Through the Lens: Outdoor Photography | 'Round the Fire S1E11 | EarthX - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/   Enjoy this blast from the past from the EarthX Archives. 'Round the Fire was one of the first shows we produced and aired back in 2020. EarthX Media has grown a lot since then, but we still like to look back on these insightful conversations and see how far we've come.   Two of the country’s best nature photographers discuss the craft (and the adventures) of shooting the outdoors.   About 'Round the Fire:  Hunters and anglers sit around the (virtual) campfire to discuss conservation and environmental issues from the unique perspective of outdoorsmen. Sportsmen and women can be important allies in America's ongoing efforts to protect its landscapes.   EarthX & EarthXtra  Love Our Planet.  The Official Network of Earth Day.    About Us:  At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.     EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.       EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    Follow Us:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxmedia/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxmedia  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthXMedia/  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earthxmedia  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EarthXMedia  Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/earthxmedia    How to watch:    EarthX - Cable:  - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV   EarthXtra - Streaming:  - Plex  - Fire TV  - Xumo    #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #EcoFriendly #Conservation #EarthX

Transcript

00:00Hey everybody, welcome. This is another episode of Round the Fire. I'm Kirk Dieter on EarthX

00:22and I'm here, this is a special day because I get to talk to guys that I've worked with

00:27for a long, long time. I'm an outdoor writer and in making stories I get to work with the

00:32best photographers in the world and two of the best that I've ever worked with are Tim

00:36Romano and Josh Duplechain. So welcome guys and thanks for being here. Thanks for having

00:42us Kirk. Thanks Dieter. Yeah, you bet. Hey, I'm going to dive in and ask you some questions

00:48about photography but, you know, suffice it to say that you guys have shot all over the

00:54world literally and for some big outlets, you know, from Smithsonian and National Geographic

01:00and ESPN and other places and, of course, Trout Magazine. That's the biggest of all

01:06but I only say that because I'm the editor. But tell me a little bit, Josh, I'll start

01:12with you, about your style. When you approach, if I were to say, Josh, you know, what are

01:17you known for? What is your style of taking images? So that's a great question. And I'd

01:25like to just say one thing about style is something, you know, that's that develops

01:31over many, many years, right? Like, if there's any younger photographers out there, filmmakers

01:38out there, that doesn't come quickly, you know, and you want to force it at the beginning

01:44and you want to be like X, Y, or Z and you know that in your head, but really, it doesn't

01:50develop and I would go ahead and be willing to say it didn't develop for me until even,

01:56you know, five, 10 years ago. I've been doing this since I was 14 when I started the photography

02:02courses in our high school, local high school, and I'm 40 now, if that has any reference

02:08point there and been through a lot of iterations of this. But my style has always been very

02:14journalistic. It's been very documentary, it's been very simplistic. And that's kind

02:19of what I'm known for within my circle of, you know, photographers that that I run with

02:27and it's why people hire you based on your style, right? And that's kind of, you know,

02:33they know they can cut me loose. Probably the same goes for Tim, and even for you with

02:38writing, they can cut you loose and they know, they know what they're going to get, you know,

02:42when my editor hires me for say an ESPN shoot, or I do a lot of work with the NCAA in my

02:49former life, and I still do now. And one of the pleasures I have is that they never direct

02:54me at all, because they know the outcome of what I'm going to get. And I'm there for that

02:59specific reason.

03:00Yeah, I agree with you on from an author's perspective, my voice, my author's voice has

03:07kind of evolved over the years. And it's fun sometimes to read things that I've written

03:1120 years ago. And there are things that I would, when I do that, I sometimes think,

03:15wow, that was cool. How did you turn that phrase? That's a good one. Or sometimes I think,

03:20I wish I could do over on that. But how about you, Timmy? What do you got going on style?

03:26And I'm going to add a question to the back end of that. Have you have you? Are there places that

03:32you like to work specifically, as Josh says, because they wrap around the style that you

03:38like to shoot most?

