Photographing a climber can be difficult. Climbers prefer the shade, as cooler temperatures provide more friction between skin and rock, but cameras don’t, as shade can lead to overexposed backgrounds and underexposed foregrounds. That, coupled with the fact that the best climbing shots often require some form of rigging, means getting a shot like this one is a little out of a regular photographer’s comfort zone.
“We had planned to grab some cool climbing shots but in the end, this image of Jimbo mid-air was the shot we felt captured the intensity of the climb.”
Category Winner: Wings
Photographer: Micky Wiswedel
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
A frozen and foggy morning led to a spontaneous decision to shoot BASE jumpers parachuting from a lighthouse in the waterways of the Gulf of Finland. Only one image survived the extreme conditions and we’re glad it lived for us to see it.
“I looked up from the ground to see the drone indicate an error with the compass. I decided to lift it up. The battery then reached optimal temperature and it started jolting because the engine was frozen!”
Category Finalist:
Masterpiece by Yodobashi
Photographer: Victor Sukhorukov
Camera: DJI Phantom 3
Lorenz Holder had always dreamed of shooting an action sports picture with a drone, so when he found a swimming platform in a Swiss alpine lake, he knew he had found the dream location. He asked skateboarder Cedric Romanens to help him create the shot and they produced a piece of art.
“For this shot, timing was everything because the whole shot is created by Cedric’s shadow — and that had to be in the right spot and the right angle to be symmetric.”
Category Finalist: New Creativity
Photographer: Lorenz Holder
Camera: DJI Phantom 3
It’s about the length a photographer is willing to go to get their shot that makes real magic happen. Photographer Jan Kasl, captures the action from the bottom up, burying himself ankle-deep in mud and finding the best angle to shoot Red Bull’s Winch Sessions. This image was taken looking up through a gap on a remote lake in Slovakia.
“The guys were sending huge tricks, which made my shot even better! This shot is a real metaphor for the way to success. The slippery wall reflects the hard way to reach the stars from the very bottom and get to the world of professional athletes.”
Category Finalist: Wings
Photographer: Jan Kasl
Camera: Nikon D4
There’s something either whimsical, comforting or worrisome about seeing a bunch of war-birds fly over Budapest’s parliament building. Luckily, it’s just a series about the Red Bull Air Race and an experimental photograph for a photographer who usually shoots skateboarding, BMX and car racing.
“I decided to shoot a sequence which could show the rapid change of direction of the airplanes. I was curious also to see how an image could demonstrate height and speed. I was also interested in how wind and smoke would behave in a sequence photo.”
Category Finalist: Sequence by Sony
Photographer: Balazs Palfi
Camera: Nikon D3
Photographer Kuba Konwent waited two years to get this shot — and this jump. Having only skydived since 2014, he had to gain more experience to jump with a camera. That didn’t stop him capturing this energy-fuelled skydiving shot though; he simply mounted a camera to the plane’s wing with a special mount that he made himself.
“The night-jump shot was on my mind since August 2014 when I learned that my dropzone organises this kind of jump once a year. My first try was unsuccessful, because of so much humidity in the autumn air. I had to wait another year. But it was worth it.”
Category Finalist: Energy
Photographer: Kuba Konwent
Camera: Nikon D700
This is an intriguing photograph that makes us take a second look. Firstly, there aren’t any waves and we have no clue as to where on earth it was taken. Kitesurfing inside an active volcano is something professional kitesurfer Elvis Nunes dreamed about every night before he made it a reality alongside photographer, Rein Rijke. After much negotiation, the duo were allowed 30 minutes to make it happen.
“The moment I looked over the edge, I knew I had the chance to make a shot that was different to all my other kitesurfing photos. The whole crater was covered in salt evaporation ponds that looked like stained glass windows.”
Category Finalist: Playground
Photographer: Rein Rijke
Camera: Nikon D4
Photographers are constantly thinking about angles. What angle would give me the best shot? How can I shoot something a little differently? That’s what led to the eureka moment for Ale Di Lullo. He realised that his epic shot could be created from the place that we all spend most of our lives — a car. Knowing that with every great photograph comes a great background, he threw in NYC with its iconic bridges. The cherry on top of all that? The photograph was shot from one of New York’s iconic yellow cabs. The result? Hollywood action at its best.
“Nobody had done an extreme sport shot from inside the car having the rider riding on the windshield.”
Category Winner: New Creativity
Photographer: Ale Di Lullo
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X
