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Grant Simpson
@transientearth
Landscape photographer
As a child, my brother and I along with friends would always go exploring in different woodlands around where we grew up in Glasgow. We would spend hours running around, climbing trees, and building dens. As I grew older and became more independent, I began exploring further afield in the Scottish Highlands. I always enjoyed the sense of freedom and stillness I feel when taking in a stunning view of nature. My passion for photography stems from trying to capture those moments when I feel absolute stillness and clarity.
I would have to credit my parents for first instilling in me an urge to travel and see new places. We went on several holidays to France and the Netherlands, and often to places of historical and natural significance around Scotland. We learned about the culture and history of the places we visited and this is something that I’m grateful to my parents for showing us, even though back in time, I could be jealous of my friends going with their families to tropical beaches. While my parents stuck mainly to northwestern Europe, this was the trigger point for me that later developed into a burning desire to go visit different corners of the world and learn about new cultures and people.
In the Summer of 2016, I did an internship in Los Angeles between the second and third years of my studies in International Business. Students from a variety of different countries were all living together in UCLA dorms, going to their respective internships every day. The internship I secured was in marketing for an events company. We would all work Monday to Friday from 9-5 pm then go and explore the city in the evening and at the weekend. It was surreal to me that I was so far from home with people I had never met before, getting to experience one of the world’s great cities. I had some of the best times of my life over that Summer, and what I took away from the experience was that the world is so much bigger than the place where we grow up.
"This trip was the catalyst that led me to two more extended travels over the next two years and this current trip that I am on now."
Just prior to the escalation of Covid, two good friends and I had finally booked our flights and visas for moving to Australia – something we had been planning since I returned from a Southeast Asia backpacking trip in October 2018. We had booked our flights for May 2020 but obviously, Covid came along and travel restrictions came into force around the world so we were unable to go. We couldn’t believe our trip had just been snatched away from us so suddenly with no indication of when we would get to go.
"It was even more difficult because we were then put into lockdown during what was supposed to be the best year of our lives."
Around the same time, my dad fell ill which made him extremely vulnerable to Covid. Thankfully he has now recovered but this was a very challenging and uncertain time for our family as we had to take extreme precautions to ensure no one brought the virus into our home to pass it along to my dad. Later in the year, when I had moved out to secure the well-being and social life for myself and the safety of my family, I met a girl, Anna, and we became really close really quickly. I was unsure what to do though as I knew that I was going to Australia as soon as this pandemic finished… It generated uncertainty, though eventually we started the conversation and discussed this openly. I asked Anna if she would be happy to join me on my travels; she said yes, and we made things official at the end of September 2020, before Scotland was thrust into a second lockdown in October.
In the meantime, I had been struggling with jobs that wouldn’t work out for me. I had changed jobs twice and in the last one, I was working in a marketing and sales role for an electronic wholesaler. At first, I really enjoyed this job and it seemed like everything was finally turning around for me after the horrible 2020. However, as time went on I realised the job wasn’t what I had expected. It was disheartening as I thought having a job in marketing would be an opportunity to finally express my creativity which I had always wanted. The thought of going to work began to fill me with dread every day. It was especially tough as I knew I was meant to be travelling for the past year and instead I was stuck in a job I hated, with a lockdown going on.
But I knew that I had to make the change to give me some time to think about what I really want in life. I knew that what I wanted in life was to travel but I just didn’t know how to combine this with a career that I would love, that would give me an opportunity to express my creativity and that I’d be good at.
On a random day, I went for a walk to clear my head and I took a few photos on my phone. Then it hit me; I have always loved taking photos and was always decent with a camera. Why not try and start a career in photography? I had a huge catalogue of photos I had taken from previous travels on my phone, so I decided to start sharing them on Instagram under a new account @transientearth. The response to my photos was unbelievable. I quickly grew the account and got a lot of amazing feedback. I decided to buy my first real camera in September and since then I have completely fallen in love with this art form.
When I began taking photography seriously, I rediscovered a creative fire inside of me that I had as a kid, and I was able to nurture and develop this into the burning passion that now drives me every day. The sense of fulfillment and contentment I feel when I think of a unique composition and capture a fleeting moment in time, never to be repeated, is something I have never felt in my life before now. It makes me feel like I have a purpose in life and that I am on the right track that I have been searching for my whole adult life.
"For the first time, I know exactly what I want in life and I feel focused and ready to completely dedicate myself to this."
The biggest challenge I have faced since starting on this journey has been trying to transition from Instagram photographer to professional photographer. This is still an ongoing process. I had never tried to launch my own business before and I didn’t know too much about social media marketing tools for personal branding or how to grow in the photography space. I didn’t know how to edit photos and I didn’t really know what to write in my captions or how to utilise hashtags. After countless hours spent researching how Instagram works, studying how successful photographers marketed themselves, and learning how to edit photos, I began to notice my follower count and engagement levels increasing at an ever-faster rate.
However, my goal was never just to become popular on Instagram. While it is a great tool for showcasing my work and helps me reach a wider audience, I don’t want to just be a social media photographer. I want to do this professionally. I started researching different methods for earning from my photography and learned that I needed a few things: a good portfolio website, a strong media kit displaying some of my finest work, and to start researching what sort of companies I should be reaching out to. This takes us up to the present moment. I know that this journey from Instagram to professional photographer is going to be a long, bumpy road and that it takes a lot of perseverance and commitment to make a career in photography. But I also know that this is a life that I am 100% dedicated to pursuing and I will continue to work hard at developing my craft until I achieve my goals.
I think one of my key strengths as a person and as an artist is my willingness to admit ignorance. Growing up, I was always quite good at school; I used to think I was really intelligent and that I would go far in life without having to work as hard as others might need to. As I have grown older and matured, however, I have got really into reading books, mostly about the mind.
