Irix Ambassadors 

Robert Pilari

Irix Official Photographer

English:

My name is Robert Pilari, and I was born in 1991 in a beautiful city called Leipzig. After I finished school, I trained as a mechanical fitter and worked as a hydraulic’s for five years – A great time, but nothing that will last forever.

I stumbled upon my first camera in 2014 and quickly enjoyed taking photos of landscapes.

That hasn’t changed since then. In the meantime, I have developed a penchant for the mystical, and I like to make my landscape pictures expressive and colourful. I love the challenge to reproduce the atmosphere of the moment and emphasize certain objects, by choosing unique compositions. Due to the use of filter and techniques like focus- and exposure stacking, I achieve maximum sharpness and correct exposure over the whole frame. To give my photos a final touch, I’m working with Lightroom and Photoshop.

German:

Mein Name ist Robert Pilari und ich wurde 1991 in einer wunderschönen Stadt namens Leipzig geboren. Nachdem ich meine Schule beendet hatte, habe ich eine Ausbildung zum Industriemechaniker abgeschlossen und 5 Jahre als Hydrauliker gearbeitet. Eine tolle Zeit, aber nichts für die Ewigkeit.

2014 bin ich über meine erste Kamera gestolpert und hatte schnell gefallen daran gefunden, Landschaften zu fotografieren. Seitdem hat sich das auch nicht geändert. Mittlerweile habe ich eine Vorliebe für das Mystische entwickelt und versuche meine Fotos ausdrucksstark und farbenfroh zu gestalten. Ich liebe die Herausforderung, die Atmosphäre des Augenblicks wiederzugeben und bestimmte Objekte zu betonen, indem ich einen gezielten Bildaufbau wähle. Durch den Einsatz von Filtern und/oder Techniken wie Fokus-s

Stapelung und Mehrfachbelichtung bin ich in der Lage, eine korrekte Belichtung zu erstellen und gleichzeitig ein gestochen scharfes Endresultat zu erhalten. Um meinen Fotos den nötigen Feinschliff zu verpassen, arbeite ich mit Lightroom und Photoshop.

Pierre Escoubas

Irix Official Macro Photographer

A biologist and a research scientist, Pierre is also a passionate self-taught photographer specializing in macrophotography and expedition photography.

An early passion for photography has accompanied him through his biology studies and macrophotography has become an indispensable tool to document and illustrate his research work on natural products and animal venoms. His images have been used in seminars, symposia, research reports, scientific papers and University courses.

Since 2014, Pierre has developed his photographic activities in a professional manner. As a biologist and naturalist, he is keen to use his images for Nature education and conservation efforts. Pierre has been working with citizen science projects and as a photo and video reporter for scientific expeditions. He has also organized several exhibitions, runs macrophotography workshops and writes short chronicles about biodiversity. His images have been prominently featured in the French Natural history magazine “ESPECES”.

Pierre lives on the French Riviera and feels that the world is his garden. A consummate traveler, his different activities have taken him to every continent, and from the rainforests of French Guiana or Borneo to the corals reefs of French Polynesia.

Antonin Pergod

Irix Official Cinematographer

EN // From a young age, the desire to express myself through an artistic univers has always been deeply rooted in me. As a child, i started making short films with a modest camcorder from my parents and little by little a real passion for audiovisual art developed.

I had the chance to work on project all over the world, especially in Nex Caledonia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, New Zealand, Nepal, Cameroon, Iceland but also all over Europe. I’m deeply inspired by travel, poetry, music, philosophy and nature, these elements inspire me every day to forge a a strong indentity through my projects. Humain relations and contact with nature are for me intimately linked and guide my vision and my way of filming.

FR // Depuis mon plus jeune âge, la volonté de m’exprimer au travers d’un univers artistique a toujours été profondément ancrée en moi. Enfant, j’ai commencé à créer des petits films avec un modeste camescope emprunté à mes parents et peu à peu une vraie passion s’est révélée pour l’art audiovisuel.

