Is photography a dream job for mountain lovers? Maybe, but for 28-year-old Daniel Rönnbäck, it has taken hard work both mentally and physically to get to where he is. In the recent film AR Family Video Portrait: Daniel Ronnback “Follow the Mountain,” produced by Armada Skis, Rönnbäck narrates his own professional story.
AR Family Video Portrait: Daniel Ronnback “Follow the Mountain” from ARMADA SKIS INC. on Vimeo.
The title “extreme skier” has been used for years, but in the movie, Rönnbäck talks about a relatively new concept—being an extreme photographer. From his home in Stockholm, Sweden, to the peaks of Chamonix, France, the film depicts him rappelling into couloirs and perching atop rock spires to capture the rugged beauty of the backcountry and the athletes who grace his photos.
“Being out there in a super exposed place, there is so much more to think about,” Rönnbäck says. “And I think this knowledge and those aspects [are] the ones that take the longest time to learn.”
This process has not happened overnight, and he thanks the skiers and mountaineers whom he has worked with over the years—with special gratitude for Andreas Fransson and J.P. Auclair—for imparting their wisdom.
“I am really lucky that I have been working with people that have a lot of knowledge and that have spent a lot of time in the mountains,” Rönnbäck says. “So I have always been trying to take in and listen to what they’re thinking and what their plans are where we are out in the mountains.”
Extreme or not, he talks of how being a professional comes down to many hours learning and listening, and at all times “follow[ing] what the mountains tell you to do.”
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Find out more about Daniel Rönnbäck at danielronnback.com.
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