The olympusXplorers are a group of young and talented photographers who travel the world always looking for the beauty of nature and humanity. Being equipped with the reliable OM-D system of Olympus no destination is unreachable. Due to the system the olympusXplorers have every freedom to realize their creativity.
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Hannes Becker, Germany
Hannes Becker is a freelance photographer from Germany specializing in outdoors, adventures and landscapes. He grew up in a rural area which significantly shaped his photographic style. Passionate about travelling, he has used the platform Instagram for the last five years to share his impressions on a daily basis and he quickly became one of the world's biggest outdoor photography influencer. In order to inspire the viewer and portray his experiences realistically, his photos tell stories of his travels and also incorporate his personal interpretation with particular importance on composition and mood.
"Over the years I shot with many different cameras that I also took with me along my travels. Some failed and some did pretty well. My favorite one so far is the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II."
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Daniel Ernst, Germany
Daniel is a 28 year old self taught freelance photographer from Frankfurt, Germany. His work as a photo-creator and story-teller takes him to many remote places around the world, always reflecting his passions. Inspired by nature, his work mainly focuses on the outdoors, adventure and lifestyle. To offer a documentation of his travels on a daily basis, he started using the social media platform Instagram a year ago.
"As a full time landscape and adventure photographer I spend most of the year on the road travelling to new countries and hiking to remote places of this earth. Being in nature is the greatest source of inspiration for my photography as well as for my personal life. It’s a place to empty my head and get rid of thoughts, to remember what's important in life."
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Lennart Pagel, Germany
Lennart’s fascination for freezing a vanishing moment with a camera already started in his childhood. However, it wasn’t until he moved to northern California after high school that he discovered his love and passion for landscape photography. The vast and often dramatic landscapes of the US west coast had left a mark on him. After moving back to Germany in 2015 he went on a search to find spectacular scenes in his home country and people to explore them with. He found both. Today, the 26-year-old is studying psychology in Gießen, but takes every possible chance to explore Germany’s wild corners and other stunning countries across the globe. He’s also part of Europe’s largest outdoor photographers collective, the German Roamers. While he often works hard to get „the perfect shot“, he finds it important that his journeys are not all about the photo. Being in the moment, enjoying community and taking in the raw beauty of creations is equally as valuable. The photo serves as a tool to capture the experience and allows others to take part in it.
"What does it take to be a perfect travel companion on such a journey into the unknown? At least these three things. Flexibility, capability and reliability. Flexibility: Due to its light weight I could easily bring the OM-D camera and several lenses onto every hike we went on. This meant that even when I didn’t know what scene I would encounter next, I was prepared to capture it."
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Leo Thomas, Germany
Leo is a freelance photographer from Trier, Germany. Fuelled by his passion for nature, his work mainly focuses on outdoor and adventure photography. On his travels, he is always searching for the unique landscapes of this planet, presented in the perfect light. One of his main goals is to find places where the supposed counterparts of nature and anything human-related shake hands and actually create beautiful scenery together. With his post-production, he adds his own touch to each image, creating a consistent visual language. He has been inspiring his followers to go outside and explore our beautiful planet by presenting his work on Instagram on a daily basis for two years.
"I’m fascinated by the variety of nature. There are oceans, mountains, deserts, forests… and places that combine all of them together. It makes me feel alive when I’m in the midst of a dramatic landscape. It’s humbling, refreshing and gives me a peaceful state of mind. One thing that I really enjoy as well is when the counterparts of nature and man-made things, like a bridge or a cabin etc., combine to create beautiful scenery together. They so often seem to be in conflict with each other- so finding a place where both components are in harmony is very special to me."
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Max Fischer, Germany
Since he studies at a University that’s surrounded by some beautiful nature in the Harz Mountains, Max started hiking. On those hikes, he began to take some photos. Afterwards, he began to develop a passion for landscape photography and wanted to share the beauty of his home grounds.
