The photo I show here marks the beginning of my path as a landscape photographer. I took it back in 2009 at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on my first real photo trip. Just half a year earlier I had bought my first DSLR, a Canon 40D.

I always liked to be out in nature, to do hikes and I was also fascinated by landscape photos of other photographers. It was a dream of mine to one day take such photos myself.

So I read many books, listened to countless podcasts about landscape photography and learned how to use a camera. When I went to the Grand Canyon I knew my equipment and I had already taken my first 1000 photos. But until then I hadn't taken a serious landscape photo, which I would hang on a wall.

This changed on this particular morning as the sun glimpsed through the storm clouds near Yaki Point. This morning I got the first impression of how rewarding it can be to spend hours scouting a location, to get up long before sunrise and then to persistently wait for the right light to capture a scene.

Since that morning I have photographed countless sunrises and sunsets, travelled around the world to explore fascinating landscapes. But this morning at the Grand Canyon will always be something special for me. Because this is how it all started.