I don’t often head out to photograph with a specific goal in mind, I think of myself as more of a photographic opportunist, someone who is prepared for whatever situation arises while exploring and/or working in the outdoors.
“It dates back quite a while to the pre-digital era when I began shooting transparency film and went to India and Nepal for a total of five months as a volunteer doctor. Not long before that I started rock climbing and was hell bent on exploring and learning more about the mountainous regions of the world. I returned to Australia after that trip and had just enough reasonably decent images to be accepted as a contributor to the Lonely Planet Images stock library (subsequently sold to Getty Images). It didn’t take long for a few image sales to focus my efforts on shooting more outdoor imagery as I continued to climb and hike in some pretty awesome parts of the world. However, juggling medical work with climbing, travel and photography meant that is was a slow process to reach the point I am at now where outdoor photography sits equally alongside medicine in terms of how I spend my time. Only recently I’ve been added to the team at Lindblad/National Geographic Expeditions as one of their photo instructors, which is a great fit for the way I’ve evolved as a photographer interested in capturing images of adventure travel and the natural world."
What inspires you?“This is a hard question to answer in writing! Many things inspire me to photograph but when I’m outdoors I’m looking for nice light first and foremost and then I’m hoping to tell a story about people and/or animals within the context of the surrounding landscape. Travelling to more adventurous parts of the world definitely inspires me to shoot and it’s rare when I’m home to photograph much even though I live in a beautiful part of the world in Noosa, Australia. I don’t often head out to photograph with a specific goal in mind, I think of myself as more of a photographic opportunist, someone who is prepared for whatever situation arises while exploring and/or working in the outdoors. It would be true to say that I’m inspired to shoot the sort of images that are likely to be published in one form or another, I really like to get images off my hard drive and out into circulation, in print preferably, either in an editorial context or for advertising. Starting out originally by contributing to a stock agency has certainly informed that approach.”
Who or what has influenced your visual style?“Galen Rowell was who I looked to as an influence when I first began to photograph, that was natural enough given my infatuation with rock climbing and mountains. I never did really get into climbing photography though because I was more interested in the activity itself than in shooting others! I think the use of transparency film, especially Velvia, early on, meant I have always looked to produce images with higher contrast and saturated color although in recent times I think my style has moved a bit away from that. Overall though I would say that I haven’t been particularly aware of a distinct influence that can be seen in the sort of work that I do, especially now. I imagine people with a wider view of the photography world may well see similarities between my style and other particular photographers.”
You are in two pretty unique lines of work – Adventure Travel Photography and Expedition Medicine. How often do you find yourself doing double-duty while in the field?“The ‘perfect’ situation for me is when I can combine those two skill sets and yes that is what makes me somewhat unique in the world of adventure travel photography. Interestingly if we look back to the ‘golden era’ of Antarctic exploration in the early 1900’s it’s clear that a doctor was a very important asset to any team, but he (it was only men then) was considered most useful if able to provide other skills as well. After all with proper planning and prevention strategies for an expedition, the doctor should not be needed at all. So I just take my cue from that idea and make sure I can contribute with professional photography. Earlier this year I was the Expedition Doctor for a large private ship that ventured far south to the Ross Sea in Antarctica and while there were a couple of things to deal with on the medical front, by default I quickly became an expedition photographer as well. I was able to run a print workshop for guests and contribute images for publicity about the journey and managed to grab a couple of award winning nature images along the way. Unfortunately these gigs don’t materialize all that often so if it happens once a year I am pretty happy.”
Your work takes you from alpine summits to ocean depths, can you share an example of when you felt the challenge was a bit more spicy than other expeditions?“Apart from a very short sub dive in Antarctica – only ‘spicy’ because I get very claustrophobic, perhaps a good recent example on that front was in May this year when I volunteered as a medical ranger with the Denali National Park service to patrol the mountain at the start of the climbing season. I had some significant back pain leading up to the patrol and wasn’t as well prepared physically as I would have liked and then I found myself teamed with very experienced and fit ski patrollers whereas my skiing skills are not great! Luckily for me they were very patient and supportive people to work with so I managed to keep up with the tasks at hand…just. Once established at 14k camp for three weeks we didn’t have much in the way of medical challenges and to be truthful photographically it was a bit humdrum as well. Things were a bit too exciting on skis as far as I was concerned on our descent day when we traversed the notorious ‘Windy Corner’ in high winds and poor visibility with ice rather than snow on the track. Gaping crevasses below the fall line didn’t look too inviting and in the end I needed ‘short roping’ from our patrol leader, Mik Shain, to stop me from ending up in one. A change to crampons in mid traverse only added to what was already a difficult situation for sure.”
What’s the one piece of gear that you find most useful when photographing outdoors?“I’m not much of a gear freak and can’t think of anything that is truly indispensable. I find I can make do in most situations with the basics. If I’m fed and watered and healthy and warm enough and I have a camera body, a lens that covers a reasonable focal length like the Canon 24-105 f4L and a tripod then I’m pretty good to go.”
What projects are coming up for you?
“When home in Australia I’m often at work in the hospital Emergency Room as well as directing a biannual course on Expedition Medicine in the Blue Mountains. In January I’m leading a sold out photo trip to Ladakh, India hopefully to see and photograph a snow leopard or two and in June 2018 I’m running a boat based photo trip in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska which I’m very much looking forward to. It would be great to fill the small number of berths available so anyone interested can follow this link to get information and book a place - http://www.snowgoosealaska.com/adventure/gustavus-to-gustavus.html “
What piece of advice would you give to anyone who is interested in becoming a visual storyteller in the outdoors?
“Have patience to develop and understand a pathway to tell a story in the way that works for you. Focus on activities and stories that you’d want to be involved with regardless of any photographic goals you might otherwise have, then it’s more likely that your photography will be a genuine reflection of your creative voice. I’d also say to ask for advice from others more established in the field and be prepared to contribute in that way yourself once you have more experience. It’s fun and rewarding to be part of a community of interesting people who love the outdoors.”
If you'd like more information on Andrew, please visit his website, Footloose Fotography.
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