Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:00:11 Hey friends, welcome back to rewild ology. Holy smokes. Am I so stoked to release this episode today? I'm chatting with Arthur <inaudible>, who is an awesome friend of mine and is absolutely crushing it. And wildlife photography. We discussed this tumultuous road that led him to wildlife photography, the ethics and misconceptions of the field. And Arthur gives some great advice for anybody. That's looking to make a big career shift or life change, or if anybody else is feeling a little lost where you're currently at in life, there are some big takeaways from this episode and I am so pumped to hear what you all think. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show. I read all comments and I highly appreciate this awesome community we're building. So now let's get to the show.
Speaker 0 00:01:02 Awesome. Well, hello. How are you? I can find a half hour of technical difficulties, but we are good. We are in here now. This is awesome. We've got our morning brew. It's like a little coffee shop date since we're about nine hours apart. Now nine hour drive here is so treacherous, especially in the winter. I believe it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:01:40 Oh really? Is it mostly through like the heart of why
Speaker 0 00:01:44 It gets pretty? Yeah, I would say the schedule as far as like Midwinter snowy and icy ice over the roads and you're talking like one lane country roads, middle of nowhere, no signal. You slide off the road. You're going to be there for awhile. But once you get into the Valley, it's not too bad in the national park and stuff. I mean, you can drive slow, but yeah. So pretty much anyone who lives in Jackson, your winter down for, from like November, March. Yeah. Unless you're a wildlife photographer, then you'll venture out to Yellowstone and make that track. It's like seven hours, I think, to the North end of Yellowstone from Jackson in the winter because all the inner park roads are closed. So you have to go up to Gardner basically. Wow.
Speaker 1 00:02:53 I can see that having been there. I think that's the, my biggest like misconception or just like, it's just an understand scale until I went there for the first time. And that was even in September, but we ended up spending most of the time in our car looking around for wildlife and stuff. And so the hiking to driving ratio was not at all what I
Speaker 0 00:03:17 Yellowstone that's Yellowstone. Yeah. I mean a lot of, a lot of, uh, a lot of what I do here is driving mostly, honestly, that makes sense. You know, my stories make it seem like I'm way deep in the wilderness. Sometimes when in reality I'm tracking a bear, a hundred yards off a road, you know, that's just how, that's just how wild Wyoming is. Wyoming is the kind of place where as soon as you step out of your car, you need bear spray.
Speaker 1 00:03:45 Hmm. I mean, we had ours us the whole time and our bear sightings were phenomenal. I mean the best sightings, other than Churchill with polar bears. Um, so solid grizzly. And um, so you know, the classic traffic jam on the side of the road and you know, me, I made a ton of friends while I was there. So, um, we were down at, you know, the classic Wolf spot and we had made some friends and they're like, Hey, go about two miles up the road. Um, they, as they were radioing to each other, there's a grizzly. And so, Oh shit, because we hadn't seen a grizzly yet. And this was like day three or four that we were there. So one of the road, um, and everyone around us had scopes and of course made friends with them. And so I could look through their scope and we were watching as this massive grizzly bear was just going across the plain area, right beside the river, right up to a fly Fisher.
Speaker 1 00:04:45 And he had no idea that this bear was coming and we did. So it was like drama, like, like a freaking drama show right there in front of us. And we're like, Oh my God. Oh shit. Oh shit. That Grizzlies huge. He's coming right at that guy. And of course this guy was clearly a professional. So he was just super chill, relaxed. Didn't do anything, just calmly watched the bear go. He stayed in the water or the bear just walk right on past. And so there wasn't a climactic ending to the scenario that we were building in her head as we were watching everything unfold. Um, but no, so that was, yeah, it was insanely nerve wracking. When you see a human that has no idea that there is a massive grizzly bear walking towards them. Yeah. It was.
Speaker 0 00:05:34 And this isn't, you know, in Katmai, you're like, Oh, there's a grizzly bear or whatever. Let her walk by here. It's different. These aren't quite as friendly as the cat. My bears. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:05:47 And this was, um, not too long after we watched the same grizzly harass a whole bunch of Buffalo, I think just for shits and giggles, because it clearly was not going to take down one of them. Um,
Speaker 0 00:05:58 But
Speaker 1 00:05:58 Yeah, so he was chasing the whole bison herd, like up a massive Hill and then he was done and then came down and that's when we were like, Oh my God, there's a human, there's a human there's Trip was just stopping off the side of the road and making friends with all the people who were looking at something amazing. And it's like, Hey, what are you looking?
Speaker 0 00:06:21 Yeah, yeah. It's wild out here. You know, I mean, my first bear sightings were all in Alaska. Um, I'm really blessed to have had that experience of my first bear sighting score in the cab and Denali actually my first bear ever wasn't denied, but coming out here, it's crazy how different the bear encounters are. Um, they just make your hair stand up so much more, you know, like they are way more intense. Like I had. Um, when I moved here back in October, uh, in the first two weeks I shot, um, I had 14 bear sightings in seven days. Um, I was basically getting into bear sightings a day. I would go out in the morning, see a bear, come back somewhere to go back out in the afternoon, see a bear. And some of these sightings really opened my eyes to how different the environment here is.
Speaker 0 00:07:15 Um, for grizzly bears in particular it's it's, um, it's, it's you, you have to be way, way more careful here than you. Then you can be, you know, in a place like Katmai where it's so relaxed, the bears are. So I bet you hated the human presence and don't associate them with food in any way. Um, no food conditioning. Um, whereas here, you know, these are wild bears, never seen humans. Some may have been food conditions. Some may not have you just, you just don't know what kind of barrier running into here. It's kinda like, you know, a Russian roulette of like, if you get a good Bayer back there, now that's a really great point.
Speaker 1 00:07:54 And you can tell that too, just like watching their behavior. Um, I mean even like, okay, so polar bears are insanely intense and there was no way to get close to any of them. And we were up in Churchill, but even those polar bears and their behavior was very different. I mean, obviously, you know, there's lots of research on there, like the different intelligent levels of like polar bears and how insanely smart they are. But even their behavior was way different than the bears that had all of this, you know, plentiful food and, um, just the way they were acting around. I mean, and we even saw some black bears, which is really cool as well. And they were, I think, I think it was just really cool when I was, there is to see such a healthy ecosystem was so many predators and how balanced they are and how they are behaving as they should be. So the black bears were way more skiddish because there's wolves and Grizzlies and other things that can eat them. And so they were at least from what I could tell, they were behaving more as like the meso predator level, you know, um, versus top dog, as you know, in some other areas where there is nothing to take them down. So I thought that was insanely cool to see.
Speaker 0 00:09:07 Yeah. Yeah. That was in Yellowstone, right? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:09:10 That was all Yellowstone. Um, we didn't see any grand Tetons. We didn't see, um, any sort of like predator, uh, big mammal other than like elk and stuff. He did the classics. I mean, in Colorado, it's just so funny where you're just like, Oh, it's a goddamn mule deer. And you know, people are stuck on the side of the road. Exactly. And then you get so excited when you go to places like Yellowstone. Cause everybody's like off the side of the road, you're like, Oh my God, what are they saying? I'm like, it's a fucking deer going, which is so funny.
