Digital Camera World - UK (2020-03)

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com MARCH 2020 DIGITAL CAMERA^105

here did the idea for your

Adventure Europe project

come from?

I specialise in documenting volcanoes

and indigenous tribes in the South

Pacific, which takes me far away

from my home in Germany. But I was concerned

about my ecological footprint. Then I thought:

“Why not have an adventure near home, and

do everything in a sustainable way?”

We don’t fly; we take a campervan and travel

around Europe. The initial idea was to create less

of a footprint as a photographer, and it was also

about making discoveries on our doorstep,

which made me very curious.

How did you decide on climbing the highest

mountains in 47 countries for the project?

We took the geographic definition of Europe,

not the political one, because I think that

borders are created by geography. Europe

as the continent was our definition.

Who is climbing? Is it just you and

your husband Basti?

We take friends along. For example, two of our

friends came, and Basti’s parents came along

for the Balkan crossings, but most of the time

it’s just Basti, myself and our son Manuk.

What has been the biggest challenge

you’ve faced?

A really unexpected challenge was Grauspitz,

the highest mountain of Lichtenstein. You had

to go on a very narrow ridge and climb down.

The rock was all very loose. Both sides of that

ridge were 400- or 500-metre drops, and we

had to down climb this crazy ridge. One big

rock I was standing on started to slide, so

I jumped off it. The rock ended up in the

middle of nowhere and burst into pieces.

So that was very challenging.

What cameras and lenses do

you currently shoot with?

The EOS 5D Mark IV – but for the higher

mountains, with much longer approaches,

I only took the EOS R with me.

When I don’t have to worry about the weight

too much, I have the Mark IV, and a lot is

shot with a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. But since

I discovered how sharp the new lenses for the

EOS R are, I also like to carry it with me. For the

remaining mountains I’ll be using the R more,

especially with the 15-35mm and 24-70mm.

What are your plans for the photos?

It’ll be an exhibit, a book and a multimedia

show that I will be touring with. The book

should be out by Christmas, so it’s a very tight

timeframe. The weather conditions have been

much trickier than we thought they would be.

Ulla Lohmann’s Adventure Europe project

documents the climbing of the highest

mountain in each of 47 countries in Europe,

in less than two years. Find out more at:

http://www.ullalohmann.com

ULLA LOHMANN

Expedition photographer

and filmmaker

http://www.ullalohmann.com

Behind

the lens

W

Clockwise from top:

Mount Pico is the

highest mountain of

Portugal. It’s a strato-

volcano and lies on

the island of Pico

in the Azores.

Zla Kolata is the

highest mountain of

Montenegro. It is a

1,500-metre ascent,

which takes about

five hours to climb.

The highest mountain

of Norway is the

Galdhoppingen –

2,468 metres,

with a glacier on top.

The highest peak in

Kosovo is the Rudoka,

which is in landmine-

infested territory – a

leftover from the war

in the Balkan region.

Ulla Lohmann’s

husband Basti takes

off into the sunset

over the mountains

in Slovenia.

Ul

la^

Lo

hn

am

m