Wild Baja: Capturing the Spirit of Adventure with Wild Common Tequila
Embark on a wild Baja California road trip with photographer Ben Horton and friends Lizzy and Kelli Coghill. From Loreto’s slot canyons to freediving in Bahía Concepción and exploring the dunes of Guerrero Negro, this adventure captures the untamed spirit of Wild Common tequila.
Just got back from an incredible Baja California road trip with two of my best adventure friends, Lizzy and Kelli Coghill. We hit some amazing spots, exploring the slot canyons around Loreto, freediving in the crystal clear waters of Bahía Concepción, and playing in the endless dunes of Guerrero Negro. It was the kind of trip where the desert and ocean mix, and we spent our days chasing light, waves, and quiet moments. Along the way, I was shooting a campaign for Wild Common Spirits, a tequila brand that leans into authenticity and craft with additive free spirits made at the historic Cascahuin distillery in Mexico. The whole journey felt like a celebration of wild places, good friends, and the spirit of adventure.
Shooting for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit at The Boca Raton
What I learned from photographing athletes and architecture for Sports Illustrated.
The Journey That Placed Me Here
While I’ve been more recognized for my work with National Geographic, showing wild natural places, I’ve also used photography to explore and highlight feminine strength, presence, and beauty from the very beginning. Whether in fine art, fashion, or commercial campaigns, I’ve focused on creating images that feel honest and empowering. I’ve had the privilege of working at the highest levels of the industry, and every project, whether it was a remote expedition or a fashion shoot, has shaped the way I see and tell stories.
When Sports Illustrated asked me to shoot this project, it wasn’t just another assignment. It was validation, an acknowledgment that the way I see the world resonates with others. This wasn’t a natural step forward; it was recognition of years of hard work, of trusting my instincts, and of seeing beauty in places where others might not look.
The Setting: The Boca Raton
The shoot took place at The Boca Raton, a historic resort with stunning Mediterranean Revival architecture. I approached it the way I would a natural landscape, letting the light, lines, and textures of the structure become part of the composition. The architecture wasn’t just a backdrop—it was an active participant in the story, a way to connect the models and the environment.
The Opportunity and the Challenge
This shoot was more complex than I expected. Balancing creative direction, production logistics, and the expectations of a major brand like Sports Illustrated required focus and adaptability. There were moments when I questioned whether I could meet the challenge. But those moments were exactly what made the experience so rewarding.
“Had I known how hard it would be, I might not have been as confident I could do it. But had I not done it, I may not have known that I was as capable as I was.”
Connecting People to Place
What made this shoot feel true to me was the intention behind it. The team wanted images that connected models, including athletes and Olympians, to the environment—images that highlighted strength, presence, and authenticity. That has always been at the core of my work: creating space for real, unforced expression in front of the lens, and revealing the natural beauty of both the person and the setting.
A Light Touch with Tools
I used a drone for a few shots where it helped reveal the scale of the scene, and an underwater housing for moments that called for a more immersive view. But the focus was always on letting the model and environment interact naturally, with tools supporting the story rather than becoming the story.
What This Experience Meant to Me
This project brought together everything I’ve built my career on—connection, composition, light, and storytelling. Swimwear photography isn’t new to me. It’s been part of a larger journey of highlighting human presence and beauty in a way that feels powerful, subtle, and real.
Working with Sports Illustrated wasn’t about progression. It was about acknowledgment. It was about realizing that the way I see the world—the interplay of light, landscape, and strength—has meaning not just to me, but to others. And that’s something I’ll carry forward in every frame I shoot.
Individual features:
Toni Breidinger – NASCAR driver and model.
View her SI Swimsuit featureSports Illustrated Swimsuit+6Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+6Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+6Anna Hall – Olympic heptathlete.
View her SI Swimsuit featurePeople.com+8Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+8New York Post+8Ali Truwit – Paralympic swimmer.
View her SI Swimsuit featurePeople.com+7Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+7Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+7Cameron Brink – WNBA star.
View her SI Swimsuit featureCaroline Marks – Olympic surfer.
View her SI Swimsuit featureSports Illustrated Swimsuit+23Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+23Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+23Eileen Gu – Olympic freestyle skier.
View her SI Swimsuit featureSports Illustrated Swimsuit+10Page Six+10Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+10Gabby Thomas – Olympic sprinter.
View her SI Swimsuit featurePage SixJordan Chiles – Olympic gymnast.
View her SI Swimsuit featureNew York PostNelly Korda – World No. 1 golfer.
View her SI Swimsuit featureNew York Post+2Sports Illustrated Swimsuit+2New York Post+2Suni Lee – Olympic gymnast.
View her SI Swimsuit feature
Baja Bound
Baja Bound
A captivating and unconventional journey, "Baja Bound" is a unique coffee table book that melds the surrealism of fine art nudes with wild, psychedelic narratives. This book is not just a visual feast but a deep dive into the eccentric, the profound, and the psyche, all set against the stunning backdrop of the Baja Peninsula.