J’ai eu la chance de travailler sur des projets à l’autre bout du monde, notamment en Nouvelle Calédonie, Indonésie, Thaïlande, Chine, Nouvelle Zélande, Népal, Cameroun, Islande mais aussi un peu partout en Europe. Je suis profondément inspiré par les voyages, la poésie, la musique, la philosophie et la nature et ces éléments m’inspirent chaque jour pour me forger une identité forte au travers de mes projets. Les relations humaines et le contact avec la nature sont pour moi intimement liés et guident ma vision et ma manière de filmer.

Check out sample footage made by Antonin Pergod using the Irix 150mm T3.0 Macro lens at YouTube: https://youtu.be/7QcXf2thtmg 🎥

Olivier Jarry-Lacombe

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Stefano Perrone

The scientific researcher based in the Maldives where he directs various research projects specialized in astrophotography. All his life he dedicates himself to photographing and filming nature from underwater to the stars. He has worked among the most beautiful locations around the world. He picks Irix products for its incredible lightness and stunning optical quality. Thanks to the Irix 15mm f/2.4 Blackstone lens with the Irix Edge Light Pollution filter he can capture the night skies like never before.

Scott Dumas

Starting out with a little Fujifilm mirrorless camera after moving to Japan over a decade ago, he quickly fell in love with both the artistic and technical side of photography. His first Canon camera a couple of years later led him into videography and he’s since been building up photo and video clients locally while also building a YouTube channel to test and review gear that he loves. While his favorite thingsto shoot are cinematic mini documentaries and portraits, he also does TV commercials, promotional videos for local companies and even weddings from time to time.

From Scott:

“When I first got my hands on Irix lenses at a photo event in Tokyo, I was immediately impressed. For a very reasonable price, these lenses felt absolutely premium, and the image quality seemed to match. I was even more excited to see they were branching into affordable cinema style lenses for full frame cameras- not easy to come by, and especially not paired with solid IQ. The second I got my first lens (the 45mm T1.5) in my hands, I was in love. It looks, feels and works great; it has almost flawless image quality even at T1.5 and 95% of the overall qualities you’d need in a cine lens at a fraction of the price. Plus, a sleeker design with gears flush to the lens body itself, weather sealing and the option for a standard lens hood- making IRIX cine lenses some of the most flexible on the market regardless of price. I was incredibly excited when they considered taking me on as an ambassador and I’m excited for the opportunity to create some beautiful imagery with their lenses.”

Ngo Van Duc

My name is Ngo Van Duc, I’m 26 years old this year. I was born and raised in Vietnam. My profession is Architecture Design, Construction Engineer. I came to photography in 2014, I really like Landscape Photography and especially my country landscape. I was very impressed with the picture of a famous Vietnamese Landscape Photographer and he was my teacher later. From there I determine the direction for myself. I look for equipment for my needs and I look for Irix 15mm f2.4. I’m very impressed with the design of Irix 15mm f2.4, a special and future design. The quality of the tube gives me very impressive. Colors and details are great for me. I often use it when photographing landscapes and architectural photography. I have a desire to capture all of the natural beauty of Vietnam to introduce to the World friends.

This is link my social media channels.
-Facebook Group: LandscapeSaigon
-Instagram: DucNgo

Olivier Leclercq 

Since my architectural studies in 1991, photography is my daily notebook. As a student, I spent hours in the dark room of my attic.
The digital and Instagram were an unexpected opportunity, the opportunity to share a certain vision of architecture with a varied audience of over twenty thousand followers.

Instagram : @olivierleclercq @loversofarchitecture
WWW: eupictures.eu/artist/olivierphoto

Guillaume Hobam

I have always been passionate about nature, the environment, and the planet since I was young. At the age of 4 (in 1999), a very violent storm crosses France, a historic storm with winds over 150 km / h on my sector and peaks at 200 km / h, and without forgetting the famous movie Twister released in 1996 and known worldwide!
My parents tell me that it was from that moment that I started to be passionate about meteorology. I would live other moments during my childhood with thunderstorms particularly violent on my sector … From my 12 years, I learn meteorology self-taught on some sites such as for example Meteociel.fr or infoclimat.fr and well of other. I am particularly interested in prediction of violent phenomena as well as winter phenomena, all thanks to numerical prediction models, roughly computers are calculating billions of data in real time to make prediction maps on several days. These prediction models have evolved enormously in 10 years with forecasts more and more precise on areas, and increasingly reliable too .

