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I have been a full-time nature photographer for the last 11 years and counting, and love sharing my passion either through my imagery or by educating others. I also enjoy writing about my experiences in nature and have now authored 3 photography books. My goal is to always offer some kind of a unique perspective of the natural world so that people might be impacted by my photography and be moved to care for it as I do. In my photographs, I hope to provoke questions rather than answer them, in order to engage the viewer’s imagination, spur their curiosity, and maintain their interest long enough for them to form their own connection with the subject matter. While I have traveled all over the world, I have connected with the desert landscape of Southern Utah the most in recent years. I am always happy to share any knowledge I have attained through my experience in hopes that it can help you to connect with nature on a deeper level and get more out of your photography practice. Please feel free to ask any questions you’d like, but I will admit that I find questions about photography equipment, software, etc. quite boring.
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Eric, I’m a big fan of your work and am glad you are making the time to talk to us. One thing I like about your work is how you focus on smaller scenes - “intimate landscapes.” Did your photography evolve from shooting wider landscapes into more intimate shots, and if so, tell us about why and how you made that evolution? Thank you.
Hey dude. I’ve been inspired by your tenacity, grit, and passion over the last decade or so.
When you think about the next few decades of your photography career, what does it look like? What are you doing, where are you going, what backpacking meals are you eating, and how are you keeping the love of the craft alive?
Thanks for the question! Yes, I actually do imagine certain parts of scenes being darkened/lightened, or processed in high key or underexposed, or having more or less contrast, while I am photographing them. But that doesn’t mean that I never deviate from my initial vision for a scene once I am procesing it.
It’s funny you raise this question because to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t have any kind of preference (at least consciously) for small or large scenes, and I never go out with any kind of intention to photograph one or the other. I think that the shift in my photography was becoming more concise—only including things that actually complement the subject and nothing superfluous whatsoever—and more often than not, there are fewer elements that will work together cohesively. So intimate scenes tend to work the most often, but if a scene calls to be photographed with a wider perspective, I’d never shy away from it. The more you are including in your frame, the less likely it is that it will all work well together. (I have a lot of wide angle grand scenic kinds of images that I haven’t released yet because I’ve been saving them for a long term book project.) Hope that answers your question!
Most of the beers I drink are small batches and only brewed once ever or maybe just a few times a year at most. My favorite beer style is a New England (hazy) IPA though. Fidens makes the best around, they are based in Albany, NY. I wish I could recommend any kind of mainstream beer that you could find all over, but honestly I never ever touch those! I’d rather just have a glass of water to be honest. Messorem is a great brewery in Eastern Canada! Cheers!
Definitely making more books, exploring new places, and pretty much just continuing to do what I have been doing because I only find more and more gratification in it every day. I do hope that I can make a greater impact in terms of conservation through my photography both through working alongside environmental organizations as well as through my own efforts. I’d like to visit Antarctica and many other places and explore pretty much anywhere I can access. Africa is on the list at some point. You know how much I love where I live so I have slowed down a lot with international travel, but I feel that bug slowly coming back lately. You already know what I am eating! Honestly, I don’t really have a love for the craft—photography—itself, and what drives me is my love for my subject—nature—which only deepens with every outing, so I really don’t do anything proactively to stay motivated. Spending as much time as I can in the wilderness keeps me wanting to come back for more, and it’s hard to imagine that ever burning out. It’s unlike anything else I’ve experienced.
Honestly right now, it’s Japan. I went this last Winter and it was incredible. The nature, the food, the culture, the people, the silence, etc. I am going back this fall and next Winter as well. Thanks for the question!
Hey there Eric. I’m a huge fan of both your photography and your writing. Your passion for nature shines through in your work and is a great motivator for me to go out and experience more of it myself. My question for you is have you ever used either your images or writing to actually succeed in influencing public policy, either locally where you live or a wider area like statewide or nationally? And if so, what would you recommend for any of us in the greater nature photography community do to accomplish something like that? Thanks.
Thanks a lot for all of the kind words, and I am glad to hear I have been able to motivate you. I can’t say that any of my efforts have ever made a difference directly, as I am usually involved in joint efforts, working alongside environmental organizations. The latest thing I was able to do was to raise money for laid off NPS rangers through the “Sacred Lands” Print Collection. Me and my 9 other friends were able to donate over $35k through that. https://www.bennettfilm.com/Print-Collection
It’s just impossible to say I have ever done anyting on my own, since with environmental efforts especially, there are always other people raising their voices and working towards the same goal.
I think if you are wanting to be more invovled in environemtal issues and influencing policies, it’s important to be up to date with anything going on that might affect natural places and then also to understand those places as much as possible. A good place to start is with the places you have nearby that you can access more frequently than most and build a personal relationship with. Hope this helps!
Eric, thanks for taking the time wo do this AMA.
My question deals with post-processing and how you know (or see) what should be done to an image to finish it (dodge/burn/color adjustment/crop, etc.). And related, how do you know when the post-processing is “done”?
Thanks
Larry
I think it comes with experience overtime. You start to develop “taste” and you already know what you need to do in order to achieve your vision with a scene. I think it’s important to experiment as much as possible with techniques and tools so you can fully understand what they are capable of, and then you will know which ones you need to use for any given scene. I know an image is finished once there are no longer any distractions that disrupt the visual flow, and there is separation between all of the most important elements (but a lot of that comes from the lighting you’ve photographed the scene in as well).
Thank you to everyone that participated! I enjoyed all of your thought provoking questions. I am jumping in the car with my kids to head out on a road trip. Best to you all!
