Golden birch

Herfried Marek's Image

When Herfried woke one October morning and looked out of the window of his home in Wörschach, Austria, he was taken by surprise at the transformation.

Everything was covered with a thin blanket of white. Heading straight out ‘to capture some of the magic’ with his camera, he found one of his favourite silver birches glowing through a dusting of fresh snow. The green and gold diamond-shaped leaves were delicately edged with frost. The pattern of the leaves softly cascading down the slender, snow-covered twigs was offset by the solid trunk, its silvery-white bark cracked with age and encrusted with lichen and algae. Framing and reframing, he finally settled on a composition. The ethereal quality of the picture was enhanced by the white backdrop of freezing fog.


Behind the lens

Herfried Marek

Herfried Marek

Austria

Herfried’s love for nature photography stems from his desire to reveal how fascinating nature is, to raise awareness and inspire conservation. Most of his pictures are taken in his native Austria, where he works as a nature photographer and a loan broker. He has won many national and international awards, has collaborated on several books and produces an annual calendar.

Image details

  • Nikon D4
  • 28–300mm f3.5–5.6 lens at 200mm
  • 1/200 sec at f14 (+0.6 e/v)
  • Pyhrnbach, Liezen, Austria
Copyright in WPY competition photographs remains the property of the respective photographers. You may not copy, share, reproduce or republish the photographs except as expressly permitted by copyright law. For media image usage enquiries, please contact us.

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Skating on sunlight

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