03:39Hmm, that's a tough question. I was more of an art school dark, that kind of segwayed into the

03:47journalistic side of stuff. And I think my style I, I excel at is is telling a story. I mean,

03:54I overshoot, I don't, I don't like telling a story with one image, although that would be

04:01concise and good, I overshoot and do it with a lot. But I feel like it's more comprehensive

04:06that way. I personally, I mean, I shoot all sorts of stuff, but I really like shooting people. So

04:11if I'm put in a situation where I'm around a group of people for more than a couple hours,

04:17I mean, I, you know, not unlike a lot of people, it stuff happens, the longer you're with people.

04:23So I think you tell a better story and get better images, the longer you're with people. So

04:27anytime I'm with a group of people for more than a day, I feel like things tend to get better with

04:33age, and better shots happen. And I love shooting people. So that's, that's kind of, that's my jam.

04:41Okay, so, and if I could add, even I've seen Tim work myself. In fact, my very first job with

04:48Trout Unlimited was eight, over eight and a half years ago, on the Green River with Tim Romano.

04:56And I was tasked to go down there and tell the story of them telling the story of the Green

05:01River. Tim's a people person. And you know, that that's reflected in his own photography. And,

05:06and I think, you know, if you're an introvert, it's a really tough space to be. And if you're

05:11willing to be in that uncomfortable, like, I just met you kind of position. And I think, I think the

05:17results show within your personality, less than your photography is, is his personality has allowed

05:23him to do what he's able to do, whether it's on Christmas Island, or the Green River, or the

05:30Colorado River, his travels all over for any publication. Yeah. So we've been on a couple

05:37shoots together, Tim, Josh, we've worked together and other ways. But I'm hoping when all this COVID

05:43stuff is behind us, we can get out and do a real shoot, go to Alaska or Russia or something like

05:49that, it would be be a great. It's something that I'm jonesing to do right now. That's for sure. So

05:55on that, in that note, if you had a place that you could go shoot, or where you can,

06:00where you're jonesing to go to that, either you could be a return trip to someplace that you

06:05really loved, or, you know, where's that going to be? Where's your where's your dream trip?

06:10I'm a big fan of domestic, I've always thought the best stories are within our own backyard,

06:16right. But so with that being said, you know, I'm obsessed with my local spaces, whether it's the

06:22Colorado River, the Green River, the Smith River, any of those places that we've worked in the

06:28Grays River up in the Tri-Basin Divide in Wyoming is beautiful. I just wrapped up a film about that.

06:35But with that being said, I always pine after something that's unfamiliar to me. And, you know,

06:41I've had my eyes set on Japan for for years and years. And if I could go, my goal is to do a

06:48trout snowboard piece up in Japan at some point in time in my life. And I just need to find the

06:54correct resources to get me there. And yeah, yeah. I have some contacts there that I just think

07:06there's some beautiful stories to be told there. That doesn't mean they're, are they any better

07:09than the ones happening in the Tri-Basin Divide in Wyoming or on the Colorado? Maybe not. But I

07:15think when you approach, you know, a foreign country is always a is a different eye, right?

07:20You guys know it. You guys traveled internationally probably well before I ever did. I've shot in

07:25different places as well in Germany and Costa Rica, Nicaragua, South America and beyond. But,

07:31you know, just your eyes change when you see something that's unfamiliar to you.

07:36So, you know, and before you answer the question, Tim, I'll jump in and say,

07:40I'm very fortunate as a writer to go and see these places, but you raise a really cool point,

07:45and that is I'm never sad to come home. You know what I mean? It's a beautiful place. We live in

07:51Colorado, all three of us, but it's all, no matter where I've been and, you know, seeing kangaroos and

07:58jumping along the banks of the river in Australia or whatever, it's always very gratifying to come

08:05home to a beautiful country that we have. And, you know, and we're also the envy of a lot of

08:11places in the world, not only for the geographic beauty that we have or the topographic beauty,

08:16but we also have public access to those places that far outstrips many other places in the world,

08:22and that's worth protecting. So didn't mean to dive in on you, Tim. How about you? Where are

08:25you going? I'll literally go anywhere after the last year. Anywhere. I'm not kidding.

