TITLE: On the shore

High Tatras, Slovakia. Tatra lakes called "ponds." Deep glacial basins filled with water. High rock walls, lofty crags, clouds gliding across the sky and the sun are reflected in their smooth sheets. In the distance one can hear the sound of streams flowing down from the mountains. Sometimes their surface turns white with an ice floe.
The photos in this series were taken in the autumn of 2021 at the Green Kežmar Pond (Zelené pleso Kežmarské, 1545 m) and the Rocky mountain Pond (Skalnaté pleso, 1751 m), in the summer of 2020 at the Lower Temnosmrečinský Pond (Nižné Temnosmrečinské pleso, 1677 m) and in the summer of 2019 at the Great Hincovo Pond (Veľké Hincovo pleso, 1946 m).
The dark sepia shade adds mystery and, at the same time, some warmth to this set.
I took the photographs digitally using an ultra-wide-angle lens and optical filters: neutral density filter (10 stops of light reduction) to extend the exposure time of the matrix in photos 2 and 3 and graduated ND filters.

AUTHOR: Michał Woźniakowski (Poland)

Two greatest passions in life: photography and mountains. They have accompanied me since childhood, when (in the 80s and 90s) after every trip I transformed my flat into a photographic darkroom, spending many hours and days there. I graduated from a secondary art school, and then I graduated in architecture (I practice my proffesion), but my old dreams of devoting my life to photography have returned. The craving of more and more perfect frames is now stronger than ever in me.
It's an approach built much more around intrinsic motivation. Around the desire to do things because they matter, because we like it, because they're interesting, because they are part of something important.
Of all the subjects, taking pictures of landscapes (especially mountain) is the closest to me and gives me extraordinary satisfaction. I certainly feel that it is like an incurable disease. It is manifested in the inherent willingness to capture and share with the others the fleeting and exceptional images encountered on the trail.
Trips several times a year to different parts of Poland and Europe, alpine tourism and climbing – all of them are my mountain background. Very often my trips are inspired by someone else`s photographs. I would like mine to inspire others, to encourage them to commune with nature, and when they cannot touch this beauty here and now, at least remind them that beyond everyday life there is a vast, majestic world.
My photos received awards and distinctions in competitions organized by: Union of Polish Wildlife Photographers, Lodz Photographic Society operating in my home town (I belong to these organisations) and other Polish cultural institutions. My photographs were presented in post-competition exhibitions in international competitions. In 2020 I got an honorable mention in XXI International Biennale of Mountain Photography for the work (series) "Afterimages", while in 2022 in XXII edition of this competition I got the first prize for the work (series) "Stroked by the Liptov wind". In 2021, I got two honorable mentions in the MonoVisions Photography Awards (works "Kinetics of Light" and "Veils, voiles").
Currently I use mainly digital technique in my work - I apply post processing, but also traditional filters mounted on the lens.

More information about me and my photographs can be found at:
• www.mw-fotografia.pl
• facebook.com/MWMOUNTAINPHOTO