Then in 2013, I get my license in the first month of my 18 years, the hunt for “national” storms opens to me and Kévin, we go to different regions of France, thousands of kilometers, for our passion!
I quickly join a group of storm hunters called “Alsace – Lorraine stormchasers”, we are about twenty passionate storm, tracker and we share our photos on a Facebook page assigned … Then in 2015, with some active members of the group, we decide to create an association in order to be recognized legally, I integrate the association while being in the office, more particularly “Secretary”. Then in 2016, the president decides to leave the association for personal reasons. Being a particularly active member, I decide to propose myself for the candidacy of president and I become president of this association that I preside with joy and all my free time is for our association, I am busy with the functioning of our Facebook page, and the number of subscribers explodes, we go from 2000 I like, to more than 20,000 now.
In 2017, I decided to embark on “European” thunderstorm fighters with a passionate Lyon friend like me, especially to track thunderstorms elsewhere than in France, by making thousands of kilometers across Italy (a great land of storms, tornadoes and waterspouts), as well as the Balkans, which are renowned for particularly strong storms and aesthetic for lightning when the cold air of the month of August and September descends towards the Balkans, which creates a big conflict of mass of air and thus after the big storms.

This year will be remarkable for me, it is the year where I observe my first vortex phenomena, of the waterspouts which return in the grounds and which ends so in tornado, I lived these phenomena in Croatia and in Italy.
These “European” thunderstorm huntings hid a few things, including a preparation for the violent phenomena of the Great Plains of the United States, since at the end of 2017, we are preparing with two friends French storm hunters, our first big trip in the Tornado Alley for the year 2018. After many weeks of preparation, we go to the USA for 6 weeks of thorny and tornado tracking.

The wide angle lens is an essential element in this field of photography, because when the storm is near, it is essential to have the widest possible angle to take its cloud structure and its possible lightning.
The 15mm irix is the ideal wide-angle lens for thunderstorm hunters, with a very good dive and even at the edges. Why is it ideal? Because its external lens is very indented compared to the sun visor. When the storm is very close, we use the wide angle lens because we have no choice, and when the storm is near, the first drops fall … I had the opportunity to test many wide angle , the majority of these wide-angle lenses have aspherical lenses (aspherical), so very curved … The lens almost exceeds the sun visor on some lenses. On the Irix 15mm, the lens is so small and set back from the sun visor that the drops reach it only very rarely, which is a big plus when we want to take photographs of very similar lightning. I therefore advise storm hunters to acquire this objective in order to test their abilities under thunderstorms …
So proud to be an ambassador for the Irix brand, and I hope so for a long time!

