© 2020 Nomadict. All rights reserved.
Sam Oetiker
@samoetiker
Photographer based in Germany
Introducing Sam Oetiker
Having a multicultural identity made up of British, Swiss and Taiwanese heritage, it’s not surprising that Sam developed a profound appreciation for cultural diversity and the natural world. He was gifted a camera at the age of 13 by his parents – while he began to take shots of their family holidays, it has extended far beyond these holidays in the meantime.
In 2013 he moved from the UK to Germany to work for Onboard snowboard magazine where he learnt about the role of photography in the action sports and about some top photographers known in the snowboard world. After some years, he was shooting some photo and video content for their social media himself which was the springboard for his photography career. Although Sam works full time as a management consultant, his photography business is successfully running on the side.
Sam embraces different genres, as he believes it’s amplifying your creativity. However, he flourishes in landscape photography because of his deep love for the outdoors. In the interview he shares three shots that he is particularly proud of and explains why these shots are special to him. One of them was taken in Utah, US, and the other two in Italy. He dreams of new shots and trips to further develop his photography making use of other artistic influences that he enjoyed when he was still at school. One of his projects is a photography workshop in the Himalayas, Nepal, October next year. It will be a 9-day adventure together with other photographers to share passion, discovery and of course tips and tricks on shooting and editing.
In this interview Sam gives away a few tips to strive for as a landscape photographer within this difficult niche. He touches upon four elements that he would recommend giving importance to throughout the learning and developing as a landscape photographer. Rather than having the best gear, Sam emphasizes basic skills and a healthy, conscious mindset to leverage the results. Going above and beyond what he promises to the client is part of his delivery standards, but he always tries to take his time, slow down and truly enjoy the moment, the place, and the job.
Interview
Welcome Sam! About four years ago you began sharing landscape photographs on social media on a regular basis. Maybe you can tell us where your passion for travel and photography comes from in the first place?
Hello guys, thanks for having me! Has it really been four years already? Time really does fly! My passion for travel and photography started at quite a young age. I have British, Swiss and Taiwanese heritage, and thanks to this, I was very fortunate to travel to many different countries with my parents and siblings while I was growing up. I think this multicultural upbringing opened my eyes to all of the beautiful places that are out there, and taught me at a young age to appreciate different countries – both from a cultural and landscape point of view. I think my parents gifted me my first camera when I was around 13 years old, and I started out taking shots on our family holidays.
In 2013 you moved from the UK to Germany to work for Onboard snowboard magazine as the online editor and social media manager. Nowadays, you are pursuing a career as a professional photographer – something that can be explained as an inspiring path full of challenges and amazing experiences. Can you share with us what led you to transform your hobby into a career? What challenges did you face at the beginning and what are the challenges you face today? What helped you most to tackle them?
Working for Onboard Snowboard Magazine introduced me to the role that photography plays in the action sports and media industry. I really enjoyed looking over the shoulder of our director of photography, who had the enviable job of selecting photo submissions from the world’s top snowboard photographers to be featured in our print magazines. Over the years, I started to take a more hands-on role at freestyle snowboard events, where I would shoot photo and video content for our online platforms. This was a great springboard for my photography, forcing me to hone my basic skills in a very fast paced but very relaxed and creative environment. Freestyle snowboarding is all about style and self-expression, so it lends itself very well to photography. It’s definitely a change of pace shooting landscapes, although it can also be very hectic during those fleeting moments of perfect light!
After 5 years at the snowboard mag I decided to mix it up, and landed a position in an IT / Management consultancy – which was quite a change from the previous position! I quickly found that without the creative outlet that I used to have with the magazine, I started looking for other ways to express myself.
"Purchasing my first drone was the first step in igniting my passion for landscape photography, and soon afterwards, I set up a new Instagram channel purely for my drone and landscape shots."
The more time I put into it, the more my profile grew, and I started to think about trying to generate income on the side. These days I’m still working full time as a consultant, but have opened a side business in parallel for my photography. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some big brands already, and have also shot a few weddings and commercial events.
