Unsplash Untold. The stories behind the photos.
Edition 5
Each week we share short snippets, direct from the photographers themselves, that give a brief background to some of the photos that are available on Unsplash along with a little more about the people who took them.
This photo was taken right at the beginning of a trail called Lily Pad Trail in Silverthorne, CO — you can actually see it here. This trail actually goes at least a mile into the woods. I’ve been up here before and I knew that I just wanted to go right past the trailhead and try to get views of the forest from above.
It was pretty windy when I got up there but once the wind died down some I got it in the air and went to take photos of as many trees as I could (not much else over there). I was also with my dad, who accompanies me on many of these trips out to Colorado. It’s kinda “our thing” we do. Going to try and get this shot was actually our mini-adventure during halftime for the football game. The timing was perfect.
This was the second flight with the new drone actually! I had rented one before (see here) and thought I could pull off taking a lot more photos on my regular trips to Colorado. I think I’m already right and it’s a lot of fun being able to get a totally different view of things.
Being able to jump out and get a shot like this is what makes me love these drones. You don’t need a long battery for it and that shot was very, very slightly edited in Lightroom. There just isn’t much work involved in the shot. Just some timing, fun people to go with, and you always seem to end up with a story afterwards. Pretty hard to beat that.
About the photographer: Nathan Anderson is a 21 year old designer that lives in Knoxville, TN. His grandfather introduced him to photography and to this day it’s what motivated him to go take more photos.
This photo was taken on a snorkel trip out a few miles off the coast of Oahu. I had seen an add for swimming with sharks and couldn’t pass the opportunity up. They took us on a boat out to spot in the ocean where the sharks gathered and we just jumped in no cage or anything! There were at least 40+ sharks by the guides estimate. It was one of the most surreal and coolest experiences of my life to share the open ocean with these creatures! I happened to snap this photo with my GoPro.
About the photographer: Jakob Owens is a filmmaker and photographer from Los Angeles California.
The location that we were at was a recently abandoned greenhouse near a populated town in Latvia. One of our favorite places to get in touch with nature in a more unusual way, embrace the mood of the season and unwind from reality and the stress of every day life.
About the photographer: Sandis Helvigs is an 18 year old based in Latvia.
The church is called Grundtvigs Kirke and is the centerpiece of this little residential area of Copenhagen. It’s a beautiful church built out of something like 5 million yellow bricks — all the houses surrounding the church are made out of these same bricks so it’s really ties the community together.
I love visiting churches and cathedrals in Europe because they’re all are so old and beautifully built. You can’t find such amazing structures like this in America (obviously, the country is just not old enough). They’re engineering marvels but they also represent a fading belief in religious architecture that could awe and inspire. Basically, they just don’t build them like they used to.
Surprisingly, Grundtvigs Kirke was finished as recently as 1940, and it’s clean modern lines give this away a little bit, but when you step inside and are struck by these towering columns and soft yellow glow of the bricks, you’ll think you’re in a centuries old gothic cathedral. It’s hands down one of my new favorite churches.
About the photographer: John Towner is a 33 year old, living and shooting in Oakland, California.
I captured this elderly couple as they passed us by during our hike in Roháče valley in West Tatras (mountains bordering Poland and Slovakia). Each year around the end of September (our tradition dates back to 2011) we cherish the opportunity to meet for 3–4 days with our mates and we travel from one hut to the other with our heavy backpacks. Of course each night we also drink local beers and play a tournament in a game of Liar’s Dice!
About the photographer: Michał Parzuchowski is a 37 year old, who lives in Gdansk, Poland. A Social Psychologist, Michał works as an Assistant Professor at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Sopot.
This is the sacred Sanghyang Djaran. A classical Balinese performance, told through fire and trance dance. The barefoot horse man moves around and through a bonfire made from coconut husks, kicking and dancing in a state of trance.
I was excited to travel to Indonesia to explore it’s abundant greenery and beautiful environments… I never knew I’d stumble across something this magical.
About the photographer: Joshua Newton is a Product Designer and Photographer currently designing apps in London.
This photo was taken at Dreamland in Margate on the Kent coast in the UK. Dreamland is an old pleasure park recently refurbished in all its retro glory. The roller disco has been a feature for decades and the neon lights, the pastel colours and the great disco music make it a great place to hang out, even for non skaters like me.
Aboue the photographer: Charlotte Coneybeer is 37, lives in London with her family and documents their adventures on her blog Baking Betsy.