Krzysztof Turzyński

I’m a cheerful man. I’ve always tried to share positive emotions in my relations with other people. My previous career gave me a lot of satisfaction, but I still missed something. 10 years ago I decided to change something – I jumped into deep water and decided to take up photography professionally.
It was the best decision in my entire life.
Constant contact with people, business trips and different environments is what I missed in my life. As my business developed, new needs began to emerge – for a better camera, flashes and, of course, lenses. Because of my specialization, I needed a wide range of focal lengths – for all these years I’ve made a small collection of zoom and prime lenses. I feel that I’m confident with the lenses that I have for wedding photography, but I was still looking for the perfect lens for interior photography.
In 2016, during the Film, Video, Foto (photography fair) in Łódź (Poland), Irix Brand caught my eyes. I’ve tried the Irix 15mm f/2.4 lens and immediately fell in love: those days no one else offered robust
and weather-sealed ultra-wide lens, with good optical performance, full communication with the camera, correction profiles for Lightroom, the possibility of using filters and interesting features which makes life easier like Click at Infinite, Focus Lock, rear gel filter slot, Hyperfocal scale and Depth-of-Field scale. Especially the Focus Lock function is practical for me. It makes my work soo much easier – I focus once at the beginning of shooting and usually for the rest of the job I don’t have to change this parameter. Perfect.
But sometimes the indoors can be small. I mean really small (just try to photograph the bathroom in some hotels). I need something wider than 15mm focal length. Because of good experience with the Irix 15mm f/2.4 the decision was simple: the Irix 11mm f/4.0 lens. First time when I mount the lens on the camera, I was blown away – it’s REALLY ultra-wide! I was surprised how good the lens is – corner-to-corner sharpness, with minimal distortion and what’s important to me it has the same features as the Irix 15mm f/2.4 (Focus Lock <3) so I didn't have to change my habits.
How did I become an Irix Ambassador? The whole cooperation was a natural consequence – I already had Irix products, I’m convinced of their quality and I recommend them in the workshops I run. So I’ve dropped an e-mail to Irix with a suggestion whether or not they would be interested in taking part in my workshops, offering Irix lens loans for participants and a lecture about the Irix brand wide-angle photography.
The answer was positive.
It all worked out well and after a short conversation, I was offered the chance to become an Irix ambassador. I accepted it right away.

Kaori Hoshimoto

My photographic journey started five years ago when I wanted to reflect the beauty of the flowers all around, but my smartphone wasn’t enough. That is how I bought my first DSLR camera, and start to develop my new passion – photography.

Although I mainly work on Instagram and take macro photographs of flowers, my landscape and street photography pictures can also be found in newspapers, and in official profiles of Gotemba city, Japan.

I was glad to receive the new Irix 150mm macro lens for testing, and this is what I think. 

What I love the most is the bokeh which is creamy, yet transparent and very beautiful. Its long focal length and fast aperture creates amazing subject separation, so you’re able to manipulate the foreground and background to achieve the best possible results.

The long minimal focus distance of 34cm makes it not only comfortable as regards working space, but also having the ability for objects in front of the lens to achieve a lovely foreground bokeh, while at the same the object itself can stay very clear and sharp.

I also like the manual focus ring, which is big enough to hold comfortably in my hand and is smooth while using it. Therefore, when focusing, it allows very high precision.

What’s more, you won’t find any chromatic aberration or distortion. The quality of the picture is high, and equally sharp wherever in the frame.

Although there is no AF, I do wonder whether that is not a problem for those who are taking macro pictures.

It has a weight of 840g, so it may be a bit heavy for women as regards hand-held shooting, but it comes with a removable tripod that is compatible with Arca-Swiss, so you can attach it to a tripod if it is heavy. I’ve had no problems with hand-held shooting so far.

「自己紹介」

私の名前は星本かおりです。スマートフォンでは撮れない写真を撮りたいと思い5年前にデジタル一眼レフを購入したのがカメラマンになるきっかけです。Instagramでは、主に花の写真を撮影していますが、人や風景を写真に撮り市の広報紙やFacebookなどで街の魅力を発信する仕事をしています。

「Irixlens150mm 最初の印象」

ボケが濃厚でクリーミーでそれでいて透明感があってとても美しい。玉ボケは均質。

十分なワーキングディスタンスが取れるので前ボケを作りやすい。

被写体はとてもクリアでシャープな印象

マニュアルフォーカスリングは幅広くとても滑らかに動作するので高精度なフォーカシングが可能

色収差が無い、歪曲が無い

フレーム全域で描写性能が安定している

AFと手ぶれ補正機能は搭載されていないが、静物を接写するのには何の問題もない

重さ840gなので手持ち撮影の場合、女性には少し重いかもしれないが、アルカスイス互換の取外し可能な三脚座が付属しているので重たければ三脚に装着して撮影できる。私は今のところ手持ち撮影で問題ない

