Unsplash Untold. The stories behind the photos.
Edition 6
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.
After a long day of backpacking, I snapped this photo on Zion National Park’s West Rim Trail at about 7,000 feet. In the dark hush of night, my group was awestruck by the luster and enormity of the Milky Way Galaxy. Full of couscous and warm cider, we each were rendered silent in wonder. It brought to mind a quote from I often think of when staring at the heavens and mull over the triviality of my problems:
“Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.” — Carl Sagan
About the photographer: A journalist by trade but a photographer at heart, Bobby Burch for years has toted his camera on adventures around the world to capture the world’s natural beauty — often from the door of his tent. Bobby is 28 and lives in Kansas City.
I was visiting the Big Island of Hawaii with some friends and family, and my brother convinced the group to take a lava tour by boat. I always kind of balk a little bit at overtly touristy stuff like that, but I think everyone was a pretty shocked when we got our first look at the Kalapana Lava Flow after about a half hour boat trip down the coast.
It’s such an awesome, phantasmagorical sight and, since they actually get surprisingly close to the spots where the rivers of lava meet the ocean and throw up sulfurous steam clouds, also a pretty visceral sensory experience.
About the photographer: Buzz Andersen is a 39 year old, living in Brooklyn, NY.
This photo was taken atop Padar Island in Indonesia. I was fortunate enough to be invited by Tourism Indonesia to visit as a state guest to capture their country through my own interpretation of how I view their beautiful country. Obtaining this photo was not an easy feat as we had to speed boat 3 hours from land to the island, followed by a small dinghy bringing us to shore, and a hike up a dirt/rock covered track (kudos to my model for doing so with a dress!) all whilst chasing the sunset light to reach the top.
We never made it to the top of the mountain otherwise we would have lost the light, but managed to find this spot not too far from the top. This was a lesson to me that you don’t always necessarily have to be on top to have the best view, sometimes the best moments and places are the ones we often scoot past because we’re too focused on what’s next, and what’s not right in front of us.
About the photographer: Vinh Pham is a 24 year old living in Sydney.
It was my first time at “Embalse el Yeso”, Santiago de Chile. You have to cross a risky road before arriving. It’s an amazing place, very isolated, you don’t even have phone signal.
I took this photo because it shows how do you feel there. Just you and the giant mountains, like David against Goliath, me against my fears.
About the photographer: Rod Sot is a 30 year old living in Santiago, Chile.
San Francisco always leaves me spellbound and curious. They say you should consider yourself lucky to live in a place like this from your dreams. I don’t think it is the one from my dreams because I never dreamt this grand. So enthralled by the beauty of a summer sunset at Seal Rocks. A perfect place to spend my weekend evenings.
About the photographer: Saksham Gangwar is a San Francisco based photographer and an outdoor enthusiast, who is always on the search for new experiences and trying to hold still those best moments in life, forever.
This photo was taken the first time I went to Yosemite. Not only was it my first time visiting, but also was the first time I climbed Half Dome. It was an amazing time. Three of us did the track, and it was painful but so rewarding.
This was after a massive thunderstorm that rumbled through the whole valley the whole night before. All of which gave us amazing clouds and beautiful blue skies in some areas.
About the photographer: Juan Arreguin is a 28 year old freelance product designer traveling Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea. Living in San Francisco, on a rainy day he goes out and shoots nature as he finds that the clouds give a moody perspective to the world.
