Interview with Judith Kuhn, the 2023 MUSE Photographer of the Year

Everything I know about photography is self-educated. A few books here, some internet research there, inspiration from the works of other photographers and a lot, really a lot of trying things out has brought me to where I am today.

I am not sure. It was probably the Schlosshotel in Austria where I spent some holidays with my parents as a child. I loved it very much.

First and foremost, I photograph landscapes. I have two lenses in my backpack for this genre: the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. Various ND and GND filters as well as a tripod are of course always included. Sometimes I also use the Tamron 70-300mm 1: 4-5.6 SP Di VC USM with me for detailed shots.

Occasionally I do astrophotography with the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art. Of course, a tripod is indispensable in landscape photography. Here I prefer a traveller tripod from Rollei due to the small pack size and weight.

My second big passion is wildlife photography. Here I have the Tamron SP 150-600mm F / 5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 (also very heavy and therefore not always in the backpack) for the larger and more abrasive specimens and the Tamron SP 90mm 1: 2.8 Di Macro 1:1 VC USD for the tiny ones.

For indoor photography and other occasions where you need an ultra-wide angle, I recently added the Sigma 12-24mm f / 4 DG HSM Art, which is not always included due to the weight.

I use all those lenses with my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. My newest toy is a drone: the dji Mavic 3 for unusual perspectives, abstractions and a view over the fog.

Some people have already said or written to one or the other of my Northern Lights pictures that it is the best Northern Lights picture they have seen so far. I'm particularly happy about that, because it's not easy to photograph the Northern Lights in the right weather conditions and with the right foreground. Especially if you don't live in the Arctic.

The love of nature.

It always makes me proud to receive awards in photo competitions. It motivates me to keep going on.

I received the MUSE Photography Award’s Amateur Photographer of the Year award for my series on Svalbard's polar bears. The journey to these majestic animals was something very special. I've never been this far north before, never before have I photographed on a group tour. And I've never spent so much money on a trip before...

We were incredibly lucky: we had very good weather conditions throughout the trip and plenty of polar bear sightings. In this way, a series of good pictures could be created.

I'm an amateur photographer, so I don't have a career. Receiving an award is purely motivating for me.

I'm less inspired by certain photographers, it's more individual pictures by different photographers that I get my inspiration from.

Watch, try and never give up.