This week on the blog, we talk to Jonas Haftner, a German doctor that uses photography as a way to stay positive and to remember how beautiful life can be!

Traveling during 12 months, Jonas enjoyed taking breathtaking photos with his camera and drone.

Let's discover his trip with all photos powered by Prodibi!




A few words about you, how did you start photography?

My name is Jonas Hafner, and I’m a 34 years old medical doctor who lives in Hamburg, Germany. After my A-levels, I spent 12 months in Scotland, where I was working with disabled people. It was here when I first got my hands and eyes on a (film) camera which belonged to one of my co-workers. Just before I left to New Zealand the year after (with a work & travel visa) I bought my first digital SLR.






I was mostly taking landscape pictures in the beginning, but that changed quickly when I finally moved back to Germany, and people became the focus of my work. Studying medicine or now working in a hospital can be quite demanding. Every day I see a lot of pain and suffering and sometimes it’s hard to get by. Photography has always helped me to stay positive and showed me how beautiful life could be.






In a way, I also needed my camera so that the creativity in me wouldn’t decline. Furthermore, I have met a lot of great people on the way who love taking pictures just as much as I do. Many of them became my friends and I am quite thankful for that. So I guess photography and everything that’s connected to it means a lot to me.





What was your favorite trip? Why?

My favorite trip had to be New Zealand. I have never seen so much diversity in only one country. From snowy mountains, volcanos, glaciers, golden beaches to jungles - there is so much to explore. One day I hopefully will be back and take the pictures I didn’t know how to when I was there a long time ago.





Is there a place in the world you dream to photograph or a particular goal you wish to reach?

I’d say it’s an endless list, but Patagonia, Greenland, the Maldives and Hawaii are among the ones with the highest ranking on my travel list. Regarding photography, one goal would be to travel without any expenses and get paid for what you love, but this remains wishful thinking for now.






Read on: 8 lesser known places for beautiful landscape photography and Lucky Shots by Maarten Vromans, creating beautiful photos without the human intervention

Do you enjoy other photography styles or travel photography has always been your favourite one?

Although I started with travel photography most of my published work has been portraits. Two years ago I encouraged myself to go back to where it all began. I’d still consider myself a portrait photographer rather than anything else but I won’t stop trying to become a better landscape/travel photographer.

It’s hard to say which style of photography I like best. There are so many I haven’t tried (e.g. fashion, street) and I guess I would miss the ones I did try if I had to choose one of them.





About your photography gears, what are your favorite tools?

I own a Nikon D800 and a Sony A7R Mark III as well as a DJI Mavic 2 Pro. While the Nikon is built like a tank and perfectly suited for wild weather, the Sony is lightweight and has got some amazing features.

I also love my Mavic 2 Pro, which is so much better than its predecessor. Drone photography is really something I could do for hours - if only the batteries would last that long.

The lenses I use most are a Sigma 35 mm 1,4 ART, a Sigma 135 mm 1,8 ART and a Sony 16-35 mm 4,0.





Do you have projects for the future like workshops, personal series?

I haven’t planned any workshops yet, but I might travel to the Faroe Islands again and see the Lofoten for the first time. Hopefully, there is still much more to come and I can’t wait to explore as many places as possible in 2019.




To see more from Jonas:

His Website
Instagram
Facebook

All photographs copyright Jonas Hafner and used with his permission.

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