08:33I got a garbage dump in western New York, dude. I'm in, man. I like western New York. You know,

08:39at the end of this, we'll make sure that we've got your contact information so somebody can

08:43send you to a garbage dump. I want to come. I mean, in all seriousness, if I could go anywhere

08:51just because I'm cooped up in some, I mean, I've been been really lucky to go to a lot of places,

08:56but I think we've talked about it before, Kirk, but I really like Christmas Island in the,

09:02I guess it'd be the South Pacific. I'd go back there for a week and not bring a camera and just

09:08fish. Oh, come on. You got to bring a camera. Maybe. The pandemic has been hard on all of us

09:15who are in media, who, you know, travel and make stories, but it's also allowed me to get into my

09:21own library and work on some of the based at home products. Have you guys been doing a lot of

09:26editing and stuff like that, brushing up, doing some finer? Yeah. I mean, my life is my, my kiddos

09:34at this point. So for me, I didn't let this moment slip past me. I didn't let documenting,

09:41you know, their daily go, go by the wayside because, you know, someday when they figure

09:47out how to operate my 15 hard drive array, they'll, they'll go back and see some of the,

09:53some of the memories that they had. And I do it in my style. Like I don't do it just on, on,

10:00you know, as a passing as, as my wife would do it. Right. I do it differently and I do it the way I

10:05would practice if it was my own subject matter. So yeah, I'm refining. I'm also you know, I use

10:12this time to buy lights and, and practice my lighting skills with them and things like that.

10:19And different and different video concepts, frankly. So yeah, it gives you that time to

10:24breathe, man. I mean, we all are just, I think we mentioned this prior is, is we're all just so

10:29stacked on a daily, you know, from, I would say April to November, it's travel, travel, travel,

10:36we're moving, we're planning. We don't get that time to really think about or implement the ideas

10:41that we think about in those in between places. Yeah, that's for sure. So you guys, both of you,

10:48and I'll start with Tim on this one. You're out there, you see, you know, you're photographing

10:53people, but you're photographing people in places. And through the lens, you may be able to see

11:00the impacts of people on certain landscapes and so forth. So I want to take a turn into

11:05conservation and, you know, what would you say is the biggest threat to the natural resources that,

11:14that we work in and see? Climate change, what, you know? Yeah, I mean, obviously, you can't ignore

11:20that. That's, I think, the biggest threat because, I mean, COVID's shown us that everything we love

11:26here, I think, has been used a lot more, for better or worse. And when you compound that with

11:35the effects of climate change, whether that's less snow, less water, more heat, you know,

11:42there's less of it to go around and the quality is, unfortunately, worse. And I'm talking about,

11:49you know, I think in our world and what we like to do is rivers and water, you know, we all hunt.

11:55But yeah, I think climate change is obviously the biggest problem that we're going to face

12:03going forward, by far. And Josh, is it fair to say that we've seen, you've seen through the lens,

12:10more impact of climate change in the last 10 years than you did earlier on in your career?

12:16Yeah, I mean, look, we're all, like Tim said, we hunt and fish, first and foremost. And, you know,

12:22photography and journalism and writing is our forte to bring that to life. And I think

12:27one of the things that I see and that I'm seeing, unfortunately, repeated is, you know, every time I

12:34go out, every single time, I'm not joking, I hear, well, this never used to be like this. Well, this

12:41isn't normally this way. And I've said it to friends and hunting partners and fishing buddies

12:47is like, I can't take it anymore. Like every time we go, it's, well, this fire never really,

12:54fire season never happens in November. Okay. And now it is and we're looking, we're staring down

12:59the barrel of this or even, you know, hey, this Mother's Day hatch, you know, maybe technically

13:06doesn't even happen on Mother's Day or to the, to the complexity it used to, right. And things are

13:12moving and things are changing. And whether that's through hatches, or if I'm sitting on a hillside

13:17hunting elk at 10,000 feet in November, and it's 62 degrees, and I'm eating a sandwich with a t-shirt

13:24on, that's really, that's really stark, you know, you start to wonder and you start to contemplate

