Photographing a Solar Eclipse Paramotoring Adventure - Wyatt Peterson

Explore the world of visual storytelling with Wyatt on Your Photography Podcast. Discover the artistry behind capturing nature's first impressions and the vastness of landscapes through wide-angle lenses. Join Wyatt as he recounts a recent project featuring paramotoring during a solar eclipse and unveils upcoming goals, including a photo book and film documenting a 3-day hiking odyssey across Utah's towering peaks. Immerse yourself in the intersection of art and adventure – subscribe to 'Lens & Landscapes' for a visual journey like no other.

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Transcript

Welcome to your photography podcast, where we immerse ourselves in the diverse world of creative expression with photography and sometimes videography, unveiling insights from portraits and weddings to the heart of what I truly cherish, adventure, sports, photography, and the vibrant tapestry of an active lifestyle. Whether you've been following my adventures or you're new to f stops and shutter speeds, this podcast is your gateway to a treasure trove of knowledge and insight. Together, we'll explore the art of working with clients, brands, capturing the essence of families, athletes, models and products.

This isn't just about capturing moments, it's a guide to Mashable storytelling through your lens. Join us as we explore the intricate facets of photography as a business, uncovering the invaluable tips and tricks of the trade. Learn from our shared experiences, the highs, the lows, the transformative moments that have shaped our path.

This podcast isn't just for photographers, it's a sanctuary for those hungry to deepen their understanding of photography and videography. Whether you're a seasoned pro or you're just starting to find your creative expedition, get ready for a captivating exploration of the art, the business, the spirit of photography. Creativity can be your vehicle and your passport to endless possibilities.

Let's embark on this adventure together. Be sure to subscribe and follow for every episode. What's up, guys? I'm super excited for today's guest.

I have Wyatt Peterson. He's a storyteller at heart, crafting visually stunning and emotionally charged narratives that transport you to the heart of the wilderness. Whether it's freelancing, video editing, writing thought provoking blog articles on adventure and conservation, or working with some of the most daring adventure athletes in the world, he is dedicated to sharing the magic of the wild with the world.

Join us on this journey to explore, appreciate and protect the wild places that we all hold dear. Hey, thanks for being here, Wyatt. Hey, thanks for having me.

Yeah, thanks for taking the time to do so. One of the first questions that I generally ask most the guests that I have here is why or what do you enjoy most about photography? Oh man. I'd say probably what I enjoy most about photography, at least when I started, was the idea of being able to capture my perspective through a lens and be able to share that with people, whether it's my perspective in a landscape or what I held dear in my own town.

I mean, I kind of started out with so many different genres where I was doing street photography and landscape and wildlife and all this stuff, and I was doing it very basically, very beginner esque. But I loved that I was able to capture what really stood out to me. And over the years, I've kind of developed a new passion for why I enjoy photography, and that's more of telling a story.

I love being able to capture a story of someone's first time in a wild area or someone's story of some daring athletic feat, whether it's mountain biking down a new hill for them or climbing a new rock or hiking a new trout, whatever it is. I just love capturing stories of people in nature or in our wild places, and being able to hopefully share that with people in a way that gets people more, I think, excited or more interested in going out themselves and seeing what these places have to offer. Yeah, that's probably where I'm at now with photography.

Nice. No, I like that. So how long have you been doing photography? I guess.

How did you get started? I've been doing photography. I guess if we go back to the beginning, it's probably since high school. So 14 years ago, I ended up joining yearbook.

Well, no. Before joining yearbook, I took a photography class because one of my friends was taking it. She invited me to join her, and I was like, yeah, sure.

And the first week that I was in that class, my friend ended up dropping out and picking up a different class. So I was kind of left there with no friends and decided like, oh, I'll just stick with it. And that first year turned into me applying to yearbook the next year and just being a part of yearbook and being able to capture the different events going on at school and getting to know new people because I had to.

I had to branch out. I had to become more social in order to get the shots that we were looking for. And, yeah, after that, I just kind of stuck with it.

