We are proud to announce that lifestyle photographer Uros Podlogar has joined the Vanguard Professional team.
Uros is a young freelance photographer based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Extreme locations, machinery and people are the driving force behind his work, which combines his two biggest passions: photography and adventure. Always looking for a different angle, versatile sports skills are included in his photo projects. His work has been published in different media, including National Geographic Viajes, and exhibited at one of his favorite locations: a castle overlooking alpine Lake Bled. Uros is also an official Olympus ambassador, Microsoft Nokia Lumia ambassador, LedLenser ambassador, and Salming ambassador.
Uros uses the following gear:
- Abeo PRO 284CT (discontinued, but a similar configuration can be found here)
- Supreme 40F case
- Divider Bag 40
- BBH-200 ball head
- Skyborne 49 backpack
Read on as Uros gives us the story behind 10 of his favorite photographs…
1) Porsche:
Making this photo was a huge challenge. I had to lean out fully from the car’s window at 130 km/h and lower myself towards the ground to get the desired angle for photographing. A great picture stabilizer on my Olympus camera was a big help, especially because the photo was shot hand-held at 1/10 sec.
2) Motorcyclist on the edge:
I drove by this location a day before the photo shoot and stopped at the dam to gaze into the depths. I knew I was photographing the extreme enduro racer the next day, and I was planning to take an extreme shot of him. When I saw the edge on the left side I knew that was it! All that was left than was to set the motorcycle on the platform below and to convince the racer to sit on the edge.
3) Helicopter Agusta 109E on heliport:
This photo was made by coincidence. I knew I would be working on a photo project with Slovenian police helicopter unit soon, but the details were not yet arranged. As it has turned out, at the end of the project, this very photo was one of the best! I live close to the hospital’s heliport, and I can hear the helicopter before I see it. Luckily, my gear was all packed up and ready to go, so I just grabbed my photo backpack and ran towards the nearby parking garage. I knew that the helicopters stay on the heliport for approximately 15 minutes so I had little time. I had to get to the roof top of the parking garage, which was a big challenge, but I wanted to be at the same height as the helicopter. Climbing up there was not easy at all, but it was worth the effort. An even bigger challenge was to get down after I made the shot…
4) Cafe racer on the roof top:
I was making an architectural photo project for a modern residential complex Situla. Situla is the second highest building in Ljubljana and the highest one in the center of the Slovenia’s capital. I have been attracted to high buildings since forever and I wanted to do something unusual. A photo shoot of a custom-made motorcycle was coming up, and I got the idea to put it on the roof top of Situla and take some shots up there. Of course, the motorcycle did not fit in the elevator so we had to carry it in our hands up 25 flights of stairs. Once up there, the photo shoot was very interesting – strong wind was blowing on that day and I had to stand on the very edge of the roof to get the perfect shot. I used natural light and photo reflectors.
5) Inside the helicopter:
I was taken along on a mountain rescue practice and during the flight to the practice place, I was thinking about how to make a different photo of the pilot and cockpit. I knew I had to change the perspective so I lay down on the floor and waited for the right moment. I think that the moment captured was perfect: the expression on the pilot’s face, his fingers on the commands, the rotor blade, … everything connected perfectly…
6) Airplane and girl on the longboard:
This is one of my favorite photographs taken in 2014. I love photographing aviation, and it is important to show the movement of the rotor or propeller because it gives the feeling of the aircraft’s movement. In my experience, when taking aviation photos where propellers are shown, the shutter speed should not be faster than 1/125 s. A day before the photo shoot, I got the idea of placing a girl on a longboard on the runway. And this is the result!
7) Škocjan caves:
This shot gave me a lot of motivation for the future of my photography career. I made it as a complete amateur with my first Olympus camera and kit lens. This is the largest underwater canyon in the world. Of course, use of a tripod is a must for such cave shots. I wanted to get on the farthest edge of the cave, which was a bit off the track, and I had to climb on the rock 3 meters above the marked track to get the widest angle. At that time I did not own a wide angle lens. The photo was published in National Geographic Viajes.
8) Moving train from the roof:
On the day that I took this photo, I was on my way to scout out the location of my upcoming photo project. I went to the roof of the highest skyscraper in the center of Ljubljana. From there, I had the best view of the residential building, and I could create an impression of it and see from where I could take the best photos of it. When I was observing the surroundings I noticed a standing locomotive in the middle of the train tracks on the main railway station. In the distance I saw two trains approaching the station, and I estimated that they would pass the standing locomotive at the same time. I quickly put the ND filter on my lens since I needed longer shutter speed in the middle of the day, and I created this photo.
9) Soča river in winter:
The photo was taken along of one of the most beautiful European rivers, Soča. In my eyes, Soča is even more beautiful in the winter than in the summer. I had to place the tripod with the camera on the very edge and consequently I had to stand on the edge too. That was quite demanding since it was snowy, icy and cold (minus 15 degrees Celsius) and thus risky for slipping. Just getting to the spot of Soča gorge is quite challenging, even in the summer when there is no snow and ice. The view of the depths 15 meters below was stunning and scary at the same time. I do not regret all the risks I took on that day.
10) Bed lake, self portrait with a lamp:
This is one of my favorite spots for photographing. Usually I take photos of the landscapes exclusively at sunrises or sunsets. No other time of the day really works for me. The exceptions are rivers and waterfalls. When taking such photos I like being on the spot at least one hour before the sunrise to have enough time to imagine the shot and to prepare everything. This photo was taken approximately 15 minutes before the sun rose, and I was inspired to make a self portrait. I decided to put on my LedLenser headlamp which I take along everywhere. I felt that the photo without the headlamp would be somehow empty. I was holding a photo trigger in my hand and took this shot.
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