Speaker 0 00:09:50 And yeah, living here in Jackson is even a level up from Colorado. The locals here will straight up get pissy at people because they're stopping to see Booz. Cause I mean, moose here a good summer in Colorado, I'll see, you know, 10, 15 moose, you know, here, I saw 10, 15 moves in like an hour, one morning. It's like, it's, it's, it's just like a level up, you know? And the locals here are like, Oh, it's just a Blackberry. Ah, it's just abuse. Like, ah, come on. There was a long, now we have places to go.
Speaker 1 00:10:23 I'm sure. Like the first couple of weeks of that, you're like, what are you saying? Like that's a fucking,
Speaker 0 00:10:29 And now I'm now I'm slowly becoming one of them. I'm like, Oh, it's just a moose. Like, let's keep, let's keep looking for foxes or wolves or some of my favorite animals to photograph.
Speaker 1 00:10:41 Yeah. Yeah. So big and pretty in contrast with the, you know, just natural environment and stuff, especially in the snow. Well, let's take it back a step. So we are talking about right now and what your life currently is, but having known you for years, this is not at all what your reality was just a few months ago. So let's take it back. Let's take it way back. Um, cause I think it would be super cool to explore your journey. You know, having seen you go through some pretty big hardships and how you were turning that into something amazing in my eyes. So where did you grow up? What was your childhood like? And let's just start there
Speaker 0 00:11:27 We go way back.
Speaker 1 00:11:29 Got to put the pieces together.
Speaker 0 00:11:31 All right, cool. I like this. I like this. Um, so I kind of had an interesting, um, diverse and international upbringing. I was born in Paris, um, moved to Miami when I was two months old, um, was raised in a French household. French was my first language. Then I learned Spanish second growing up in Miami, um, went to a fully French elementary school where I had one English class. So I like started learning English there. Um, middle school is where I perfected my English. Um, so yes, English is my third language. Um, in Miami off the coast on an Island called new skein. So I was always outside, even though I grew up in Miami. People associate that as like a big city chaotic, you go one mile in any direction from where I grew up, there was water. Um, so I was fully immersed in the Marine ecosystem as a kid.
Speaker 0 00:12:26 Um, matter of fact, I wanted to be a Marine biologist. I feel like so many kids. Um, but, um, yeah, I grew up fishing, um, kayaking, uh, scuba diving, free diving, just basically anything that involves me being on the water, kite surfing. Um, but really what kicked off my passion for wildlife I would say is fishing. Um, which is kind of ironic is in this case, you know, it's, you're, it's like hunting, right. You're just catching it to eat it, which is basically what I did, but it really opened my eyes to the diversity of ecosystems underwater. I, as a kid, I would like literally like my, my bathroom book was a fish identification book where I was just reading every single species of fish in Florida, where they live, how to catch them, what their diet is. Um, I was obsessed. Um, and then, um, did I even did my middle school science fair project on, um, the starting to growth rate of Cobia, um, in an agriculture system as compared to the growth rate of chickens.
Speaker 0 00:13:29 Um, and I did this with a university of Miami in eighth grade and, um, placed really highly in that science, uh, science fair that year. Um, so I, I was pretty on track to becoming a scientist when I was a kid and I didn't get into my high school of choice, uh, and ended up going to my home school where unfortunately the science program was not quite the best. Um, would you say that that, um, and um, focus all my attention and interests on other things? My another side of my passion, which is entrepreneurship. Um, so I started my first business, um, when I was in high school, um, it was a fishing camp for kids, summer fishing camp. I just wanted to take kids out, um, you know, open their eyes to the ecosystems that they live in on this Island on key Biscayne and everything within them through fishing.
Speaker 0 00:14:22 Um, and so we won my friend George and I won a grant from the coral Gables chamber of commerce to start this business. And, um, which was really cool at 14 or 15 or however old I was, you know, to, to win $2,000 to start a business. It was like, Whoa. Um, and we were still because that just means we got to spend it all on fishing gear. So like it was going towards the business, but it was still fishing gear. So we were pretty happy campers. Um, and you know, I continued, my passion for the outdoors never died throughout this. I, I focused on business more as I went into college. I studied finance, um, you know, never really reconnected with my love for science that I had as a kid. So I always maintained my love for the outdoors. Um, throughout college, I was bringing friends out to some of the most remote places in North Florida that, um, many of them had never heard about.
Speaker 0 00:15:19 I had never heard about it. I was just a psycho and I do an insane amount of research on places I want to visit, um, and found some really, really beautiful places. I mean, I know people talk shit about, uh, about Florida a lot, but there's some truly incredible nature out there. Um, and, uh, so did that throughout college would organize big groups of friends, take them out to major. Um, I always loved just being outside and bringing friends into new environments in the outdoors. Um, and then when I finished my degree, uh, I had a job offer ironically to work for burger King, where I had done an internship at their headquarters in Miami, in finance. Um, really good job offer really well-paid moving stipends. The whole nine yards, you know, straight out of college could have lived at home, saved a bunch of money.
Speaker 0 00:16:07 Um, but something that would be all right and, uh, I decided not to do it. I turned down the job offer and I stayed in college for another year and told myself I was in the study climatology. Um, so I, my parents were not stoked about that by the way, they were not, they were like, why are you not taking all this money? Like this is a good job. Like it'll set you up for success, blah, blah, blah. I was like, no pie. I'm not going to sell my soul to the corporate world. That is not who I am. And that is the first biggest and best decision I made in my life, um, in a series of biggest and best decisions, more to come. Um, so I stayed study climatology did all my pre-recs. I can do a master's in climatology applied to CU Boulder swore I was going to get in.
Speaker 0 00:16:55 I had great recommendations, great grades, you know, everything I wanted, but I think my research focus wasn't quite there, um, to be accepted into a master's I kind of have, I kind of had everything, but that specific research interests. Um, and so I didn't get in and that kind of bummed me out, but I decided, you know what, I'll just move to Colorado. Nonetheless. So left college moved to Colorado. Um, I always loved Colorado, had been a bunch of times before and moved out to Colorado and said, you know what, screw it. I'll figure it out. Um, so I moved out to Colorado, still had the job offer from burger King on the table that my parents were like, are you sure you don't want to consider this job offer? Like it's been a year and they're still offering you the same amount of money.
Speaker 0 00:17:43 Like I would take it. And I was like, Nope, sorry, I'm going to Colorado. And I worked at REI for the first six months there. Um, and ironically my dream job moving to Colorado before I even moved there was working for NAB where I met you. Um, and, uh, a lot of crazy connections happen there. You know, people who I knew, friends that I knew from college who worked there, Courtney shout out to Courtney, um, and, uh, a few mentors of mine in Colorado who happened to play soccer with, you know, a bunch of the exact stuff on that app then and Mark and the whole, the whole crew. And so I get up in that habit and that was, that was a great experience, you know, because it opened my eyes to the world of conservation. Um, you know, I had always approached nature from such a playful standpoint because to me, nature is my playground. It's, it's where I love to be. It's what fills my soul. Um, you know, and I never saw it of the ability for us to preserve it simply through inspiring people to love the wilderness more. Um, you know, I had always thought of it as like, Oh, science and research, but, um, what really opened my eyes and not have is how you can incorporate into a powerful tool to, um, achieve great things and conservation,
Speaker 1 00:19:10 I'm sure we can give this background that was really like, like the dots connected for you having come from that more like entrepreneurship business, finance side too. Like, wow, I understand this more from the business side, which that's, I bet that was really eyeopening.
