Through the Lens: Hunting and Fishing Photography with Rena Spears

Join us for an exclusive interview with Rena Spears, a seasoned photographer whose expertise lies in the thrilling realms of hunting, fishing, and lifestyle photography.

In this insightful conversation, we dive into Rena's background, exploring the experiences that shaped her unique perspective behind the lens. Discover her favorite types of photography and aspirations, and gain valuable tips for beginners looking to navigate the exciting landscape of outdoor photography.

Uncover the secrets of building a client base as Rena shares her journey of finding and connecting with clients in this dynamic field. Whether you're a photography enthusiast, a seasoned pro, or someone eager to turn their passion into a profession, this episode is your gateway to a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

Tune in as we unravel the layers of Rena's photography journey, exploring the great outdoors and capturing moments that tell a unique story.

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ren_ren14/?next=%2F

Portfolio:
https://www.countrysinnovationnation.com/projects-3

Transcript

Hey, guys. I'm Rena.

I'm an outdoor photographer. I mainly do work for hunting Outfitters and charters in the US and Canada. Hopefully, I'll be able to start doing international work of photography and videography for hunters, outfitters, and charters.

And I also do lifestyle photography, which is wedding photography and couples engagements, all that type of stuff. Nice. Why or what do you enjoy most about photography? Capturing the moments, I think capturing the moments for people, whether they're happy, sad, crying because they ended up getting a harvest that they haven't in a while or something that really was sentimental to them, maybe parents taking their kids out for the first time, the kids shooting their first duck.

That type of stuff gets me going. So I think really living in the moment and being able to capture that for them is my favorite thing about photography. No, that's cool.

So is photography what you're doing full time, or is there something else that you enjoy or that you're doing also? No. So, photography, I just went full time with both of my businesses six months, seven months ago now. And before then, I was doing it part-time for six years.

So this is completely full-time now. That's awesome. That's cool.

How long have you been doing photography now, then? About seven years or eight years now. So I bought my a 6300, I think I was, yeah, that's going to be about seven years ago, eight years ago. And I just kind of picked up a camera, and I was like, all right, well, I like photography because I was little.

I was only probably six or seven, and my grandpa gave me a camera, and he's like, hey, go take pictures with it. So I always used to take pictures with it, and I never thought anything of it, but I liked getting the memories. And then, the older I got, we had cell phones and could do the pictures with the cell phone.

So I was like, all right, well, screw this camera. I'm going to do it with the cell phone. And my buddies always gave me shit because they were like, oh, why are you always taking pictures of everybody? Because you never know.

You never know what's going to happen or if I catch something funny or if you end up losing a friend and you have those memories and those pictures to look back on. I always wanted to make sure that I would be able to relive those through a photo. So I kind of started there, and then I got my camera seven, eight years ago and just was like, all right.

So I didn't know that lighting and angles were a huge thing, and I just kind of started winging it, and there I am. Nice. Oh, that's awesome.

Do you have a favorite, now that you've been doing it for a while, do you have a favorite lens or series of lenses? Okay. I use the 24 to 70. That is my go to, because with work, it's a lot easier.

But if I had to pick, I love my 1635, even though you can't get those far shots. I love landscape photography, and it's good for that. And then kind of if you're on a boat, so getting the captures of everything close up, you can always do that, even though you're like, hey, I'm going to be in your face, but this is going to be a cool photo.

Yeah, no, that's cool. And it gives you a angle, too, so I don't know how to explain it, but even if you're that close to people and it gives you that wide angle, I Don't know why, but I like that look. Sometimes it distorts the faces, but if you make sure that you have it on the right settings, it won't distort them.

And it's kind of a cool photo. Yeah, no, I totally get that. And actually, it's cool to hear you explain it because intuitively, when I've taken a photo like that, I just revert back to just kind of like, about this lens will work.

But you made a good point, and I think that's something that. And little points like that. I'm hoping that the listeners will get that little bit of feedback because sometimes they're like, I don't know what lens to use while I'm on this boat.

And if you go to a 16 to 35, it definitely, like you were saying, you can capture a lot more of what's happening on the boat and all of the stuff that's going on around it and stuff. I like that. Yeah.

What's been some of your most recent work or some of your most favorite work or both? So I worked with multiple outfitters from last season, technically still this season, and I think from just this last year, I've been on mule deer hunts for myself and did some work prior in the past, but for gun and this season I ended up doing it for Bo. So we had a group of guys, I worked with an outfitter out in South Dakota, and he had a group of three guys, and we ended up bow hunting. And it was spot in stock and my ass was worn out, but I made sure that nobody knew it.

I am making sure that I get all this content for these guys. I don't care. And I was in pretty good shape, but knowing then what I would have known now, I definitely would have been going to the gym a lot harder.

