292: Alister Benn - Surrender Yourself to the Landscape

<p>Finding ways to engage with nature and landscape photography in a way that goes beyond simply capturing the natural beauty of nature can be a huge challenge that a lot of photographers struggle with. While there's certainly nothing wrong with simply capturing beauty, some photographers wish to go further with their work and use it as a vehicle for personal expression or to say something about themselves through the photographs.</p> <p>This week's guest on the podcast, Alister Benn, has coined his business expressive photography for a reason. He had an epiphany when photographing the Gobi Desert several years ago that completely changed the way he creates photographs. Ever since then, he's been sharing his approach with the world through his platform, <a href='https://expressive.photography/'>Expressive Photography</a>.</p> <p>On this week's episode, we discuss:</p> <ul><li>Alister's experience that facilitated his epiphany,</li> <li>Actionable tips for creating personally expressive photographs,</li> <li>The challenges and realities of running your own photography business,</li> <li>Making tough choices as a business-person in photography,</li> <li>Challenges with mental health and how photography can help others,</li> <li>Alister's new book, <a href='https://expressive.photography/out-of-darkness-home/'>Out of Darkness</a>, how it was made, why it was made, and the challenges of making books in general,</li> <li>And a lot more!</li> </ul> <p>Other topics/links discussed on the podcast this week:</p> <ul><li>Support the podcast on <a href='https://www.patreon.com/fstopandlisten'>Patreon</a>.</li> <li>The <a href='https://naturallandscapeawards.com/'>Natural Landscape Photography Awards</a>.</li> <li>Join me over on <a href='https://www.naturephotographers.network/?ref=mattpayne3'>Nature Photographer's Network</a>.</li> </ul> <p>If you enjoyed our chat, you can join us for a bonus episode on <a href='https://www.patreon.com/fstopandlisten'>Patreon</a> where we discuss the importance and value of relationships