Speaker 0 00:19:24 Yeah, it was awesome. And, um, I really admired, um, Matt Hub's vision Ben's vision, which was to, um, give people the opportunity to see the wilderness and see the wild in a way that they haven't seen it before, whether that be, you know, by going to a beautiful place or by seeing an ammo that they've always wanted to see and, um, making a connection with that animal and falling in love, let's say with that animal, which then inevitably inspires, um, action towards conservation. So that's, you know, that sort of idea. And I started connecting dots with other businesses. I admire like Patagonia, um, which does so much for conservation or for just, you know, our planet in general sustainability conservation. Um, and I really started to adopt this perspective that like, I believe in, for profit business models that contribute directly to conservation because I've seen countless nonprofits who are just constantly begging for money constantly.
Speaker 0 00:20:34 And it's, it's it doesn't, I feel like it doesn't convey the right message to me. Whereas if you, you can run a for profit business model and, um, provide a product or a service that people genuinely soaked on and do great things with all that profit you're making, you know, it's not because you're making profits that you have to keep it all. And so that's kind of the approach I started taking and, um, my time I not have as great, I mean, eternally thankful for that for all the great people I've met such as yourself. Um, and, and most importantly for two trips in particular, which changed my life. Um, so coming back, starting to come back full circle here to where I am today, um, two trips, I had the blessing of going on while I was at Matt Hab. Uh, first was Alaska.
Speaker 0 00:21:26 Um, ultimate Alaska was an incredible trip. You know, we just did the entire tour of Alaska Denali. Um, I have yours had my everything in between. Um, and that's where I first used a camera that was two and a half years ago. Um, I borrowed a crabby Canon point and shoot camera that we had at the office and, uh, put it to work. And I, and my guy, Justin Gibson, huge shout out to Justin Gibson. Um, they're biologists in Katmai national park and, um, legendary not have guide, um, put me on his Olympus camera, uh, while we were in Katmai watching bears and instantly I was like, wow, like this was the first time I had used, you know, a real lens. Actually he put me the first lens. He put me on his lens. I just thought it's a 300 millimeter asked for from Olympus, um, try and lens.
Speaker 0 00:22:22 And I started taking pictures of these bears and I was like, this is so powerful. Like these images say so much and have S have so much potential to like inspire people. And I just, I just loved it. I've, I've always been a very geospatial thinker, very special person. And so that, that trip really opened my mind to first of all, true wilderness, because, you know, I had been to a lot of beautiful places, but to experience true wilderness with the amount of wildlife that is in Alaska is truly next level. Um, and then the second trip that really started pushing me over the edge to make these huge life changes here, um, was Greenland. Um, that was a year and a half ago. Um, and I've always been fascinated by the, by the art, the polar regions, which is kind of interesting for a Florida kid who wanted to be a Marine biologist growing up.
Speaker 0 00:23:16 Um, but you know, there's this feeling of solitude and, um, vastness and wilderness that you find in these farm highlight that Jude regions that you just don't get yeah. In lower latitudes and drop it in the tropics and the equators and you just feel so much more out there. Um, which is really something I, I look for, um, in my relationship major, I just like being out there experiencing nature and its entirety and its true, true wilderness. Um, and Greenland's um, I mean that was a trip that opened my eyes in a different way. I kind of had like a, uh, an enlightenment. So to say in Greenland, you know, just a lot of really weird consequences comments from guests on the trip. Um, you know, um, you know, I had personal to the craziest thing that happened was finding my doppelganger, who, uh, one of the clients, uh, Christina, um, who else in this episode too, um, lowly art director out of New York city, um, she was reading this book called the ice at the end of the world.
Speaker 0 00:24:35 And we were sitting down at breakfast. I mean, actually this we're in the middle of nowhere in Greenland and a base tab based cap ten five hour boat ride from a 2000 person town, which is the largest town in an area, the size of France. Um, so you're really in the middle of nowhere, like don't get hurt out there and, and she she's, she's sitting at breakfast reading this book and I don't know where she goes and she pulls me over and shows me the front page of this chapter and sure enough, I actually add it right here.
Speaker 0 00:25:11 Sure enough, this, this picture looks exactly like me. I showed it to my face. Yeah, absolutely. Um, nude Rasmussen is his name famous, um, Arctic Explorer, dog sled, um, master cross Greenland for some of the first times ever. Um, just like true adventure and, and um, you know, she made a few comments later in that trip about like, Hey Arthur, like you should really like be a photographer or a guide or something. And, and a lot of, there's just a lot of these comments that would just come kind of out of the blue where like I wasn't, I was just there to have a good time. It was my dream trip and things just started happening and making me feel, um, really weird things, almost like panic attacks to the point where I was like, what is going on? And, um, came back from this trip and kind of just like pondered it all after such a beautiful experience.
Speaker 0 00:26:19 I mean, all of the, you know, panic attacks aside, this, this was a, uh, an amazing trip and, um, I took so much out of it, but coming back I was, I just felt something different. And I was like, like I need to make a change. And I remember the day I came back into the office, um, in tears because I was so overwhelmed with emotions from trip, um, I went to my boss's boss's office and I was like, Hey, I have something I need to talk to you about. And she's like, please don't tell me you're quitting. I was like, no, I was like, no, but, um, a matter of fact, I would like to become a guide, you know, I would like to pursue guiding and, um, set that as my first for a school. And so I was filled with all this inspiration and no desire to seek a life where I could share the outdoors with people, um, in a way that is more wholesome.
Speaker 0 00:27:22 Um, one of the biggest takeaways from Greenland was, um, um, or guides, Rachel Sullivan, Lord and, um, drew Goodman had us write a letter back to ourselves from Greenland and this letter that I wrote back to myself, but I still have today, um, sort of became my life goal. Um, and so I'll read it to you guys here since I have it. Dear Arthur from Greenland, let your soul live free for it is not within the confines of routine and the pursuit of freedom through riches that you will find happiness in this world, seek the wild open spaces, filled with wonder and inspiration and strive to share these pure places with others, inspiring change. In the most honest, wow,
Speaker 2 00:28:13 They give me goosebumps
Speaker 0 00:28:17 And I, I wrote this letter to myself and I received it two months later or something in the mail from Greenland to the U S is snail mail. And, uh, and, and that has really been my guiding, um, guiding principles. Yeah. And so, um, to bring it back full circle here, cause I've been ranting for awhile. We, uh, we, um, you know, coronavirus hit in March. Um, things started changing quickly, but you know, th this is all a blessing in disguise. So, you know, I got laid off in March 1st way on a coronavirus, tons of layoffs, the travel industry took a huge head. I was heartbroken. Um, I think we all were, you were there. Um,
Speaker 0 00:29:13 Uh, we felt like our family was ripped away from our hands in a way because we loved the people we worked with so much. Um, and it just felt very sudden and abrupt and, and brutal. And, and, and I was just lost, you know, so I, I, we dealt with this layoff and I was like, crap, what do I do next? Like, am I gonna have enough money to live on? I have to work at, you know, like the grocery store and make my bills. Like I didn't, you know, I, it was, it was a freaking time, the beginning of COVID and, um, a few other things happened that set me up for this. Um, first I got laid off. Um, then, uh, I dealt with the breakup with my girlfriend was four years the next week. Um, and then quarantine started. So in a matter of seven days, um, lost my job, lost my friends.