13:30or even the flows, right? Like Tim and Kirk, you guys have been on even just the upper Colorado,

13:35like we've talked about in the past. And in the past, we've seen flows upwards of 7,000 at the

13:40peak or higher. I ran it at what 4,500. I think I told you, Tim, a couple years ago, and I thought

13:47that was just bonkers. And, and it's the fluctuations you're seeing now, right? And that's

13:52like one year, you're running at 4,500 in July, and the water's coming up over your raft, and

13:58you're laughing like a little kid in a candy shop. And then all of a sudden, the following July,

14:03which this year, I'm running it at 800 in July. And, and it's those the stark fluctuations and

14:09temperature and flows and bug, bug life and things that are happening. They slap you right in the

14:14dang face. And I don't know how you avoid that. I don't know how you ignore that rather, you know?

14:19Yeah, I'm really worried about the upper Colorado River, based on what's happened this

14:25year with fires, unprecedented fires. I think you were telling me, Josh, that, you know, more,

14:31more acreage burned this year in that area than has burned essentially almost. So,

14:38Tim, what do you think is going to happen with the upper Colorado?

14:42I mean, I'm not a scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but I've been out enough and

14:46watched fire here my whole life, and I've never seen anything like it. And I've been in areas

14:52where, you know, our biggest fire until this year was the Hayman fire down south near where you live,

14:58Kirk, obviously. And I mean, that did massive damage to the South Platte. I don't think the

15:05South Platte ever really came back to not only the fishery that it was, but I mean, that, that,

15:11they had real, like, drinking water issues for years and years. They had to redo their, their

15:18waste, you know, the intake plants. And I don't know, man, it's not going to be good. You strip

15:24out vegetation, rivers get hotter, you have rain events, sediment washes in, and some of that can

15:30be good. Like, fire, you know, can be good for some ecosystems, but not a fire like that, that,

15:36that burns 100,000 acres in a day, or two days, or whatever it was. I mean, that is not

15:42the fire that you want. Yeah, it was weird, and we're talking about the East Troublesome fire

15:47specifically, but what, what was interesting about that one is that it jumped the divide. In other

15:53words, it went up over treeline, and usually by the time of year that that happened in late October,

15:59there would be a sufficient snowpack that flames couldn't rise that high in the first place,

16:07and then crest over the top of the mountains. And yet, we saw that happens, and that's what made it

16:12burn so much. That, that is the biggest natural barrier you could possibly think of for a fire,

16:18and it jumped it with ease. Look, I, I came from the great state of Ohio, the Heartland,

16:25you know, 18 years ago now. I moved to Idaho, packed it all up, and, and headed out there, and

16:32when I, when I heard and saw a fire when I moved out west, my first immediate reaction was,

16:38how devastating, how, how terrible. And then I start to discover as I, as I age, is, is fire

16:45isn't bad. It's, it's the way we're managing some of these places, and it's, it's, it's a funding

16:50issue. It's a, you know, it's, it's figuring out how to live with this, and now as I do research

16:55for an article for you, Kirk, this summer in Trout Mag, you know, I'm finding that people

17:01really need to figure out how to live with this, and they're, and they're, they're understanding

17:05that these fires provide, they, they give back some of the biodiversity that, that is needed

17:12to these forests, so I get that. It's just the fact that we've, as humans, have really, we've put our

17:17stake in the ground in some of these fire zones, and, and, you know, we need to protect that. People

17:22come first, right, and, and I understand that, and I'm sympathetic to that, because if my house was on

17:27the line, I'd, I'd want some help, but I think we need to learn to live with this, and we need to

17:33learn to pivot a little bit on our behavior and, and what we do, and use our voices to speak up, to

17:41say, look, we, we want more money to go to the Forest Service, the BLM, all those places to

17:48understand that, that they need to mitigate these things or, or, you know, manage them as, as best

17:55as they can in ideal situations. You know, you raise a really good point there, and I think we all share

18:01this, it's a satisfaction. I mean, it's sometimes when we work, and we come face to face with these

18:07realities, it's frustrating, and yet, on the other hand, we all go to work, and we know that we're