It’s challenging to find the time to do photography alongside my day-to-day work, and I would love to be able to reduce my consultancy hours to do more photography. To be honest I don’t think I’m quite ready to go full-time with photography just yet, even more so in these difficult times. But I’m pushing on, seeing what happens, and I’m definitely open to the possibility!
Nowadays in your feed you are sharing mostly landscape photographs, although your photography background is pretty diverse. We would love to know more about your artistic progression. Some say it is good to focus on one niche, others say it is better to shoot different genres to amplify your skills and opportunities. What do you think about this? How did you go about this while inclining more toward landscape photography?
I’m definitely a believer of embracing all avenues of photography. I think It’s important to have a consistent brand identity, but not to limit yourself to one particular niche or another. Over the years I’ve shot sports, landscape, portraiture, weddings, events (most of this stuff will never be shared on my Instagram I guess) and I’m always looking for fresh inspiration and new subjects to capture. I think it always helps to have a core focus, and for me at the moment it’s definitely my love for the outdoors. That said, I think that as a photographer you should be able to adapt to whatever situation you’re presented with. At the end of the day, it’s all about capturing moments in time, and every single one of us interprets those moments in a different way. If you limit yourself to just one type of photography or one way of shooting, I think you also end up limiting your own creativity.
You have traveled to many countries and seen some of the most exciting landscapes in the world. In this regard, I am sure you have experienced some incredible moments as well. To this day, which has been your most remarkable experience shooting outdoors? What made it so special to you?
One of my favourite trips so far was my road trip through the Southwest US in 2018. The landscapes there are unlike any other on this planet and are just so vast and diverse. One of my most memorable outdoor experiences happened during this trip. We were camping at Monument Valley and while waiting for the sunset, another photographer approached me and asked if I’d come especially to ‘shoot the shadow’. I had no idea what she was referring to and she explained that during only a couple of days per year, the shadow of the West Mitten lines up perfectly on the East Mitten, creating a really cool mirror image. My girlfriend and I watched the sunset unfold and it was just so special to see. We felt incredibly lucky that we just happened to be at the right place at the right time, and it was a sunset we’ll never forget. It’s the moments like these, when everything lines up perfectly (quite literally in this case!), that really makes landscape photography special.
Among all the photos you have shared on social media, could you share with us three photos you are really proud of? Can you tell us why you select these photos specifically?
That’s a really tough question, because there are so many that I love and it’s really difficult to narrow it down, but here are three that I was super happy with:
1) The first is this astro shot from Arches, Utah. The second night of our trip I spontaneously decided to head back into Arches National Park at night to try out some astro. Most people shoot the Delicate Arch at night so I wanted to try a shot at the Double Arch instead. Luckily for me there was a group of photographers there on a workshop and they had lit the arch really subtly. After many test shots and a couple of hours waiting for the milky way to move more into the composition, I set a self timer and scrambled up into the frame to get a self portrait – I’m really happy how it turned out! This was also one of the first shots that I had featured on the @sonyalpha page, so that was also pretty cool.
2) The second shot I’m super proud of this drone shot from Lago di Braies. It’s quite an unusual perspective already with the reflection of the peaks in the water, but flipping it upside down created this really surreal effect with the reflection and pollen on the water that I really like.
3) The third and final shot that I’m really happy with is this one from the Vajolet Towers in the Dolomites. After an exhausting hike we waited up there for the sun to set and thanks to the clouds swirling around the peaks we ended up with so many different shots. This particular composition is quite simple, and wasn’t even taken in the best light, but I love the way the clouds frame the peaks. Sometimes these clean, minimalistic shots just resonate the best.
During the past years you have developed your photography greatly and now you have a distinctive style – we really enjoy the soft light and pastel colors that dominate your work Sam 🙂 Could you please share with us a before and after and explain your editing process with an example? Ultimately, what emotions do you want to convey with your editing style?
