Mieke Boynton, When the Light is Low (Landscape (2019))

Landscape photographers often do crazy things to capture a place in special light. Things like getting out of a warm bed at 3am and driving for hours to be somewhere special for sunrise, or lying in shallow water to get the perfect reflection, or battling sinking sand at the beach while lightning flashes ominously across the night sky, or hiking for hours in the dark to capture the perfectly-aligned Milky Way, or spending a small fortune on a helicopter to see a special location from above, or braving sub-zero temperatures to capture an aurora dancing. We battle fear of the dark, extreme weather conditions, dangerous creatures, slippery surfaces, runny noses, sweat in our eyes, and frozen fingers and toes... but we embrace the adrenaline and we get to feel the raw joy of being truly alive and "at one" with Nature. This series of images was taken at locations in Namibia, Iceland, Norway, and Australia, and each one is connected to a wonderful story that will remain vivid in my mind and heart forever.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.