18:13crusading, right, we're doing, we're trying to make a difference, and I think that that,

18:18you know, if I was just writing about widgets, or you were just taking food photographs, and, you

18:22know, it's a little bit different, the realm that we're in. Do you, I mean, am I talking out of

18:27school here, or are you guys on board with that? No, I, I was talking to my neighbors the other day

18:31about the East Troublesome Fire, which people know, you know, massive fire burned like 500

18:37houses, but it, like Kirk said, it jumped the divide into Rocky Mountain National Park, and

18:42I was lamenting, you know, how sad I was

18:48about some of the stuff that burned, and, sorry. It's, it's important, and, but, you know, my,

18:59my neighbors were kind of shaming me for talking about that. You know, they said, you know, oh,

19:07so what, the forest burned, or your river burned, your lake burned, people lost their houses, but

19:13it's, you know, it's personal to us, and, and I think it's important, as important as someone's

19:20house, maybe. Yeah, it is, and houses can be rebuilt, you know, that's why we're talking

19:26about it here. That's why I brought you guys, because I knew that you'd open up and talk about

19:30these things. Pardon me. I ask loaded questions, you know, you know that. Let's, let's, let's cheer it up,

19:37though, and say, let me ask you this question, and I, I have been to places. You, you're right, Josh, in

19:44that 80% of the time when you go somewhere, you know, especially in the fishing context, you hear,

19:51oh, you should have been here when, or you would have seen, you couldn't believe what it was like

19:55back then, or whatever, but I have seen a handful of places that are better now, because of the work

20:02and the attention that people have put in, and, you know, I'll give you some examples, you know,

20:09places in Alaska. We've, we've just helped to preserve the Bristol Bay region from a proposed

20:15mine, you know, which would have been catastrophic, and, you know, that's, that's a positive thing.

20:21Some of the runs, you know, on the Elwha River, and, and the Elwha River in, in Washington, you

20:28know, we remove a dam, and steel, wild steelhead are coming back into those rivers, so it's better.

20:36I mean, you can make a difference, and it's, it's like, that's the fuel that keeps me going anyway, and

20:43that it, you know, because if you're just banging your head against the wall, that's one thing, but if

20:48you're able to feel like you can make a difference, and we can, that's another thing entirely. So, I mean,

20:54I'm wondering, Tim, have you, would you echo that as well, or? I think that's why we all do what we do,

21:00because we try to make a difference. I mean, I think you guys maybe do a little bit more than me

21:04working for TU, but, yeah, we can make a difference, and we can change things, and it's not all that

21:11complicated, necessarily, sometimes, you know, like, we build it up in our head, like, it's this huge thing

21:18that can't be done, and climate change is tough, that's a tough one, right, and it's, and it's, sometimes

21:24it's hard to see that our little individual actions can have an impact on that, but in your area, or a

21:31stretch of river, or whatever, they most definitely can have an impact and help things. That collective,

21:36Tim, is exactly what we need, and like, it's not up to me, it's not up to Kirk, it's not up to you

21:43to bring, to shoulder that, it's up to the collective, and there's great photographers,

21:49writers, filmmakers out there that are all chipping away at the block, and like, I think, you know, I

21:56think of, you know, people like, there's a group called Sea Legacy working on, you know, climate change

22:02and relationship to the, to our oceans, and I think of other conservation orgs, and individual

22:08photographers, and filmmakers that are, that are chipping away, and like, without, without the

22:13ability to show people the things that they may or may not be able to get to, or see themselves, like,

22:19you know, that's, that's a huge service that, that one can provide, that, you know, it's critical,

22:25and, and moving the needle down the line, right, like, we're not, we're not going to do this if

22:30people don't understand what's happening. That's right. For sure. Let's, let's talk about one other

22:37thing, and that's, you know, the next generation. If, you know, people say to me, Dieter, you've got the

22:42best job in the world, and, you know, going to different pretty places, and writing stories about

22:47fish, and wild spots, and all that stuff is a great job. It's a lot of hard work, though. I mean, I spend

22:53more time behind the computer, and I edit, and I, you know, I've honed the craft for many, many years.

