Spotlight: Tobias Nikolaus
In today’s Artist Spotlight feature, we hear from Tobias Nikolaus: German interior designer turned photographer, videographer and most importantly, fearless adventurer. Read on to find out from him on what it’s like to have been a self-taught artist, how he developed his love of nature and what advice he has as to how to find happiness in your craft.
By: Tobias Nikolaus
I am a 19 years old and from Germany. I never thought that I would spend all of my time doing photography and filming. Previously, I worked as an interior designer for a year. I was having some struggles with my foot because I worked with heavy things and I’m not the strongest person. Then I wasn’t able to work for one month and during this time my life changed dramatically. I was playing around with my little toy drone - it had a 2 megapixel camera on the bottom and I realized how much fun taking photos is and it felt so natural and right so I bought my first camera and started taking photos in nature. I learned a lot about photography and at this point I quit my old job so I could do what I love. It was not the easiest thing to do - to quit - but I’m happy with it. Now I make music videos for friends and travel and photograph as much as I can. I think it very important to do what you love and follow your heart. Everybody should do what they love and believe in. I think this is the start to a life one would be very happy with. My favorite equipment is the equipment I have with me when I’m out in nature. It doesn't really matter which camera you have if you free your mind and look at things a little differently than you normally would, because in the end you don’t see the camera the photo was taken with you only see the photo and if you are happy with the final photo - it is the best photo you can get.
If you’d like to see more of his landscape artwork follow @graphy_of_earth_t.n
Fear of Depth
Tobias took this photo with a Fujifilm xt-20. “It was an awesome day for his first hiking tour with his best friend since childhood”. He overcame his fear of heights that day. “I think for most people it’s no problem but my knees were shaking so much! It was an unbelievable moment in nature.”
Taken: Late January on the Mullerthal trail in Luxembourg “its a awesome place.”
Tones of Nature
“I shot this photo with my first drone (dji spark). I was in the forest everyday [with it] because nature is so beautiful. The whole day I was in the forest alone and took photos with my camera and drone. I love seeing the world from another perspective .
(I took this one last summer (2017) in my little hometown of Düsseldorf, Angermund in Germany).”
Think Deeper
“Last but not least one of my favorite macro pictures. I like this picture because you need to look longer at it to understand what it really is. I’m a nature lover and every time the weather isn’t too bad, I go out and enjoy the beauty of nature. (I took this one in January in my new home of Xanten, Germany).