I would borrow the school camera, not sure if it was even allowed, but I'd take it over the weekends and then go and photograph things that I wanted to photograph, whether it was one of my favorite canyons near my home or just stuff around town. I just loved being able to take that camera and experiment. I mean, I really had no idea what I was doing most of the time, but it was fun to just go out and try.

Nice. Yeah. I mean, do any of us know what we're doing half the time? I don't think so.

Yeah, I don't think so. I think we're all just figuring it out, right? Yeah. No, I like that.

That's cool. A lot of your stuff, like landscapes and outdoors, do you have a favorite lens or. Look, that you try and go for and why.

I think my favorite look, and this is going back to kind of more of an artistic approach to it all. But I remember in one of my classes in college, I had to take a class called humanity for the arts. And I really love learning about the different era of art.

And one of the eras that stuck out to me the most was, I want to say, between the 16 hundreds and 18 hundreds. But it was these paintings that kind of had the description of the sublime. And there are these epic wilderness landscapes with kind of the common, stereotypical little person.

But I just loved how these paintings depicted the wilderness as this vast landscape, this area where you could look for miles and not see anyone, and these places where they were untouched by mankind. And usually it had this person out there exploring it for their first time. For me, capturing a landscape, I love trying to capture it in a way that is a new perspective for me.

If I've seen a photo of delicate Arch or seen a photo of any of these popular, iconic landscapes, whenever I go there, I tend to veer away from what I've already seen on social media. I want to find a perspective that's new to me. I want to have some of that adventure, some of that explorer, some of that new person in this landscape vibe.

And oftentimes those photos aren't anything spectacular. I don't even share most of them, but that's what I'm going for, is I want these shots that just capture that sublime, that capture the vastness. And I want people to feel like when they get out into nature, that they're smaller than they think they are, yet they have more of an impact than they think they do.

Yeah, I like that. No, I fully agree with that. And people should feel that they do have an impact.

What is a favorite project you've worked on or a recent project that you're stoked about? Favorite project? Oh, I think my favorite one that I've worked on recently was it was with the solar eclipse that happened just a couple of months ago. And I had a budy who, he's a paramoter, and we synced up a couple of years ago over some shots that I got of him without knowing it was him. And over the years, we've kind of done these shoots where I just was able to go out and get some cool shots of him, either at Utah Lake or in the mountains.

And with the solar eclipse coming up, I thought it'd be pretty cool to get a shot of a paramoter with the solar eclipse. I mean, I've seen these athlete shots of people highlining or rock climbing or mountain biking or hiking or whatever it is, and the solar eclipse in the background. And I was wondering, is it possible to do that with a paramoter who's moving a lot faster than any of these other athletes would be because a lot of them are just standing still to get a good shot.

Yeah. So I called them up, pitched them the idea, and we started trying to figure out a way to, or not a way, but we tried to figure out a place that we could get these shots, first of all. And then from there, it was down to me trying to figure out, okay, how am I going to get these shots? What lens do I need? What nd filter do I need? Do I need a different camera? I was trying to do all this research, but it was hard because everything I was trying to look up for paramotor eclipse shots didn't really exist.

So I was just trying to figure it out on my own. And the day of the shoot finally came. We went out, did the shoot.

The day of the shoot was a lot harder than I anticipated. Yeah, I believe it. Yeah.

You know those glasses that you put on for the eclipse? They make everything black except for the sun. I had those on so I wouldn't go blind looking at the sun. But then when I'd look up, I couldn't see him at all.

And then even without the glasses, I couldn't see him at all. So I had to rely totally on him being able to line up his shadow with me on the ground, but having him on the radio, we found out that because of the eclipse, the way that the sun and the moon were interacting, it gave him, like three or four different shadows. So his challenge up there was trying to figure out which shadow do I line up with wyatt in order to get the shots? We're looking wild.

That's crazy. That's really wish actually, he may have had a gopro. I'm not sure.

I wish if he didn't, that he did, because I want to see what it looked like from his perspective. If he could somehow get a shot or a video of those shadows, I think it would have been really cool to see. But, yeah, that was a really fun shoot.

Sounds absolutely cool. Yeah, you have a limited amount of time and then years until the next one is going to occur. 30 years.

But, yeah, solar eclipses are cool. I went to the one back in, it was 2017. Oh, yeah.

