Justin Serpico: Nature Photographer

In addition to being one of the moderators on the Photo.net Pentax forum, helping out many other users with useful photography advice, and being a Photo.net contributing writer, Justin Serpico somehow finds time to head out into the wilderness and come back with a pile of great photos.

Self taught as a photographer and a lover of the outdoors, Justin has been able to combine his two passions into a style of photography that encourages the viewer to “get out and play” as much as it does to encourage them to “get out and shoot”. His images come from knowing and loving the places and activities that he is shooting, and that is always a great place for a photographer to start creating.

What draws you to do nature photography? Which came first, your interest in the outdoors, or your interest in photography?

JUSTIN: Like most people who are nature and adventure photographers I think they sort of evolved together as co-passions that sort of need one another. Initially, it started out just as a way to bring the wonder of these places home for friends and family to see, but eventually I wanted more from my images.

As a kid growing up in metropolitan New York my interest in the outdoors was sort of innate, but unfortunately could never really be satisfied. I always enjoyed hiking and camping whenever my family traveled. I would drag my brother and parents through some hellish hikes on family vacations throughout the years. As a member of a small Boy Scout troop I really got hooked on the outdoors in my early teens. Our troop did weekend backpacking trips once a month, and this “real” exposure to the outdoors formulated my desire to learn more and do more in the outdoors. I also learned a lot about conservation, and Leave No Trace ethics which have stuck with me throughout life. Largely I believe this all shows up in my desire to capture great images of nature.

While I had an interest in photography from an early age, I didn’t begin shooting till my late teens, and I never really thought about nature photography till my college days. As a child I would play with my Dad’s SLRs without film on road trips and in the house, and I’d always volunteer to take the family photos. At around 15 or so I finally got to start using the SLR with film, and while it was a learning experience well into my college days I was hooked.

It was a good friend of mine who really started me out towards a passion for photography in college. The two of us would go off mountain biking and take the most amazing spills on rough sections of trail. He started bringing his Minolta SLR and we started taking photographs of the action. Not too long after that I asked my Dad to borrow his Pentax K1000 and a few lenses (which he didn’t get back for about 5 years). I spent the next semester shooting all our adventures both on the mountain bike, four wheeling our trucks, backpacking, sports, candids, cityscapes and just about anything else I could shoot. That summer I got a job at a film processing plant, and really started to fire off the rolls.

The same friend that got me into photography also helped to foster a passion for the alpine world. Through the benevolence of his uncle who is a respected guide in Colorado, we spent spring break in the Colorado and Utah mountains, starting with a 3 day winter survival and avalanche search and rescue course. I was hooked on the mountains following this, and when people saw my snapshots from our adventures I realized this snowy surreal alpine world was unique to many people (as well as myself). I wanted to share my adventures with them, and eventually I went from a documenter to a photographer.

Within a short time I was able to put together a portfolio. I put it and a few sample articles together and got a job at the Arkansas Traveler as a staff photographer shooting sports and general editorial photography, and an outdoors columnist where I wrote and illustrated my own articles on outdoor adventure, integrating my two passions seamlessly.

Many of your outdoor images seem to focus on the point of view of someone who DOES outdoor stuff, rather than just pictures of the outdoors. Do you think that makes a difference in the quality of your images?

JUSTIN: I think it makes a huge difference. Most photographers are voyeurs rather than participants, my photographs are from the point of view of the participant, which I think gives them a different quality. As an example, if you look at climbing photography, the best photographers in the field are exceptional climbers in their own right. Appreciating what you are in pursuit of, and being able to bring some of that emotion into the image, plays a huge role in creating effective images.

When I applied for my first photography job the editor asked me how long I’ve been a photographer, and I told her, “I’m not really a photographer, photography just sort of comes along with me on my adventures.” I still largely feel this way, if I never picked up a camera again, I’d still love the scenes I shoot. Although not recently, at times I’ve put the camera down for months or longer and just enjoyed the wilderness without being hampered by the photo equipment.

Beyond that, I have a vested interest in my images, the landscapes I shoot aren’t just photos to me, but places I recreate and have enjoyed a good deal of my adult life with lots of good memories. I hope when people have a chance to make a decision regarding protecting these places that my images play some role in them making a good choice.

Many people feel that outdoor or nature photography requires long lenses or massive backpacks full of gear. What equipment do you typically use on an average project?

