Nikola Vukotić

FINE ART LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY

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📸 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year 2025
🏔️ Landscape & Nightscape Photography

A moody autumn day in Lofoten, where rugged peaks, A moody autumn day in Lofoten, where rugged peaks, rushing streams, and dramatic skies come together.

#Lofoten #Norway #LandscapePhotography #ArcticNorway
I waited my whole life to see the northern lights. I waited my whole life to see the northern lights. Lofoten gave me many nights I’ll never forget. 🌌

Skagsanden, Hamnøy, Reine… every place felt unreal, with the sky dancing above us.

So I’ll say it: Lofoten might just be the best northern lights spot in Europe. Tell me I’m wrong 👇

What’s your #1 place to see the aurora? 💚

📍 Lofoten Islands, Norway
🗓 Sept-Oct is prime aurora season 

#northernlights #lofoten #norway #aurora nightphotography
Europe lost this forest. Madeira kept it alive. 🌿 Europe lost this forest. Madeira kept it alive. 🌿

Millions of years ago, laurel forests covered large parts of southern Europe. As the climate changed, most of them disappeared from the continent — but fragments survived on a few Atlantic islands.

One of the most extraordinary remnants is the Laurisilva of Madeira, a UNESCO World Heritage forest often wrapped in clouds, mist and silence.

And in Fanal Forest, some ancient trees are believed to be centuries old — creating a landscape that feels less like a real place and more like something from another world.

This is one of those places where photography almost becomes secondary. You just walk between the trees and wonder how much history they have already witnessed.

Would you walk through Fanal in the fog?

📍 Fanal Forest, Madeira, Portugal

#Madeira #FanalForest #Laurisilva #LandscapePhotography #MadeiraIsland
Where the wind shapes the mountains. This was one Where the wind shapes the mountains.

This was one of those Patagonia scenes where the weather became part of the composition. Strong winds pushed the clouds across the peaks of Torres del Paine, creating these smooth lenticular formations while the last warm light caught their edges.

What drew me to this frame, though, was the old twisted tree in the foreground. Its weathered shape felt almost like a physical record of the conditions here — years of wind, cold and exposure — and gave me the foreground I needed to connect the lake with the mountains in the distance.

Patagonia rarely gives you completely calm, predictable conditions. And perhaps that is exactly what makes photographing it so addictive: the landscape can change character in a matter of minutes.

Would you have composed this around the tree, or gone for a cleaner view of the mountains?

Save this one if Torres del Paine is somewhere on your photography list. 📍🇨🇱

#TorresDelPaine #PatagoniaChile #PatagoniaPhotography #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography
Into the dark heart of Mallorca — Coves del Drach Into the dark heart of Mallorca — Coves del Drach 🕯️🇪🇸

I gave myself a slightly difficult brief for these frames: no tripod, very little light, and everything shot handheld with the new 7Artisans AF 10mm F2.5.

That meant working wide open at f/2.5 and pushing the ISO as high as 12,800 — exactly the kind of situation in which I wanted to see what this little fisheye could do.

What surprised me most was the autofocus. Even underground, in scenes where there was barely enough light to compose, it allowed me to work quickly and concentrate on the shapes and perspective rather than the lens.

And that 185° field of view completely changes the way a place like this can be photographed. Inside these enormous chambers, it was finally possible to include the ceiling, formations and the space beneath them in a single frame — much closer to how overwhelming the cave actually feels when you’re standing there.

Shot with the 7Artisans AF 10mm F2.5 📸

Handheld · f/2.5 · up to ISO 12,800

@7artisansofficial
#7artisans #7artisans10mmf25
📍 #1 — Uvac Canyon, Serbia 🇷🇸 Carved over million 📍 #1 — Uvac Canyon, Serbia 🇷🇸

Carved over millions of years through the Pešter limestone plateau, the Uvac River has shaped some of the most dramatic meanders in Europe.