"You can draw lots of inspiration just from seeing new places, but also from the surroundings – experience the culture of your destination, get to know the local food. Its these little things that just kind of opens your eyes. The most inspiring thing for me though, and that’s probably what made me do landscape photography, is the nature itself."
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Roman Königshofer, Germany
Roman Königshofer is a photographer & filmmaker from Innsbruck, Austria and loves being outdoors. He did study design but the work behind the screen wasn't for him. As a passionate sports guy he followed the call of the mountains, the ocean, the wilderness – his footprints are everywhere. The camera is always with him and he opens visual worlds for his viewers; full of longing, desire for adventure, and depth. Capturing moments which maybe last just for seconds is what fascinates him most. Mother Nature with its always changing conditions is his biggest source of inspiration. His images motivate people to do the same and spend more time outside and sometimes they just make them aware of how beautiful our planet is.
"Traveling taught me so much and was extremely eye opening. It did and still does show me that the people think differently all over the globe but at the same time we all have the similar desires and just want to live in peace. I’m very grateful for the opportunities I had already because for many people traveling is just not possible. For those who can, it is best school in the world. I personally love to stay as long as possible at a place to really immerse myself in the surroundings."
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Max Münch, Germany
Max is a Berlin based freelance photographer spezialised in outdoor, landscape and adventure. By following his passion to travel, he captures the beauty and diversity of our planet, always looking for a fresh perspective and the unique light. Recently exhibited in New York City by Instagram as one of its best photographers in 2015, his photography works as the key link between an engaged community and progressive companies as well as modern brands & tourism boards.
"Spread your wings and escape from the hustle and bustle of life, off to new horizons to refresh your mind and to seek the adventure. Because only those who know what wanderlust means, can tell the others where the paradise begins."
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Marvin Kuhr, Germany
Marvin is a German-based photographer who loves taking pictures of landscapes. About one year ago, during his first trip to Iceland, he realised how beautiful our planet is and since then he could not stop traveling. As often as possible he tries to escape the everyday life and when he is not home you’ll most likely find him exploring nature or travelling around the globe with his camera.
"It is all about the memories, and the best thing about memories is making them."
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Tobias Schnorpfeil, Germany
Aiming to find the unexpected, Tobi Schnorpfeil has been discovering the world’s secret spots through his lens for more than five years. The self-taught filmmaker from Germany’s countryside started his career on YouTube, quickly seeing some of his travel films grow to more than 100.000 views and attracting major international brands to work with him on filmmaking and Social Media projects. Focusing on adventure travel filmmaking and photography Tobi saw growing numbers on Instagram as well, enabling him to gain experience in Social Media marketing and eventually co-found the tech-based travel startup Mapify as its Head of Content. Today, Tobi not only manages a growing base of Social Media Ambassadors for Mapify, he still puts international brands into the spotlight. He spends his free time traveling and bouldering.
"We have to go beyond the expected to see the unexpected."
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Tobias Meyer, Switzerland
Born near Biel, Switzerland in 1994 - with a love for outdoors and the adventure. Inspired by humans and nature, with the desire to escape the daily routines and comfort zones. Taught by several professional and commercial photographers based in Bern during assistant internships between 2014 and 2016.
"Using my love and inner fire for photography to document my adventures in a creative way."
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Konsta Punkka, Finland
Konsta Punkka is a worldwide published wildlife, adventure & landscape photographer and speaker. He is specialised to capture expressions and feelings of wildlife around the world. Konsta Punkka started his career as 17 years old when photography hobby turned into a full time job.
"Travelling for me is not about where you travel it’s about travelling to the right places at the right time of the year to capture those special moments and capturing the emotions and feelings of wildlife."
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Rob Strok, USA
Rob Strok is an aspiring photographer and video maker based in Seattle, Washington. He shoots a lot of travel, adventure and lifestyle photography.
"Travel allows me to learn about life - to think outside the box. Every time I visit a new place I am greeted with a different culture, a different setting, and a new story to be told. Growing up as a child I only dreamed of traveling, of breaking the routine and experiencing something new. Now that I have the ability, I am addicted."