Speaker 0 00:30:04 Cause you couldn't really see anyone. It was COVID we didn't know what was going on. I lost my girlfriend, um, and then was stuck at home with nothing to do. So, you know, life came to a screeching halt. I basically hit a brick wall. That's how it felt. Um, and I was, I hit rock bottom. I was like, literally nothing could be possibly worse except for like, God forbid, like one of my family members were to get sick or something. Thankfully health was always there for me, um, in 2020. And, uh, but it was tough. It was a really rough time. And it sent me back in the first six months I was in a dark place, um, truly dark place. Um, and I started, um, seeing a life coach, which, um, I had done therapy before, you know, just cause I, my grandma's there.
Speaker 0 00:30:57 So I've always admired her and its, its its potential to really help people move forward. But I w I was searching for something more holistic and integrative towards my career and towards my other aspirations, our relationships, you know, not just personal internal struggles and um, fast forward a few months to August and my life coach tells me, I was telling you about my friend, who was my guide in Greenland, Rachel, who lived up in Montana by glacier national park. And since the beginning, of course, she was like, Hey, you should come up and visit it like, blah, blah, blah, blah. And he's like, go up there, like just, just go just like popping, go leave Colorado, like go do something, stop sitting at home. And so for the first time ever, ironically, and this hit me when I was driving out for the first time ever, I set off on this adventure alone, I had never truly spent other than days fishing.
Speaker 0 00:31:56 Um, you know, I had never been truly alone in the wild, um, just me, myself and I, and my thoughts and no one to share with rich is kind of weird because you love sharing these moments with people, but it forced me to kind of have a different approach. Um, first of all, in terms of safety, um, which maybe I didn't do the best job at that, but I'm live. So there's that. Um, and, uh, and then second of all, um, just in terms of like, you know, the thoughts that go through my head, because there's so much more you time, time to think. And so I drove all the way up to the Northern end of Montana spent a week up there. I'm with my friend, Rachel, all, we had an awesome time. And then over the course of the month, I road tripped back down towards Colorado.
Speaker 0 00:32:46 Um, one of my last stops being Jackson, um, where I had the opportunity to, um, photographs, um, grizzly three, nine, nine, and her four pubs for the first time ever, um, where I had the opportunity to, uh, take a hike in the Tetons and see literally six moose in the span of like two miles, um, where had the opportunity to go fishing and Dubois and some of the most pristine waters in the entire country, probably second, only to Alaska in terms of how good the fishing is here. Um, and, um, some friends of mine, uh, who run a flat-out down in Dubois. Um, we're all moving to Jackson for the winter. And they were like, Hey, you should move to Jackson with us. And I was like, huh, I didn't really think anything of it at the time. It kind of like, you know, how my interest.
Speaker 0 00:33:41 And then I was like, you know, that's just a fantasy. And then they kept saying it they're like Luther Jackson, Jackson Lewis. And the more I thought about it, I was like, well, my niece in Colorado ends at the end of September. Um, it was a, it was basically early September by that point. Um, and, um, by the time I got back to Colorado, I was like, you know, what, fuck it. Why not? Like I have strands in Colorado, which, you know, I've always been a huge lover of my friends. I'm very, uh, I'm a very extroverted person. And, uh, but I was like, I have friends in Wyoming now too. You know, I have literally, I, there was like six or seven people I already knew who were going to live in Jackson. So I was like, why wouldn't I just do this for a winter?
Speaker 0 00:34:28 See where it goes. So, um, I S I subleased my place in Colorado, um, and moved out here. Uh, and I've been living here since October. So that's, that's how I got to Jackson down. It is a long story, but you know, um, a lot, a lot of crazy decisions. And I would say the three most important decisions along the way were, um, the first decision I mentioned, which was, um, I forgot what that was. What was the first decision to say no to that job? Huge decision. Second decision was moving to Colorado and, um, really pursuing a job with me. I have, which really opened my eyes to so much. And then I met so many amazing and inspiring people who I hope to continue this relationship, um, with, for a while. And then the third decision was the most spontaneous of all of the decisions was in a matter of seven days saying, screw it.
Speaker 0 00:35:32 I'm leaving Colorado. Who, which I love so dearly had no intention of moving by when I started this road trip back in August. And here I am today, um, living in Wyoming, it was a little bit nerve wracking. I was like, am I doing the hike saying, you know, like, no, I was just like, screw it. I'll figure it out. You know, I had no job, my unemployment was running out. I said, whatever, I've done this before. I'll figure it out. And so I moved out here, um, and started taking pictures and I guess the rest is history. We could say,
Speaker 1 00:36:05 Yeah, no, I remember that. I still remember when we had that phone call and you're like, so I'm moving to Jackson. And I'm like, that's fucking awesome. I remember that because it was so as we talked a long time, you know, through COVID and kept in touch and everything. And I still remember when you told me that, and I'm just like, get your ass in your 4runner and go
Speaker 0 00:36:31 One of the, one of the people who, who, if he probably doesn't know this, but helped me make that leap the most is Mike Shrum, who we also worked with. Um, when I mentioned it to them, I was like, Hey, like, I'm thinking about moving to Jackson. He's like, man, like was like 12, you know? And I was like, what do you mean? And he's like, I really don't want to see you leave, but you would kill the game out there, man. And I was like, that says it all, you know, when your friends are like, I don't want to see you go. But like, that sounds like a good decision. That's what really helped me make that back home. Um, but yeah, it's, it's been easily the best decision in my life. Awesome.
Speaker 1 00:37:20 So now that we're back to where we started this conversation full circle, which is beautiful. That was perfect. You hit like every single question I was going to ask you, and I didn't even need to ask them. You just said it. It was great. So you are what I would call now, like a wildlife photographer, conservation photographer, whatever title you want to give yourself. So what strategies did you take to enter a pretty saturated field? You know, I love Instagram. It's my favorite social media platform, for sure. And there are so many phenomenal wildlife photographers out there. So how did you get in, what was your strategies? How did you start to build a platform yourself and something completely new that you just even found out about like two years ago?
Speaker 0 00:38:15 Yeah, that's a great question. Um, so, you know, I always, after my trip to Alaska, I was into photography. Um, I started taking pictures consistently after Alaska, um, bought a camera before I even got back. I bought an expensive lens before I even had a body. I bought it in Anchorage before flying out because it's, tax-free up there. And so I took pictures for, I guess the first important step is taking pictures, right? Going out to places I love in Colorado, the sand dunes, Crested Butte, um, obviously, but on my trips to Greenland and I had done some personal trips to Portugal all over Europe, just shooting as much as I could. Um, in, in places that inspire mean. I think something important to know with photography is, is you have to be truly passionate and you have to truly love your subjects, um, to be able to capture them in a way that's impactful and that makes people see them the way you do, if you don't really, truly care about your subjects.