From the mesmerizing deserts to the captivating shores, each page of "Baja Bound" is a testament to freedom, adventure, and artistic expression. The high-quality photographs bring each scene to life, inviting the reader into a world where the conventional boundaries blur and new perspectives emerge. It's not just a book; it's a journey into the heart of the wild, a celebration of the bold and the beautiful, and a tribute to the art of storytelling.
Ideal for fans of avant-garde art, lovers of adventure narratives, and admirers of the human form in its most artistic expression, "Baja Bound" is a must-have addition to any coffee table collection
My BASE Magazine Cave Diving Article
Fear comes from not understanding. It’s a phrase that I repeat to myself when I am presented with something that scares me.
If you’re afraid of swimming with sharks, it’s probably because you don’t understand them. If you’re afraid of hiking alone through the wilderness, it’s probably because you don’t understand that environment. In adventure sports, it often means you simply haven’t developed the skills and awareness necessary to visualise the path to a positive outcome.
I worked with Base Magazine to put a collection of my images, and thoughts on paper around cave diving. It’s a deeper look into fear, training, and the value of pushing through it all to have amazing experiences.
“Fear comes from not understanding. It’s a phrase that I repeat to myself when I am presented with something that scares me.
If you’re afraid of swimming with sharks, it’s probably because you don’t understand them. If you’re afraid of hiking alone through the wilderness, it’s probably because you don’t understand that environment. In adventure sports, it often means you simply haven’t developed the skills and awareness necessary to visualise the path to a positive outcome.
Most people’s perception of cave diving would put it at the very top of the list of dangerous sports. I was first asked to learn to cave dive for an upcoming film project and I shut the idea down outright.”
A Photographers Guide to Shooting in The Amazon
in this battlefield of biodiversity is a beauty that you will never find anywhere else. Beetles that are more ornate and beautiful than the most valuable jewelry, snakes so colorful you’d think a neon sign was slithering through the branches, or so camouflaged that seeing them feels like finally getting your eyes to focus on that magic eye poster you had as a kid.
White Caiman
Few places in the world elicit the idea of adventure quite as much as “the Amazon”, vast swaths of uninhabited, untamed, and unparalleled wilderness. If you were to be dropped in at random to any point of this jungle and examine a single square meter of the forest, you can be sure to encounter some unique creature, and possibly something that could send you right back to civilization in a great deal of pain. It seems like everything here is either built to defend itself with voracity or to hunt with precision. Frogs whose skin weep toxins that will paralyze, ants whose sting is as painful as being shot by a bullet, and fish that can turn a carcass to bone in minutes. The vast majority of people wouldn’t visit this place just because of the mosquitos, let alone the heat, the snakes, the spiders, and toothy predators that definitely saw you, even if you didn’t see them.
But in this battlefield of biodiversity is a beauty that you will never find anywhere else. Beetles that are more ornate and beautiful than the most valuable jewelry, snakes so colorful you’d think a neon sign was slithering through the branches, or so camouflaged that seeing them feels like finally getting your eyes to focus on that magic eye poster you had as a kid. Properly equipped, even the dangers of the amazon can be within acceptable limits. People have survived here nearly naked for thousands of years. With my knee high gum-boots, long sleeves, gps and an unhealthy amount of Deet, it’s a walk in the worlds largest and most incredible botanical park.
Palm Viper (Bothrops bilineatus)
Where to Stay
The Tambopata Research Center
I’ve spent a lot of time in environments like the Amazon, having lived in a tent for three months total in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica while on a grant project for National Geographic photographing bull sharks that swim up-river into the Sirena river, and a previous foray into the Peruvian Amazon many years ago. I can admit that the first few months I spent in these environments produced very little of my work because I was still figuring out how to be comfortable, much less to create interesting work. Now, my preferred method is to stay in one of the Amazon lodges where I have access to a shower, clean water, cooked meals, and a comfortable bed surrounded by mosquito netting. That takes out at least 80% of the variables, and leaves me with the simple task of keeping myself comfortable while out exploring, and lets me focus on finding what it is that I’m there to find. My first choice of places to stay are in the Rainforest Cruises “family. They have a group of lodges near the Tambopata Reserve that offer day trips into the reserve itself, as well as their crown jewel lodge, the Tambopata Research Center. The first time I visited, I was expecting more of a ranger station like I’d stayed in on previous trips, and was prepared with a hammock and some instant meals. I was shocked to find a luxurious room with a shower, queen bed, and the lodge had a bar and cooked meals three times a day. I suppose a little research on my part would have gone a long way. There are still places where you can rough it. But it’s really nice to be near clean water, bathrooms, and a working kitchen. If you want to hike the 16 kilometers in or take a boat to it, the Rio Sirena Ranger station in Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park is positioned in the most biodiverse place in the world, and has rustic but suitable facilities that will help make your stay a little more comfortable. It’s every bit as wild as the Amazon, and though less remote in terms of distance, it’s every bit as remote in reality.
Scarlet Macaw’s in flight.