The one up more north, right? Yeah. That went through Jackson Hole and stuff. Yeah, I can't imagine trying to also line up because you have such a small window of time.

So when I see some photos and I've seen what you did, and I've seen other people and the stuff that they've done, and I'm like, cool, good on you. That's rad. Yeah.

I actually had one friend, him and I both, we never talked about doing this type of shoot, but I had another friend who did the exact same idea as me. He was out photographing a paramoter somewhere else in Utah, and it was cool to see his shots from it as well. He had definitely a different lens, different setup than me, and his shots were really cool.

I'll have to send some your way as well. That'd be cool. It was just kind of cool to see that the two of us were doing the same thing.

And then after we realized, like, oh, hey, yeah, for sure. And I think that's the cool part about just the photography community in general. I feel like a lot of times when people are beginning in photography, sometimes I feel like they think that everyone else's competition, but especially in the sense of business and work, and I mean, yes and no, but at the same time, it's also like a community of people that are like minded, and we all should be celebrating each other's successes and stuff.

So I think it's cool. Yeah, I agree. I definitely felt that starting out, I felt like it was just me against everyone else.

It's cool realizing, like, no, there's a community. People want you to succeed. No matter how much experience you have, you're in good hands if you just trust your fellow photographers.

Yeah. Do you have a favorite subject to photograph? I was actually talking with my wife about this the other day. I used to love just taking landscape photos.

I used to love just me hiking outside by myself and just getting these shots. And lately I've realized I don't love that as much as I used to. I mean, I still love nature.

I still love getting out and hiking and exploring on my own. But I've come to realize that the camera doesn't need to be with me every time. A lot of the time, if I have the camera, I feel obligated, like, oh, it's the cool clouds or cool sunrise.

Like, I should get a shot of this. But I've been leaving my camera behind intentionally on some of those outings because I don't want to feel obligated to do that. I just want to appreciate the moment.

I want to appreciate being outside or running on the trail or hiking or whatever I am doing, I just want to appreciate being there. And I think when it comes to what my favorite subject is to photograph now, it's that of a story. I mean, if I can get out and get a shot of either my kid out on a new trail and get a cool shot telling a story about him, or if I can get a shot of an athlete in the mountains or someone doing some type of conservation work or anything like that, I want to capture a story when it pertains to the outdoors, and it's not really a subject, I guess, but it's kind of where I'm at.

I still want to get outdoor wilderness shots, but only if it's telling a story. And sometimes it doesn't even need to have a person in it. It's kind of a new rediscovering who I am type of thing in this field where I'm like, okay, what does the story look like? And right now I don't really know a solid definition, but that's just where I know I'm leaning toward or what I'm after when I'm out getting shots.

No, I like that. I think every photographer should learn how to tell a story. And, I mean, it's always a work in progress and it's never a done deal.

And I'm not going to say I am or anyone else is an expert in it, because there's books that we like and there's books that we don't like. And what someone's appetite is for one thing, is completely different than another person's. And so not every story is going to resonate, I guess, with people.

But I think especially for photographers that are getting into it, for the listeners that are learning photography, sometimes we get so focused on the technicalities of the image and how it was created that we can sometimes lose sight of the story or what story might be there. So I like your answer, basically, because it's important to tell a story. Ultimately, the things that make people emotionally attached to the imagery is not that it's composed correctly or that the horizon line is in a rule of thirds or whatever.

It's the story behind it. It's the emotions and the feelings that people get from it. It's the story.

I have a fishing image that I sold once that the person bought it because it reminded them of growing up and going on fishing trips with their dad. It wasn't that it was composed a certain way or anything. And I look at it and I'm like, that's not one of my best fishing photos.

Right. So I really like your answer about telling a story and that being the subject, because that ultimately should be in the end. Right? Yeah.

Mean, with that fish photo that you're talking about, I think a story, even if you go out with the story in your own mind as a photographer, of what you're wanting to capture, I think it's cool that that story in that photograph could mean different things or be different things to the viewers and to different people. That's the cool thing about photography, is the story that you're capturing could be totally different for someone viewing it. It's really cool.