But it was really cool because I got to capture their hunt, majority of the hunts, and it was just a cool project because I was constantly, I mean, I'm on my feet all day, every day, but it was a lot more physical work, and I love physical work. And it was just kind of. You didn't know what was going to happen at that point.

You didn't know if there was going to be a meal deer 20 yards in front of you or if it was 150 yards in front of you. And making sure that you have to be quiet, like when you're in that scenario, you have to be a hunter as well as a photographer, which I'm lucky because I do both. So it makes it a little bit easier.

But it was just the fact that I was hunting with them, it made me feel like I was a hunter and I was capturing the photos and I was just shooting them, but with a lens. Yeah, it was pretty cool. And you had to be sneaky, and I love that part.

In big game, it's a completely different world compared to waterfowl, charters, all that. It's a lot more serious, it's a lot more physical activity. So I really enjoyed that hunt, and hopefully I'll be able to do a little bit more of that this next season than what I've done in the past, because usually it's only one or two a year, but I don't know, the bow hunting was pretty cool.

Yeah, that's cool. Did you ever have a fear that you were going to ruin their hunt a little bit? Not necessarily because I don't go into it thinking that. I always think that I'm going to be able to do my best because you think of it as yourself, if I'm about to stalk a deer, I would never want to be able to ruin that for myself.

It's a huge opportunity, and you get a few a day if you're lucky. But I really don't ever feel that way. I just kind of make sure I roll with it.

And it is what it is. I mean, there's always that chance, but I never think about the chances. I never think about the negative.

Yeah, no, that's cool. That's how you should go back into it, thinking that. I guess my thinking is because I've been asked to go and film a couple of hunts, and it was just, I don't know, the first one, I was like, are you sure you want a second person following you in to try and like.

Anyway, but that was where my mind was at. But you're absolutely right. You shouldn't go into it thinking that you're going to ruin their hunt.

So, no, I like that answer. Yeah, you kind of of doing it the last six years. In the beginning, you're very nervous, and you're like, what if I screw this up, or what if I do this, and what if I do that? And all you got to do is kind of think to yourself, well, what if I'm the person hunting? And if I'm the person hunting, you kind of take it into a different perspective.

So I think that's really helped me out because you do get nervous hunting, but it's a little bit easier for you because you're not the one shooting the bow at this point, and you're the one with the camera. Yeah, it's true. Snapshot.

Yeah, well, I didn't make a was. That's on him. That's all that.

Yeah. Yeah. You've been up to Alaska recently, though.

Like, you've been doing a lot of cool stuff up there, I think. Do you want to share anything that. Any of that? Yeah.

So I ended up going to Alaska for two weeks. One of the weeks I was with a buddy, and we ended up going to Denali Homer. And we did a couple cool things up there, and we got to go fishing around Homer.

And then my budy owns a charter service for halibut or not. Owns charter service. He is a deckhand, so he helps the charter service, and he works for them and helps everybody catch a fish.

So he's a guide. Yeah, but he is about to start. So he was in Homer, and then he's going to start in Gustavus area and work with a different charter this year.

So I went up there and did some photos for him. And then I also had the opportunity to go on a moose hunt. So that was pretty cool.

I just went to go get some footage of that and then take some pictures. And that was kind of just a fun little thing because I've never experienced moose hunting before, so that was pretty cool to do. Yeah, that's awesome.

I was slightly jealous because I lived up there for four years. So I was slightly jealous to see just like just a few photos and some of the adventures that you were on. I was missing out.

Anyway, you said you lived up there for four years. Yeah, I was up there in Anchorage for four years. Really? What did you do? Well, part of that was military and then I got out and then I worked for the university photographing their athletics department.

That's awesome stuff. Yeah. So all the volleyball, the gymnastics, the hockey, basketball.

Yeah, it was really cool. Yeah. Especially with sports.

I love sports. And those action. Yeah, yeah, it was fun.

I enjoyed it. I miss it some days, but Utah has a cool thing to offer, too. Yeah, Utah would be pretty.

Yeah. Yeah, it is. So what's your favorite thing to photograph? Maybe, and I say this because a lot of people don't always show the stuff that they love to photograph.

They show the stuff that they're trying to get more work in because that's what pays the bills. That's why I asked the question. It can be.

Yeah. Anyway, I'll let you go with that. So for the pictures, I like to photograph dogs working is probably one of my favorite because you never know what they're going to do.

And it's a quick snapshot and it's like every photo could be different within seconds. So it's pretty cool. I do like that.

I really like the hunting aspect, anything hunting and the fishing related, because there's always action going on for the most part. Like deer hunting, like whitetail in a stand, there's only so many shots you can do. But once you get to that part of the beginning and the ending portion, like telling the story, I like that.