Isabella Tabacchi

Born in 1992 in Carpi, Isabella Tabacchi is a professional landscape photographer based in the north of Italy. She’s always had a sensibility for natural environment and photography came her life suddenly; a huge passion exploded in her heart. Isabella explored and studied the boundless sceneries in the Alps, with a special regard to the Dolomiti, her second house, and is discovering the rest of the World. The shots she takes with her camera become images after post processing phase, in which she emphasizes the strong elements of the captured landscapes and put in them the emotions she felt.
Her works were exhibited in Rome and Athens and published in online and paper magazines like Landscape Photography Magazine, National Geographic, Practical Photography, Daily Mail, Digital Photo SLR UK, N-photo. In 2017 Isabella won the second prize and five honorable mentions in the Professional Landscapes category of the Monochrome Awards 2016. She won also two honorable mentions in the International Photographer of the Year awards (IPOTY) and her pictures were published in the Outdoor Photographer of the Year (OPOTY) Portfolio II (“The magic of the night” is the cover). In April of the same year Isabella won the first prize and three nominees in the Professional Landscapes category of the 3rd Fine Art Photography Awards. Photographer of the Year 2016 at La Grande Photo Awards.
In Summer 2017 she also won two honorable mentions at the Moscow International Foto Awards and two mentions at the Lucie Foundation’s International Photography Awards (IPA). Her image “The battle” is among the TOP 50’s (top ten) in the Epson International Pano Awards 2017 and received a Gold award and two Silver medals.
First prize in the Special – Night Photography category of the ND Awards.
Third prize in the Nature – Landscape category of the International Photographer of the Year awards (IPOTY).
Honorable mention in the Tokyo Foto Awards.
Juror in the International Epson Pano Awards 2018 and Chania International Photo Festival 2018.
She is Irix Lens, Haida Filter, Fotopro tripods official ambassador and affiliated with the Tony Kuyper Luminosity Masks.
Isabella is member of two of the most important italian photographer associations : Tau Visual and AFNI (Italian nature photographers association).

Riccardo Mantero 

Photography for me it is not just a hobby or a work, it is an addiction. Exactly the same addiction I have for travel and for discovering new places and meet new people.
My photography is made with colors I like the strong contrasts and the unique tones. I’m constantly focused in finding uncommon weather conditions or particular lights effects, in order to give to my works, my own style and my signature.
My main subjects are landscapes, events, curiosities, and occasionally people which I met during my travels around the world. Some of my best photos have been published by famous magazines, online or paper. While some have won official contests or have been featured in famous websites or in several social pages of some world wide diffused brands.

Vadim Sherbakov

Vadim is an independent art director with 15+ years of experience, as well as a passionate travel photographer and videographer specialising in cityscapes, landscapes & aerial fields. His passion for photography began several years ago. He started with a broad variety of subjects, such as portraits, nature, and cityscapes, and he quickly realised that his passion was in landscape and cityscape photography. His passion for photography remained steady for a couple of years until his main job took over and there was almost no time left to travel and shoot. Everything changed when he became a freelancer and started to travel more. Iceland was the country that changed the course of his photo hobby. There, he perfected his craft and also gathered a crystallised subject he wanted to shoot more.
He mainly shoots composite photos.

Sebastian Tontsch

Sebastian Tontsch is a respected architecture and Interiors photographer, Co-Founder of Blowfish Media in Dubai, and owner of Sebastian Tontsch Photography.

Born in Schwaebisch Gmuend in the south of Germany, he grew up in the beautiful German countryside in a small village where he learned to appreciate nature and the elements. As a youngster he was taught by his father about the star constellations in the night sky, and it was then that he developed his passion for astro photography.

Landscape photography was his first professional field, and cityscape developed later when he moved to the spectacular city of Dubai in 2013. Photographing Dubai – with its density of skyscrapers and city lights – became something of an addiction, and he is now well-known for his breathtaking captures of the emirate.

Sebastian likes to use the skills and visual rules of interiors and architecture photography in his cityscapes to give them the cleanest and most symmetrical look possible. Digital image editing plays a big role in today’s photography, but it is important to him to keep pictures real. Dynamic blending is part of his skill set, but replacing skies or elements in pictures is a tool he strictly only uses in architecture and interiors.

