All images by Daniel Řeřicha. Used with permission.
Photographer Daniel Řeřicha was born in 1972 in Krupka, Czech Republic and has been living there all his life. In the year 2000, he got his first SLR and since then has been searching for inspiration online as well as advice from other photographers. At the same time, he’s been trying to improve his post-production skills.
We found his work on Behance and were thoroughly taken with his quiet, ethereal and jaw-droppingly beautiful compositions. Daniel believes that good gear matters a bit, but it’s more about your creative vision. He also believes that color landscapes (at least in his work) are inferior to what black and white can do for a scene.
Phoblographer: Talk to us about how you first got into photography?
Daniel: As a child I loved landscapes, I like traveling and finding new interesting places. As almost every person, I took a camera for almost every trip and vacation to make interesting shots of different places. So at the beginning it was just a traveling with compact camera.
I started to think more about photography in 2000. That time I got a book about photography as a gift and few months later I bought a first film camera– a Pentax. I entered the world of digital photography four years later and at the beginning of 2006 I had my first digital camera. I was completely absorbed by photography and from that time my every trip and vacation is subordinated by photography.
Phoblographer: What got you into black and white landscapes?
Daniel: If I have to classify myself to an exact category, I am definitely a landscape photographer. Landscape was always passion for me, but recently I realized that classic color landscape photography looks too complicated for me. That brought me to Black and White photography, which looks simpler and clearer to me.
Phoblographer: Talk to us about your composition and creative process. What makes you see an image in black and white and know that it will be a great one?
Daniel: It is necessary to think about the image. Sometimes it’s just one step, a bit of a different angle, or choice of shutter speed can really change a future image. When I am going to an exact place, mostly I am prepared and I have an idea how I want my image at final view. Of course sometimes it is necessary to improvise, cause one thing is an idea, but reality could be different.
Phoblographer: What gear do you use?
Daniel: As I said at the beginning, I am using Canon. At this time it is Canon EOS 5D Mark II, lenses Canon 16-35mm f4 L IS and Canon 70-200mm f4 L. Almost every image that I made, I used a tripod and for most of my Black and White images I used ND filters to extend exposure. Quality of equipment is important for sure, but I think that more important is to perceive a landscape and have a vision for interesting conditions.
Phoblographer: What motivates and inspires you to create the scenes that you do?
Daniel: I like symmetry, clarity and simplicity. I try to get all those aspects to my images. Purposely I find simple, clear and symmetrically compositions. I simplify these compositions through weather conditions (fog, rain) and also by long exposure times using strong ND filters.