Camera Gear to Bring
The Author wishing he was wearing long sleeves while photographing near a swamp
In my dream scenario, I’d love to visit the Amazon in three well planned out visits. On the first, I’d focus on bigger things, like monkeys, birds, jaguars, snakes and frogs, I’d take a 70-200mm lens, and a super-telephoto. I’d spend all my time searching the clay licks, the riverbanks, and sitting in hides. The second visit would be all about the little guys, I’d take a 100mm Macro lens, some extension tubes, (and some powerful lights) and I’d look for the interesting bugs, the tiny poison dart frogs, and the patterns designed to either camouflage or strike fear. The third trip would be all about the plants, and I’d take a macro and a normal lens so I could explore the little funguses and flowering orchids.
The reality is that few people can take three separate trips, and it would be a bummer to be set up for a macro shot and see a jaguar just beyond the reach of our lens* so we end up hauling all that gear around with us everywhere we go. What we can do is divide our days up to focus on specific things.
Here are my selections for lenses that I’d use with my Sony A7R3: A 90mm macro lens can be used for a lot more than just macro, a 70-200mm 2.8 will let you get close without getting close to snakes and frogs, and a good super-telephoto are the main lenses that you’ll get use out of. I made a huge mistake on my last trip and tried the 200-600mm Sony lens, and it was a tragedy, nothing shot at 600mm was usable.
Don’t forget lighting, even in the middle of the day it can be really dark under the forest canopy. For things like frogs and snakes a strong off camera light source like this Neewer Light panel was really helpful, but for true macro, there’s no substitute for a flash.
*I was once in a river photographing bull sharks with a 16-35mm lens, and a melanistic jaguar swam by just far enough away that there was no chance of shooting it. It climbed up on a fallen tree in the river and lept through the air to the other river bank, and all I could do was watch.
Finding Your subjects
Monkey Frog
There is no beating around the bush, the best chance you have to spot incredible animals is to hire a guide. If you want to be like the best wildlife photographers in the world, you hire a guide. All the guides I’ve worked with in these amazing places have stories about the National Geographic photographer they dragged around, or the time they guided the Discovery Channel crew. We photographers love to act like we don’t need help, but there is nothing that can replace a local with a trained eye. Every time I tried to lead, I’d end up having to retrace my steps to see the creature that my guide had spotted exactly where I’d already looked.
Capybara on the riverbank
For birds and mammals like capybara and jaguar, the best way to find them is from the river. Cruising along in a boat the animals mostly ignore you, and it’s one of the few places that you can see any real distance as your view isn’t obstructed by vegetation. To see frogs and snakes, night hikes are the way to go, and often they will allow you to get right up next to them.
My Guide Jose is a prolific bird photographer, who’s skill at shooting in this environment was astounding. He could call the birds in, and predict where they would land next. Those skills take years of practice and local knowledge that I don’t have. To see his work, or to connect with Jose for your own trip take a look at his Instagram.
Tips on Shooting in the Jungle
A squirrel Monkey
In my professional opinion, jungles are the hardest environment to shoot in. The contrast is extreme, with tropical sunlight beaming through dense layers of canopy. The moment you put any direct light in your photo everything is either washed out, or becomes a silhouette. The alternative is to shoot sunrise and sunset, but it hardly helps because it’s just too dark. The humidity will seep into your lenses, and if you didn’t store your lenses in an airtight container or dry bag with silica, that lens is now out of commission.
Lenses that extend to achieve their focal lengths are the worst in this environment. Because they have air inlets that allow them to extend, every time you change focal lengths they are sucking in or pushing that humid air out of those little ports. They aren’t unusable, but they have to be cared for appropriately.
Whatever your camera claims, your ISO can’t go high enough. It’s just too dark, and things move quickly. I have a camera that handles high ISO extremely well, and I still ended up purposefully underexposing everything at lower ISO in RAW format so that I could expose the image in post. It’s a technique that works at lower ISO, but isn’t so successful if you bump it up too high.
You have to think of shooting in the jungle almost like shooting at night, your eyes have adjusted to the meager lighting, but your camera hasn’t. Add light when you can, and when you can’t add any, if your camera can handle it, I suggest you use the underexposing method. It’s not poor technique, it’s utilizing and understanding what your camera is capable of. Grain is better than blur.
Dealing with the Biting Things.
A Brazilian wandering spider, the most dangerous spider on earth.
Some people have bug phobias, I don’t. That doesn’t mean that I like being bitten, or listening to mosquitos exploring my ear canal as I try to sleep. There are a lot of bugs in the jungle, and snakes, and spiders… But please don’t let that turn you off. Properly prepared they really aren’t an issue at all.
Whether you’re sleeping in a hammock or a fancy lodge, a good mosquito net is the first and most important part of a comfortable stay in the rainforest. Some might suggest getting one that is soaked in permethrin, but I’ll talk about that more later. Snakes typically avoid people, and their first defense is to lay still and hope we pass on by without ever seeing them. That’s good if you keep moving, and bad if you’re not watching your step and plant a foot right on top them. They are really only something you need to keep an eye out for when you're rummaging through the forest.