🥶 Fun fact: The Pešter plateau just above this canyon is the coldest inhabited region in the Balkans — winter temperatures can drop below -30°C, and some villages get completely cut off by snow for days.

🦅 Above it all, Uvac is home to one of the largest colonies of griffon vultures in southeastern Europe — a bird with a wingspan of up to 2.8 meters.

A wilderness few expect to find in Europe — just a few hours from Belgrade.
Swipe → for location #2 🇧🇦

📍 #2 — Perućica Primeval Forest, Bosnia & Herzegovina 🇧🇦 

Hidden inside Sutjeska National Park, Perućica is one of the last two primeval forests left in Europe — a landscape that has remained virtually untouched for thousands of years.

🌲 Fun fact: Some of the beech and spruce trees here are estimated to be over 300 years old, with trunks so massive that early foresters simply couldn’t cut through them — which is part of why this forest survived intact.

🐺 The surrounding Sutjeska massif, dominated by Mount Maglić (the highest peak in Bosnia & Herzegovina), is also home to brown bears, wolves, and the elusive Balkan lynx.

A forest that predates most of European history — still standing.

Swipe → for location #3 🇲🇪

📍 #3 — Trnovačko Lake, Montenegro 🇲🇪

Tucked beneath the peaks of Mount Maglić and Volujak, at over 1,500 meters above sea level, this glacial lake has a shape nature seemingly designed on purpose: a perfect heart.

💙 Fun fact: Trnovačko Lake is fed entirely by snowmelt and underground springs — it has no visible inflow or outflow, and its water level and color shift dramatically through the seasons, from vivid turquoise in summer to near-black in autumn.

🥾 Reaching it requires a serious hike through remote highland terrain on the Bosnia–Montenegro border, which is exactly why it has stayed this untouched.

Proof that even Europe’s mountains still have secrets worth the climb.

Swipe → for location #4 🇷🇸

📍 #4 — Valja Prerast, Serbia 🇷🇸

A hidden limestone arch tucked deep inside the forests of eastern Ser
An island that looks like another planet — and alm An island that looks like another planet — and almost no one knows it exists. 🌍

I travelled to Socotra in October 2023 expecting Dragon Blood Trees and empty beaches.
What I found was much stranger.
Prehistoric-looking forests, enormous sand dunes dropping towards a turquoise sea, Bottle Trees growing straight out of bare rock, and weather capable of transforming the entire landscape within hours.
A few things that make Socotra so unusual:
🌳 The iconic Dragon Blood Trees, with their extraordinary umbrella-shaped crowns, look like something from another world.
🌿 More than a third of Socotra’s plant species are found nowhere else on Earth.
🏝️ White beaches, turquoise lagoons, rugged mountains, caves and enormous coastal dunes all exist on one relatively small island.
⛺ We spent much of the trip camping under the stars, travelling around the island with a local team.
🌧️ And then a tropical cyclone arrived. Our plans changed completely and we had to leave the tents behind and wait it out in Hadibo for two days.
Socotra turned out to be far more than the strange trees I had seen in photographs before going there.
It still feels like one of the most unusual places I’ve ever visited — and definitely one I’d like to return to.

If Socotra is somewhere on your travel list, save this one. And if you know someone who would happily spend a week camping here, you probably already know who to send it to. 😅
When the Arctic Turns to Gold This evening at Vik When the Arctic Turns to Gold

This evening at Vik Strand in the Lofoten Islands kept changing from one minute to the next — golden light breaking through the clouds, reflections spreading across the wet sand, and small foreground details suddenly becoming part of the landscape.

I kept moving along the beach rather than committing to a single composition. Sometimes it was the mountains that caught my attention, sometimes the patterns left by the retreating water, and sometimes just a piece of seaweed illuminated by the last light of the day.

These four frames were photographed during the same sunset, but each one feels like a slightly different version of Lofoten to me.