JUSTIN: A lot, if not almost all, of my nature photography by percent of images is taken in the course of an adventure that has me several miles or more from the car, over varied and often rugged terrain, in adverse weather. Often I’ll have 25-40lbs of outdoor gear before I start loading the photo specific stuff. For this reason I prefer high quality compact, lightweight, low profile gear that can easily be stowed and setup. Covering a lot of ground is often key to getting the most from a trip, and being slowed down with an albatross of gear can be counter productive. While I think larger format setups are better suited for intricate landscapes in an ideal world, and I do eventually see myself splitting time between 645 and 35mm, I prefer 35mm film and digital.

With good technique these formats can yield excellent large prints, without being a nuisance. The added pluses are you have less excuse to leave gear behind, and never miss an opportunity fumbling for stowed gear that has to be packed deep in a backpack. The portability factor of 35mm is exceptional, and the quality is more than acceptable. I squeeze the most out of my gear by always using mirror lockup, low ISO, a cable release, and the sturdiest tripod I can justify based on the conditions of the approach.

What will surprise many people is the sturdiest tripod is often a few ounce piece of plastic called an Ultra Pod II, a canoe, a pile of rocks, a backpack, a stuff sack filled with clothes, a Nalgene bottle, a trekking pole with a threaded tripod screw in the top, a fence post, a trail sign, or a sub 2lb Culman that with a little ingenuity can yield razor sharp half minute exposures. When conditions permit, or I’m on a photo specific blitz outing, I carry much more stout tripods.

Since much of my photography centers around hyper focal shooting at mid to small apertures, I dispense with the big glass and look for the best compact primes and zooms. F4 is plenty fast when I’m typically not focusing through the lens and am shooting at f/5.6-11. Smaller lenses are not only lighter, but they are easier to manage and store while in the backcountry. One of the things that drew me to Pentax was that they seemed to put a lot of effort into creating compact equipment that performed well.

Most of my Pentax setup can fit into a LowePro TLZ 65 or 70 that I wear on my chest, with the addition of a few attached lens cases I have a complete system within easy access. Generally any big glass I might occasionally take for wildlife gets stored in the backpack, since I don’t shoot much wildlife I rarely have to deal with long fast glass. My Pentax film cameras are even more compact than my current digital setup, but the digital line is weather sealed, and perfect for outdoor photography. The lenses I carry are based on the topography, and subject matter, but I rarely leave home without my 21mm Limited.

Unlike other forms of photography, outdoor photography often has no “people skills” involved with bringing out the best in a subject. However, whether they realize it or not, many of the talented photographers I have met describe interacting with nature and the weather in almost the same way that one describes interacting with a human subject. Working together, avoiding bad days, finding the best approach, looking for that “something special”. Would you agree or disagree?

JUSTIN: I’d definitely agree. I guess you can say I interview my subjects pretty thoroughly before shooting them. I research the area I am going, look at the weather reports, figure out sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset times, and also location of sunrise and sunset. I use topographic mapping software to determine elevation gains, topography I will have to hike, line of sight from summits, and alternative options. If I haven’t been there before I read other peoples trip reports, and view as many images as I can. While I do enjoy finding someplace new, and the excitement that comes with it, I don’t like to be surprised and caught with the wrong equipment. I also have a plan B and C in case the conditions don’t pan out for my subject.

Mother Nature is temperamental in my part of the country we have 200 days of cloud cover, 180-200+ days of rain, and it’s often windy or foggy. Within a 4 hour drive we have a place that annually records 400+ inches of snow, a place that it rains 100+ inches a year, a place with the highest (recorded) land wind speed on earth, and lots of in betweens. The weather changes on the fly and we rarely get more than a day or two of fair weather, it can be 60F one day and snowing the next. I don’t really believe there is a such thing as bad weather, but unfortunately, some weather is just not good for photography, or just not flattering for your subject. On the flip side some of my most dramatic images have come in conditions that I wasn’t expecting, or while storms were coming or going.

Recently, I was in Death Valley, and my friend and I had a similar problem with temperamental weather. Our initial plans to photograph the salt flats at sunset was thwarted by 20mph winds blowing through the valley. We tried using the truck and our bodies as a wind break, but it was a losing battle in the open landscape. So I pulled up my topo maps, and list of possible locations, I found there was a canyon directly across the valley and it was our best chance to shoot star trails out of the wind. We ended up spending about 4 hours in the canyon shooting star trails and light painting in relatively calm conditions. I’m still waiting to get the film we shot back, but I have a pretty good feeling we made some nice looking images based on the digital shots.