When I think of being comfortable in hot and humid environments, I imagine sleeveless shirts, lightweight shorts and sandals. But not here, not ever. The only places you should dress so lightweight is in the shower and in the safety of your mosquito netting. Better are long sleeve shirts, a buff, some cargo pants with thick material and a loose fit, hiking socks pulled up OVER the pants, and at the bare minimum, shin-high gumboots. Gumboots will deflect some snakebites, and stop the smaller ones, but they aren’t going to stop a bushmaster so you still need to watch your step. Lodges like Tambopata Research Center are going to provide you with gumboots, so that makes it easy. If you’re still nervous, get some hiking poles, and pre-poke wherever you plan on stepping.
There’s a lot of options out there for mosquito repellent. Since nobody likes to put harsh chemicals on their skin, marketing gurus have introduced lots of deet free options; citronella, permethrin, and more… I’m not a fan of 100% deet, but I am a believer. Deet is the only thing I’ve ever found that works. I put it on a buff and put the buff around my neck, I put it on my hat, and my clothes, and I don’t skimp. If it’s really bad, I spray my skin. Better to deal with some Deet in my bloodstream than getting malaria again. If you still are considering using anything else at all, I urge you to check out this study done by the New England Journal of Medicine, spoiler alert, nothing else really works.
If you go check out the CDC website, you’ll see the Amazon is a hotspot for yellow fever, malaria, dengue, and more, and it is. The best defense, better even than malaria pills, is to cover up, and wear good bug spray. The dengue and malaria carrying mosquitos are most active around dusk. Do what you want with that information. Having had malaria, I can honestly say I don’t want it again, but I also react very violently to malaria medication. It’s best to just not get bitten at all.
Who Should Go, and for how long?
Mara taking photos from the boat
I tend to focus on all the scary things, maybe it’s because it makes a trip sound more exciting to me to talk about all the dangers we encountered along the way. But I think once you understand what the dangers are and how to deal with them, it can lead to a safe and exciting adventure for anyone who’s taken the time to prepare. Almost anyone can go, if you’re relatively capable of climbing into a boat and walking down a muddy trail it’s within your reach. Some of the most interesting things I saw on this last trip were within ¼ mile of the lodge. It’s not covering distance that will lead to seeing interesting things, it’s a patient and keen eye, as this whole forest is alive. One of my techniques for spotting things is to stand still for 10 minutes and just see what creatures start to move about.
I’ll use my last trip as an example, we had a fairly diverse group of individuals. It was a commercial job for me, so I had two “models” who’d never spent any time in environments like this, and they were pretty concerned about mosquitos and malaria. I did pick them for their adventurousness, and because this was something they would likely choose to do for themselves anyway. I also had my 71 year old mother along as it was a birding opportunity that she just couldn’t miss. Granted, my mother looks and acts like someone 20 years younger. She easily maneuvered from the muddy banks of the river to the rocking boat. She routinely goes for 6 mile birding hikes at home, so she was perfectly capable on the mostly flat trails in the amazon, and often was the only one of us to want to go further, drawn deeper into the forest by some elusive bird call. At the end of each day, we were all exhausted. The heat, humidity, and the slow quiet walks while watching every single step for danger can wear you down and there’s nowhere to sit down out there. We would keep the majority of our excursions down to about an hour, giving us time to get back, have some snacks, rest up, and be ready to go back out. That way we didn’t have to carry as much, and we weren’t too worn out to jump at the chance to see something rare.
Mom, Mara, and Brian. Our adventure crew.
Cost
You can obviously spend a lot more, or a lot less, but here’s a breakdown of what it cost me to go to travel from Los Angeles to the Tambopata Research Center in 2022.
This doesn’t include food and luggage costs, and my time spent in Lima, etc. But food is included at the Tambopata Research Center. If the lodge feels too expensive, check out some of the Rainforest Cruises other options. They are just as incredible, but not quite as deep. You won’t notice that while you’re there though.
LAX to Lima - $650
Lima to Puerto Maldonado - $150
Overnight Stay in Puerto Maldonado - $45
4 Nights and 5 Days in TRC - $1200
Guide - $250
Tips! - Up to you
Total - $2,295
Gear List
Camera
Whatever your camera system is, bring these lenses:
Any Macro and Flash
A “fast” 70-200
A “fast” long lens 400mm or more
A 1.4x extender is a great thing to have with you.
Clothing
Long Thick Pants
Tall hiking socks
Long sleeve shirts (I prefer sun shirts)
Sneakers for the boat
Lightweight sleeping clothes
Gumboots if the lodge doesn’t provide them
Bug Prevention
A buff and hat to soak with deet.
Mosquito netting if you’re not in a nicer lodge that provides them
Other
Day pack
Water bottle
Snack bars
Silica packs for drying out electronics
Journal Entry - Corcovado Photo Expedition 2
We came to a spot in the river where the river is forced around the skeleton of a giant fallen tree. Anything of significant size, the river included is forced through a few narrow passageways. The hope was that we could get some shark photos when they are either coming or going in this area. All together I've spent about 10 days in this river, with hardly a straight view of a shark, and it seemed like today was going to be a repeat until, standing in the water the telltale signature of a shark approached from downstream.