My editing has changed quite a bit over the years. I’ve always been drawn to this moody aesthetic, and I used to be really into the whole ‘white, blown out sky’ look that you see quite a lot on Instagram. More recently I’ve shifted to a more muted colour palette, and I’m definitely leaning more towards a cinematic style, with quite heavy split toning and faded highlights. I like to desaturate a lot of the colours in my images, and then pull back out certain colours in areas that I want to emphasize. I feel like this approach creates a more unique image in the end. I’m definitely chasing a certain aesthetic with my images, and I always try to add atmosphere to the environments that I’m shooting, through my editing.
You will be hosting your first photography group trip to the Himalayas in 2021! I can imagine that this is going to be a huge adventure and that you are looking forward to this trip. Maybe you can give our readers a peek into your plan… What will they be learning and doing? Being the ‘teacher’, what would you like to pass on to your participants?
I’m super excited for this! I’ve been thinking about running a group trip for a really long time and I’ve finally managed to make it happen. We’ll be heading out to Nepal in October 2021 for a nine day trip, and embarking on a multi-day trek up to the Annapurna Basecamp in the Himalayas. I’ve never been to this part of the word, and I’m so excited to hike among some of the biggest mountains on the planet. The views look out of this world! For those that decide to join me on this adventure, I’ll be sharing all of my shooting tips and tricks out in the field – everything from composing a great landscape image, to working with scale, and exploring different focal lengths to achieve different results.
Finding your first clients as a photographer can be challenging, especially at the beginning. Yet, in a short period of time you have worked with well known brands in the industry. What strategies allowed you to gain the confidence of your past clients?
I think it’s all about commitment to the client, being open and honest, and striving to deliver your very best work every time. I always try to go above and beyond what I promise the customer, and I think this extra effort usually shows. It goes without saying that your media kit and overall brand image is important, but you also need to be proactive in getting work. Actively reaching out to companies with specific proposals shows that you want to work with them, and almost always leaves a good first impression.
Nowadays we see many young photographers pursuing a career as a landscape photographer. What four pieces of advice would you like to share with them?
Landscape photography is a notoriously difficult niche within photography to make commercially viable – there are simply far too many photographers out there who want to do it! That said, it’s by no means out of reach.
1) Focus on your passions and do more of that. If getting up at 3am and hiking to get the best light motivates you, do it every weekend if you can! Your passion will show through in your work and you will get some incredible conditions and shots as a result.
2) Be patient. Landscape photography is all about being at the right place at the right time, with the right people. Occasionally all three of these elements line up just right, and that’s when the real magic happens. These moments are rare, but they are some of the most intensely satisfying as a landscape photographer.
3) Don’t worry about gear too much. Gear is definitely important to some extent, but the need for a solid set of basic photographic skills far surpasses the gear you shoot with. Behind a truly great landscape photo is 50% good timing, 40% skill and only 10% gear.
4) Don’t forget to enjoy the moment. It can be so easy to get trapped behind the viewfinder while out shooting, and it doesn’t help that the best light often only lasts for a few minutes, but it’s so important to live in these special moments. I have come away from many beautiful places wishing that I had slowed down just a little, and taken the time to really let the beauty of the location sink in. A small tip that can help with this is to stay in one area for a longer period of time rather than hopping quickly from spot to spot. You’ll leave with a much more complete impression of the place and be more satisfied with the trip overall.
Besides your trip to the Himalayas in 2021, what other exciting projects or plans do you have in mind? Can you give us an insight in your dreams as a visual creator?
As a travel and landscape photographer you have to deal with an almost constant desire to experience new places. This craving has been especially difficult to satisfy for many of us this year for obvious reasons, and I think it will stay this way for at least the next few months. Because of this I don’t have too many shooting plans for 2021 just yet, and I will be keeping things spontaneous for the foreseeable future. I would really love to shoot the Northern Lights properly some day soon, so maybe a quick winter trip to the Arctic circle is in order. In terms of more general goals, I want to keep developing myself as a photographer and will strive to break out of the landscape photography niche more and more. I’d love to try and incorporate other artistic and graphical influences into my photographic work. I was really into art when I was at school, and I’d love to unlock some of this creativity in my future content!
Would you like content like this sent to your inbox?
