Every photograph has a story.

Some images are carefully planned, while others happen unexpectedly in a fleeting moment of light, weather, and timing. What you see in the final frame is only a small part of the experience.

Behind every photograph lies a journey of early mornings, long walks, missed opportunities, patience, and countless decisions made in the field.

In this chapter, I take you beyond the finished image and share the stories behind some of my favourite photographs from Yangshuo, Xingping, Guilin, and beyond. You'll discover where the image was taken, the conditions I encountered, the camera settings I used, and the thought process that helped shape the final result.

More importantly, I hope these stories remind you that photography is not only about capturing beautiful places—it is about being present, observing carefully, and allowing yourself to connect with a moment before pressing the shutter.

Sometimes the photograph is the reward.

Often, the experience behind it is even more valuable.

For photographers, this feels like the golden grail: a sea of clouds at sunrise. I have seen the sea of clouds many times, but seeing it together with such an impressive sunrise is extremely rare.

Moments like this do not come on demand. You wait, return, and hope that weather, light, and timing align for just a few unforgettable minutes. That morning, everything came together—the glowing sun, the layered karst peaks, and the clouds flowing like an endless white ocean.

It was one of those rare scenes that reminds you exactly why you keep going back.

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This photograph is part of a larger collection created during my years living in Yangshuo.

Discover more Behind the Photograph stories, fine-art prints, and my Yangshuo coffee-table book:

Some photographs are carefully planned. Others simply happen when you are paying attention.

On this day I was not out photographing landscapes. I had just finished taking interior photos for a hotel in Yangshuo and was cycling back home. The light was already changing and the sky was beginning to open behind the karst mountains.

As I passed the river, I noticed the clouds separating and powerful sunrays breaking through the sky. The limestone peaks appeared as dark silhouettes, and the light reflected perfectly in the calm water.

I stopped immediately.

There was no time to overthink the composition. Moments like this last only a few minutes. The clouds move, the light shifts, and the scene disappears as quickly as it appears.

Within seconds the landscape transformed into something almost surreal — rays of light spreading across the sky and mirrored in the river below.

This photograph reminds me of an important lesson in photography:

Always stay aware of your surroundings.

The best photograph might appear when you least expect it.

During my years living in Yangshuo, many of my favorite images were not planned. They happened while cycling through the countryside, walking along the river, or simply being in the right place at the right moment.

Sometimes the landscape gives you a gift.

You just have to be ready to see it.

Explore More

This photograph is part of a larger collection created during my years living in Yangshuo.

Discover more Behind the Photograph stories, fine-art prints, and my Yangshuo coffee-table book: