Madlaina Walther: Shextreme Best Adventure Photograph

this award is proudly sponsored by

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and when talented individuals hone their skills and push the limits of their creativity, one picture could write a novel.

Residing in beautiful Engadine, Switzerland, is Madlaina Walther, this year's Shextreme Film Festival Best Adventure Photograph winner. While leading an active lifestyle, Madlaina specialises in sports and landscape photography capturing such pictures that could fill a library of adventurous tales. While some people are born with talent in their blood, others have to nurture talent through perseverance and determination. Madlaina explains how her path in photography began, "I bought my first film camera when I was around 13 years old. I would have loved being a photographer but instead studied sports sciences and physical education. Many, many years later, in 2014, when I felt the lack of creativity in my life, I remembered photography and decided to give it a try."

As with all photographs, there's context and story behind the image. Pictured below is this year's Best Adventure Photograph, "I already had this spot in mind for a trail running photoshoot, but it never happened. After having dropped my camera at an assignment, I got a very fancy, brand-new camera as a replacement, and wanted to put this camera to use. So I finally made an appointment with my trail running friend and another friend who helped to carry the gear and just completed our lovely ladies-evening. When we went up on the mountain by chairlift, everybody else was heading down. I overheard people saying to each other, "but why do they go up now", and thought, we know why. We then had one of my most memorable evenings on the mountain and hiked back down in just the light of our head torches."

So how does one become a better photographer and capture story-telling imagery? Madlaina shares some advice, "Have your camera with you and practice as often as possible. Try to really understand the sport: how to do the typical movement work, how should they look like, what's the lifestyle of this sport, what equipment characterises the sport etc. Shooting adventure sports usually means that it's an adventure for you too, so stay fit and healthy, learn outdoor safety practices as first aid, route finding, predicting the weather, avalanche safety, whatever you will need. Shoot in different lights: golden hour, bright sunlight, overcast days, bad weather, night. Network with athletes, manufacturers and brands. Research and experiment with other photography genres, which can help you to find a fresh perspective in adventure photography. Take a workshop because you will learn a lot by talking to other photographers, and it can be so inspiring!"

It's not just Madlaina's incredible photograph that won her this year's award, but her passion and enthusiasm for encouraging other female photographers is equally as incredible. To help grow women's participation, Madlaina has set out to create a new online community for other female photographers, the Women in Action Sports Photography page on Facebook.

The winning photograph proudly sponsored by komoot