One of the top goals for this year was to get completely and utterly out of my comfort zone - both physically and artistically.
Although I'm happy to travel to pretty much most places to do a shoot, usually they don't take more than a week maximum (for stills anyway) and so far they have been in pretty urban settings.
As you'll see from my work, I'm not really an outdoor/nature photographer but this year I really wanted to get out with my camera for a significant length of time and do something totally different.
Well, an exciting opportunity came up to join the Belgium explorer
on a trek through Poland's Tatras Mountains and along its wild Vistula River. I met Louis-Philippe last year when working on an article about Belgians Living Without a Government (which ended up in The Guardian UK). I was bowled over by his unbridled enthusiasm - he only took to exploring seven years ago at the age of 27- since then, he's crossed the Simpson desert, trekked across Iceland and tackled Everest. All virtually unaided and on his own; just him and his will power.
So now the Poland Trek and organization for it have pretty much taken over my life. It's only a couple of months away so we're looking for sponsors and media partners. I'm going to be taking stills and filming and am in the middle of putting together a small film crew.
We now have the backing of National Geographic Poland behind us, which is great and I'm currently seeing if we can get some gear together which would take this expedition to another level in visual terms.
If you are interested in sponsorship or know someone who would be, please get in contact and I can send the official Poland Trek brochure.
Please contact me at :
natalie (at) nataliehillphotography.com
