In those days when leaves are just beginning to turn and the cold has not yet taken hold, autumn nature becomes a source of inspiration and comfort. This roundup of Instagram accounts gathers 10 photographers whose images conjure the feeling of a mild autumn chill all year round.
All of them live in northern countries or places where the landscape is harsh enough, so their feeds are full of fog, grey skies and brooding rock. Despite this — or perhaps because of it — the work of these photographers is both captivating and breathtaking.
Benjamin Hardman — @benjaminhardman
Australian photographer Benjamin Hardman lives and works in Iceland. As stated on his website, he works to "blend digital media with fixed aesthetic principles through textural contrasts and natural ambiguities in the landscape." His Instagram feed is held in black and blue tones, with rare touches of green and brown. Lines are often indistinct — the result of fog, a river shot on a long exposure, or a grey sky that dissolves seamlessly into the water at the horizon.
In Hardman's Instagram Stories, you can follow him as he travels across the country, often in the company of other Icelandic photographers.
Max Muench — @muenchmax
Max Muench is a Berlin-based independent photographer who shoots landscapes and documents his travels. He roams widely — shortly before this piece was written, Muench had been photographing the nature and people of Mongolia. On his website in the Blog section, he shares stories from his travels. Countries he has visited include Iceland, Jordan, Namibia, Tanzania and others. Wherever Max Muench travels and whatever he photographs, his images are always spacious and expansive, suffused with soft light, and convey a sense of boundless open landscape.
His Stories are worth particular attention: he either gives away his work there or posts bonus images. His website and Instagram also carry links to his Lightroom presets.
Ross Dickie — @ross.dickie
Photographer Ross Dickie lives in Edinburgh. He shoots primarily in the Scottish mountains, though he also has work from Greenland and the Italian Dolomites. Yet wherever he takes his pictures, they all share the same autumnal quality — comfortably, quietly cold. Since 2017, Dickie has been a brand ambassador for Panasonic's Lumix camera family, and currently shoots with the GX8 body and lenses from the Lumix G range.
Stuart Laing — @stuart.laing
Another independent photographer from Scotland is Stuart Laing. He grew up in the Scottish Highlands, and from an early age felt a deep connection with nature. As he got older, that admiration grew into a desire to express his feelings through photography. His Instagram feed is filled with green Scottish mountains, crumbling moss-covered castles, fluffy sheep and other local wildlife — like a backdrop to Shakespeare's Macbeth. Water in all its forms appears in almost every photograph, whether as fog or ocean waves.
Vadim Vetrov — @nuewens
Vetrov is a lifestyle photographer from Pyatigorsk who shoots the natural landscapes of Russia. His images of the North Caucasus look as though they were taken somewhere in Canada. The nature he portrays is harsh, cold and mountainous, yet welcoming. His photographs resemble postcards from a happy journey through a dream world — where the cold only refreshes you, the people you meet along the way are invariably kind and interesting, and the road never wears you down.
Vetrov is part of the Russian Explorers — a collective of Russian travel photographers who draw inspiration from their homeland and seek to show the world how beautiful and varied Russia's natural landscapes are. Also part of the team is Magomed Shapiev, who features elsewhere in this selection. Their joint website showcases the work of all the members, along with a brief profile of each.
Simona Buratti — @simona_br_photography
Simona Buratti is originally from Italy but lives in Iceland. She shares her passion for photography with her Icelandic partner, Arnar Kristjánsson. Their website offers a closer look at their work. The pair specialise in landscape and night photography. Of their craft, they say: "it is the perfect way to express and share our mutual love of nature and extreme experiences beyond the walls of home — always seeking new perspectives."
Simona's photographs are expansive and full of depth. Her feed consists predominantly of dark images with soft, flowing lines; mist or haze appear frequently, while her night work often features the northern lights.
Hannes Becker — @hannes_becker
Hannes Becker is a landscape and travel photographer originally from Hesse, Germany. Having grown up in the countryside, he found that his rural surroundings shaped his photographic eye. He began his career working in a studio for a year before going freelance. For the past four years, Hannes has been regularly sharing work from around the world on Instagram. His travels have taken him to Iceland, Alaska, Ireland, Argentina, Austria and beyond. Alongside the images themselves, Becker considers it important to accompany each one with his personal reflections.
Hannes has collaborated with many brands, including smartphone maker Huawei, Sony, Canon, TUI, NatGeo and IcelandAir.
Magomed Shapiev — @photo_shapiev
Magomed Shapiev travels and photographs primarily the mountains of Dagestan. Along with other Russian photographers, including Vadim Vetrov, he is a member of the Russian Explorers collective, whose goal is to share the natural beauty of their homeland with the wider world.
Shapiev's feed is steeped in the brown and grey tones of Dagestan's vast mountains, occasionally giving way to whites and wintry blues.
Alistair Horne — @ali.horne
Scottish photographer Alistair Horne received his first camera at the age of eleven, and was already shooting prolifically. But his true passion for photography ignited when he set out on an extensive road trip along the west coast of the United States — camera in hand, naturally — travelling from Los Angeles through Yosemite and San Francisco to the Pacific Northwest, then back down through Yellowstone, Grand Canyon National Park and Zion. It was then that he realised he had fallen in love with landscape photography.
Horne's style is best described in his own words: "I love colour and contrast — I'm drawn to the orange-green tones of Scotland in autumn. But the palette inevitably shifts depending on the country." For editing, Horne works with VSCO presets and Lightroom tools.
Ben Simon Rehn — @bensimonrehn
Ben lives in Iceland and photographs this remarkable country above all else, though images from Namibia occasionally appear in his feed. His Instagram is full of sinuous lines — either the rivers of Iceland or the dunes of the Namibian desert. Wherever the photographs are taken, they share a cool tonal palette. Landscapes dominate, though wildlife makes an appearance and people feature more rarely. Whether capturing an elephant or a deer, his images convey a sense of calm, philosophical observation of the natural world.
Ben has his own channel on YouTube, which features several videos of breathtaking aerial footage from Iceland and Namibia.
Losko has previously compiled photographer round-ups. These included 10 profiles on Instagram about travel and 10 photographers on VSCO.