Speaker 0 00:39:20 And you're just trying to get cool photos, you're not going to have that magic. Um, so my number one advice is try and keep that magic, keep that spark, keep, keep, keep something that you're deeply, deeply passionate about, um, and your photography. Um, so after all this practice moving out here, um, I had, um, been inspired by a few, uh, photographers, both big name, photographers, um, you know, famous Nat geo photographers or whatever, um, who opened my eyes to do really cool photography. Um, but more importantly seeing, um, people my age, um, getting into photography and becoming successful over time. And one of my closest friends now, um, <inaudible> on Instagram at Brook little bear, um, who had been following for two years. Um, I started following her back in Colorado after she liked the picture of me eating, trying to learn a three 60 on a snowboard.
Speaker 0 00:40:19 And I was like, Brooklyn, little bear. That's a cool name. So I checked her out and I loved her work. Um, followed her and started starting, started sending her DMS and stuff and was like, Hey, like whatever, we were chatting back and forth for like two years or like, all right, let's meet up this weekend because she lived in Silverthorne right. Where we had our C house for NAB. And, uh, and we never really met up. And when I moved out to Jackson, I mean, this is just like a classic example of life setting you up right. When you need it, when it's right, right. When you need something. Um, maybe two weeks after I moved here, Brooke was coming up to shoot here in Jackson hole. And I was like, Hey, let's hang out.
Speaker 0 00:41:01 And so we did, and we had, we had an Epic day, like for a first day ever shooting together. I don't think you could possibly ask for a better sequence of wildlife events. I mean, started our morning was like elk or moose separately. Um, then we met up, um, roadside in the park with like a black bear Cub climbing in a Berry Bush, literally five feet off the road. And we had like a whole half hour with this little bear. Um, no pun intended that I ran into a little bear with a little bear. That was, that was how we met. And then, and then we drove up to Yellowstone. We were just like, screw it. Let's go to Yeltsin. Look for great. Realz where we had an incredible great gray owl photo, a photo shoot, um, where this owl even came down and landed on Brooke's head at one point, literally slew down wild, wild owl this hour sitting. And we were in a, in, uh, um, not too far from, from the Lake. And, um, his owl flies down from its perch straight towards me. I was standing next to Brooke and then mid slice, which is focused the Brook. And I see it lowering cell phone through her head. And I was like, this is not real, like what is going on?
Speaker 0 00:42:20 Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So just a crazy day. And so I would say the most important thing has been my network. Honestly, I just started talking to a lot of people I saw, I mean, grew up was the first, but there's a bunch of others. Um, other photographers, um, in the area of some salt Lake or like surrounding areas. I mean, the list is long. Savannah Rose wildlife is great. Um, uh, grisly man-child and Peter Mangolds is his full name. Uh, also an inspiration. He was a Yellowstone ranger, uh, people like Liddy bug, blah, blah, blah. The list goes on. There's a ton of awesome photographers here. So the first step for me, and really breaking through was just honestly becoming friends with these photographers and seeing what it was about here and how people approach wildlife photography and kind of entering it on my tippy toes, you know, observing slightly had imposter syndrome, um, but you know, getting a steal for it.
Speaker 0 00:43:16 And then, um, really just putting myself in a position to get these images where I think the first two months I came out here, I literally went out and shot every single day. Like there was not a single day where I did not go out and take pictures. Um, and that, you know, led me to more and more connections through local newspapers who started resharing my photos through, um, conservation organizations like Jackson hole Alliance, um, um, and then reconnecting with old friends, um, from that Hab, you know, guides such as Justin, uh, drew Hamilton, uh, who lives up in Alaska, uh, amazing photographer and conservationist, uh, has been instrumental in the fight against pebble mine. Um, so really just like strengthening my network was, was the number one thing I think I've done, um, to really push my career forward and photography
Speaker 1 00:44:12 Say you have just being on Instagram and you being amazing. And introducing me to some of your friends, like I already am completely in love with Brooke and we've only do them to each other. So I can't wait to have her on as well. Um, she's probably going to be stoked to hear this and that we're talking about her like the whole time.
Speaker 1 00:44:38 She's like, I absolutely love when I listened to your episodes. Cause every time they say Brooke, it feels like they're talking to me. I was like, Oh my gosh. She was like the best thing ever. And we both found out that our birthdays are less than a week apart, so we both are Sagittarius and like all these coincidences likely, I don't know. I don't know if anybody believes in astrology or anything, but I don't know. I think there's, there's something there. Oh, awesome. So, okay. So something happened very recently and I would love for you to talk about why this was such a big deal, um, and really bring to light. Cause I think what happened gives wildlife photography and wildlife photographers, a very bad rep. And so I know, you know, what I'm talking about and if you want to go ahead and say what happens, um, and what's should have been done differently and how we can help prevent things like this in the future, because I mean, the show is rewild ology. The last thing we want to do is take a wild animal and make it not wild. So talk about what happened.
Speaker 0 00:46:02 Yeah. And, um, let me just say that I love the name rewild ology because you're, I mean, the way I interpret that title is just like, let's turn this planet wild, but again, and that's, um, that's exactly what I'm trying to do and exactly what this relates back to. Um, so I think we're seeing a, um, a shift in wildlife photography from kind of like the old ways and how a lot of famous wildlife photographers became well known in a world without social media, without public accountability, um, photographers like Tom Magelssen, Paul Nicklin, David yarrow, um, who became really successful because of solely one thing, beautiful images of animals, right. And there's no denying that these photographers get beautiful images of animals. Um, the question then is how these images are captured. So to kind of run you guys through what happens, um, two weeks ago, um, there's an area here in the park called Colter Bay where, um, it's known to have a lot of boxes.
Speaker 0 00:47:15 Um, and so I sent my friends, Tiffany Tiffany taxes on Instagram, um, out there because she's getting into wildlife photography here. She just graduated from college in Florida and has been falling in love with the region, um, and sent her out there. I was like, Hey, you should go. There's some boxes out there. Just go check it out. Um, so she goes and she basically what happened that day is she was around some foxes. She was around a Fox, um, and started taking pictures of it from a distance and, um, maybe 50 to a hundred yards away out on the frozen Lake. There was a stylized shoot going on, um, you know, a bunch of like Western outfits and she didn't pay much attention to it. She thought I was a little weird, you know, um, but you know, she didn't pay much attention to it.
Speaker 0 00:48:02 And eventually she started noticing, um, this Fox, um, making its way towards, um, one of the crew members of, of this, this party. Um, and, um, a second Fox showed up and noticed that there was a man, um, who I'll talk about later, um, dropping food from a plastic bag. And then, um, the foxes made their way obviously closer to the food. Um, and eventually, um, the photographer who grabbed up a stylized shoot laid on the ground and the man started, uh, rustling a bag and dropping items from behind the photographer. So I still knew where the foxes in, towards the photographer, so we can get a really close wide angle shot of a beautiful animal. Um, and so she, um, you know, kindly asked them to, um, let the animals interact naturally because there were two foxes and it's breeding seasons. So, um, her meeting season, so, um, she wanted, she wanted to see these boxes interact, you know, cause you could see some phenomenal interactions between two foxes playing, fighting, you know, mating doing their thing.
