WINNER CATEGORY PLANTS AND FUNGI
Rupert Kogler| Heat of Hoar

Name: Rupert Kogler
Picture title: Heat of Hoar
Category: Plants and fungi
Nationality: Austria
Occupation: Full-time photographer

Technical information
Camera: Canon EOS 5DIII
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
EXIF: 1/200 sec, f4.0, ISO 500, 75mm, +2/3 EV
Accessories: Handheld shot, no accessories.

Rupert Kogler says:

Close to my hometown of Linz, Austria, there’s a hill partially covered with some nice forests. And since in late autumn, there’s quite often heavy fog in Linz, I often go up this hill hoping for some sun above the layer of clouds. Especially the areas where sun and fog merge in the woods, are the ones I’m looking for. Even more when the temperatures are below zero and the fog creates mesmerizing patterns of hoar frost on the branches of the trees. This particular day I was lucky enough to experience these conditions, but not enough of that, the sun was already very low and the light was warm. The most fascinating thing to me actually was, that the sun melted the hoar frost in the tree tops and these particles of ice finally fell down as a glittering curtain from time to time. So I just tried to find an appealing composition hoping for the rays not to disappear and some ice coming down in front of me, backlit by the sun, while I used a wide aperture to enlarge and blur the glittering dots. Again nature’s magic delivered a memorable and enriching moment.