Sascha Schernthaner A.V. Pictures
The Sentinel

Sascha
Schernthaner

A.V. Pictures
Astro  ·  Landscape  ·  Aerial
Wildlife  ·  Macro  ·  Portrait
East Tyrol, Austria
The Sentinel — Half moon above the Dreischusterspitze · Sexten Dolomites

Statement

Photographing the Eastern Alps from the ground up and from the air — patient light, long nights, and the animals that hold still for none of it.

Born in Lienz, back in East Tyrol since 2025. I work between the valley floors of the Hohe Tauern and the ridgelines of the Dolomites, most often before sunrise or long after everyone else has gone home.

The disciplines keep feeding each other: the night sky, the landscape underneath it, the wildlife that lives in it, and the aerial perspective that shows how the three fit together.

I — Astro

Leaning into the Light
Leaning into the Light Stone pine below the galactic core · Staller Sattel, East Tyrol
Gate of Heaven
Gate of Heaven Milky Way through the Himmelspforte · Schafberg, August 2026
Pillar of Light
Pillar of Light Milky Way over the Tre Cime di Lavaredo · September 2026
The Hunter’s Sword
The Hunter’s Sword Orion Nebula · stacked exposures
Eclipse Through Cloud
Eclipse Through Cloud Partial solar eclipse · α7R V · FE 200–600 mm G at 600 mm · 1/8000 s · f/8 · ISO 100
Cold Crescent
Cold Crescent Waning moon at dusk · α7R V · FE 70–200 mm F2.8 GM II at 200 mm · 1/125 s · f/2.8 · ISO 200
Caught in the Spruce
Caught in the Spruce Moonset behind the treeline

II — Landscape

The Needle’s Eye
The Needle’s Eye Sunset between the towers, Dolomites · DJI Mavic 3 Pro · 24 mm · 1/125 s · f/2.8 · ISO 100
The Window
The Window Tre Cime di Lavaredo in winter · FE 14 mm F1.8 GM · March 2025
The Green Ridge
The Green Ridge Ra Gusela at sunrise · DJI Mavic 3 Pro · 24 mm · 1/40 s · f/4 · ISO 100
Vespers
Vespers Tre Cime at last light · panorama, September 2025
Hoarfrost
Hoarfrost Larches after a cold night · East Tyrol
One Sail
One Sail San Felice at dusk · α7R V · FE 24–70 mm F2.8 GM at 70 mm · 1/4 s · f/7.1 · ISO 100

III — Aerial

Eye of the Forest
Eye of the Forest Pond in autumn woodland · DJI Mavic 3 Pro · 24 mm · 1/40 s · f/2.8 · ISO 100
Turquoise Edge
Turquoise Edge Shallows and autumn colour · DJI Mavic 3 Pro · 70 mm · 1/10 s · f/2.8 · ISO 100
Danube, Waking
Danube, Waking Vienna at first light · October 2025
Under Weather
Under Weather Lienz valley beneath cloud · DJI Mavic 3 Pro · 24 mm · 1/13 s · f/11 · ISO 100

IV — Wildlife

Sovereign
Sovereign Golden eagle · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
At the Lek
At the Lek Capercaillie in display · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
The Speaker
The Speaker Carrion crow · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
One Eye Open
One Eye Open Long-eared owl · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
The Curve
The Curve Mute swan · α7R V · FE 70–200 mm F2.8 GM II at 200 mm · 1/1250 s · f/2.8 · ISO 250
Ember
Ember Mute swan drinking · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
Borrowed Colours
Borrowed Colours Mandarin duck · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
Blue Fire
Blue Fire Kingfisher · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
Redbreast
Redbreast European robin · FE 200–600 mm F5.6–6.3 G
Snow on Snow
Snow on Snow White-winged snowfinch · α7R V · FE 70–200 mm F2.8 GM II + 2× TC at 388 mm · 1/5000 s · f/7.1 · ISO 400
Night Watch
Night Watch Red squirrel on a churchyard railing
Question Mark
Question Mark Greater flamingo · α7 IV · FE 200–600 mm G at 600 mm · 1/1250 s · f/6.3 · ISO 160

V — Macro

Ten Thousand Lenses
Ten Thousand Lenses Compound eye of a bee · FE 90 mm F2.8 Macro G
Enamelled
Enamelled Jewel beetle on a coneflower · August 2025
A World, Held
A World, Held Dew on a blade of grass · α7R V · FE 100 mm F2.8 Macro GM · 1/320 s · f/13 · ISO 200

VI — Portrait

The Elder
The Elder α7 IV · FE 70–200 mm F2.8 GM II at 180 mm · 1/50 s · f/9 · ISO 500
Crowned
Crowned α7 IV · FE 70–200 mm F2.8 GM II at 168 mm · 1/50 s · f/8 · ISO 320
Into the Light
Into the Light FE 24–70 mm F2.8 GM at 53 mm · 1/320 s · f/4 · ISO 500
Half Light
Half Light Available light study
Painted in Red
Painted in Red Light painting · FE 24–70 mm F2.8 GM at 39 mm · 1.3 s · f/10 · ISO 100

Recognition & Clients

2026 Sony World Photography Award — Shortlist, Landscape (Open) Award
2025— Stift Klosterneuburg Aerial & architecture
2025— Wienerwald Tourismus Landscape & aerial
Sascha Schernthaner

About

The camera came late, and then all at once.

I picked up a drone first, in 2022, and the photography followed from what I saw through it. Since then the work has moved in both directions — closer, into macro and wildlife, and further out, into the night sky over the Hohe Tauern.

I shoot Sony, fly DJI, and live in Lienz, East Tyrol, with my family. Available for tourism, hospitality and editorial commissions across Austria and northern Italy, and for licensing from the archive.

Bodiesα7 IV (astro-modified) · α7R V
Lenses14 mm F1.8 GM · 24 mm F1.4 GM · 24–70 mm F2.8 GM · 70–200 mm F2.8 GM II · 100 mm F2.8 GM Macro · 200–600 mm G
AirDJI Mavic 3 Pro · Mini 3 Pro · Avata · Avata 360

A.V. Pictures

Adeya’s Vision

A.V. Pictures is named for my daughter Adeya. She died in 2022, and it was her death that put a camera in my hands — before that, I had never photographed anything.

When I’m out there, on a ridge before sunrise or under the stars waiting for the sky to move, it doesn’t feel like I’m finding the picture on my own. It feels like being shown where to look. That is where the name comes from, and it is why this work exists at all.

Contact

Commissions, licensing, collaborations.

Emailphoto@saschaschernthaner.com
Instagram@sascha_schernthaner
Phone+43 676 501 815 3