Yeah. When I took the fish photo, I didn't envision or think about going on fishing trips with my dad, but someone else did. Absolutely.

I guess leading into the next question, if you could change anything about the photography field or industry, what might that be? This is a loaded question. You know what? Everyone kind of says it. I've had people that talk that have shared their experience with the business side of it, or, yeah, there's so many different things.

So go with it however you want. Yeah. I think the first thing that comes to mind is social media.

I've seen the benefit of social media, and I've kind of realized I'm not really chasing, trying to grow my social media as much as other people. And everyone's kind of in their own stage with that. Some people want to grow social media, and it brings in some good money, some people don't.

I think it's anyone's preference. But for me, the thing that I don't like about social media is I feel like it's become an echo chamber where we see a shot by some photographer we respect, or we see our feed just flooded with the same shots or the same type of shots. And I feel like that's kind of hindering.

Well, it's a double edged sword, because it's hindering and helping the photography field. I think it hinders in the fact that there are some people who see those shots on social media and they want to duplicate them, they want to replicate them. They want to be just like that photographer that they're.

I can't think of the word idolizing, but on the flip side, I see social media as a way to push people to try new things, where there are those photographers who see certain shots being done, and maybe they don't quite know how that shot was taken, so they try to figure it out on their own. They try to test new ideas for themselves because of that. And then it leads to them capturing newer things or something totally different that they never expected.

So I'm kind of on this weird. I'm against social media, yet I also see the benefit it has. I think if I could change that, I would change.

I don't know, this might be loaded or a hot topic, but I would literally want to ban all the iconic shots. Like, if a certain place got over 200 shots that were posted to social media, that perspective of that place couldn't be posted again. Someone would have to literally be forced to find a new perspective in order to post.

That's kind of my hot take, is I really just don't like seeing the same shots posted over and over again. And I mean, if friends are posting those shots and those perspectives, I still appreciate them for what they are, but I just want people to continue to try to find a way to improve their own skill. And if that's getting that shot for them, great.

But if they can push themselves and find a new perspective, or push themselves and find something totally new that no one has photographed before in a popular spot or whatever, even better. I just am an advocate for people not getting a shot just because they want to copy someone else. Yeah, I don't know if I'm talking in circles, but that's kind of.

No, it's all making sense. I kind of agree with that. I think there's things to be learned from when you go to those places, like the iconic places.

I can't remember which photographer it was that had said this. I was watching like maybe a webinar or something, not sure. But beside the fact they were like, yeah, usually kind of how you had said they try to not go to the place that everyone has a tripod set up when they're in a location.

And there was this one spot or whatever that they hiked around the lake or something, and lo and behold, he goes, the shot is where everyone was standing. And so it's like, I think sometimes you want to go see those places for yourself and you're still learning photography or getting into it, so you take those shots. But I also agree with you on the fact that you should also try and explore more to take photos that no one else is mean.

It reminds me of, I think it was Chris Picard in a podcast or something, that he mentioned that one of his goals in life or one of his things as a professional photographer, especially in a landscape or where he's going to shoot, is like you mentioned the photographer walking around and really getting to know the area before they found the best shot. Sometimes that best shot is where everyone else is. But I loved how Christopher card said that you owe it to that landscape.

You owe it to the subject that you're photographing, to take the time to really walk around it, see it in all its different light in the sunrise and the sunset. And once you really get to know an area, then you can have. Or then you could pay your respects with a photo that will truly honor that area, that will truly capture what that area has to offer.

And that's really stuck with me where, especially professional photography, we really want to pay our respects toward these wild landscapes, whether that's with athletes there or not. You want to be able to know that you've done your due diligence, that you didn't just show up and take a photo. You actually really got to know the area.

You really understood what the shadows and the light were going to do when you're going to take that shot. And, yeah, that's something that I try to implement in my own life. Probably what I was trying to get at with the whole social media aspect, but, yeah, no, I agree with the social was the other day, my wife said she wanted to go to Newfoundland, and I was like, yeah.