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Ben Simon Rehn, Iceland
Ben started taking photos about a year and a half ago and it was just a coincidence. Instagram and local photographers inspired him to just buy a camera and start. He lives in Iceland, but was born in Germany. Iceland offers the best conditions for photography to him and he's grateful to be there right now. He loves the ever changing weather conditions and the light as it is truly special.
"What I like most about travel is the discovery of the new. It enlarges my horizons and my perspective of how I see the world. Experiencing different cultures, landscapes, animals and climates became addictive to me these past few years. Reaching spots where not many people have been before gives me a special thrill every time. All in all it is the journey, the people you meet, the smells, laughs and the lessons you learn during your travel, something that makes you feel alive and what life should really be all about. During this I take photos and try to portray the best moments and emotions I find in animals, landscapes and people. Like my own diary, just in pictures."
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Donal Boyd, Iceland
Donal’s imagery and captions probe his audience to think deeper about the world and to consider the connections we all share. He’s deeply passionate about wildlife conservation and much of his work focuses on promoting projects involved with protecting fragile ecosystems around the world. Donal was born and raised in Boston, MA, USA, but is now permanently based in Southern Iceland since 2015. He currently splits his time between roaming the sub-arctic landscape of Iceland in his Land Rover Defender and exploring other nearby arctic regions and traveling throughout Sub-Saharan Africa contributing to conservation initiatives across the region.
"As a photographer, I’m quite the essentialist. My gear travels wherever I do. Atop mountains, across rivers, behind waterfalls, and beyond."
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Benjamin Hardman, Iceland
Benjamin Hardman is an Australian photographer residing in Iceland. Benjamin works to blend digital media with fixed aesthetic principles through textural contrasts and natural obscurities within the landscape. Channeling between portrayals of stark wilderness and refined conceptual pieces, his work encapsulates the seasonal change that grips Iceland throughout the year.
"I see travel as a means to document the ever-changing conditions as a landscape develops through time. Travel is not only defined as a journey to see new things, but also to re-explore areas that we’ve already experienced in the past and analyzing the finer details and subtle changes that surround us in those places. What drives me most to get out and travel are those moments when you’ve pushed through the harsh conditions, finally gaining a visual of a new season as it falls upon a landscape and picking up a camera to capture it all. Nature is alive."'
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Frauke Hameister, Germany
Frauke has a passion for all the good things in life: exploring new places, camping on top of mountains, making friends by the campfire, endless road trips and languages. After school she moved from Germany to Canada, where the love for the great outdoors started and she is happy that it’s been with her ever since. Right now she is doing what she loves most: creating memories in countries far from home.
"Even though a picture will only tell a glimpse of the actual experience, it’s probably the best way to use it as a return ticket to that very moment."
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Jonas Skorpil, Germany
Jonas Skorpil is a 23-year-old student and photographer based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He is working in the field of photography, filmmaking and content creating for more than five years. His friends just call him an outdoor enthusiast because of his passion to travel the world.
"As a filmmaker and photographer I always search for the new. Traveling gets me so quickly into new challenges and perspectives. But to me, a fun challenge that I enjoy conquering time and time again. When I am in a new environment, I want to explore all of it. Sitting inside and chill can be fun sometimes, but going out and find what this place is all about sounds more interesting for me. "
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Giulia Woergartner, Italy
Giulia loves exploring, hiking, camping, and taking in the beauty of the mountains and wilderness right at her doorstep. With her yellow jacket and a camera in her hand, she is constantly chasing the adventure and exploring beautiful corners of this world.
"I love traveling because of the experiences and the memories that go along with every journey and adventure. I love seeing places for the first time especially when I saw many photos of that place and finally create my very own perspective of it. Traveling opens up your mind and turns you into a more curious and outgoing person. The feeling of coming back home and having all those great memories through photographs is just priceless. As much as I love traveling around the world, the Dolomites are still my favourite place to capture."