​Featured by several luxury real estate publications, international newspapers such as The Telegraph in the UK, and magazines such as National Geographic, Sebastian has become well-known across the globe.

Arnaud Taquet

24-years-old, Irix Lens Ambassador, automotive commercial photographer and test driver. True petrol-head either driving or shooting when I’m not daydreaming. Travelling across Europe and the world for my clients as well as for my passion for discovering deserts and wild areas.
Clients: Renault, Mercedes-Benz, Mclaren, Honda, Smart, Lexus, Audi, Seat, BMW ALPINA, Pagani, TeamOne LosAngeles, Publicis ( Prodigious ) etc.

Dmitry Kupratsevich

A professional landscape and travel-photographer.
Winner of the Wildlife of Russia contests, 35 awards, 100 BEST Photos, My Planet Award, finalist of the RGO contests Most Beautiful Country, Russian Photo, Prophotos.

Author of publications in magazines National Geographic, GEO, Russian Photo, PhotoCasa, Prophotos, Office Magazine; author of the course in landscape photography “Looking for a frame.”

Michael Olatunji

Michael Olatunji is a visual artist based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England who specialises in fine art urban photography and portraiture.

His inspiration stems from a love of nature, people and traveling.

He is the founder of Alpha Arts, a UK based photography company who sells original art prints and image licenses. Alpha Arts also works alongside private clients, agencies and organisations delivering professional grade content for social media, marketing and commerce.

Niki Feijen

Dutch photographer Niki Feijen immortalises an astonishingly intact glimpse into the past. This autodidact specialises in documenting and capturing historic architecture and abandoned buildings. Each photo fuse together the conflicting notions of beauty and decay and corresponds with his desire to capture and silently communicate with his audience about the subject’s very essence.

Niki wants to recreate the exact same scene as he sees while standing in a location but the light-spectrum your eye can capture is much, much wider than a camera can capture. Photographing a dark setting with extreme highlights like a window causes the highlights to wash out into white or dark areas can become obscure black blobs. It’s impossible to shoot a photo that captures both ends of this spectrum. Since Niki does not use any artificial lighting he uses different exposures to capture a much wider light spectrum than a traditional photograph. The result is a hyper realistic photo which would replicate the exact same thing you would see standing inside the location yourself.

In 2010 Feijen visited the quintessential location of desertion: the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. After a catastrophic nuclear accident occurred in 1986 the entire city of Pripyat, all 50,000 inhabitants, were evacuated within 48 hours. Most of the belongings of the evacuated inhabitants were left behind and never returned to again. The incredible deafening silence of this location, in its absence of the living, permeates the senses and mind of visitors who venture to there to this day.

Feijen is currently travelling around the globe looking for more hidden gems tucked away behind ‘Do Not Enter’ signs. Curious about what lies on the other side, he goes in search of the hidden world that is often in plain sight. When Feijen comes across impressive yet eerie locations, such as homes located in ghost towns, asylums, decaying hospitals, abandoned castles and long forgotten hotels, he intends to preserve the what is left of the past by encapsulating these forgotten masterpieces’ ethos in a photo before they crumble and collapse.

The impressions left from these places are represented in visual form for the public in three separate books. All works, ‘Disciple of Decay’ (April 2013) ‘Frozen’ (September 2014) and ‘Tempus Fugit’ (December 2017), have been independently published. The first sold out in six months. On top of these publications, Feijen’s photographs are exhibited at art galleries and international art fairs several times a year.

His works have been featured by NBC, BBC, The Huffington Post, ABC News, The Daily Mail and Chase Jarvis, among a variety of others. As of 2014 Feijen’s work is part of the Sir Elton John Photography Collection where his name is among legendary photographers as ; Edward Weston, David LaChapelle, Diane Arbus and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Dimitri Bourriau - Jahz Design

French artist, Dimitri Bourriau “Jahz Design”, is a graduated graphic designer. He has always been interested in history and architectural remains. It was in 2013 when he developed his interest in the photography of heritage in disuse. His first exploration was an ancient cemetery of military ships. Today he travels the globe looking for places in decline. It draws our attention to our civilization in constant mutation to ephemeral memory. His latest discoveries have taken him in the footsteps of the Soviet Buran spacecraft program in Baikonur (Kazakhstan).