📍 Vik Strand, Lofoten Islands, Norway

#lofoten #lofotenislands #landscapephotography #arcticlandscape
When the Moon met Avala Tower. 🌘 A lunar eclipse, When the Moon met Avala Tower. 🌘

A lunar eclipse, a narrow window of time, and one very specific alignment over Belgrade.

I had planned the position carefully, knowing that only a small change in shooting location would completely alter where the Moon appeared beside the tower. Then came the waiting — until the eclipsed Moon slowly moved into exactly the place I had imagined.

Lunar eclipse over Avala Tower, Belgrade, Serbia.

Would you prefer this frame with the Moon beside the tower — or perfectly aligned behind it?

@photopills
High in the Bjelasica mountains of Montenegro, a t High in the Bjelasica mountains of Montenegro, a traditional katun rests beneath the clear night sky. Wooden mountain huts, complete silence, faint bands of airglow and the Milky Way rising almost vertically above the settlement.

This is what I love most about night photography: not simply photographing the stars, but finding places where the landscape and the night sky feel like they belong to the same story.

Bjelasica is beautiful during the day, but after dark these old katuns become something completely different.

Would you spend the night here under the stars? 🌌

🔖 Save this place for a future photography trip to Montenegro and send it to someone who would stay awake all night photographing the Milky Way with you.

@kolibakodbegija

#Bjelasica #Montenegro #MilkyWayPhotography #NightLandscape #LandscapePhotography
Framed by time. Sunrise beneath Prutaš, one of th Framed by time.

Sunrise beneath Prutaš, one of the most distinctive peaks of Durmitor National Park in Montenegro.

I found this old, weathered tree forming an almost perfect natural window toward the mountains. As the sun slowly appeared above the horizon, its first rays passed through the twisted wood, illuminating the small pink wildflowers growing among the remains of the tree.

There was something beautiful in that contrast an ancient wood shaped by years of harsh mountain weather, new life growing beside it, and the first light of a new day bringing the whole scene together.

These are the moments I search for in landscape photography: when light, nature and composition briefly fall into place.

Prutaš, Durmitor National Park, Montenegro.

Would you have stopped for this frame? 🌄

#Durmitor #Prutas #Montenegro #LandscapePhotography #SunrisePhotography
When the sun first breaks through the mist, the hi When the sun first breaks through the mist, the hills of Tuscany become something else entirely — light glides across the rolling slopes, cypress shadows draw lines through the grass, and old stone farmhouses quietly wait for the new day.
These are the moments worth waking up before dawn for. 

SR: Kada sunce tek počne da se probija kroz maglu, brda Toskane postaju nešto sasvim drugo — svetlost klizi preko talasastih obronaka, senke čempresa crtaju linije po travi, a stara kamena zdanja tiho čekaju novi dan.
Ovo su trenuci zbog kojih vredi ustati pre svitanja.

📍 Toskana, Italia

#tuscany #toskana #goldenhour #cypresstrees #morningmist
Beneath the arch of the Milky Way, as the Perseids Beneath the arch of the Milky Way, as the Perseids streak across the sky above Durmitor. 🌠
One of those nights that makes staying awake until dawn completely worth it.

This image is an astro composite — the meteors were captured over several hours rather than in a single moment, then combined into one scene.

—

Pod lukom Mlečnog puta, dok Perseidi padaju nad Durmitorom. 🌠
Jedna od onih noći zbog kojih vredi ostati budan do jutra. 

Fotografija je astro kompozit — meteori nisu zabeleženi u istom trenutku, već tokom nekoliko sati snimanja i objedinjeni u jednu scenu. 

Sony A7CR + 16mm 1.8 G + MSM Nomad + Leofoto + Kenko PRO1D PROSOFTON Clear

#Perseids #MilkyWay #Astrophotography #NightSky #Nightscape
Where the island ends and the Atlantic begins. 📍 Where the island ends and the Atlantic begins. 

📍 Ponta de São Lourenço, Madeira
Camping beneath the cliffs of Grebaje, wrapped in Camping beneath the cliffs of Grebaje, wrapped in silence, with one eye on the Milky Way and the other half-expecting a bear to wander into camp. Thankfully, only the galaxy showed up.

