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The morning we speak with Yhabril is hours ahead of us.

He went up the mountain at 6 in the morning, when the curfew allowed him, and was back at 10:30.

"The blue sky does not interest me. What I like is to be

at the limit of light

", explains this 43-year-old from Bilbao from the town of Villanúa in Huesca where he lives.

He has been coming to this valley for 20 years to enjoy the mountains and teach snowboarding, but it is his love of photography and, in particular, of

portraying the Moon

that has garnered him the most recognition.

The first lunar photo was made on December 24, 2015. At least the first "knowing what he was doing," he says on the other end of the phone.

Thanks to an app, six months earlier, he had discovered that that day, at 17:02, the full moon would rise behind the imposing

Midi D'Ossau,

in the French Pyrenees.

"When the date arrived, I tried to recruit a partner, but the mountain was very hostile with crusted snow, ice and a lot of stone, so no one wanted to come to witness something that even I did not believe 100%," he says.

"I was staring from 4:50 p.m. and at 5:05 p.m. I began to see the light in the exact place where I had dreamed it. What I felt was indescribable. I realized in that moment that a world of photographic creativity was opening up to me" .

That was his first lunar session.

He put the camera in the backpack and went down with his snowboard to get to dinner on Christmas Eve.

Since then, Gonzalo Bartolomé, his real name, has performed

more than twenty lunar sessions

.

Keep "vibrating with each one."

Although they are not always during the full moon.

"Not at all. Yes it is true that I rely a lot on the lunar phases to execute my plans, but contrary to what it may seem many of my lunar photos are

two or three days before the full Moon

. What happens is that it does seem so to the eye ".

See this post on Instagram

Not everything is magic, of course.

Behind the final photograph there is a lot of work.

"Keep in mind that in the high mountains the environment in winter is usually hostile. In addition to planning a photo of the moon you have to go to the place several times before. When you go by car it is much easier than if you have to walk through snow and in the mountains with all the necessary equipment. "

The credit also goes to his battle companions.

Those "lunatic" sportsmen who seem to dance in the air against the celestial body.

"

Without them there would be no photo

. Most of the athletes I work with are not professionals. We do it out of passion."

The Basque photographer YHABRIL

Yhabril declares himself "hooked" on snowboarding to document life on the mountain.

"The photographer is a photographer 24 hours a day. For me the most intense impact that this profession has is precisely that: you start to see photographs everywhere."

It prefers

the soft lights

of sunrises and sunsets.

"I am quite twilight photographically speaking. The least light that can fit my style would be that of a summer day with a blue sky and the midday sun."

And that country where would you like to do your next lunar session?

"Well, the truth is that there are many.

Nepal

or any of the Nordic countries

have always called me. I have

already been to Iceland but I would also love to go to Norway or Finland."

Now, if you have to choose a mountain landscape, it is clear to you: the

Collarada peak

, in

Villanúa

(Pyrenees of Huesca), which touches 3,000 meters and is visible from many points

in the Jacetania region.

"Its slopes are full of trails to walk, bike, run, take pictures ... I feel privileged to live where I live. It also offers beautiful sunrises and sunsets. In the same town there are viewpoints from which anyone you can contemplate its beauty. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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