I like whitetail photography, but I like it when they either shoot one or they're climbing up the stand or they're post process of gutting the deer and all that type of stuff. I like that. I like the action shots more than anything, but me sitting still, it's not my favorite.

Yeah, there's always be on the move because I'm just like a dog. I'm like, hey, I need to get. But, yeah, probably dogs are my favorite.

And then just, like, telling the story of hunting experiences. So that, all in all, is my favorite. Yeah.

So we're kind of reaching the end of the questions, but I wanted to just throw in a different question. And that is, like, doing a lot of the hunting stuff that you have. You have a lot of waterfowl stuff.

How do you go about keeping your equipment out of the water or dry or do you do anything Specific? So I have a specific tactic, which I probably shouldn't do, because I run about two cameras every time I go out into the field. And usually I'll be wearing waiters, and I'll put one of my cameras in my waiters, it's raining or not. And then I might cover it with something like a hat or one of my gators, and I'll just cover it up to make sure that it doesn't get soaked.

And then when the other one's in the rain getting soaked, and I hurry up, wipe it off, and then put it back in there. I do that sometimes. And don't do it, please, just don't do it.

But if. And I'm trying to get the sideshots of either guys bringing their dogs back in or like a fish getting pulled up, I lean all the way over to the side of the boat, and I'll take the strap, and I'll wrap it around my hands, and I'll just take it like this and start snapping shots. Because if it falls, which has only fell one time, it catches before it hits the water.

I've done that once in the last six years, but I wouldn't recommend it. But it's just another safety. And, like the mud, I don't really worry about it.

You could just go home and wipe a lot of it off my equipment. I run Sony, so my equipment stays pretty intact, and I've dropped it probably a few more times than I should have, and it scared the shit out of everybody else besides me. I'm like, no, it's fine.

But I know that one day might come and knock on wood. Hopefully it doesn't. But I just make sure I clean everything off at the end, and I make sure that everything's intact, working.

I clean off the lenses, and I make sure that the camera is in my hand majority of the time, because if it's somewhere else or a dog's next to it or somebody kicks it, I have to make sure that it's in the bag, it's in my waiters or not just laying on the side of a boat where somebody could just knock it off. So I always have my eyes on it. Yeah.

No, that's a good tip, actually. Having it always on you or in the bag or something. Because if you get comfortable with setting that camera down, like you were sayinG.

Yeah. You don't know if somebody can knock it off or somebody kicks it and you're screwed. So I just make sure that I know where it's at.

It's USually in a BAgger in MY WAITErS If I have TwO Cameras out. Nice. No, I thought that would be a good question to ask because some people, especially getting into it, they're like, well, I don't know where a lot of people, especially, are really timid and shy or clear away from getting their camera into a hairy situation.

Like BeIng ArOund Water. Yeah. ANd HONestly, you can't look at it that way.

You have to just say, if there's a spot and your waiters are going to be up to here and there's a possibility that there might be water and you might slip and fall, maybe don't take your camera out. I will say maybe just take your phone out at that point because you don't want to ruin your equipment. But if it's not that bad of a spot, and you are very aware, because sometimes you'll be on rocks, sometimes you'll be on slick mud.

Just make sure you're careful wherever you walk, too, because we were in Arizona last week, and one of my buddies ended up just slipping and falling and went completely under. So it's just you have to be aware of your surroundings when you have your camera in your hand. It's Kind of Like a child.

Yeah. Cool. Well, let's See.

Goals For PhoTogRAphy or Life? My Goals Would be for PhoTogRAphy. I want to get MOre into Big Game Areas. I would like to take More Photos of Big Game in general, Even if I'm Hunting or Not Hunting.

I just think that. I think it's A Different Thing To Do Instead of Just FocusIng On Waterfall all the Time, WHethEr it's Video or PhotogRaphy, I just think those Shots would be cool. And then international Traveling.

So I would like to get more footage of either Hunters internationally or big game out there, too, because it's not what we have in the US, and I love what we have in the US, but also there's so much more to see. So I think that would be Pretty Cool to be Able to Expand my PhotogRaphy in those Type of WAys. Yeah.

Nice. And Then the final question, it doesn't have to be the final question. But that's what I have written down is tips for people starting out or wanting to get into photography specifically probably to your niches.

Okay, so for that I would say don't worry about a budget because if you have a budget, get the camera that you can afford at the time with the lens. And if you want to do it for a hobby, just start there because you never know if you're going to want to take off with it or if you're just kind of going to want to do it for fun instead of a business. If you want to do it for a business, start even there too.

Because eventually as you grow, you'll be able to afford more of the equipment that you want to do. Then there's no rush for getting anything super fancy right away because you probably still have to learn it. Unless you're just fucking phenomenal.

