The Philosophy of Adventure Photography

Learn the four tenets that make up my entire philosophy surrounding adventure photography.

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Introduction

Let’s talk about the philosophy of adventure photography. This will allow you to get some context about why I shoot the way I do, and you can see how my mind works behind the scenes. In summary, there are four main tenets that make up my mindset- they are Explore More, Artistic Discipline, Risk/Reward, and Flow State.

Explore More

Explore More is the primary mantra I live by. It is the baseline for everything I do- see more, experience more, learn more. You may have seen it abbreviated around my site as EXPLORR MORR because it’s good for branding- but it truly means to get out and shoot in as many different locations as possible.

The more unique situations you’re able to put yourself into, the faster you'll be able to adapt to any type of scene as it presents itself. I like to think of every adventure as an additional data point I could reference in my mind for future shoots. 

Every time you hit a new location, you’ll be exposed to a dozen different variables. New weather, plants, animals, sounds, wind, color… And the more you get out and explore, the more you’re going to come to understand how these variables can affect each other- and be able to plan for it. 

Photographers can easily get too comfortable shooting in one type of environment, and before they know it, years have passed and they only know how to shoot in one type of situation. They might be fantastic at photographing the woodlands, for example, but the moment you put them in a desert, they have absolutely no idea where to start.

Diversity is key to growth.

The Explore More mindset has also led me to be a photographer that doesn’t like to return to the same places often. I truly believe that the skillset of being an adventure photographer lies in being able to show up to a place you've never been before, and figuring out how to get a good shot out of it given the current lighting. 

This isn’t to say you can’t research a spot beforehand to have a solid understanding of how the light functions there. But at the end of the day, no matter how much you research a place or look at sample photos, the conditions will never be exactly the same. You will need to improvise to some degree, every single time. 

This is often a tough pill for new photographers to swallow. Too many go into a landscape with a certain image in mind (often a scene they’ve seen online,) and the whole shoot turns into “how can I mimic this exact moment.”

99% of the time this leads to disappointment, because the conditions just aren’t the same, and never will be. Learning how to enjoy a scene as it is, photograph it’s beauty, and then move on with peace is what Explore More is all about.

This photo, taken at ruins on Playa de Cedeño in Honduras, was a beach destination I never had on my adventure bingo card.

Artistic Discipline

The second tenant that I follow is Artistic Discipline. By this I mean at the start of every week, I set out how many times I’m going to shoot, and on what days.

Then, no matter what happens on that day, no matter how bad the weather is, how tired I am, or how badly I don't want to go out… I have to do it. There’s no choice.

And, more often than not, the tough days are when I get the best shots. The worse the weather conditions are, the better the conditions usually are for photography. And the worse your mood is, the more you need that sweet sweet, dopamine that comes from a good photography session.

Days where it’s pouring rain, snowing, or even scorching hot out can create surreal scenes that you rarely see online, because other photographers simply don’t want to go through the trouble. So build that spirit up, put yourself in difficult situations, and figure out how to walk away with something positive. You’ll ultimately come out a stronger person, and your baseline for “bad conditions” will slowly drop.

I also believe that Artistic Discipline is one of the best ways to get good at photography fast. Don't listen to all these other photographers online that say you should only go shoot when you want to. It’s never always good vibes… Just take a look at some of my horrendous adventures over the years. And believe me, you will be smiling ear to ear at the end of the day knowing that you got out of bed and went through hell to get that banger of a shot.

This is a photo I took in the Badlands of South Dakota, on a day where I absolutely zero desire to go shoot. It is one of my most downloaded photos ever, with over 8.7 million views.

Risk/Reward

The third tenant that I follow is Risk/Reward. You'll often see comments in the photography community claiming that you shouldn’t risk your life for a photo. And to a certain degree, this is true. If you are trying to get a shot that's unbelievably dumb and there's a high chance that you will hurt yourself, then obviously don’t do it.

But, in order to get unique shots, you will often have to push yourself into situations you might not feel comfortable doing. There are hundreds of other hobbies out there that involve extreme risk (motocross, skydiving, caving, urban exploration to name a few) so why not apply it to your photography? 

Growing up, I always loved the saying “do one thing a day that scares you.” When I’m out and about I’ll often see a certain scene that I want, and I’ll know deep down that I need to get that angle that makes me uncomfortable.

It's almost like this gut feeling where I don’t want to do something, but I know I am fully capable of it. I think the key is knowing where your personal boundaries lie, and figuring out where you have that wiggle room to push yourself.

These types of risky shots often become my favorites in the long run, because there’s much more emotion attached to them. They also come with a great story- so if you’re doing blogs, vlogs, or even just talking to people interested in your photos, telling them a crazy story about a shot can give it that much more value.

It’s also worth realizing that in today’s day and age, there’s literally millions of photographers out there shooting the exact same things. If you don’t believe me, just go on Instagram and type in #photography. You’ll see 12 billion photos of the Dolomites, Moab, New York, and every other trendy location of the past decade. If you really want to get ahead, you have to go into the risky, uncharted lands- like a true explorer. 

But also keep in mind that you’re here to get a good photo. At a certain point, doing risky things can actually hinder the process. If you’re constantly putting yourself in dangerous situations for the adrenaline rush (like I was early in my career,) keep in mind that it might not necessarily be the best composition for a photo- even if it was super fun.

This photo was taken in Leprechaun Canyon, where I had to travel in the dark through a slot canyon swarming through with spiders.

Flow State

The fourth tenant that I follow is the Flow State. In order to introduce this concept, let’s start by defining what the flow state is. 

The Flow State is a certain kind of mindset that you get into where you start to forget about everything in the world, all your problems disappear, and you can focus truly and wholly on your work. It almost feels like you're in this Zen state of mind, with only you and your camera.  

Photography isn’t the only activity that benefits from the Flow State, as it can be achieved in almost every hobby in the world. However, it is extremely beneficial to get into this mind state for photography in particular.

Once you’re in the flow, you can zip from composition to composition and cut out all the distractions. This is particularly important in scenes where the sun is setting rapidly, and you don’t have time to think properly. It all boils down to your intuition.

Now, there’s a number of ways to get into this state of mind, but I’d say the most important component is getting properly warmed up. We’ll talk about that in detail later.

This photo was taken at Panther Beach in Southern California. Aligning a rich composition involving focus stacking with moments of sunlight left on a slippery rock was a result of the Flow State.

Conclusion

In conclusion, those are the four tenants that I follow in my adventure photography philosophy. Whenever I am stuck or demotivated, I can almost always resort back to one of these tenants for a solution.

In addition to these, I also have another four tenants that apply to my editing philosophy, but we’ll cover those later in the course.

Let’s go ahead and dive into the next tutorial, which includes everything you need to know about Gear.