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Kyle Reader
@reader_outside
Landscape photographer based in the US
My passion for photography and traveling is grounded in a love of the outdoors and a creative upbringing. I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, spending most of my youth in the Rocky Mountains. My parents were outdoorsy and many of my earliest memories were of camping or fishing in the mountains. I loved the smell of the trees, the sounds of birds chirping and the endless stars during a clear night. One year in my early teens I received a camcorder as a gift. I loved bringing it on our outdoor adventures so I could record what I was seeing and make little movies. I also was a musician during these years, playing piano and drums, which put the seeds of creation deep into my mind.
As I got older and phone cameras started improving, I became infatuated with capturing images of the places I saw. As I continued to explore wild spaces, I wanted to share their beauty with others. Once I picked up my first mirrorless camera five years ago, there was no turning back for me.
"It was a culmination of my creative interests and love for the outdoors and it carries me through this day."
"There are three moments in my life that impacted me and strongly influenced these passions. First is when I was introduced to Rocky Mountain National Park as a child."
This was the first national parks I ever visited and I remember falling in love. It felt so vast and untamed. Everything felt magical there. Second is when I realized the dangers of climate change. In 2007 I watched the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and I began to understand the risks that a warming planet posed to the wild spaces that I loved visiting while growing up. This spurred more than 10 years of passion about environmentalism and conservation. The third is the most recent. In 2019 my wife and I visited Iceland for our honeymoon, and that trip resonated with me in a profound way. I had loved traveling but the landscapes of Iceland filled me with an awe that was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I couldn’t believe a place so beautiful and raw could exist and that we could explore it.
"That trip deepened my love of photography and motivated me to take my work to a new level."
"One of the reasons I am so drawn to photography is because I strongly believe that certain images can change the world."
Photos have the ability to show people things they never may have ever seen and can change their perspectives. Even though they are still images there is nothing static about them; they can convey an entire story and series of emotions. As an environmentalist, I want my photography to show the wonders of our planet and motivate people to protect it. The stories I share through my work focus on exploration and adventure but also serve as a call to action. Sadly, our wild spaces are dwindling and our time to alter our course is running out. This is what motivates me to continue sharing, educating and inspiring others through my photography.
"I joined Nature First last year as a Community Advocate for Northern California."
With the advent of Instagram and social media, we’ve seen a massive increase in photographers of all skill levels getting out to different areas. While it’s wonderful to see so many people who want to get outdoors and explore, the increased visitation to national parks and other wild spaces has also had some detrimental effects. The focus of Nature First is to educate other photographers about how to be responsible in the outdoors and leave as little impact as possible. I would strongly encourage everyone to read and reflect on the organization’s seven principles; I use my social media accounts as a way to demonstrate these principles in the field. We can all take wonderful photos of the outdoors while also leaving them in better condition. Simple things like staying on a maintained trails and educating yourself about the area in which you are shooting go a long way toward preserving these spaces for future generations.
"Photography allowed me to channel my environmentalism into constructive outlets: connecting with others who want to use our art to help build a better future."
Also beyond that, photography has been a gateway to a broader community of friends and other creatives. I’ve joined local photography groups in my community and also made connections through social media that have taught me so much about this art form and how much lies ahead of me to improve my work. The friends I’ve made through the photography scene become new partners to shoot with and give me a trusted group for constructive feedback so that I can develop. I’ve also been able to learn more about other styles of photography that have influenced the evolution of my personal style. Whether it’s understanding how product photography works or learning a new technique in post-processing, any progress I’ve made in my work over the past several years is really a credit to the community of creatives who are willing to support me.
"While I get so much from fellow creators, photography and traveling, lack of inspiration is real and it occurs more frequently than we acknowledge."