#milkyway
#nightscaper
#nightphotography
#astro_photography_
#ig_astrophotography
For two days, Cerro Torre refused to reveal itself For two days, Cerro Torre refused to reveal itself. The wind never stopped, but this is what that experience gave me instead.

#EarthFocus #OurPlanetDaily#MoodyGrams #visualambassadors #BeAlpha
This image happened completely by accident while p This image happened completely by accident while passing through.

Vapa River, Pešter Plateau, Serbia 🇷🇸
Patagonia, frame by frame. From the first light t Patagonia, frame by frame.

From the first light touching the famous towers to autumn trees, moving clouds and blue ice below — this place never feels completely still.
 Every corner changes with the weather, every minute gives a different mood, and somehow Patagonia always feels bigger than the photograph.

A carousel of cold mornings, warm light and one of the most unforgettable landscapes I’ve ever seen.

#Patagonia #FitzRoy #CerroTorre #ElChalten #LandscapePhotography
Something new from me. Accelerated learning curve, Something new from me. Accelerated learning curve, a new direction. And judging by what’s coming next, I already know it was only the beginning.
Where the Storm Meets the Mountain A wild Patago Where the Storm Meets the Mountain
 
A wild Patagonian river rushes through the autumn valley beneath the granite towers of Fitz Roy, while low clouds wrap around the peaks and turn the landscape into a scene of raw mountain drama.
Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Drei Zinnen) Tre Cime di Lavaredo (Drei Zinnen)
The Light That Stayed: I didn’t plan to be here. I The Light That Stayed: I didn’t plan to be here. I was on my way somewhere else when I saw this from the road and decided to stay. Rain was falling, the sun was low, and the whole valley was glowing in a way that felt almost impossible. A true gift.

📍Agriturismo Baccoleno, Tuscany, Italy
Tender mornings Tender mornings
Wonders of the Southern Sky After fighting incred Wonders of the Southern Sky 
After fighting incredible winds and constant issues with the star tracker, I went back to traditional single-shot astro photography. Sometimes the simple way is the best way.
📍 Patagonia, Argentina
Just a Dragon: A Dragon Eye 📍Lofoten, Norway 🇳🇴 Just a Dragon: A Dragon Eye

📍Lofoten, Norway 🇳🇴
The Last Guardian: Sunrise over the horns of Torre The Last Guardian: Sunrise over the horns of Torres del Paine.

📍Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile
Kamchatka – Land of Renewal Days in the “Dead Fore Kamchatka - Land of Renewal
Days in the “Dead Forest” and lava fields revealed that even the harshest places hide tenderness. Which frame captures that spirit best (1–9)?
1. Last Light (Vilyuchinsky)
2. Ocean Sentinels (Vilyuchinsky)
3.  Cruel Wasteland (Dead Forest)
4.  Resilience (Tolbachik lava fields)
5.  God Rays (Dead Forest)
6.  Frozen Fire (Tolbachik lava fields)
7.  Verdant Horizon (Life returns)
8.  The Quest (Deep into the ash ) 
9.  The Last Act (Farewell to the giants)
30-second long exposure at sunrise at Ribeira da J 30-second long exposure at sunrise at Ribeira da Janela, Madeira captured moments before this rookie seascaper got properly introduced to the true power of the ocean.

Duga ekspozicija (30 s) poznate lokacije Ribeira da Janela na Madeiri u praskozorje, malo pre nego što je ovaj neiskusni “seascaper” naučio koja je istinska snaga okeana.
Fanal Fanal
Views, cliffs, and wild light, the essence of Made Views, cliffs, and wild light, the essence of Madeira.

📸 1 Miradouro do Guindaste
📸 2 Ponta do Tristão
📸 3 Miradouro da Ribeira da Janela

Happy New Year and beautiful holiday days ahead ✨
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nikola.vukotic

13.10.2022
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Nikola Vukotić

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