Photographing Bull Sharks in Fresh Water
For National Geographic
Paddling upriver this morning, we had no reason to think it would be better than any of our other days in the river. The sun was beating down on us, and the forrest began to feel like a furnace. We only traveled a few kilometers, and we'd stop now and then to take photos of an ibis or tiger heron or monkey or something when at last
We came to a spot in the river where the river is forced around the skeleton of a giant fallen tree. Anything of significant size, the river included is forced through a few narrow passageways. The hope was that we could get some shark photos when they are either coming or going in this area. All together I've spent about 10 days in this river, with hardly a straight view of a shark, and it seemed like today was going to be a repeat until, standing in the water the telltale signature of a shark approached from downstream. Our can of sardines we had used as chum was working, a fin was fast approaching.
Ben Horton in Rio Sirena, Costa Rica looking for bull sharks in fresh water while trying to avoid crocodiles.
Before I knew it there were 3-4 sharks around me. None of them seemed intent on coming very close though, and every time I moved even slightly they would take off. So I got back in the boat where I could sit down and hang the camera into the water with one hand. In minutes the sharks were investigating the camera, and I had finally taken a photo of a shark in this river.
One of my first images of a bull shark in fresh water.
The photo itself I don't think is my dream shot, but hey... I've spent about 10 days in this river, and right now I'm just happy my luck has turned. I'm certainly hoping it stays for a while. Perhaps it was an omen that as we were photographing the sharks, a jaguar swam across the river a few hundred meters away, and I caught a glimpse of it climbing out onto a branch and leaping into the forrest. My camera was currently occupied with a few sharks and a wide angle lens, so I get to keep the vision of the jaguar to myself. My guide Heider has never seen one in his 8 years in the park. Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps he got a whiff of our sardines!
Tomorrow I go back into the river, this time armed with a remote for my camera. I want to be able to say I'm in the water taking these shark photos all the time, but that's a lot easier to do when the sharks aren't afraid of you. These little guys are terrified of their own shadow. They have yet to become the great and feared predator of the ocean. For now they need these places like Rio Sirena to stay safe, and to grow into adulthood.
After a late lunch, we set out into the jungle once more, this time though to set up a camera trap. My friend and guide Heider knows of a game trail where people go to look for puma and jaguar tracks, so we spent the better part of two hours hiking off trail and deep into the trees until we came upon a place where the trail widened with use and we saw potential for a great photo. Not 30 seconds into the hike back we saw puma tracks, so I'm excited to see how this camera trap works. Of course, it's pouring rain right now and I hope that I did a good enough job proofing my equipment... We'll see....
Career Advice from an Adventure Photographer
What separates a good photographer from a great photographer?
I’m not talking about a photographer with a famous name, or a lot of followers. I’m talking about a photographer who creates great work, and works consistently. A great photographer has to constantly grow with the industry and constantly reevaluate themselves so that they are relevant and well employed…..
Career Advice from an Adventure Photographer
learned the hard way
What separates a good photographer from a great photographer?
I’m not talking about a photographer with a famous name, or a lot of followers. I’m talking about a photographer who creates great work, and works consistently. A great photographer has to constantly grow with the industry and constantly reevaluate themselves so that they are relevant and well employed.
Fortune has smiled on me in it’s own bipolar way and I’ve taken some tough criticism from people who I would say have made it to the very top of the game. Learning to take that criticism has transformed me into a better photographer and I think a better person. I’ve been lucky enough to sit with photographers and editors that most people will never get to talk to, and this is what I've taken away from those conversations. It is a collection of things that I've both had to go through myself, and things I've learned from others.
1. Kill the ego
Photography is an extension of ourselves. We may not even realize it, but when we are showing imagery that we are proud of we are showing people how we see the world, and that’s a view that nobody else has ever had. Every time someone sees your photography they are seeing a completely new perspective. That’s why when someone doesn’t like a particular photo it feels more like an insult than an opinion.
This first step isn’t something I learned just from photography, I learned it from my father who was one of the top sculptors in the world. He would have the clay form of the sculpture complete, fine tuned, and ready to send off to the foundry, and more often than not he would invite a few of his contemporaries over to see the piece. More often than not, the next thing we knew the head was chopped off, the arm twisted around, and a months worth of work had been seemingly destroyed. The final piece when complete had unquestionably transformed from a good sculpture to a great sculpture.
Photographs don’t have the elasticity of a sculpture, once they're taken there is little we can do to change it save for a few tweaks in photoshop. Putting this lesson into practice as a photographer means losing the self-importance that surrounds our imagery, and being open to criticism from other photographers and editors. It means that we are that sculpture. Killing the ego means seeing our art for what it is and taking the advice of those who can see our work with clearer perspective.
Exception to the rule:
Of course, we don’t want to lose our individuality, our unique perspective that makes our work what it is, we want to advance it and become the best that we can be without losing our vision and our perspective. The hard part is learning when advice is just an opinion and nothing more. When that advice comes from someone we want to work for it’s important to give it ample consideration without losing what makes us unique.
2. Stack the odds in your favor
Vogue is never going to hire a product photographer to shoot a supermodel for their cover, and National Geographic isn’t going to send a fashion photographer to photograph killer whales. So many people have asked me to introduce them at National Geographic but they have never shot anything that would remotely be considered for the magazine. The first step to getting in the door at any magazine is having something to show them that they want. I got lucky, and had just returned from shooting shark poachers on Cocos Island when I met with National Geographic. It was easy by comparison to transition from showing them a portfolio to figuring out how we can work together.