Paweł Klarecki

I was born in 1982, I come from Poland where I grew up and spent most of my life. A Few years ago I left my country and spent 5 years in Northern Ireland.
My love for photography had started to develop since childhood and later on became my biggest passion and the greatest influence in my daily life.
I have always seen the world as pictures and frames I love landscapes and the natural world. Long walks along with photography give me a lot of satisfaction – this is my small world, seen with my very own eyes. Sometimes it may seem surreal and messed up, but these are in fact, pieces of my imagination mixed with breathtaking landscapes, the very miracle that is nature.
I was lucky enough to live on the spectacular coast of Northern Ireland. It is a true paradise for a landscape photographer, an amazing and perfect place to capture and show the beauty and the power of nature.
The important thing I need to mention is the constant search for the perfect light and atmosphere. In my case it all differs. Sometimes the pictures are colorful, other times they are grayish with a flash of light. It all depends on what’s going on in my head at this particular moment. But I am always striving for that perfect element of light and how it impacts on my photography.
Currently I have a lot of plans for the future. I would like to broaden my horizons, and show different areas and other genres of photography. I am confident that, with time, I will be able to achieve it all.
When I was going to school, I used to paint pictures. It’s one of my passions, well, it used to be. The paintings were landscapes mixed with fantasy elements and that has influenced my life until this moment. At that time I discovered my passion for photography as well. This passion began to grow and transformed into an obsession that is deep in the roots of my soul.
I used to see my friends who had cameras and learn from them. In those days analogue photography was the most common, then I got my first digital camera and it all exploded in me. I could publish my photos on the Internet, make new friends and learn. I have learned everything by myself, but I have to admit to having been gifted with a few precious tips from professionals, and I am very grateful for all of them.
For sure, the landscape is my first love. The Northern Coast of Ireland has definitely inspired me, ocean with rocks, cliffs, mountains and valleys and a huge variety of places have built my vast portfolio of photographs. I also love long walks and discovering new places and that all influences my passion.

Paweł Ulatowski

Specialises in photography, especially of modern architecture, documenting famous projects of renowned international architects and designers.

Sigurður William

Siggi was born in Iceland and has spent most of his photography career in this paradise.During his time as a photographer, he early on found that his passion lies with photographing the beautiful landscapes and nightscapes of Iceland.
One of his favorite activities is being out, chasing the northern lights and thinking of new ways to top his shots. He has won multiple awards for his work, both locally and internationally, especially for his photos of the Aurora Borealis.
Sigurdur has also written a book on the subject to aid everyone in getting the perfect shots of Lady Aurora and held nightscape photography workshops in Iceland since the beginning of 2012 with great success. When the days get longer and the northern lights fade into the daylight, he turns his eyes towards the sun and the amazing midnight sun that Iceland has to offer with the golden hours that seem to stretch on forever.
Along the way he co-founded and is the CEO of Arctic Shots, one of the top photo-tour companies in Iceland according to TripAdvisor, where hard work and happy clients reflect in a job well done. He also does tours and workshops for Iceland Photo Tours and others.

Kuba Witos

My name is Kuba Witos. I live and work in Zakopane – winter capital of Poland. I was born here in the heart of Tatra Mountains. When I was 16, I got interested in landscape photography. It is difficult to say what makes that I fall in love with mountains, but now I understand that this is my way of life.
Through photography and exploring I can feel freedom, moreover that is really good way to spend time with friends. In my opinion mountain photography is one of the most dangerous and most difficult branches of photography. It is extremely satisfying, when you get around rocky and hilly trials especially at night. First thing I do, after reaching the summit is spread out all of my photo equipment. I am so excited when I am waiting for the best conditions to catch a moment and take a photo, but much better feeling is when people appreciate photo you made. I want to develop myself every day, but I was already honoured in some photo contest.

