
Secede Mountain, South Tyrol, Italy: New book "Peaks of Europe" documents photographer Johan Lolos' trip of a lifetime -- he spent three months photographing mountains and peaks in Europe.

Theth National Park, Albania: Belgium-born Lolos has traveled the world, but last year he had a change of plan. "After three years of intense travel, I just realized that maybe I should try and focus more on my own continent. Europe had a lot to offer, lots of varied landscapes," he tells CNN Travel.

Aiguille du Midi, France: The photographer spotlighted three specific, diverse regions of Europe. "I divided the trip into three parts: the north, the Balkans and the Alps," he explains.

Ryten, Lofoton, Norway: Lolos says the trip was full of incredible moments, but a highlight was his stopover in northern Norway. "I was there the first two weeks of June and it was already the time of the midnight sun in Lapland," the photographer says.

Sommaroy, Tromso, Norway: "The light was insane from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day or every night," he recalls. "That was a dream for any photographer, so that was probably the most memorable moment landscape wise, I would say."

Fjallabak Nature Reserve, Iceland: Iceland was another destination blessed with incredible light. Softer hues helps make mountain photography pop, explains Lolos. "The human eye is more attracted by this kind of soft light rather than harsh midday light," he says.

Lac de Pormenaz, France: Lolos was an early adopter of Instagram and used the platform to promote his work, but he says he's not as enamored with the photo-sharing app as he once was.

Alpbachtal, Austria: "The market is different, the application is different, it's over saturated," says Lolos. That said, he still enjoys Instagram Stories and credits that application with sparking the idea for the book.

Gerold, Germany: "The whole trip I was sharing through Instagram stories, I was sharing a series of 15-20 photos, that was about documenting my trip," he recalls. "It was not about the perfect image, it was about sharing the story behind."

Innsbruck, Austria: It was the way his followers interacted and engaged with these Stories that prompted Lolos to consider publishing a book.

Eibsee, Germany: "At the end of the five months, my followers had followed me for 145 days straight, and they couldn't access all these stories anymore," Lolos explains, crediting this with the inspiration for his book.

Elafonisos Island, Greece: The growth of identikit travel Instagrammers has inspired Lolos to think outside the box. "I'm trying to renew my work as much as possible and being creative as much as possible," he says.

Giau Pass, Italy: Lolos also counsels budding Instagrammers to be individual. "If you want to stand out do something new, unique and be creative and different," he says. "It's a lot of work, for sure, it's hard but I'm fairly sure it's possible."

Kyparissia, Greece: During the trip, Lolos started experimenting with portrait photography. He says he began to lose his inhibitions in asking people to pose for him.

Lykos, Greece: While working on the project, Lolos became more comfortable approaching subjects. "There's a real progression in my work and Peaks of Europe has been a true in between phase of this progression during my career as a photographer," he says.
![<strong>Haifoss, Iceland</strong>: For many, the appeal of Lolos' work is the way he captures the scale and grandeur of nature. "If you want to evoke the immensity of the mountains [...] include some kind of model in your frame, just to give a sense of scale."](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/180601122309-iceland-haifoss-johan-lolos.jpg?q=w_1600,h_900,x_0,y_0,c_fill/h_778)
Haifoss, Iceland: For many, the appeal of Lolos' work is the way he captures the scale and grandeur of nature. "If you want to evoke the immensity of the mountains [...] include some kind of model in your frame, just to give a sense of scale."

The Meteora, Thessaly, Greece: His other key piece of feedback? "Just get out and shoot and practice, practicing is key," he advises.

Logar Valley, Slovenia: In Lolos' book, he's not afraid to tell the true story behind the picture -- it's not always as romantic as it looks. Lolos says he's fed up with "massive multi-million followings influencers who are sharing this perfect life, which is completely fake."

Triglav National Park, Slovenia: "Instagram shouldn't be about that," he says. "It should make people dream and inspire people, but it shouldn't be lying to people."

Plitvice National Park, Croatia: Croatia's Plitvice National Park, for example, was overcrowded when Lolos visited. In the book, Lolos describes waiting in line for 90 minutes and feeling more like he was at a theme park than a national park.

Giau Pass, Italy: "Travel is not just about perfect days and rainbows and happy days every day," says Lolos. "It's sometimes also about disappointment, overcrowded places."

Lago di Braies, Italy: Next, Lolos is hoping to travel to the parts of Europe he didn't make it to last time. "We would be driving from Belgium to France, Spain and Portugal, and spend a bit of time in those countries for five and six weeks," he says.