22:58You just don't jump in and do these things. If someone were to say, Sam, I want to be a photographer, I

23:04want to do what you do, what would your advice be to them? Don't be sarcastic.

23:12So hard, though. It's just like anything else, just put in the time, work your ass off.

23:20You know, I think endeavor, again, I'm beating a dead horse here, but I endeavor to tell a story

23:27instead of just a piece of one, and I think that's not something that's being done in media so much

23:32these days anymore. It's a one-hit wonder, I got this, oh, I can do this. I think it really, you got

23:40to practice your craft. It's not rocket science, it's not brain surgery, it's not the most

23:45complicated thing to produce good media. You just have to practice a lot, and go and do it, and

23:51don't sell your soul. That's for sure. Josh, same question to you. If I want to be

23:58Josh Duplechain, what do I have to do? I'll leave the sarcasm out of there, too, but

24:04one of the things that I have a deep appreciation for now that I'm older is, I

24:12was classically trained in a pretty hardcore journalism program, and they beat those skills

24:18into your brain, and they tell you how to do that. I wouldn't, if I had to do it all

24:27over again, I would have probably gone to school to be a wildlife biologist first, and then a

24:31photographer second. Really, to be good at what you do, and good at photography specifically, or film

24:38making, is to really understand your subject, and I've had to do a lot of catch-up. I've had to

24:44backpedal and understand what I'm doing, because pushing buttons, and getting

24:51exposures right, and compositions, and audio, and all that other noise that comes with it is

24:58really irrelevant in my world, compared to the basic knowledge of the subject matter at hand.

25:04Tim made a great point earlier, and I joked on him for it. He would go to Christmas

25:09Island without his camera. Well, that means because Tim's an angler, and he's an angler to the core,

25:16which means that he understands every component of angling first, and then photography aids him

25:23in doing it the right way, which means that if he needs to leave his camera behind to be a

25:29better angler, or if I need to leave my camera behind to climb a mountain, or whatever it

25:36may be, to understand the base first is more important than understanding photography. It's

25:42almost like putting the cart before the horse in a lot of ways, and if I had to go back, they

25:46did not train us that way, and I regret that in a lot of ways, too. Some of my favorite stories

25:52that I've written, there wasn't a computer within 100 miles of me, you know what I mean?

25:57That writing in my head, you write them in the river, and then you remember them, and they stick.

26:01Well, the same applies to you, Kirk. I mean, you're an angler first and foremost, and

26:06the writing, man, just comes from your experience. Boots in the water. Boots in the

26:12water, man. You create your own luck, but the industry itself is very competitive, and to

26:19do this in writing, or filmmaking, or photography, you can't settle for being second place. I hate to say

26:25that. You have to bust your butt. You have to work at all times, and I did that in my

26:31early years, and I'm doing it now, and thankfully, I can really hone that now that I'm a little

26:36busier with kids, and families, and jobs, and things like that, but really, to put your all

26:42into it is an understatement. I lived in college, and after college, even in the newspaper

26:48world, up at the Rocky Mountain News. I put my entire life into it. I gave up holidays. I

26:54gave up family gatherings. I gave it all up, because I believed that this

27:00was my path, and being the best I can be, which led me to you, Kirk, which led me to Trout Unlimited,

27:06which led me to all the other clients that I may have gotten along the way.

27:09Well, guys, I think on those notes, here's hoping that we can get together in person

27:16soon. We've had a virtual around the fire chat here today, but we're going to do a real around

27:22the fire out by a river sometime, hopefully very, very soon, and thanks a lot

27:28for all you do. Thanks for being good friends, and thanks a lot. Yeah, thank you, guys.

27:36I appreciate you both. Likewise, gentlemen.

27:46We are sportsmen, and we are in trouble.

27:52We've learned what happens when we underestimate a serious threat.

27:56We can't make that same mistake with climate change.

27:59We need to stand up for America and for our kids and grandkids. Make your voice count in 2020.

Through the Lens: Outdoor Photography | 'Round the Fire S1E11 | EarthX

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