We dare say that the internet would be a completely different thing if not for the numerous communities that have grown to call it home by now.
One such community that has graced the internetscapes with its extremely talented approach to online fellowship can be found on Reddit. The seemingly largest community of landscape photographers and Earth lovers celebrate all things Mother Earth through their photo lenses. And we’re all better because of it.
Stick around as the article features an interview with one of the photographers in the community, Marcin Zając.
#1 I’ve Been Trying To Get This Shot For Four Years…last Week, Everything Finally Came Together While Backpacking Around Mt Baker
#2 A Lonely Tree Under The Milky Way In Wanaka, New Zealand By Mike Mackinven
#3 You Might Have Seen It Before, But Here’s That One Place In Indonesia With A Volcano Behind Waterfalls
The Reddit community is home to 23.6 million members—one that includes everyone from photography amateurs, enthusiasts, and professionals to simply folks who appreciate the planet we live on.
The subreddit was created in early 2011 and is ranked #18 by size as of this article.
#4 The Spectacle Of Frozen Methane Bubbles At Abraham Lake, Alberta, Canada
#5 So Glad I Got Up For This -15°f Sunrise. There’s Only A Handful Of Days In The Year Where The Morning Light Lines Up Perfectly With The Hole In Hollow Rock. Grand Portage, MN
#6 Friend Told Me My Tree From The Gods Picture Will Be Appreciated. Vermont
It features pretty much exactly what the community’s description on Reddit says—landscape photography. The subreddit’s rules do state that all pictures must mainly focus on the land, it can’t be silhouetted.
If an image does happen to be more focused on the sky, there’s a place for that too. And if the image includes people or human-made objects, there’s another place for that too.
#7 Caught This Incredible Exploding Meteor When I Went To Rattlesnake Lake In Washington, USA Last Weekend. Zoom In To See The Exact Moment It Explodes In Two
#8 Quite Possibly The Most Beautiful Morning Of My Life. Mount Hood, Oregon
#9 I Camped In The New Mexico Desert To Capture The Milky Way Over An Alienlike Landscape
We reached out to one of the community’s prominent landscape photographers, Marcin Zając. Born in Poland and based in Northern California, Marcin is a software engineer who spends his free time chasing light and scenery with his camera.
“After graduating from university, I moved to the United States for work,” added Marcin, “I took advantage of this opportunity by traveling around the western US and fell in love with the natural landscapes there. I bought a camera to document my travels and that quickly became a big passion of mine.”
#10 The Moon Setting On The Oregon Coast
#11 A Cave In New Zealand Lit Just By Glow Worms
#12 My Photo Of Fjaðrárgljúfur Was Removed Yesterday. Here Is Another Version
Martin has a lot of memorable moments documented on his Instagram. One of his bigger successes—one that netted him nearly 50,000 upvotes on Reddit several years back—was The Magic Mushroom shot.
In the photo, Marcin eternalized a mushroom-shaped hoodoo that stands tall in the New Mexico badlands with the Milky Way in the background.
#13 Huge Storm Incoming, Wetterau, Germany
#14 Mother Nature’s Color Palette Is Incredible. Broome, Western Australia
#15 I Went For A Walk In The Forest And Came Upon This Ponderosa Pine Tree That Had Been Struck By Lightning. I Called The Forest Service And They Eventually Extinguished It, But Not Before I Had Time To Get Some Photos. Near Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Marcin tends to catch moments with clear-blue skies, but he thought the reddish cloud clusters added a whole lot of interest to the scene.
“Before going on the trip, I researched the area to find the most interesting rock formations,” elaborated Marcin. “I didn’t know the location of this ‘mushroom rock’, but I found it while hiking during the day. After sunset, I came back to this location to capture the night sky there.”
Fun fact, the shot looks like it was taken during sunset, but, in reality, it was light pollution coming in from nearby towns.
#16 The Witch Tree, Running For European Tree Of The Year, The Netherlands
#17 It Took Me 3 Years To Get A Permit To Visit This Surreal Rock Formation Called The Wave In Arizona – It Was Worth It!
#18 The Dragon Tree, Sweden
You might think that shots like The Magic Mushroom essentially only need some good gear and a steady hand. But there’s a lot more at play. Like, a lot.
One of the bigger challenges that Marcin points out is just how dependent the shot is on the weather conditions: “I will often visit the same location multiple times to capture it in the best conditions. When the weather conditions are worse than expected, it can be disappointing. At the same time, when everything aligns, there is nothing more rewarding than being there to see and capture it.”
