Sasha Bystrikov Photography

Sweet memories from Iceland

Above the clouds... view from Strymba mountain top, or almost the top. It was quite cloudy when we arrived, and we were joking that it was not enough for us to skip all the beauty of the golden autumn at lower altitudes, but also we decided to get rid of everything else in the exceptionally dense fog. It was a tough decision for us to wait or just go back and try to photograph under the clouds level, but we decided it's worth the risk. And, well, it worked! After some (quite nervous!) waiting time wind helped with the cloudiness and we saw the sun finally, right when it was about to go down.

It was amazing to be the witness of this magic happening. Which photo do you like the most?

The Milky Way above the Petros mountain

Beautiful summer trips to Chornohora mountain ridge

Rapids of Svicha river

Chornogora mountain range blooming

Saying good night to the sun

If I were to choose one animal which is kind of the totem of Carpathian mountains for me - that would be this beauty, definitely. It's rare enough - so usually it's a luck to see it. It's also not too rare - you have much, much better chances seeing a salamander, than a wolf or a lynx. It's mysterious enough also - a lot of legends, stories around it. And it's got some weapons too, of course! But most important - look how cute it is! And personally I'm pretty sure, that those are salamanders who bring the spring into the mountains, melting the snow with their internal fire.

Alone tree in the mountains.

Fresh from the (snow) fields!

Summer memories

Sweet sunrise in Carpathian mountains

Starry night in the carpathian mountains. Well, it was starry from time to time - as waves of dense fog there coming back and forth from Chorna Hora mountain, which is Black Mountain in Ukrainian. Full moon created almost day-like experience that night.

You do probably know how does the perfect photographer's morning look like. You wake up early before sunrise, walk a bit to reach some open and airy location, sun shows above the horizon, add some cloudiness and/or mist and voila - time to shoot the perfect shot... not the case this time, though. It was raining when I woke up, and everything seemed extremely silent, just drops falling from the trees around and waterfall making some nice background noise. And it was a revelation to get quite inspired from this kind of weather - silence and calm, and no rush to get it in time to catch the rising sun.

Pro tip: the more it's raining - the less people are walking around and jumping into you photography zone accidentally.

Autumn mist

Have you happened to meet the dragon nowadays? These little creatures seem to be the ones.

Carpathian mountains are about to get new dress - annual festival of colors is ready to start!

Watching up how the ocean of the mountain pines wakes up. Early morning at Gorgan Ilemsky mountain, Ukraine.

Vestrahorn is one of the most famous mountains in Iceland. Maybe not by its name - because Eyjafjallajökull volcano made a lot of noise during its eruption. But definitely by its look. It's not just the mountain photogenic there - also the overall surrounding is. It might sound very easy to find something different for your photo's foreground there, but also there are tons of beautiful Vestrahorn's photographs on the internet, so in the end you are going to make your bet on pure luck catching some unique weather conditions. Or just enjoy the moment as it is - because the look is going to be amazing in any case!

This is one of my favorite shots from the trip to the Tatra mountains in Slovakia. It's always difficult to predict how the landscape is going to look like when the sun rises over peaks in the early morning. So I had to take an extra hike to make sure I meet the sun at the right place and in the right moment. And it was rewarded with an amazing beautiful sunrise. I hope you enjoy it too!

Mountains met us with rain and mist, and it was difficult to believe that we will have clear skies in the evening. We had an ambitious plan to put our tent as high as possible first, but it ended up with searching at least something which could serve as a tent site in dense fog. Once the sun jumped behind the horizon, the mist disappeared magically, with clouds colored with gentle shades.

Chilly morning at Diamond beach near Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. It never stops impressing me how various forms can ocean create from melting ice - nature is the best sculptor here. Completely unbelievable precision of lines will turn ice into animals, monsters, crowns and things which you would expect in a fantasy world, but not on the Earth, probably. Iceland feels like a different planet!

We were photographing owl that time - another amazing experience, but suddenly I was interrupted by some noise near my feet. It took me few minutes staring at old leaves and branches on the ground to find out that super-cutie little mouse is hiding there. It was cautious and curious at the same time - running in and out - and finally decided to show its nose to me.

Basalt columns near Svartifoss waterfall, Iceland.

Man on the edge of the world. Beautiful track around Kerlingarfjöll, Iceland.

Such a rewarding view in the end of the hiking trail! Beautiful valley of flowers - hidden treasure among mountains. Beautiful Ukraine!

This is how winter looks in Carpathian mountains, Ukraine. Shepherds use this little house when they depasture sheep during warm season, but in the winter it serves as a shelter for hikers.

This is lake in Yosemite, and it's called Mirror Lake. You can clearly see the reason for its naming :) Water's surface flatness is especially pronounced in place, when you reach the lake after surrounding river's turbulence.

Puffins in Iceland. You could think they are common - based on count of photos in internet. At the same time, there is limited number of specific locations, where you can spot those. Also, there are times when all the puffins are out from the coast into the sea. So actual encountering this beautiful birds is rather luck!

Two and a dog. Driving in Iceland is very difficult. Don't get me wrong, roads are excellent, at least in summer months, and I'd not say there's a lot of traffic. But there is so much scenery around... You are going to stumble great spots for photography each hundred meters... in worst case. Here we stopped (along with other people) near glacier hugging the mountains. Some of those people decided to take a walk closer towards the rocks and I liked how their clothes matched clouds and ice color. And lovely dog, playing alongside, added to overall mood. I had several seconds to take this shot and the moment was gone.

Day-long torrential rain previous day made our hiking quite uncomfortable, but it turned out to cause one good thing. Morning mist - magical and beautiful in the light of the rising sun. Enjoy the sunrise in my beloved Carpathian mountains!

Usually I try to catch best light for the photograph, and warm sky in sunrise or sunset time works best for me. Usually. But honestly, those low grey clouds look so... icelandic! They add drama and make that waterfall look so mystical. So.. each mood needs its own kind of light!

It was late evening and for whatever reason sun decided not to show itself at all. I wanted to have some nightscape shooting and already had some places where I wanted to go that night, but still decided to go and explore rocky mountains around our tent site before it went completely dark. Weather was fine and fresh, but there were a lot of clouds and we heard a lot of thunder around.

I made maybe hundred of steps and then what was just a small cloud below will grow in size within a minute - literally - and covered everything with dense mist, so I had to go back to the tent.We had dinner and strangely all the mist disappeared same fast as it came, uncovering bright sky with a lot of stars.

With landscape you should always wait till the end to catch the moment.

It is a very special experience to have a walk on a hill and see the ground is literally burning around you. And it's not just about the view. Some of the heat sources produce very loud, roaring sound. And the smell... well, there it is :) Shot in Hveradalir, during our hike around Kerlingarfjöll , Iceland.

Water is one of my personal favorite subjects to photograph. Doesn't matter an ocean or a small mountain stream - there is always something mysterious hiding there. I like how it appears on the final photograph, but, to be honest, I enjoy the process the same (if not more). The quiet whisper of the river brings you calmness and concentration. And walking in the cold water during the summer heat is just pure pleasure.

Magical sunset in Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon. I had very high expectations, and it blew my mind completely nevertheless. We had a lot of rain during the day, and it doesn't feel like we should go in the rush to this planned spot. But the closer to the evening - the better it gets! All the clouds started turning gold suddenly, and despite all that rush we managed to stop several times just to take a look at all the beauty around. And yes, we were just in time to catch the sun making the show!