056 - Mountains, Bears, Early Mornings, and Photography as Motivation w/ @erinb_explores
All images in these show notes are courtesy of Erin @erinb_explores
"It takes a lot of time and energy, and sometimes you have to get up at 4 am and suck it up and go, but I promise you, every time, it is worth it. It's so worth it."
I'm super excited about today's episode. I got the chance to interview a brilliant photographer from right here in Calgary. She focuses on crafting adventure and lifestyle images in the Canadian Rockies. Focusing on documenting her explorations, Erin brings this personal touch and vision to the photos she shares. They bring you into the adventure and give you a sense of awe and wonder. She is someone who I feel deserves way more attention for the beauty of her work. So, I had to reach out and talk to her about her process, the gear she uses and adventure in general. Today in the episode, you'll learn about her creation process, why adventures matter and hear one of my favourite bear stories.
Erin began her photographic journey in university when she purchased a Canon Rebel T2i off Kijiji. This was really before the advent of phone photography, so she dragged that camera everywhere she went.
"I dragged it everywhere, up mountains with me, just to get that one photo."
She says it was a gradual learning curve, shooting mostly in full auto until she had some time to learn what everything did. An upgrade to a full-frame camera (the Canon 6D Mark II) was one of the best pushes she had to up her game. Also, getting access to a super wide-angle lens (the Canon 10-18mm) made a huge difference.
"I could now get everything I wanted in a photo!"
The mountains are vast places, and to truly get them at their best, you need to be able to go ultra-wide. And that combo of full-frame and ultra-wide opened up whole new creative prospects for the adventure photographer.
One more recent change happened that caused her photography to take another giant leap. COVID and the start of working from home.
"I started working from home, and all of a sudden I didn't need to sit in traffic for hours a day, now I can spend that time editing and exploring the mountains.
And she has taken full advantage of that extra time, showing off some of the best places in the Canadian Rockies.
Creative Process
Erin's images are filled with the Rockies' colour and include a first-person perspective of adventuring through them. Erin's style has changed throughout the years; today, she focuses a lot on just looking for little details to include in those epic shots.
"Sometimes I'm super into just lighting or colours or just taking a photo, but recently I've been taking a look at the foreground."
She also focuses on her images being simple to understand, with a single primary subject point like a mountain peak. And while her photos include plenty of colours, she does her best to keep them looking like the world was when she was there.
One of the big things for her photography is adding a human element to the shots, especially people.
"That scale, it's just unreal. It just makes it so much more incredible. Going out and hiking, it's sometimes really tough to capture the immenseness of it. The mountains just go on forever and ever. By itself, you're like, 'ok, cool.' But you put a tiny little person in there to see how truly massive they are. It really adds that aspect to it."
On Adventuring
"You know, some days I wake up, and I'm just lazy. I just want to sit on this couch and do nothing. But I find for me the photography part of it was really motivational. It got me up in the morning. I get to go see these amazing places, but I also get to go take photos of them and share them with the world. I love photos for that too. It captures a certain moment or a mood or a time, and you can go back and look at it, and it teleports you back to that same moment."
While the photography helps get Erin out of bed on those dreary mornings, it isn't just about capturing a photo for her. Adventuring and experiences go way beyond that.
"You gotta go on those adventures for yourself. You can't go to get the gram photo. I think it's a whole bigger thing than that. The experiences and the memories that you have, not just the photos you take, are more important."
And sometimes, it's just about getting outdoors.
"I love it for the experiences and the journey, not just for the top of the mountain and seeing the views. But, also for hanging out with your adventure buddies or even going out by yourself. It's just that peaceful moment out in nature."
Some of the Gear:
Having the right gear is super important. You can create great photos with anything, but as we've talked about many times on this podcast, the mountains can be dangerous. So, beyond your photography gear, it is essential to be prepared for the day.
"It is really important to stay safe and not get caught in a really difficult situation."
Photography
Canon 6D Mark II
24-105mm
16-35 f/4
Sigma 160-600 (doesn't hike with this one typically)
50mm f/1.4
Lowepro Photosport Backpack
Outdoors
Invest in an inReach or Spot device
"It's definitely important to be able to reach out because a lot of those places don't have cell service."
Bear Spray
First aid
knife
Whistle
Lots of layers
"At the bottom of the mountain, it could be 30 degrees, and at the top, it could be raining, snowing, windy, it could be 5 degrees up there."
Food!
Connect
Erin currently doesn't have a website, but if you want to see her work follow her on Instagram @erinb_explores. If you see a print there that you love, send her a message, and she would be happy to print it for you. Or just send her a message and chat. She's delighted to connect with other creatives and adventurers.
"It's not just sharing photos but connecting with other photographers, and it has been really amazing."
If you are enjoying the podcast, please subscribe and rate it where you can. You can find more episodes of the podcast wherever you stream, including Spotify, Apple, and Google.
You can follow along with Robert’s adventures on Instagram as well @RobertMasseyPhotography.