"One thing I have learned from reading books from authors and scholars much smarter than I am is that I actually know very little. We should always be trying to learn from those around us and gain new knowledge and understanding."
Now that I have a focused aim on becoming a great photographer, I have a direction to steer my natural curiosity to as I try and learn everything I need to know. I also watch videos and read articles on the business side of photography from accomplished photographers and try and take their advice and apply it to my own photography journey. I believe that this willingness to admit that I am still a beginner in the photography industry and my strong desire to learn as much as possible about the artform will help me accumulate the knowledge to accelerate my skills and become a much better photographer over time.
I am lucky that I was born in Scotland and started my photography journey there as it is the perfect place for someone to learn their way with a camera. I have always travelled to different corners of my country, even without a camera, to seek out some of the best natural wonders it has to offer. Scotland has 282 Munros, which are mountains over 3000 feet. When the weather is good, there is no way I would rather spend a weekend in Scotland than climbing a Munro on a beautiful day with my friends. Currently, I have ticked off 17 so I still have a long way to go but I am determined to finish them all over my lifetime.
"When I first got my camera in early September 2021, the first place I went was a solo hike up Ben A'an which is in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and overlooks Loch Katrine."
It was perfect moody conditions with contrasting grey clouds in the sky but not obstructing any of the views from the top. While this little hill is not big enough to be a Munro, it does offer one of the great Scottish viewpoints. I remember after speaking to other climbers at the summit for a while, they all went back down and I was left at the top by myself. A few moments later a black raven flew onto the iconic arrowhead summit that overlooks the Loch and looked out over the view. I couldn’t believe my luck on my first time out with my camera. I got into position and he stayed there looking out for about five minutes. I’ll never forget that feeling of pure excitement knowing that these were unique shots I was capturing of a rare moment. To this day, they are some of my favourite shots I have taken.
Another iconic and simply breathtaking area that I absolutely love is Glencoe. This place looks like it is from another world, a photographer’s paradise. I spent a lot of time in Glencoe last year before I even got my camera. In December 2021, knowing I was leaving Scotland the following month for long-term traveling and that I hadn’t been since I got my camera, I decided to drive up from Glasgow, about two hours away. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made for my photography career. I took some of the best photos I have taken so far that day. The whole area was covered in a thin sheet of snow that gave it such a mythical beauty. I stayed for hours and visited all my favourite spots in the area, one of them being a spot with a view on Buachaille Etive Mor.
When you drive up to the Glencoe area, this mountain is the first thing you see as you enter this area of outstanding natural beauty. I parked up at the side of the road just before a small bridge that goes over a river. I knew I wanted to stop here because usually you just drive over this bridge as the car park is a lot closer to the mountain. However, I wanted to try and get a photo of the river running towards the mountain. I tried standing at a few different positions before I managed to find the correct composition for this shot. I had to wait for a quiet spell on the road and go to the middle of the bridge, which doesn’t have a pavement. I waited for the cloud to move just enough so that you could almost see the summit but it was still concealed. Then I lined up my shot so that the banks of the river came into the image at the same height. I wanted to capture the vertical prominence of the mountain by showing how flat the area around it is, and I thought having the cloud concealing the peak added to the mystery of the shot.
"While editing this photo, I wanted to try and emphasise the contrast between the hard, rocky surface of the mountain and the coating of snow."
I raised the contrast and sharpened the image to bring out the difference between the dark mountain rock and the snow. I also smoothed the river out by bringing down the texture and clarity to give a more smooth flow to the water, which also contrasts with the rocky mountain surface that it leads to further up the frame. I increased the highlights slightly on the cloud to help it blend in with the snow more and make the slope on the left stand out.
What makes the photo so special to me is that I have been to the summit and know exactly what it looks like to look down at that bridge where I took the shot. The fact the summit is concealed but the rest of the mountain is very clear is something I really like about the image. You can’t tell what the top looks like but you can tell that the two slopes are just about to meet. I’ll never forget that feeling when I first saw the mountain from my car when I made the final curve on the road which then shows this view. And I think this photo captures perfectly that sense of awe and wonder that I felt when I first laid eyes on it that day.
"After I finished shooting that day, I turned my camera off and sat there looking at this incredible place taking it all in as I knew it would be the last time I would see it for a while – new adventures were waiting for me and I could finally take the trip I had planned several years ago and I was supposed to do during the Covid years."
As I had to have so much patience, it was surreal to get on that one-way flight leaving Glasgow for Bangkok on January 15th, 2022. We saved up for the trip for a long time so we left with a good amount that will last us a while. Asia is really cheap for travelling and we will really go with the flow, not planning much. However, Australia is really expensive so eventually, we will find jobs there; just some temporary work to sustain ourselves as we travel through the country. Based out of there, we will also travel to many countries around that area like Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Philippines. I am really excited as many of these will be new countries for me and I can’t wait to experience new parts of the world.
"I like to think of my life as a videogame sometimes, and I am unlocking new parts of the map whenever I go to a new place. With each new place, every new game, I encounter challenges and learn how to approach them next time."
Thailand and Sri Lanka, for example, already inspired me to pursue a simpler lifestyle and appreciate the natural beauty of these places, and just generally not worry so much about all the little problems in life that I usually stress over. It’s really easy to continuously live either in the past or the future, forgetting to be where you are now and why and how that makes you feel.
That said, I do think it is important to work toward the future, your dreams, and the person you want to be. By the end of this year, I am hoping to scale my photography business up enough to be able to do this full time which is what I really want to do. And I hope to unlock many more places, lessons, and wonders which help me grow and share all that with everybody else!
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