Do you want to shoot fashion? Hire real models, professional models will make your job easier, get stylists, interesting wardrobe and unique locations where you don’t have to struggle to find a good angle.
Do you want to shoot wildlife? Don’t waste time fumbling around the mountains, go to where the wildlife is impossible to miss! Go to Yellowstone, the Serengeti, or somewhere where you are guaranteed photos of what you are looking for, and where you’ll have time to try different shots. Just remember, don't be so amazed with what you are seeing that you forget to look for new interesting ways to photograph it. (more on this in section 3)
My point is, if you want amazing photographs find amazing locations. It will make your job easier. If you really have what it takes to push your photography to the next level, then it’s in these places that you will get your best work. Stack the odds in your favor by giving yourself all the advantages you can.
Exception to the rule:
When I was first shooting fashion photography, I couldn’t afford the best models and locations. I had to find places I could shoot that were close to home. I learned to make any location work. A corner of a building or a park just around the corner from my house had to make do. I’m glad though that I didn’t have it easy, because now when I have a fantastic location I can really pick it apart, looking for the best possible angles just like I had to do in the beginning.
3. The harder it is, the less likely someone else has done it.
I was on a shoot in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. My job was to get photos of the bull shark pups that used this river as a nursery and to photograph the ecosystem that made it ideal for them. Countless hurdles had to be overcome just to get a usable photograph. First I had to find the sharks, then I had to photograph them in murky brown water that was home to as many crocodiles as it was to sharks. Photographers have been coming here to photograph the sharks since it's discovery that the sharks were here but I didn’t want to shoot the same images as everybody else. I wanted a photo of a shark from in the river, looking up at the rainforest to give a sense of place. I had tried getting in the water, but the sharks seemed too afraid of me to get as close as I needed them to in the murky water, and the crocodiles were too unafraid. I needed a way to separate myself from my camera, but still be able to get the shot. It occurred to me that I could re-wire my underwater camera housing to allow me to use it with a remote. The problem being that the camera would be underwater where no radio waves could reach it. I solved this problem by creating an antenna that would float to the surface. This is the point where most photographers say, “it’s too much work,” and stick to shooting the cruising fins from shore.
This is why I think National Geographic really stands out from the rest of the magazines, they only use the work of those who go to great lengths to get the shot. For some it’s sitting in a hide in the jungle for a month, for others it’s building camera equipment that doesn’t exist yet. Look at Nick Nichols, his work stands out from the rest because he’s constantly coming up with new ways to photograph old subjects. Paul Nicklen stands out because instead of shooting daunting subjects like leopard seals from the comfort of a boat he’s in the arctic water face to face with the huge and intimidating animal.
National Geographic photographers will use any means necessary to get the shot. Climbing, abseiling, diving, and jumaring are all standard practice, but even more ubiquitous is tenacity, and a willingness to suffer to get the shot. It seems like a lot of work for a photograph, but I guarantee your photo will stand out.
Exception to the Rule:
There isn’t one. Always try to shoot in a new and interesting way. Sometimes it’s good to get some of the standard shots first just so you have something to fall back on if the creative approach fails, but you should always try to do it differently.
4. Shoot the whole story
One good photograph is going to look good in your portfolio. Without context though you’ll be resigned to shooting stock. Putting together a story is one of the hardest parts of being a photographer. It’s fairly easy to get a single good frame from a photo shoot, but a single frame isn’t going to get you shooting assignments. A good way to know if you are shooting the whole story is to pick 12 images of your subject and see if people get the point without you narrating for them. I’m still working on this myself, and I hope I’ll keep getting better at it as my career evolves. Some people accomplish this by just shooting as much as they can, of everything that they come across. I like to imagine what the article is going to look like, and even draw out a sketch of the images the way I want them to end up. That way when I see a scene that is close to what I’ve imagined for the story I know that it will work.
Exception to the rule:
Sometimes a photo is so great that it tells the whole story all by itself. That’s why we use the expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
5. Personal Work
When I get a new client I always ask them one question to get things started, "Do you want me to shoot your artistic vision, or do you want my artistic vision?" Most of the time it ends up being a blend of the options. Their view with my twist. I've found that this blend of visions may work well for an add campaign, but the photography isn't the most memorable of my work. It's important that I have the chance to fully put my own artistic vision to the test so that I can show people what I'm really capable of. This is where personal work comes in. I probably shoot more of my own curious ideas than anything else. The majority of the time though, that's what people remember, and that's the work that makes me stand out. Another benefit to shooting personal projects is that I get to do what I'm passionate about, and it's fun. It keeps me interested in the career of photography. I know a lot of burnt out photographers that haven't picked up a camera for fun in years.
One of my favorite fashion photographers of all time is Helmut Newton. His work is easily recognizable, even by those who may not know his name. You've seen it, we've all seen it. The photograph that made him his living we may not even realize was taken by the same person, but the photographs that got him that work will be remembered till the end of time. It's personal projects that keep us moving forward, getting new work, and excited about our career. To me it's by far the most important thing that I do.
