Riley McClaughry

@remcclaughry

Landscape photographer based in the US

You don’t need to have a lot of money or have plenty of time to travel to see what the world has to offer. As a 17-year-old high school student it can be hard to explore new places, as you can imagine. But when you are truly passionate about something and love doing it, you can find a way to make it happen and make time for the things that are important to you.

"This is the mentality I carry on in order to succeed as a photographer."

About a year ago I set off on an adventure to photograph the black bears of Lake Tahoe, California. This lake has always been a special place to me. After all, Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. I had never seen a bear in person in the wild before and as we set off on a small trail along a creek in the forest, I was so stoked and couldn’t wait for what was to come!

We hiked through the forest along this creek for hours and saw nothing. Around sunset we were walking through a thickly covered part of the trail and started hearing twigs snap and things moving around us. Suddenly we came to an opening on the trail which faced the creek and there stood a momma bear fishing for the Kokanee salmon and her two cubs splashing around all clumsy in the water! 

I will never forget the feeling when I first saw these giant bears only about 15 yards away from me. For a brief moment, the world stood still and I was able to capture the photos I always have wanted. 

"To capture these bears so closely was an absolutely insane experience."

This is where my passion for travel and photography comes from. I have the urgency to experience new things, and visiting all these amazing places allows me to calm that inner desire. Plus, as a young student, it can be quite hard to disconnect from my daily routine. 

I will definitely continue exploring and capturing all my adventures – I just love doing it! But my goal with photography is to inspire others to get out and explore the unknown.

"If I can inspire people to do what they love and experience new things, that's what would satisfy me the most!"
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