Keeping it in perspective, the worst case, I have a nice hike and have an excuse to go back to a beautiful location.

Where did you gain your nature photography skills and knowledge? What resources or advice do you have for beginning nature photographers?

JUSTIN: Like a lot of nature photographers I am completely self taught, I studied microbiology and animal physiology in college, and never actually took a photography course. It was a rough road to get to the point where I could concentrate on what I was looking to do creatively, and not on the camera settings and techniques. Photography is a lot like any other art in that there are fundamental techniques and equipment to master, but in the end it’s about creativity and vision. Many photographers are excellent at the technical aspect but lack the vision necessary to create an emotionally compelling image, while others have the vision, but lack the technical expertise. I look back on some of my early work, and I cringe because I had some great opportunities that I definitely would love to go back to with my knowledge of today.

I read everything I could while learning, I asked questions from my Dad, friends, fellow photographers at college, and local professionals. The most influential book I read was Charles Campbell’s “The Backpackers Guide To Photography.” Published in the early 1990s it has nothing about digital capture, but I would consider it extremely valuable today. It covers pretty much everything you could need to know about backcountry adventure photography and the most important part of the book for me was Chroma Zone system which instantly demystified exposure.

Other photographers who had an influence on me through their writings and images were Galen Rowell and Tim Ernst through various books, including “Wilderness Reflections”, “The Cloudland Journal” “High and Wild”, “Mountain Light”, and “Galen Rowell’s Inner Game of Outdoor Photography.”

As far as being out in the elements and dealing with your own safety as well as the safety of your gear, what advice do you have for other photographers?

JUSTIN: Be prepared for everything and anything that can happen, while not taking anything for granted. Being a wilderness photographer has the added challenge of not just requiring photography skills, but outdoor skills. Know your location, know the weather, know your skills and fitness. Most accidents and rescue situations aren’t a random act of bad luck, but a series of bad decisions. Having been in a potential fatal climbing accident on a relatively moderate ice climb, I can say never underestimate the possibility of things going wrong, and be prepared to deal with them.

And finally, the question we ask everyone: While this article is primarily directed towards your outdoor photography, there are many other genres represented in your portfolio. With that in mind, what would be your ‘dream project’ if you could work on anything in the world?

JUSTIN: If I could have any project it would be to photograph major adventure expeditions in remote locations or high alpine environments around the world. Although a lot of the cachet of explorative adventure has worn off for the general public it’s still something that has immense romantic appeal to me. These expeditions are typically more than the technical objective and often spend days or weeks with down time which allows for landscape, travel, and documentary photography. Perhaps, an 8000m peak, or a remote big wall.

Secondary to that I’d love have enough time off to spend a significant time putting together shots of my local regional wild areas in New York, New England, and eastern Canada. Working full time, and only having weekends and vacations really cuts into the limited peak seasons of spring and fall. I’m pretty certain that despite the misconceptions, we have some of the most beautiful and well protected wilderness in the US. I have a goal to put together a book about “The Other New York” although at this point while I have some areas well covered, I am still far short of having the seasonal diversity and geographic coverage I would need to do it justice.

