8 Years of Photographic Excellence

   Terra Quantum has been launched with the goal of gathering the most beautiful pictures of our planet and of providing an international reference for exceptional landscape photography.
   To achieve this excellence, a permanent jury carefully considers each photo that is submitted to decide whether it will be published on the site. 8 years later we are happy to welcome a large community with 400 photographers from around the world who have published a total of around 1500 images; each of them has been reviewed by the Terra Quantum international jury.

News

Selection of September 2024: Untitled by Gheorghe Popa
Dec 14, 2024

This photograph is the result of persistence and dedication, what I like to call a "hard-earned i...

Selection of August 2024: Badlands Fog #3 by Huibo Hou
Nov 17, 2024

This photo is also one of my favorite examples of using postprocessing to enhance mood and improv...

Selection of July 2024: Adrenaline by Jeroen Lagerwerf
Oct 06, 2024

From the afternoon severe weather was forecast, and the first thunderstorm soon approached. This ...

Selection of June 2024: A desolation like no other by Jean Discours
Sep 10, 2024

The snow fell during the night and the sky was veiled by clouds that evaporated. I decided to wor...

Selection of May 2024: Seascape Geometry by Dani Salgado
Jul 19, 2024

The intensity of the waves, and the strong rain made it a little more difficult than I expected. ...

Selection of April 2024: Abyss I by Brigitte Bourger
Jun 23, 2024

"Abyss I" has garnered numerous awards, including first prize in the nature category at PX3 Paris...

Tribute

IN 1968 I DROVE WITH SOME FRIENDS along old Highway 163 south of Moab where I noticed a sign for a road heading west to the Needles and Anticline Overlooks. Passing such road signs or seeing interesting trails or roads on a map filled me with the desire to explore these unknown places, and I promised myself I would return to the Canyon Country and spend my life seeking out these hidden treasures of silence, stone, and sunburnt majesty.

Now, forty years later, I've done pretty well. I've run all the rivers many, many times, risking life and limb in the process, I hiked hundreds of narrow defiles and swam in water that was dangerously frigid. I visited many canyons where water, rushing from springs, walls, waterfalls and seeps was the main ingredient, creating the lush sandstone temples and cathedrals that dazzle the mind and heart. I hiked with a 45 pound camera pack hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles. I gazed into the abyss and it gazed into me.

I marveled at the work and artistry of the ancients, whose remnants add so much mystery and mood to an already unfathomable landscape. I crawled on my hands and knees countless times, every time thinking of Ed Abbey’s admonishment to do so to really bond with the Colorado Plateau desert. Some people have seen more than I, but not many.

The Canyons of Utah have been photographed a great deal. Inspired by the younger generation, many of whom see photography as a more painterly and impressionistic art form than my generation, I’ve experimented a little with a few of the images here. I don’t believe that the beauty of Utah Canyons needs to be improved by photography but I do believe that the Canyons can be interpreted by photography in different ways.

One thing has not changed. The Canyons of Utah are under constant attack. The ethereal light that bathes them in an other-worldly glow is weakened and strangled at times by dirty air coming from a variety of man-made sources. People now come to these places with no thought of their beauty and fragility. They are unprepared to accept the sand stone majesty and the scope of a landscape so much bigger and more complex than anything they have encountered in their 21st century life.

As we enter the second decade of the new century, there are some signs of hope. Local politicians have in some cases, seen that wilderness and national parks are not liabilities but assets, and that many who initially oppose such land designations find themselves changing their mind as time passes. I believe many of my neighbors in Southern Utah who say they love the land as much as anyone and want to save it unsullied for future generations to enjoy.

Tom Till