Taking a Minute to Highlight the Hard Work of Others.

I have decided that I peruse the interweb looking for inspiration from other photographers and I am a part of so many forums meeting tons of great talent that I should highlight that amazing work that is out there.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeremy Echols from Jeremy Echols Photography.  What really stands out in his work is his landscape work.  He makes the world look like a dream land, straight out of a movie, so bright and vibrant in color and my friends know how much I love color.  

Meet Jeremy and his beautiful wife, the face behind the camera.  

I of course had a few questions for Jeremy because of course I just had to know more about his journey into photography and what inspires him to do what he does.   When you have the opportunity to interview someone who inspires you make it worth your while, learn something from them, learn about them, you never know there might just be a reason behind why their work is so appealing to you.  So here goes.

1. Your landscape work is incredible and it is evident that is where your heart lies in your photography, am I correct to assume that?  If so what is it that really excites you about creating those images and if not where is it that your true passion lies?

Thank you for the compliment!!

Landscape and urban architectural photography is where I got my feet wet in photography, so to speak. As such, it will always have a strong hold on my heart when I think about my photography work (even as I continue expanding my skill set and work). It is really helpful for me that I live in such an incredibly beautiful city. However, even within a city with so much character and beauty it is easy for us to live our lives and pass through it without stopping to examine it's beauty. That's what I like to do - show off the beauty that we simply pass through. There is also something incredibly relaxing for me to toss in a pair of headphones and go out on my own finding my next great shot. 

2. Along with landscape photography you also photograph families, what is it that you love about capturing the lives of your clients?

I do also photograph families, couples, weddings, etc. My favorite thing about capturing the lives of my clients are the moments where they forget that a camera is even present. During those times is when there is the subtle glance with the authentic smile is passed from one person to another. These are the moments in life that we love to experience and by capturing such a moment, it can be cherished forever. These are the times that I hope for in every session because the authenticity goes so much further than any posed shot that I can create.

3. How long have you been a serious photographer and what did you first begin photographing?  

This is an interesting question to answer for me. I bought my first actual camera in May 2012 with the sole purpose being my wife and I could take better pictures of our two daughters. I figured that I should actually learn how to use the camera outside of "Auto Mode" - so I started spending time walking around the city and taking shots playing with various settings and options in the camera. This led me to begin to experiment with long exposure photography to capture the flow of Seattle traffic. In my excitement, I would post various shots online to share with friends and family. Not long after, I started to get orders for various prints of my photography. Maybe I shouldn't call them orders - more like inquiries asking if I would be willing to sell particular images at various sizes. Having no idea what I was actually doing, I began to research where I could get prints made for them. This led me to starting a website to have a wider reach of sharing images. About six months into owning my camera, I was then asked to do some portraits of members of our church to use in the art walk for an upcoming sermon series. Having no idea how to take pictures of people, I said "Why not?" That led to me getting booked for my first family session, then a maternity session, and next a wedding. It was around that time that I realized that I might be onto something! All that to say, I have kind of stumbled into this whole photography world (and am still stumbling for sure)!

4.  A lot of people are often curious (photographers) what other photographers inspire you; I am wonder who or what inspires you?  It's not always another artist that is the inspiration and a lot of times it's not a person at all.

I will state the obvious answer - Ansel Adams. That man was a master of finding beauty in landscapes, for sure. What is often missed is how brilliant he was with his editing in the dark room. I find a lot of inspiration through his burning and dodging work and find myself as of late trying to emulate some of those tricks in my post processing work. There are a ton of other photographers that I look to and am inspired by as well, so I will include them in a quick list: 

Niki Feijen - I am amazed by his adventurous photography and unreal ability to make decaying landscapes look gorgeous.

Jeff Marsh - I am constantly challenged by the simplicity in his portrait work and how it consistently produces incredible results.
Victor Zerga - His lighting work in his wedding photography is simply jaw dropping.

Various "Rooftopping" Photographers (such as: Tom Ryaboi, Joseph Carnevale, and Vadim Makhorov & Vitaly Raskalov) - I am blown away by the work they put into getting the perfect shot. I want to be able to pull off the shots (and stunts) they do!

5. I recently read your post about rooftopping.  Wow, incredible images, but viewing the images brought quite a bit of anxiety to me.  How long did it take you to complete this project? What was your inspiration for it? How many people did it take to accomplish such a large project? What equipment did you use? And finally, how did you feel during the process and seeing the final results?  

This actually wasn't my project. I was doing a similar feature of the work of Tom Ryaboi for that rooftopping blog post. I've done a handful of shots from various rooftops (namely most of my panoramas are from some form of an elevated place)...however "Rooftopping" is different world for sure! 

Jeremy is a Seattle based photographer and he has captured the city beautifully here, below are also a couple samples from his portrait work.

If you wish to view more of his work you can visit his Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Google Plus page. Plenty of places to find his awesome work.

If you love these landscape images you can purchase them here.