Speaker 0 00:49:21 And she wanted to capture that and instead of these guys were baiting these animals with food and, um, she was basically shut down and ignored. Um, these guys didn't respond. And one of the guys who was at the incident, um, who was the guide in, in this situation or we later found out, um, said the words to the Fox said to the Fox, you better do what we tell you to, or also take out my shotgun and shoot you. Um, and Tiffany was took that as a low key. Um, you know, it's kind of a threat indirect threat. Like, Hey, we have a gun just like, get your shots and leave. Um, and so she laughed and she called me on the way home, you know, in tears and stock. She's like, what just happened? Like there are these guys and like they, they are baiting them and then they like threaten the possible gun, like who would do such a thing, blah, blah.
Speaker 0 00:50:14 She had no idea who this was. She was just like, I'm like, did you get any pictures? She's like, yeah, I did the only name I heard was David. And so I was like interesting because I know that the famous photographer David yarrow is in town right now. Um, and he has an existing bad rep for using, um, unethical practices, such as game farms where, um, wild animals, such as cougars and, um, her mountain lions, however you want to refer to them as, um, uh, and wolves and, uh, you know, a bunch of other predators are kept in terrible conditions solely to be used for photo shoots. Um, and he was recently exposed three months ago for engaging in some extremely unethical practices around wild African elephants, which endangered both the lives of his models and the elephants. And, um, and so I was like, could it be?
Speaker 0 00:51:12 And so we looked it up and sure enough, um, it was David yarrow. And so, you know, a lot of people are injecting doubt into this conversation because they're like, Oh, well, like she has the incentives kind of like taken back. The fact is she had no idea who this was. She was going to report this incident no matter what. And it just so happened to be a photographer with almost half a million followers on Instagram. Um, who's made a killing selling prints, you know, someone who could be such a powerful voice in conservation. Um, and so, um, what's drama that, um, you know, a lot of people, I get a lot of messages on Instagram, like what is wrong? Like I got an honest question, like, Hey dude, like maybe I'm just stupid, but like, what's the problem with feeding wild boxes. And like, I, I just think we live in a world so disconnected from the wild and from, um, you know, nature that like people don't know these things and it's okay.
Speaker 0 00:52:10 We just have to educate them. Um, and so, um, what's wrong with that is that when you feed a wild animal, um, like a socks, you are, um, situating them, conditioning them to be fed by humans. It's called food conditioning. And I want to strike an important difference between food conditioning and human habituation, being animals being used to being around humans is not necessarily a bad thing. If they do not associate humans with food, if they just see them as humans now, where it gets slippery is where animals start relying and associating humans to food. Um, and so, um, you know, there's a quote that's that goes to animals, a data, um, beyond true, right? So like the most obvious example of why it's bad to feed an animal is a bear. The bear gets into human food and gets used to seeing being fed human food.
Speaker 0 00:53:11 Anytime he sees a human he's going to think I'm getting fed. And if he doesn't, he might have adverse reactions, you could hurt someone. Um, he could hurt himself if he could hurt his young ones by getting too close to roads, et cetera, et cetera, with a Fox, the same thing. Obviously it's not a bear. It's not going to like eat someone on, but I'll stocks invite someone, a Fox could, um, get killed on the road. It could put its little ones in danger, same kind of reasoning. And so to see a famous wildlife photographer engaged in such blatant malpractice is so disheartening, um, because you can get such incredible photos without doing these things. Um, and thank you so much. Um, and so this was, this was a really, um, concerning of that, and it's still ongoing. We have a petition online. Um, it's a link tree it's link tree slash advocate for wildlife, um, uh, petition to get David Yarra banned from all national parks.
Speaker 0 00:54:09 We have several news media outlets covering the story. Um, David Yara has of course denied that he was feeding the boxes. He said that he was dropping snow while his, um, fixer Rosie who was the one dropping the food claimed that he was dropping cigarette paper, which their stories don't match up. If you are dropping cigarette paper, that's littering in a national park. And regardless of what you're dropping, you're still baiting the animal one way or another and the thought process behind it. And yet the psychology and the animal is the same where it's associating getting closer to humans for what it thinks is food or whatever, you know? Um, and so, um, unfortunately very sadly two days ago, this Fox was put down. Um, this was a Fox that had already been fed. Um, you know, it was already, um, being targeted by the park service because it was already, you know, very habituated and food conditioned. Um, and it's just such a shame that the last straw comes at the hands of a wildlife photographer of all people, you know, you would think it would be slaughter man or something.
Speaker 1 00:55:19 The person who's completely ignorant that at the tourist that feeding animals with this is a very big problem. Um, but at least, at least they have ignorance. Like at least they're naive. And it's like,
Speaker 0 00:55:31 So, um, kind of to the point of his story is like, I think there is a collective shift happening right now in the wildlife photography community away from these sort of ancient ways. And I'm not here to roast any same as wildlife photographers, but the truth is a lot of these famous wildlife photographers, Tom mangles, and Paul David yarrow have engaged in unethical practices. Um, you know, Tom Mandelson has engaged in game farms. Um, I don't know any details on Paul Nicklen, but I wouldn't doubt that he's done some shady shit. Um, you know, and I think there's, it's, it's a really great time to be in wildlife photography because there's this collective shift happening. And I think there's a ton of passionate conservation focused, ethical wildlife photographers out there. And I named some of them at the beginning of this episode, Brooke and Savannah and, um, Peter and there's a ton of them.
Speaker 0 00:56:29 And I think, um, together we are stronger, I think as a wildlife photography community, we have the power to make profound changes. Um, you know, someone I look up to a lot for that is drew Hamilton, who I touched on earlier in this episode, um, who has been instrumental biotic against pebble mine, which is an ongoing fight. Um, and I think, I think it's an exciting time because we're sort of, you know, putting the old East to rest. So to say, and, and putting these antiquated practices to rest, um, and setting a new standard out there. And, and through that, and I think through social media and through public accountability and through continuing to inspire people through powerful images and videos of, wow, we'll be able to achieve a new, higher standard and inspire more people towards conservation are more people to, to reconnect with the wild. Um, and, and to fall in love once again, a wild,
Speaker 1 00:57:34 That was a perfect recap of that. And I did not know that that Fox was put down, but
Speaker 0 00:57:42 That's really sad. Yeah. They, they published an article yesterday,
Speaker 1 00:57:46 Which that is the perfect example. I mean, that is the example of a fed animals, a dead animal having study carnivals. Repetatur so long myself, that is a major problem. And one of the biggest issues of, or like reasons for human wildlife conflict is because these <inaudible>, I mean, it's not normally, but it's, it's quite often, you know, like a predator or something that has an actual dangerous, just, just being in its presence can be dangerous. Cause you know, even a Fox you're like, Oh, let's just a little Fox, well, one, this can bite people. Those can take, you know, domestic pets. Like there's a lot of cascading effects even with just something as tiny as a Fox, it gets way scarier way Harrier. When we're talking about tigers, more talking about bears, when we're talking about these other creatures where there's, I mean, like for example, you know, in Asia and stuff, like they have to remove man eating tigers like that exists, that's a thing.
