A few words about me

I was born in 1981 in Lucenec – a small town in the south of Slovakia. I am a photographer whose heart beats for artistic nature photography. Where this passion came from, I still don’t know. We didn’t have any hiking enthusiasts or photographers in our family, so my story is not the classic one – from childhood with a camera in my hand.

But I remember the moments when my father would close the door in the prefabricated kitchen, unfold the jars of “wires” on the counter, change the light bulb for a red one, and quietly transfer papers from one jar to another, until suddenly the holiday photos appeared. I’ve certainly been there a few times – and although I didn’t think it would affect me in any way at the time, looking at those photos today always brings back memories of that magical process. That old photo chamber of my father’s may still exist somewhere, but today I would probably try in vain to find my way around it.

The years passed and I still avoided photography – I even had an uncomfortable feeling when someone asked me if I would take a picture of him at the memorial. I was afraid I would just mess it up. The turning point came in 2011 when I bought my first DSLR camera – a Nikon D90. At the same time, I started admiring the photos on various photo servers, and since then it’s been going – with minor interruptions – almost on its own. I was completely absorbed by landscape photography. I learned daily, watched the best do it, and decided that one day I had to do it myself. The beginnings were full of trial and error. I studied the basics – ISO, aperture, time… I tried to understand why one lens costs €300 and another €2300. I asked a lot of questions and looked for answers. For a long time I was more of a theoretician than a practitioner – I knew a lot, but I didn’t shoot much. But it was this that awakened a decision in me: since then, it has been quite natural, even necessary, for me to go somewhere with my camera on a regular basis. When I was still only taking pictures on the side of trips with family or friends, I often held them back. Everyone was in a hurry and I felt like I couldn’t really capture nature. So I started going to the mountains by myself – to hike, relax and take some photos. Nature won me over completely. For a good shot, I often did completely crazy things. Sleeping in the mountains in freezing temperatures well below zero became my hobby.

Over time, my photographs gained recognition – first at home, then abroad. And since I believe that shared passion grows, I decided to pass on my experience. For several years I have been organizing photo workshops and photo expeditions – not only in Slovakia, but also beyond the Arctic Circle.

I am a member of the Association of Professional Photographers of the Slovak Republic and also of the European Federation of Photographers, where I have the title QEP – Qualified European Photographer.

In the world of photography I represent brands like VFFOTO, f-stop and Benro. And as an ambassador, I work closely with Nikon – testing their new cameras and lenses.

Gee, I confess, these “praises” don’t come out of my mouth easily. But what the heck – I’ve been looking around competing sites and they’re all bragging, so I figured why not me too. 😀

But the truth is that none of this would have been possible without the understanding and support of my family. And that’s why I thank Janka, Stevko and Samek for accepting my photography madness and standing by me.