Some people are, yeah, go for it, I don't care, do whatever you want. But I was worried about that with the budget too because I was just starting off and I had no idea what I wanted to do. So I was just, hey, I'm going to pick up a camera and hopefully in time that as long as I work hard towards it, I'll be able to afford more.

More. So that would probably be the one thing. Learn your camera.

Figure out if you want Canon, Sony, Nikon, anything. Learn it. Make sure you know the ISO, aperture and shutter speed.

I watched a lot of Peter McKinnon. Yeah, he is like my role model. So I watched him a lot.

If you go back through all of his old videos, he teaches you all of that. And when he teaches you it, it's not boring. And I can't watch videos and be bored.

I can't do it. So I watched all his stuff and learned everything and just went out and practiced and that's all you can do is you have to go out, learn it, practice, and if you want to do lifestyle photography, use people. Be like, hey, can I put a portfolio together with somebody? And eventually in time, if you keep on doing it and then you're like, okay, well, you're going to want to start charging.

So eventually start charging little or more whatever you think that you're good with. And eventually you're just going to get better from there. Lighting, I would say, is a huge thing.

I didn't realize that until probably you're in. Lighting is huge. Making sure that you're always wiping off your lens because then you're going to do a lot of post work in Lightroom.

And that sucks. Yeah. And angles, too.

Everybody says angles. That's like cliche. It's true, though.

Yeah. So pretty much all that has gotten me to where I'm at today. Definitely nice.

How do you find clients? What's your go to for that? Or is it always different? I get a lot off of Instagram, to be honest with you. I have some from word of mouth, like my lifestyle photography. It's a lot of word of mouth.

And social media. Facebook, I would say my outfitters are social media. And then I haven't gotten anything from LinkedIn.

I really don't like LinkedIn. I don't like TikTok, but started getting some clientele from TikTok and Facebook I have been to in a lot of the groups, so that's kind of where. Nice.

No, that's think. And that's something a lot of people are like, well, I don't like. Maybe they're good at taking the photos, but then they don't know how to market themselves a little bit.

And a lot of people do struggle with that. Like you said earlier, they have the creative mindset, but with the business aspect, it's a little bit harder because you don't know how to manage both. Usually you're good at one or the other, but when you run your own business, it's like you have to push yourself towards the marketing aspect, too.

Yeah. Do you go to any trade shows or anything? Yeah, so I've been to a couple. I was at the Great American Outdoor show.

A couple in. No, I think that was Michigan. So I don't like to go to a lot of them, to be honest with you.

I get a lot more of my work when I am on social media, although I like the face to face interactions, too. It just depends on the show you go to. Yeah, I would say that's true.

Sometimes it's just like showing up and maybe you've been talking to someone on social for a long time and you're like, hey, you're going to be at that. Let's meet up and actually meet each other face to face. I don't know.

The relationship has already been sort of established. You're just going to like, I don't know. Yeah, that's true, too.

Whenever you meet people off of social media, I don't like to just talk to them on social media and be able to book with them on social media. I have to go and do a process of talking with them and getting to know them a little bit more. I am not a big fan of just.

Okay. Yes. We're going to book, and I don't know you.

I am very people person, so I have to get to know somebody before I work with them. Yeah, no, that's cool. Yeah.

So this kind of wraps up this episode, but if you wanted to just share where people can find you again, your social handles and website or whatever you want to share. Yeah. So Facebook, it's just Renna Spears, and then on Instagram, it's Renren 14.

So Ren Underscore Ren 14. I might change my name and time, but apparently a lot of people like to call me Run Run. Yeah.

And I have TikTok, too. I don't really use it other than for business purposes. And I'll just throw a thing here and there about me, but that would be the same thing, the run run 14 and think that's it.

Nice. Yeah, I wouldn't change it. My opinion, like, I don't know.

People call me Phil all the time, and my first name's Adam and my last name's Phillips, but people call me Phil all the time, so it's. It's. But at the same time, that's what people know, and that's what they've known forever.

So if I changed it, they'd be like, I don't know where he is now. I wouldn't change it. That makes sense.

Yeah, I get. Well, thank you again for taking your time and being on here and, yeah, appreciate you having me. It was good finally meeting you over virtual, too.

Yeah. Same big thank you to everyone that's made it this far into the episode. Thank you for being here.

Thank you for listening and being a listener. If you have not yet rated us on Apple Podcasts, that helps us out. A megaton.

It's the big thing that helps make our channel, this podcast rank and grow. Basically. It helps me to be able to do more of these again.

Thank you guys so much for being here. If you haven't yet subscribed, tribe, so you get notified with every weekly episode, every Wednesday, every morning. We would love it if you would subscribe again.

Thank you guys for being here. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you on the next one. Thanks.