Experience driven photography

The roar of the diesel engines coming from the safari vehicles, the stunning bright colorful clothing, and that wonderful smoky smell are as profound in my memory today as they were the first time my feet hit the rich red soil of Africa; May of 2004. It was because of a big life-changing event that I decided to take a grand adventure. One that filled my soul in ways I could never have imagined. My journey into photography did not start with a camera in hand to solely produce professional photographs, but rather by accident during that first safari. Little did I know that experience would keep me on a journey exploring the hidden secrets of Africa over the next fifteen years!

I have been speaking around the US for the past couple of months and a question that I am frequently asked is, “how do you capture such emotional images”. My answer is by being authentically emotionally passionate and captivated by my subjects. If you are not drawn in by the excitement of what you are seeing and experiencing, why would your viewer be drawn in? In this new era of social media, we see so many intriguing images that ignite inspiration and fill us with the desire to run off to capture what we have seen. The key is to live the experience and photograph it from your own perspective. Click the shutter because you are intrigued.  The success of  an image is determined when you look back through the moment captured and your heart beats a little faster leaving you with a longing to return.

I guess it could be said; I was born with a restless soul. Exploring somewhere new and seeking adventure in the far hidden corners of Africa is what fills the soul. The excitement builds from the first research until that first intoxicating moment of arrival. People are often fascinated by what would draw someone to such harsh remote and isolated places in the world. Surfers are drawn to find the endless wave, hikers seek the highest mountain peaks, skiers dream of the ultimate slops, and photographers live to find the mystery of what lies around the next corner. Although I have traveled to many places in the world, it is in Africa, out in the bush with the wildlife and tribes that seem to take my breath away; even when I return to an area over and over.