Speaker 1 00:58:44 And so just bringing this more to light of why a fed animal is a dead animal and the more people that travel around, um, I hope they get this message that w do not let her do not do anything to bait an animal, do not do a mean. Cause even like, for example, um, LA Lee and I, one Christmas, we were staying in grand Lake, you know, on the other side of Rocky mountain national park. And there was this Fox that kept coming around town and the locals were like devastated, sad about this Fox because when the tourists were in town for the summer, they would always feed it. And so this Fox was completely food conditioned to be in grand Lake, but the locals knew better. So whenever then it was just say around the winter time and would stay around the people thinking it was going to get fed.
Speaker 1 00:59:39 So it completely lost its natural abilities to be a wild Fox because it was so food conditioned to all the tourists that were in town and they were devastated. I don't know that Fox probably still isn't alive, I would imagine. But that is a perfect example of just two days ago that this Fox had to be put down, um, because of ignorant people, not letting the wild be wild. And just like you said, it that's what the show is all about. Let's keep things wild, keep these things pristine and beautiful and do what we can to protect it. So, yeah.
Speaker 0 01:00:14 Yeah. I think, I think it's kind of hit the nail on the head there. It's about keeping things wild, wild animals are as cute as MIB, you know, um, they are wild and it's important that we treat them as so, and we respect that and we give them all the distance they need when, when we're around them, that we don't interfere with their routines, um, in any way. Um, I think that's something people don't really think about. Um, and again, to really, to really drill this point home, because I think it's important to distinguish once again, between food conditioning and human habituation, you have food conditioning, um, which we've explained pretty well versus human habituation. Um, such as the bears national park who are so used to seeing humans, but I have never associated them with food. And in all of the history of this national park, I don't think there's been a single attack from not from a Brown bear on a human, even though these bears are constantly around humans all summer long.
Speaker 0 01:01:23 And I think that's really an important distinction to make that people don't really think about. They're like, Oh, well they're used to being around humans, nonetheless. It's like, yes, but are they condition it's like if you hand feed a moose, um, I heard a story about a lady that had set a moose in Canada or something, and that moose had to be put down because like more people get attacked from moose every year than bears. Surprisingly enough. A lot of people don't know that, but, um, yeah, it's, it's really important to keep that distinction between human habituation and food conditioning, um, which is why, you know, using bird feeders is okay or like dumping roadkill at a dump site for wolves to come find later is okay, because they're not associating that with humans. Um, but yeah. Yeah. Um, thank you for, thank you for bringing that up. That's that's a really important topic right now. It's an ongoing fight. Um, once again, it's the link tree is backslash advocate for wildlife. Uh, we're doing everything we can to collect petitions to, um, band David Yar from national parks. So that at least if he keeps getting pictures using game farms, we know where he's getting his photos, but we can't have that kind of behavior in national parks here. Um, you know, he's bound to hurt more animals at this rate.
Speaker 1 01:02:42 And just also to people who, um, are, as in the know, as your friend, like, thank God it was her, the all, you know what I mean? Like it could have been any, I mean, luckily right now this is not to the tourist season up in Yellowstone, but I mean, it could've just been like a random tourist that had been like, you know, Hey, that's kind of weird. I don't know what they're doing, but men almost going to go on and find something else to go look at, you know, but it was her that captured the moment and knew that how wrong it was, especially a pretty serious threat on top of that. Like, gosh, I'm so glad she got ahold of you. And it was also one more thing that I want to say about, um, human habituation, because I think that some people might, um, if they've seen any photos of like gorilla treks and stuff.
Speaker 1 01:03:30 So in a lot of those situations, um, where animals have been intentionally human habituated, those are done by like it's extremely trained teams that are scientists that know these animals. Like they know these animals so well, their biology, their behaviors, how to handle themselves. Um, that it's, it's, it's remarkable. It's remarkable. And I, well, you were talking about that. I was thinking about the gorillas the whole time. Um, and that being a perfect example of doing it properly, these animals have never been, they do not associate, you know, food with humans. I don't even think you can have anything other than water on you when you're doing like the gorilla treks or, you know, other, um, wildlife type encounters. And the rules are insanely strict on these kinds of places where you do have an opportunity to see wildlife a little bit closer up for animals that have been human habituated, that aren't in a captive setting.
Speaker 1 01:04:34 So I also want to like throw that in there as well. Cause I'm sure that people have probably seen some photos of humans with gorillas in the wild. And I was like, well, what is that about? And that's a great example of, um, it being done the right way and why it's so goddamn expensive to go on a gorilla Trek because those things are protected and that Trek money goes to saving those gorillas that you're going to go see. And then of course the wild groups are kept wild, you know, there's somewhere else. There's only a few select groups of habituated animals. Um, so I did want to just throw that out there as well. Um, yeah. So what's next for you? What are your goals?
Speaker 0 01:05:18 Oh man. Um, exciting time, honestly, um, really been super, um, really been super grateful, such an overwhelmingly positive and supportive response to my work on Instagram. Um, you know, tripling the size of my account and just four months has been more than I could ever ask for. Um, some goals for me this year, um, are to, um, first of all, legitimize myself as a business owner and the photography world, um, you know, to start selling prints more consistently, stuff like that, but more importantly to bring together, you know, this photography aspect with conservation, um, and what I've been pondering and letting simmers how the angle of approach I going to take, um, both in my personal photography, as well as any other business ideas I've had. I've had too many ideas to count. It's kind of a little following sometimes I never know which one I should pursue, but you know, I have a lot of, a lot of passion for this and I really, um, believe that through inspiring others on an individual level, um, you can really inspire a collective shift towards reconnecting with the wilds.
Speaker 0 01:06:43 And I've seen that already just with, you know, 2,500 followers or how many of the people who message me old friends that I haven't talked to in years, or like you made me realize how little I've been outside of this year and I want to go back outside and I want to come visit or I want to go here. And I'm like, yes, like, yes, it's all about sharing the stoke and sustaining the stoke and um, getting people excited to be outside. And so my goal is this year, um, one fold, you know, incorporating observation into my work, more twofold, obviously continuing to chase the best possible photographs, um, here in grand Teton, um, as well as elsewhere in the world. Um, I'd love to go back to Alaska in the summer. All church hopes to some polar bears. If the borders Canada are open, um, um, one animal in particular, I've fallen in love with head-over-heels since a recent really awesome encounter here and grand Teton are wolves, um, which ironically I've always been fascinated by bears and never really cared for wolves. And then, um, early in January, I had an encounter where I was as close as, um, just a few yards from a wild Wolf, um, who came all the way up to, um, my friend, Pete and I, um, unbraided of course just the wild Wolf come in and check us out, see what we were doing there and, uh, hearing him how he seeing him Chase's mate or potential mate. Um, I don't think he succeeded in getting there,
Speaker 3 01:08:19 But
Speaker 0 01:08:21 You know, you gotta, you gotta learn to deal with rejection sometimes, but, um, um, but you know, I I've really fallen in love with wolves, so I'd love to have some more photo opportunities with walls. Um, hopefully in Canada, um, from actually going out next week and, uh, in five days, um, with, um, Brooke and Pete and Tiffany who, uh, just touched on and a few other photographers and we're going on a snowmobile tour in Yellowstone looking for wolves. Um, so that'll be, that'll be Epic. Um, so, you know, I think wolves will be a starting point for me in terms of conservation focus, especially here in Wyoming, there's so much, um, and in Massetti towards these animals, um, towards any canine, any canine really, I mean, you will see coyotes foxes, like you see those on your private property in Wyoming, there's a more than 50% chance that it's getting shot.
