I recall my first experience with photography was in maybe fourth or fifth grade when I “borrowed” my parents old Minolta camera and took it to school to show off. I didn’t know anything about what I was showing off, but I remember I loved the concept of snapping images. It wasn’t until 12 years later on a trip to Ukraine in college that I had my first camera, a Kodak disposable with a panorama setting.  The joy of getting those images back and seeing what I had captured was better than Christmas day!

My first digital camera was a Sony point and shoot I bought before a business trip to Japan in 2003. This was the very early days of digital photography, and I remember quickly filling up the memory card and having to delete images I didn’t like, but I was hooked. From honeymoon, to child births, to soccer games and birthdays, we’ve documented the last 20 years of our lives with unbelievable detail. This only increased with the advent of the smart phone.

Fast forward to 2017 when we decided to live in Japan for a couple of years for work and I bought my first ‘semi-pro’ camera, a Sony A7RII. We wanted to document everything we saw and did there, and this was the chosen tool for the job along with our smart phones. This was my first experience with interchangeable lens cameras. Again, that excitement of capturing something and sharing it was a huge factor. This is when I started to learn the ins and outs of photography, trying new things and pushing my knowledge. The daily 3 hour round trip commute to work gave me plenty of time to research techniques and learn new skills and the weekend travel through Nagoya and surrounding areas was an excellent test of what I had learned.

When my wife and I moved back to East Tennessee to the Smoky Mountains, I expanded my knowledge of landscape photography. I wanted to capture the beauty I was seeing and share it, because it was just too good to not share and who could believe places like this exist? This was coupled with a desire to hike the whole park and see everything there was to see. When we started camping and backpacking for multi-day trips, we documented all of the journey, knowing how few people have seen the beauty around us in these very remote parts of the park. I was struck at how beautiful and special this area was and wanted to learn how to capture and share it. This was my first thought that photography would be something I pursue as a hobby.

From 2018, I set out to focus solely on landscape photography. I had done some in Japan, as it’s an absolutely beautiful country, but I had missed the hiking and backpacking we had done in the states. I started taking my little Sony everywhere, beginning with drives up Newfoundgap road and Foothills Parkway, then on small hikes, documenting the trail and local flora and fauna.  Eventually, we moved onto 12-30 mile day hikes, 4-6 day backpacking trips, and everything in between. I even worked on reducing my pack weight to make room for the camera gear so I could be sure to take it with me! After winning a few photography contests for my work (that I entered on a whim), I decided to pursue landscape photography more formally as a business.

Today, we continue to live in this glorious area of the country near the Great Smoky Mountains and I can share with you my experience both through my view through the lens or by helping others learn to capture their own view.

I am available for:

• Tutorials and photography education

• Workshops (half day to full week excursions)

• Post processing education

Thank you for your interest in my work and efforts!

-BF