Earlier this week, I had to prepare a presentation on a photographer that inspires me. Here is that presentation:

My greatest inspiration in photography is Chris Burkard.

Chris Burkard was born in San Luis Obispo, California in 1986. He was raised on the coast in a town called Pismo Beach and grew up at the beach. Chris was introduced to photography, by his now mother-in-law, in high school and has not stopped taking photos since. He taught himself to shoot on both film and digital.

Initially, he just took pictures of ever-changing waves and of friends but gradually he began to see how he could use photography to travel and surf. When he was 19, he moved down to the biggest surf spots in Southern California and began to take pictures of random surfers, selling the photos via CD to those same surfers.

After a couple of years, and recognition by several surf magazines and other publications, who paid him to capture their images, he began to feel a longing for something more. He longed to escape the crowds concentrated along Earth’s equator. Commercial surf photography would always be part of his career, but he began to branch out and in 2006, he interned with renown large-format landscape photographer, Michael Fatali. This allowed him to continue to develop and push himself as a photographer.

Chris likes to photograph in natural light, displaying the outdoors as an adventure, lifestyle and something to be preserved. This is what drew my attention to him. I love the way that he is able to capture a landscape that invites you to want to know more about the place being photographed. His most famous photographs were captured in some of the roughest climates known to man. Each year he takes trips to those types of locations to show the beauty found there.

Chris has been interviewed many times over the years but each time he is asked the question, “What is your most treasured photograph?” he always responds with this beautiful photo, taken off the coast of Alaska:

Fun Fact: Chris has accomplished all of this, color blind.

Thank you for joining me today and learning about one of my inspirations! What are you passionate about and who inspires you? Leave a comment below!

Love you guys,

-Mitch

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my new prints available HERE!