Speaker 0 01:09:23 You know? Um, and a lot of people don't know this wolves are only protected in Wyoming in the national parks. Um, to the point that, I mean, there's so much hatred here for wolves. One was even shot inside grand Teton last center, literally down a dirt road. Someone drove down and saw Wolf shot it and left and no one ever found out who it was, but the Wolf killed. Um, um, so changing that mindset on wolves and educating the public on that, I think is a, is a good first topic for me to do, um, and to focus on. So I, I hope to do some work on wolves. Um, but yeah, honestly just my main focus is continuing to, um, inspire others. I think that's the one thing I'm going to try to never lose is, is, is showing the world how passionate I am about this because when other people see how much you're excited about something, how passionate you are, it's contagious.
Speaker 0 01:10:22 People inevitably become more interested, become more intrigued. Versus when you're talking about something you don't really care about, you know, it doesn't really strike the right notes. Um, but when you're passionate and you share that in a genuine way, I think genuine is a very important word here when it's genuine and it's honest, um, you have the power to, to really, really make a change. Um, and so that's, that's my focus staying genuine, continuing to build myself as a photographer, improving my photography, tying in conservation, focusing on wolves, um, and doing what I can to, uh, to contribute on any level, um, you know, to conservation. Um, I think I'll be guiding this summer. Um, hopefully doing some nature tours here in grand Teton and Yellowstone, um, and, uh, on my off time, you know, just shooting so inspiring people kind of tying back to that Greenland, that Greenland quote.
Speaker 0 01:11:27 And I think the second, the second piece of that quote is the most important to seek the wild open spaces filled with wonder and inspiration and just strive to share these pure places with others, inspiring change in the most honest of ways. And that, that is, that is my focus. Just share the stoke, inspire others. And the more, the more people fall in love with the wild, again, the easier it'll be to convince people to, to care more, you know, um, I believe in change from the bottom up, not from the top down and every little action takes, you never know who you're talking to. You never know who you're inspiring. Um, and I think that's important, you know, that's beautiful.
Speaker 1 01:12:14 That's one hell of an awesome goal and you're already reaching it. We're in this currently February of 2021. So I think you're well on your way, which is great. So do you have any asks or advice or anything that you would like to just directly talk to anybody listening right now?
Speaker 0 01:12:33 Um, yeah, I would say, um, ice, uh, anyone listening who, um, might not be fully satisfied in life who might be, you know, looking to make a change who might be looking to find a more fulfilling path, which I think is such a common theme right now with Corona virus. Um, you know, a lot of people are questioning what they're doing. Um, just go for it. Like you have time, you can worry later, um, worrying about potential repercussions. Never helps. Um, I would say if you're thinking about something even remotely, considering something, whether that's moving abroad, whether that's pursuing a new career, just try it out. What do you have to lose? You know, and that's kind of what I, how I felt about members to Jackson was like, what do I have to lose? Like I can lose to Jackson. We literally felt like it, six months later I could be back in Denver, you know, worst case.
Speaker 0 01:13:34 I spent a winter in Jackson hole. There always is things to do. Um, so make the leap, you know, um, I wasn't even financially that secure, you know, I was running out of unemployment. I just made the leap. I've been plowing snow all winter, you know, waking up at three 30 to remove snow here in town. And like, it pays my bills and it allows me to do what I want to do and put time into what I want to do in future. So advice number one, um, which was ironic for me to be giving this advice, because I would not be saying the same thing just year ago, but just take the week, honestly, you have nothing to lose, um, advice or aspiring photographers, just shoot, take pictures, meet more people like makes friends that's I don't even see it as networking. I see it as making friends, you know, and, and, and I've made so many connections, like, um, this guy who I hope to meet up with soon here, who owns a ranch out here who does a lot of Wolf conservation who literally DMD me after seeing my Wolf picture and was like, Hey, if you're ever interested in, like we do, like, um, my family runs like the Wolf conservation center in Idaho or something like let's connect, you know?
Speaker 0 01:14:52 And it's just, I being friendly and just trying to make friends you're going to get things will happen. You know, things unfold naturally. Um, when, when you're doing the right things, when you're doing things that you care about when you're doing things that once again, we're passionate as a parent, um, I think things, things just unfold as they should. Um, um, and yeah, I mean, for anyone else looking to visit Jackson, I guess my last advice is come visit. Jackson's freaking amazing out here.
Speaker 1 01:15:24 It's beautiful. God, God, this guy sounds sick. I would love to chat with him. So
Speaker 0 01:15:32 Yeah, sometime soon and we'll reconnect.
Speaker 1 01:15:37 Sounds great. Oh gosh. It sounds like he would be perfect if he's that passionate about stuff to just talk more about that. That would be as app. Yeah. Well, so let's stop a little further in that cabin.
Speaker 0 01:15:52 Why not?
Speaker 1 01:15:54 Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. So, well, that's all the questions I had, um, is what's the best way for if anybody wants to get ahold of you? Um, what's the best way if anybody wants to get in touch?
Speaker 0 01:16:10 Um, so currently the best way is on my Instagram at Arthur LIFO. I'm also on Facebook now. Um, under Arthur LIFO photography, um, LIFO is spelled L EFO <inaudible>. However you want to say it. It goes both ways, honestly. Um, and uh, soon I'll have a website up. That's finishing, finishing touches on that, but for now I would say Instagram and Facebook are the best. Um, my Instagram as the majority of my work, I post stories frequently about my adventures when I'm out in the wild looking for wildlife. So you get a firsthand live account of what I'm seeing. Um, and then Facebook is kind of more, just like a reiteration of my Instagram. Um, but yeah, reach out to me. Um, I'm currently selling prints via DM on a custom basis. Um, so if you're interested in any of my work, I would be super honored and stoked, um, to, to be able to have my workup anywhere.
Speaker 0 01:17:07 Um, it's always an honor, uh, and, uh, you know, just excited for the future. If you have any new and listening, has any, um, conservation ideas, anything brainstorming, you know, I'm here to, to do what I can to meet new people, like-minded people, um, and see what we can do collectively to make a difference. Um, something that Brooke and I coined recently is is that, um, we are a Wolf pack, um, or we're stronger together. And, um, so, you know, when we out together we're louder and when we're louder, we make more of a difference. Um, so that's that, that was beautiful.
Speaker 1 01:17:49 We will, as a beautiful Wolfpack Callum together. Thank you so much. All right. Hey, thanks again for listening to this episode of rewild ology, if you'd like that you heard hit that subscribe button to never miss a future episode. Do you have a cool environmental organization, travel story or research that you'd like to share? Let me know <inaudible> dot com until next time friends together, we will. Rewild the planet.