On Instagram you’re usually seeing the best moments but not all the frustration or work that went into creating that image. I have a full-time job in healthcare and given our current circumstances, that work can leave me physically and emotionally exhausted. This can make going out to shoot or getting up early for a hike quite difficult. When I’m feeling uninspired creatively I find the best thing is for me to take a short break from my camera. Going for a hike without my camera or spending time with friends can help give my mind some reprieve. Re-establishing that connection with nature is another way I work myself out of creative ruts. That can mean traveling to a new location or discovering a new photographer’s work that inspires me.
"Even though I’ve lived in the US my whole life, I’m constantly surprised by just how big it is and how much there is to discover here."
I’ve found living here that no matter how well you think you know something, there is always something new to uncover. When I moved from Colorado to Seattle, Washington and then California, this sense of discovery and re-discovery was a daily occurrence. I had mental images of these places in my mind but as I got to know them better, I would often find new things that I hadn’t previously considered. In Washington, for instance, though the Puget Sound area is very rainy, eastern Washington is bone dry and is home to some wonderful natural gorges. In California I thought I’d be spending all of my time on the coast, yet in actuality I’ve loved exploring the Sierra Mountains and Mt. Shasta. I’ve seen waterfalls there that feel like they are out of a fantasy or a dream. There are parts of the South and East Coast that I haven’t even been to yet. That’s what is so exciting and fun about traveling in the US.
"One of my most recent favorites is a Milky Way shot from Joshua Tree National Park."
I hadn’t seen the Milky Way in a few years and being able to see it with my naked eye that night filled me with awe. There was something about the stillness of the desert at night and the perfect starry skies above that made me feel at peace. I also love it because I felt the composition, tone and color worked really well together. The famous Joshua Trees were in the foreground with the Milky Way perfectly situated in a band above them.
These kinds of photos don’t take much time to edit, but in general I love editing photos and find it to be such a rewarding part of the work. Editing is its own beast but it’s truly amazing how you can transform a photo during post-processing. When I edit my photos I aspire to create an emotional experience for the viewer. Feelings like joy, excitement, wonder and solace are all emotions that can be cultivated through an edit. The two things I focus on most in my edits are tones and color theory. Tone curve helps me to establish the appropriate level of contrast and balance between the highlights, midtones and shadows in a shot. There are several ways you can adjust your colors but finding the right balance will really make a photo stand out. Having a consistent tone and color balance in my edits makes my work my own and I love working to improve it.
My passion for photography helped me do things that I didn’t think were possible for me. It has encouraged me to travel to some of the most beautiful spots in the United States and connect with other people whose creativity has inspired me. Many of the best memories of my adulthood are a direct result of my photography journey. From a 2:00am hike to reach Glacier Point in Yosemite for sunrise to off-roading through Icelandic highlands, photography has shown me new ways to view the world and for that I’ll be forever grateful.
"Talking about new views and perspectives, I remember when I first saw Kirkjufell mountain in Iceland."
We were driving down from the Northwest and I looked at my map, realizing it was close. From that vantage point the mountain just looked like a flat plateau. “This couldn’t be right,” I thought. Then we continued further to the southeast side and reached the classic Kirkjufell viewpoint. Now there, the mountain completely floored me. It was everything I thought it would be after seeing countless photos of it, yet upon seeing it in person you realize that no photo can truly do it justice. It made me laugh to think how it could look so incredible from one angle yet completely uninteresting from the other side. A kind reminder to be willing to change your perspective and you’ll often discover magnificent views that you didn’t expect.
"That trip to Iceland is likely the most important trip I’ve taken in my life thus far."
I was stunned by how people can work in harmony with the natural world. Seeing the way Icelanders use geothermal and hydroelectric energy was eye-opening to me. Many of the most incredible landscapes in the world are in Iceland and the people who live there have figured out ways to live sustainably so that these wonders will be maintained. That trip gave me hope that we can explore wild spaces and still preserve them. This idea fueled me to join Nature First as I described previously and it still motivates my photography to this day. How I interact with the land when I’m out shooting can have a big impact and I always keep that front of my mind.
"Protecting nature is not only a matter of ethics, but also a matter of existence."
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