Professional landscape photographer
Major: Atmospheric science/meteorology, UCLA class of 2014
About:
I am an avid hiker and backpacker; over the summer, I’m a backcountry ranger in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Backcountry hiking, exploring, and landscape photography go hand-in-hand for me: many of my images are taken in extremely remote, almost-never-before-photographed locations. I’ll sometimes plan a 100-mile hiking trip, mostly off trail, just to get a shot and experience a new place.
My approach is also unique in that it is a fusion of atmospheric science and landscape photography. I use satellite images, weather models, and short and long-range forecasts to pr
edict when and where the best light will occur at sunrise and sunset. A crucial part of making a stunning landscape image is being in the right place at the right time when the optimal light and weather conditions converge. I use my background in meteorology to maximize my chances of being in such situations. Basically, I love weather, adventure/hiking, and photography. The three of them fuel each other.
Experience:
– Adobe “Moment to Shine” Competition winner. Myself and 11 other student artists from around the U.S. were selected for talent, promise, stories as artists, and use of Adobe products in their workflow. In July 2013, I was filmed and photographed in my hometown by Adobe representatives for widespread use in the global Creative Cloud advertising campaign. You can view the video here: http://www.adobe.com/education/students/jeff-lewis-profile.edu.html?
– “Diamonds of Stone”: full-page cover of the official 2012-2013 UCLA class planner, which sells thousands of copies in the student store.
– “California Dreamin'”: cover of the official 2013-2014 UCLA class planner, from achieving first place in the first annual cover contest.
– The Daily Bruin: An article about me, titled “Under the Weather”, was the lead story for UCLA’s official newspaper on October 3, 2013. The paper circulates about 9000 paper copies per day, in addition to online.
– The Kaweah Commonwealth: A two-page “Neighbor Profile” with several of my images appears in the paper for August 16-22, 2013, and my photo “Mountain Meteor” was the paper’s lead image on the front page. The Commonwealth is the newspaper of Three Rivers, CA, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
– “The Cutting Edge”: Issue 13 of Photography Week magazine, January 2013, Xposure Gallery: The World’s Most Inspiring Images.
– “Chain Reaction” and “Radiation Inversion”: First and Second Prizes, 9th Annual Student Photo Contest, Hillel at UCLA.
– “Silent Uprising”: In Concert with Nature gallery, Kaufman Hall, University of California Los Angeles.
– “Ferris in Fire”: Annual Photography Club Exhibition and Auction, first image in gallery to sell, Kerckhoff Hall, University of California Los Angeles.
– “Calm Before the Storm”: Photo of the Day, January 13, 2013, Photography Week magazine.
– “The Cutting Edge”: Photo of the Week, February 2012, Yosemite Conservancy.
– “The End and the Beginning”: Bronze Award, MILSET Science Photo Contest, August 2012.
Contact: jeff@landESCAPEphotography.com
Website: www.landESCAPEphotography.com