Sergio Abello Villanueva

Hello, I am Sergio Abello Villanueva.
I was born and lived for 20 years, in a paradise that is the Laciana Valley, and I continue living in another, at present, Asturias.
Landscape photography is my way of life, a tireless search for the best light and the best moments in spectacular places.
If I had to look for the origins of this hobby, I would have to go back to the 80s and to the thousands of photos that my father took with his Praktica MTL-3, a contraption that we should all smile about.

Then came my first SLR and automatic mode. I still remember the day I turned up in the laboratory with what I believed was the best photograph in the world but then discovering the harsh realities… Since that October 2013 when I took my first photo, I haven’t stopped conducting research and studying so I could save and show those unique and magical moments lived in the best possible way.

Bleron Çaka

I’m Bleron Çaka, and I’m a professional landscape photographer from Kosovo.

I started taking pictures in 2007 when I was only 15 years old. At first, I captured everything: flowers, portraits, abstracts, until I found my real passion for landscape photography.

Since Kosovo has a lot of breathtakingly beautiful mountain peaks, lakes, and waterfalls, I’ve started exploring these sites so I can further improve myself at landscape photography.

To capture such beautiful places, I also started taking on a lot of hiking trips which allowed me to better explore the world we live in.

It was only when I started exploring other countries abroad and spending time camping outside that I found my other drive in life – which is astrophotography, with a special focus on photographing the Milky Way and using time-lapse. While I was continually improving what I do, I was always seeking new opportunities. I wanted to have the best gear possible to make sure I achieved my photographic goals. This is the reason why I now proudly represent Irix.

For a long time now I’ve been studying photographs taken with the Irix 15mm f/2.4 Blackstone wide angle lens. Produced by this new Swiss-Korean company, I was very interested to learn about the quality this lens offers, especially when discovering that lots of talented landscape and nightscape photographers had started using it.

When reading the feedback from these photographers, I could see that this lens offers great image quality. Since I’m specifically focused on landscape and Milky Way photography, I understood that this Irix lens would offer me these possibilities and so help me improve my work. Considering the fact that it has an open diaphragm up to f/2.4, I saw that I could use the lens to take photographs of a high quality starry night as well.

Today I’m very pleased to have become an Ambassador of Irix and to have the opportunity of cooperating with this brand, and in turn presenting my photographs taken with Irix products.

When I first got the lens in my hands I was very surprised, and couldn’t wait to get outside and into the natural world and start making use of it as soon as possible.

The metal lens body gives me a very good feeling of stability when keeping it attached to the camera. I’ve only taken a few photos with this lens, but the results are amazing.

I then wanted to test it out in some challenging conditions to see how much light this lens can handle. While using it to take photos in direct sunlight at midday, I saw that it created perfect sun-stars with the nine rounded blades that it has. The quality of the optics, consisting of 15 elements in 11 groups, enables the photographer to take photographs with sharpness on all sides.

One of the great advantages of this lens is the focus. If you focus on an object, you can lock the focus range wherever you want. The lens focus feature is very smooth.  In my opinion, this feature has been very necessary and I’m surprised that it hadn’t been thought before by anyone else. But Irix has made it possible. The other advantage that this wide lens possesses is a 95mm diameter filter thread, which most other lenses don’t have.

It is also worth mentioning that Irix has also taken care of the rest of those photographers who want their lens to be a lighter weight. With the Irix 15mm f2.4 Firefly, the exterior is mainly made of plastic, while the optics and all the other elements are the same as the Blackstone type. 

Now I look forward to going out on new adventures and taking new photographs with my Irix lens, a lens which will be an inseparable part of my photographic gear and equipment from now on.

I would like to recommend this lens to all passionate landscape and astrophotography photographers. It’s a must! And it has a very good and affordable price for the quality it offers.

Now I can’t wait to set out on my new trips and take my next set of photographs with this amazing lens and so offer more feedback on how to use it best.