#19 A Rare Cloud Inversion During Sunrise At Mt St Helens, Washington
#20 Eclipse Phases Over Brasstown Bald, Georgia
#21 It Took An Entire Day Searching For A Single Formation But I Finally Found The Alien Throne In New Mexico’s Badlands
Another crucial factor in making a photograph work is post-processing. Just like all the surreal photos you see of space phenomena like nebulae and clusters of stars, landscape photos too need to undergo the same photo manipulation treatment.
Marcin notes that post-processing provides opportunities to enhance the natural beauty captured through the photo lens. It’s what helps bring out the details that truly matter because otherwise they might not be visible in the raw file.
#22 I Took This Shot Last Year With A Broken Lens And Bad Techniques. Re-Visited With Better Techniques And Working Gear. This Is The Result! Downeast, Maine
#23 I’ve Been Told This Looks Like Two Photos! Autumn In The Lake District
#24 The Night Sky Over Mt Rainier And A Field Of Wildflowers
And even then, if you are a master at scouting out spots, image manipulation, and probably gifted with the power to change the weather (optional, can be substituted with patience), that’s still not all. There is the already mentioned technical factor where you actually need good equipment as well as good planning skills and an extra measure of good luck.
#25 I Could Talk About How I Hiked 100 Miles In Iceland, But The Best Photo I Took Was Only A 2-Minute Walk From The Parking Lot!
#26 Rainbow Mountain In Peru Peaks At Just Over 17,000 Feet
#27 The Most Perfect Beach, Esperance, Western Australia
Above all else, there’s composition and light. “Without an interesting composition, even the most stunning scenery can fall flat in a photograph,” explains Marcin.
“Composition helps guide the viewer’s eye, creating a sense of balance and harmony within the frame. It allows you to tell a story or convey a specific mood or emotion. Light is equally vital because it not only illuminates the landscape but also sets the mood and adds depth to the scene.”
#28 I Have Shared Plenty Of Korean Pine Trees, But Without A Doubt This Is My New Favorite One, Jeolla Bukdo, South Korea
#29 After Waiting Out A Major Blizzard In Montana, Was Treated To One Of The Best Sunset Views I Can Imagine. Glacier National Park, Montana
#30 A Long Exposure In Pitch Black Darkness Reveals The Moody Side Of Haukland Beach (Lofoten) In Norway
Be sure to glance at Marcin’s Instagram page and give him a follow, as well as check out his website and store for more breathtaking snaps of nature and all things beautiful.
And if you haven’t had your fill of nature, go outside. Or not. You can appreciate nature all the same in this subreddit. Or if you can’t be bothered with that, why not just leave a comment of your favorite natural landscape in the comment section below!
#31 Woke Up At 5am To Catch The Tulips With Morning Mist, The Netherlands
#32 I Recently Moved To Alaska From Texas. It’s A Bit Different Here
#33 Did You Know There Is Another Rock Like The Old Man Of Storr On The Isle Of Skye ?
#34 A Frost Storm Colored The Trees White. Bavaria, Germany
#35 A Winding River In The Adirondack Mountains, NY
#36 It’s A Little Unnerving When You Wake Up In The Morning And Find These Right Outside Your Tent… – Gates Of The Arctic National Park, Alaska
#37 This Mountain Creek Rißbach Is In Fact Also The Border Between Germany And Austria
#38 First Snow In Yosemite. El Capitan Getting Lit Up Just Before The Sunsets
#39 That Wanaka Tree, Wanaka – New Zealand
#40 Supermoon Over The Three Fingers, Washington State
#41 The Most Beautiful Sunrise I’ve Photographed, Rocky Mountains, Colorado
#42 Our Honeymoon Trek Earlier This Month In Torres Del Paine – Chile
#43 Fiefall. Yosemite Ca
#44 When My Sunrise Alarm Went Off I Heard Rain Coming Down On My Tent And I Almost Went Back To Sleep But I Decided To Peak Outside Anyway And I Witnessed The Best Sunrise I’ve Ever Seen (Tombstone Territorial Park, Yt, Ca)
#45 Its Alright To Stand Out In A Crowd. The Enchantments, Washington
#46 Probably The Easiest Shot You Can Take In Zion And Arguably The Best Spot! Zion National Park
#47 I Rarely Get Lucky With Nice Sunsets While Visiting Cool Locations, But This Was One Of The Times. Hvítserkur, Northern Iceland
#48 I Was Lucky Enough To Witness This Incredible Sunrise At Crater Lake National Park (Or) Last Weekend
#49 Sat In A Deck Chair To Get This Shot Of Langkofel In The Dolomites
#50 Starting My NY2019 Resolution Early By Taking More Pictures. Banff, Canada