Exception to the Rule:
Don't get so into your own work that you forget about step #1, and don't get in so deep on a project that you don't have time for your clients that make it possible!
I hope this gets you thinking in a new direction. It took me a long time to go from just knowing these things to putting them into practice. I still have a lot to learn myself (see step 1) and the day I think I've figured it all out is the day I need to start over. Photography is art, and it's impossible to quantify exactly what makes it good or bad. There is always a general trend, or a style that prevails over another. It's good to adapt and to change with the ever changing market, but don't lose what makes you unique, and definitely don't lose what makes you love photography.
Why Beer is Important for Travelers
The first thing you see when you arrive in a foreign country is usually a taxi. Whether exiting an airport or crossing a border, it's the taxi drivers that first make contact. The question here, is how much should you be paying? Pay too much, and they'll get used to ripping off uninformed visitors, pay to little and maybe you'll end up in an alley…..
Why Beer is important for Travelers
The first thing you see when you arrive in a foreign country is usually a taxi. Whether exiting an airport or crossing a border, it's the taxi drivers that first make contact. The question here, is how much should you be paying? Pay too much, and they'll get used to ripping off uninformed visitors, pay to little and maybe you'll end up in an alley.
I forget where I first learned this trick, it may have been from some stranger while riding a chairlift, it may have been from a fellow traveler. The best thing you can do is to ask a local "How much will a local beer cost me?"
To give an example of why this works think of your local restaurant. To get a taxi ride to the restaurant it's about $10, or two beers. To eat, if it's a cheap place $10-$15 will get you an entrée. That's two or three beers.
Now let's think of it in terms of travel. In Mongolia a beer is $1500 Touareg. A taxi in Ulaanbaatar will run you $3000 - $3500 Touareg. So expect to pay about the same for a meal.
Get the drift? Try it out and let me know how it works for you!
The Forced Variable Technique
Getting better at anything is hard work, especially when your ego tells you you’re already an accomplished adventure photographer. To help myself continue to learn how to be a better photographer, I introduced something new to my workflow, and I call it a "Forced Variable." Don't ask me where I got the name, that's just what I ended up calling it.
The Forced Variable Technique
Changing things up for progress
I wrote the following post in the early 2000’s when my career was just beginning, and recently came across it on my old blog. Still, I think it’s a great little post for new photographers to read through if they are looking to improve their skills.
Getting better at anything is hard work, especially when your ego tells you you’re already an accomplished adventure photographer. To help myself continue to learn how to be a better photographer, I introduced something new to my workflow, and I call it a "Forced Variable." Don't ask me where I got the name, that's just what I ended up calling it.
A forced variable is something that you always change when taking photos. It could be never shooting the same location twice, deciding not to use zoom lenses for a day or shooting with your review screen turned off and not looking at your work until the end of the day. Using a forced variable makes things difficult at times but it is one of the best ways to continue learning how to be a better photographer.
This is something that I use in practice, and while shooting personal projects. Personal projects are what get us our "real" jobs, and keep our portfolios moving along. It's personal work that keeps me getting better at my job, and it's also one of the things that keeps me interested in what I do. Forcing myself to use that time to expand my knowledge and skill set is a natural step. I know in the back of my mind that I can always return to a great location, so it's not that I'm limiting myself, I'm expanding my library of locations by forcing myself to always look for something new and interesting. If I absolutely need that old location, it's there. The benefits of forcing yourself to lear are countless. Just think about that next job you have, and they want you to shoot directly into the sun. There's two ways you can answer them. 1. Gee, my photography class said never to shoot directly into the sun. Or 2. I have some great techniques I've been working on that I'd love to use for this shoot, would you like to see what it looks like?
Journal Entry from the Corcovado Expedition
The jungle wears you down bit by bit. It starts with bug bites that you scratch, that then turn into infections. Then it's the heat, or the mud, or just going crazy while trying to figure out where the hole is in your tent that all the bugs seem to be able to find but you can't. It's this pain I have in my left eye that I can't for the life of me figure out, and my stove which takes a surgeons attention to actually cook food with. If you can get past the discomfort enough to actually look around, the jungle is beautiful and inviting…..
Journal Entry - Corcovado Expedition
National Geographic
The jungle wears you down bit by bit. It starts with bug bites that you scratch, that then turn into infections. Then it's the heat, or the mud, or just going crazy while trying to figure out where the hole is in your tent that all the bugs seem to be able to find but you can't. It's this pain I have in my left eye that I can't for the life of me figure out, and my stove which takes a surgeons attention to actually cook food with. If you can get past the discomfort enough to actually look around, the jungle is beautiful and inviting. Three toucans sit in the tree right in front of me, looking lopsided as can be with their gigantic beaks, and psychedelic with all their color, it's things like this that only seem to show up once you've put your time in and stopped worrying so much about the bugs. Alas, my camera is broken, so I'm stuck shooting photos with a very high quality but very under gunned canon G11. It takes nice photos, but it's next to impossible to get it to do exactly what you want exactly when you want it. When you're dealing with finicky animals like bull sharks in murky water, that are impossible to see unless you're less than 2 feet away, that quarter second it takes to try to change some vital setting on the camera can be too much. That this camera is slowly starting to fail isn't helping anything either. Every shot I take I have to shut down the camera and restart it. I only have a few days left out here in the jungle. I feel like I'd need another two weeks to really get the shots I want. So I'll be spending more time down by the river. Perhaps I'll have to come back when my equipment is working right, and maybe then everything will start working correctly. Or maybe the jungle will just break everything again, and I'll be back where I started.