And then I didn't go through Instagram to find photos of that place. I actually just decided to Google Places to photograph in Newfoundland. And I felt like it was so refreshing to just google it and read through a blog that was put together by, I don't know who it was put together by, but it was like various different photographers.

And then it talked about the journey and things to do, and you should not drive up the main road, but take the side roads and stuff. And it was so refreshing not to be seeing it through Instagram. Yeah, I definitely feel you with that one.

What are your goals for photography or life goals? I say, as we're right now, the new year. Yeah, I've had a goal to create a photo book, and that's something I've postponed for myself. But I really do love writing.

I love being able to write and capture not necessarily just the visual story, but the literal story. I really do want to push myself to get that photo book done, regardless if people want it or not, as just kind of a personal goal to be like, all right, I have this book, this physical embodiment of the photos that I've taken and the perspective or the story that I personally felt when I was there. So I'd love to do more of that.

And then this next year, kind of with photography but also videography. I had a goal, actually, in 2023, to do seven of the taller peaks in Utah county in three days, to be able to trail, run or hike them. We ended up having our little girl back in August, and the time frame that I was shooting to do this was in October.

Anyway, long story short, newborn kind of threw off my routine and I was not in shape to do it. So, planning on doing that again? They definitely do that. Yeah, man.

They come in and they don't sleep and you're just like, how am I going to function for the next month? Or two? Or two or three? That's a goal of mine, is to be able to go and get those seven peaks in three days. And I've reached out to a budy of mine who is willing to help me create a short film out of it. Like, I want to make a short documentary or something out of it that will kind of capture the story of these seven peaks in three days.

Just kind of a story of pushing my own limits as a person. Not saying that I'm a professional athlete, because I'm not. I mean, there's going to be trail runners and hikers that could definitely smoke me in doing these peaks.

But I like the idea of pushing myself and pushing my own personal limits and telling that story of like, hey, this is in my own backyard. And yeah, I'd love to go hike Mount Kilimanjaro or these other tall peaks someday. But right now, the challenge that I can come up with is doing these seven peaks in three days and finding a way to appreciate what I have in my own backyard even more.

So, yeah, that's something I'm working on training for, hoping to do in the early summer, late spring, probably May, April. So we'll see how the snow pack is and everything. But, yeah, that's a goal for this next year.

And then living on the road. Like I mentioned to you earlier, we're living in our fifth, not a fifth wheel, but a camper trailer and just traveling the country. And I just really want to appreciate that for what it is, spending time with my two kids and my wife.

Nice. Yeah, that's awesome. Do you have any tips or advice for anyone beginning in photography or wanting to start a photography career? I say stay curious.

I mean, that's something that I really enjoyed about. Getting started in photography was just coming up with these random ideas just because I wanted to get a certain shot. And I would try new things, I would research new techniques or I researched techniques or the rules of photography and then tried to figure out, okay, how can I break these rules in order to get the shot I'm wanting? I just kind of didn't care about what other people said could be done with photography.

I just wanted to go see for myself, figure out the limits of my camera, figure out just what exactly is possible when you don't really listen to what the limits other people are saying. And a lot of those shots weren't really spectacular, but I had a lot of fun with it and it really helped me dial in the style that I ended up pursuing with my photos. And that's something I'm trying to rediscover again.

Is that curiosity, trying to figure out new shots or new techniques or new ideas that I've never considered before because I kind of got stuck in my own way. And that's what I love about that beginner mindset. No matter what industry you're in, if you're in a beginner mindset, you're going to be more cautious of the things that can go wrong, but you're also going to be more willing to push those limits because you're kind of naive enough to think that you can do the impossible.

I think those are some of the biggest tips I'm trying to reapply in my life and I feel like have really helped me in the past. Nice. No, I appreciate it.

Well, I guess that wraps up this episode. Where can people find your work on social media every now and then? I haven't been posting as much, but yeah. And Wyatt Peterson Studios on Instagram and Facebook, my website, which is again, whitepetersonstudios.com.

Yeah, that's, that's mainly it. Right now I'm working on posting more, especially with our trips and being in more of these scenic places that I can capture photos in. But yeah, I'll be working on posting on a somewhat more regular, so.

Right on. Awesome. Thanks, Wyatt.

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