HIGHLY COMMENDED CATEGORY PLANTS AND FUNGI   
Iñaki Bolumburu | Resistance

Name: Iñaki Bolumburu
Picture title: Resistance
Category: Plants and Fungi
Nationality: I was born and live in the Basque Country, a region located between Spain and France.
Occupation: For me photography is more than just a hobby, but I am an professional engineer.

Technical information
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Lens: Tamron 70-200 f2.8 lens
EXIF: 1/1000; f2,8; ISO 400; 98mm

Iñaki Bolumburu​says:

I live very close to the Sierra de Urbasa, in Navarra, where the photograph was taken. For me, it is one of those nearby paradises that I think all nature photographers keep with love and visit frequently. Its lowlands, karstic labyrinths, aquifers, and beech forests offer many hours of fun for those of us who like to enjoy nature. The scene corresponds to the beginning of spring when winter still does not want to leave completely. Given the forecast of snow at low levels, Imanol Zubiaurre and I decided to go up to enjoy the unique sensations offered by a walk through a snowy forest. That particular branch caught my attention. In a forest with a pattern of vertical lines like a beech tree, it broke with that pattern, and also kept its leaves after a long winter. An example of resistance… I was playing, looking for the photo and, coincidentally, at that moment the blizzard caught us, providing an atmosphere that moments before we did not have. After trying different options, I lay down on the snowy ground, trying to find a blur in the lower part that would add to that environment. This happened just for a few minutes. Shortly after the blizzard left and the scene changed completely.