Leaving the Jungle
I don't necessarily have good luck, or bad luck, but the luck that I do have is pretty strong. Whatever happens to me usually happens in full force. I showed up in Corcovado ready to work, ready to get some amazing photographs of bull sharks that we could use for conservation.
Leaving the Jungle
A Journal Entry from my National Geographic Expedition to Corcovado National Park
I don't necessarily have good luck, or bad luck, but the luck that I do have is pretty strong. Whatever happens to me usually happens in full force. I showed up in Corcovado ready to work, ready to get some amazing photographs of bull sharks that we could use for conservation. Alas, on the first day I started shooting, my camera decided it was no longer going to turn on. Luckily I brought a backup, alas, it was a cheap substitute for my professional camera. I have put my equipment through so many rough situations that I had faith it would handle this 1 week shoot with ease. My faith was unfounded, as I was to find out as my equipment started to fail en mass. Of the equipment I brought with me, a full two-thirds of it failed. I count myself as being lucky though, because even with everything going wrong, my canon g11continued working, albeit barely as I had to turn it off between each shot, and pry the shutter button back out with a knife point so I could take another frame.
A spectacled caiman hiding under a log in Rio Sirena.
I'm very impressed with this little camera, but at the same time it is very limiting not to have a choice which lens I am going to use, or even the ability to zoom (the zoom button was no longer functioning either.) That said, I look at these situations as opportunities to learn how to be a better photographer. Point and shoot cameras generally don't have very much control over depth of field . This is one of the professional photographers tricks that they can use to separate their images from those taken with a "point and shoot" consumer level camera. In order to get some interesting background blurs and such with these cameras, it is necessary to get extremely close to your subject, which is good as well. It seems everybody can take photos of something from far away, but getting close to your subject provides a view that few people see, even in photographs.
Even with all of this bad luck, or poor foresight (depending on your understanding of luck) I found some amazing places where i will be able to return and get the shot next time, when my camera is working. I figured out where and when to see the baby sharks in the river, and made some great friends with the rangers in the Sirena ranger station. I've also tamed my fear of crocodiles a bit, though my respect for them has grown. They are the limiting factor here. They are what keeps you from jumping into a dark green pool of water to look for baby sharks, and they were the main reason it took me so long to find a safe place to get in the water. When I did find this spot, it was the last day, and my camera had finally died. It is a place where the river is pinched down to only about ten meters wide, where sharks and crocodiles are forced through one small passage. The water is clearer than the rest for some reason. It's got a long shallow river bank, with a conveniently placed log that separates the shallows from the depths. It is just big enough to put your head through and snap photos into the deep, croc and shark infested river. I think this is where I'll probably spend a lot of my time when I return, just laying in wait like those crocodiles that seem to always have an eye on us. (Sean once looked into the depths just in time to see a crocodile sneaking up on him not 5 feet away.
Just below the surface beyond the canoe lies a log which I can use as a hide
So, am I lucky or unlucky? Yes I counted 25 different species of bugs feasting on my flesh, and yes my camera equipment failed me. But I've learned enough that I can return with confidence, and get the shot that I need. I'm also very happy with some of the shots that I did get, and being forced to shoot with a handicap (little broken camera) meant that I really had to test my knowledge of the finer points of photography just to get anything at all.
So now, I'm back in the city of San José, Costa Rica. I'm getting ready to head north and surf for a few days before I head back to California. My mind is still in Corcovado though, and I'm anxious to get back there and get some amazing photographs!
Seeing Eye to Eye
Out of the bushes not 15 feet away, a huge elephant appears as if from thin air. I’d never thought of elephants as sneaky before this moment. I could hear the whispers of the clients, "BEN, get back in the car!" but I wasn't about to move….
Seeing Eye to Eye
A few years back I was guiding a safari for the TED conference, and helping teach the attendees about photography while giving lectures at night. We'd spend the days driving around the African wilds, photographing this and that, and all the while I was getting more comfortable with my surroundings. One day, while photographing some elephants that were a short way off, I decided the best vantage point was from the hood of our land rover.
Out of the bushes not 15 feet away, a huge elephant appears as if from thin air. I’d never thought of elephants as sneaky before this moment. I could hear the whispers of the clients, "BEN, get back in the car!" but I wasn't about to move. I had a second camera body with a wide angle on it, so I slowly raised it to get a shot as the elephant approached me and stood staring me eye to eye for just a few seconds. She swayed back and forth a few times, looked me up and down, and really seemed to ponder what I was up to. Satisfied, she turned and made her way back to the herd. I turned around with newfound humility and got back in the car.