tall guy, but I'm, yeah, I would stand a chance against the polar bear.

[01:01:03] So it's something I want to avoid getting too close.

[01:01:08] Jan, thanks a lot for the talk.

[01:01:10] Really enjoyable.

[01:01:11] I learned a lot.

[01:01:11] Thanks for having me.

[01:01:12] Again, I might have to put Iceland on my list for next year.

[01:01:18] I have some tips for you.

[01:01:20] I'm sure.

[01:01:21] Have a great evening still, Jan.

[01:01:23] We will be in touch and thanks for the talk.

[01:01:26] Thanks again.

[01:01:27] And have a nice evening as well.

[01:01:29] I see you around.

[01:01:30] Bye.

[01:01:30] Bye.

[01:01:32] And folks, that wraps up, I think, an inspiring conversation with Jan, where we explored his artistic vision,

[01:01:38] his dedication to abstract landscape photography, and his love for the cold, rugged beauty of the North.

[01:01:44] From discovering textures in glacier ice to standing two meters from flowing lava,

[01:01:49] I think Jan's journey is a testament to finding and embracing your unique creative voice through hard work, persistence, and passion, of course.

[01:01:58] As always, folks, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform,

[01:02:03] follow us for more weekly conversations with amazing photographers,

[01:02:06] and visit our website to join our newsletter for updates on upcoming episodes.

[01:02:11] Until next time, keep brewing your passion and keep on moving your photography.

[01:02:15] Adios.