Armed with the Nikon D850, Nikon D5 and the new Nikon Z 7, Kirill’s expedition was far from conventional in his bid to explore somewhere few travel, action or wildlife photographers have journeyed.
Travelling via yacht over the 6,000-metre-wide Aleutian-Kamchatka trench, the team evaded several storms to reach the islands and become the first documented group to kite surf these waters of the Bering Sea.
Opening new possibilities
Renowned for his extreme sports and travel work, Kirill’s vision was to discover the islands’ elements through surfing and sailing.
Yet the unique wildlife and people that call these islands home offered a new perspective, testing his talent as a wildlife and documentary photographer.
Kirill Umrikhin comments, “With so little information available about the islands, I was dependent on contacts of the Komandorsky Nature Reserve to help me plan my journey.
But what waited for us was so much more than I could have ever expected and planned for.
It is a place defined by its incredible wildlife, including beaked whales and orcas, rare seabirds and over a quarter of a million seals - one fifth of the world’s seal population.”