Some Examples of Justin’s Work

Justin Serpico	Pentax D, Sigma 10-20mm at 16mm. 1/15th second at f/8. 2007. This image is of the serene and somewhat remote Rock Pond, and it is a great example of participatory photography. It was day 3 of our 10 day unsupported wilderness paddle where we covered 75 miles, including 15 miles of land portages doing double carries. Everything we needed to for the trip started out with us, and made that 75 mile trek. Overall, we had to move several hundred pounds of equipment on those portages, some of which were not yet officially opened, and photography gear was as much a luxury as a necessity. Often people say to me, “but does it really matter if a lens weights 6oz or 10oz?” The answer is yes when you have to choose between food or a lens while counting every ounce.
Justin Serpico	Pentax D, Pentax 28-70 f/4 at 28mm. 3 minutes at f/5.6. 2007. We had a long day before taking this shot. 4am start, and several miles of paddling, 4 miles of portaging, and a failed attempt to get deep into the wilderness on one of New Yorks most wild flat water rivers. After battling heinous blowdown on the Jordan River, we retreated with our tails between our legs back to the Raquette River, which is impounded at the site of this photo to form Carry Falls Reservoir. The paddle back to this beach from the portage put-in was amazing, perfect darkness, perfect stillness, exactly why many of us spend all week dreaming of getting outside. We paddled back on the moonless night without headlamps enjoying the solitude. When we got to the beach we set up camp near midnight, as I was cooking dinner I set up the camera to shoot the stars. I did a few short exposures to capture the constellations without trails, and then a few long ones to capture the trails. I wasn’t happy with any of them. I decided to pull our boat on shore, and paint it with light from my headlamp. Now I was getting what I wanted with one problem, the warm water coupled with the cool Adirondack evening air was condensing on my lens. In the end I was limited to just a few minutes of exposure.
Justin Serpico	Pentax D, FA 28-70mm at 35mm. 1/80th sec, f/5.6. 2007. While we were scouting for the portage to the Jordan River, we came across all these old junkers. There are no official roads in this primitive area that is now state owned land, but many years ago the Jordan River, while legally navigable, was closed to public use by the hunting clubs that owned or leased most of the surrounding land. The hunting clubs were fierce in protecting the river from being accessed, and no doubt these junkers were brought in by the hunting clubs. What I saw in this image and several others I created with the junkers wasn’t litter, or forest destruction, but the fact that forest and nature was reclaiming itself. If you look closely, you can see the tree growing right up out of the bed of the truck. I don’t typically do very much digital processing to my images beyond what could be done in a darkroom or with optical filters, but I digital cross processed this to give it a little more edge. It seems mans works are indeed short lived, and thankfully so!
Justin Serpico	Pentax K10D, FA 28-70mm at 35mm. 1/30th second, f/11. 2008. This shot is a great example of planning for one thing, and having another smack you in the face. When I got out of the car at 6am on this January morning it was almost balmy, within a few minutes on the trail I was wearing just a coolmax t-shirt and cursing the warm winter night. As I got closer to the summit, and I could see dawn approaching and the first glimpses of light, it became evident either the sunrise was going going to be an amazing undercast as I’d been planning on, or completely fogged in. Sure enough the later was true, but before me as I got to the summit was this almost monotone world of rime covered conifers camouflaged by the fog. Immediately I knew this was the shot of the day. In between gust of wind, I was able to get a bracket of shots.
Justin Serpico	Pentax K10D, FA 43mm, 1/4 second at f/16. 2008. The Finger Lakes are one of the hidden gems of New York. Hardly a remote wilderness, the state parks cover rugged gorge filled terrain, but are largely semi urban with natural stone walkway that are the result of the CCC during the Great Depression. The beauty packed into these small and easily accessible parks, as well as the region is remarkable. Lucifer Falls is the 100+ ft cascade that is the main attraction of a several mile stone and earthen walk in Robert H. Tremen State Park. As a result solitude will not be found, and because of the tight curved canyon at the base, there really is no way I have found in several trips to capture the beauty of the falls better than this tight portrait. Sometimes, focusing on the details, rather than the whole picture can create an image much better at reflecting what you want the viewer to see.
Justin Serpico	Pentax K20D, DA 21mm, f/11. 2008. I drove up to New Hampshire’s White Mountains to escape an early summer heat wave. One of my favorite trails is accessed via a steep seasonal dirt road that opens once the snow is clear. Being the highest public road in New Hampshire, with a 3006ft elevation at the Jefferson Notch trail head, the road usually it isn’t open until late May or early June. This year it opened just in time to presumably get me out of the heat and into the alpine zone as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, despite spending most of the weekend above 4000ft where there were still snowfields, it was oppressively hot an humid on all but the 2nd day. On the 3rd day I packed up at the hut and prepared to hike out at 6am after listening to the Mount Washington Observatory weather spotter give the morning report. It was already in the 70s at 4000ft, with 100% humidity, perfect weather for fog and thunderstorms. While the weather wasn’t great for hiking, it does make for interesting atmosphere for photography provided you find the right subject. As I was hiking, I was trying to figure out ways I could make this common occurrence in the alpine world work for me. I tried a few concepts including some environmental portraits of my dog, but as I hiked across a talus field I saw the shot I had in mind. In one of the worlds most inhospitable non arctic environments, it was this dichotomy of the fog veiled talus and flora that got my attention.

Links

• Justin’s member page
• Justin’s gallery page
• Justin’s website
• Photo.net’s Nature forum

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