We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Josh Luten. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Josh below.

Josh , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

While driving to Oceanside, California, a thought flashed through my head. This is the 4th time this year I’ve driven up here to take photos.

Before taking photos, I played guitar in several local bands. We played a lot of gigs, and practiced 5 days a week.

Expression and having a creative outlet is important to me.

Photography started as something low key, but eventually became a therapy.

As far as when I knew photography was something a little more serious, I think it was when there were people asking me if I’d do a clothing brand shoot, engagement shoots, or weddings. Others would ask tips on which spots to visit on vacation. And there were also people who said the photos reminded them of locations they used to live.

All of these things seemed to be indicating that people were taking me seriously.

But to be clear, right now I’m a hobbyist.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

In 2017 I moved to San Diego, from my hometown Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Even before I moved here there was a need to get outside and experience more things.

There’s so many things to see here, and I knew I needed to prove my gratitude for the opportunity to live here. What’s the point of moving to a big beautiful state, if I’m not going to enjoy its natural beauty? Because life takes you interesting places, and I know I’ll never take the views here for granted.

I’m part of a special niche of sunset photographers. We all have this dreamy, almost surreal sky aesthetic to our photo edits. Think of the video game Grand Theft Auto.

Within the niche there’s a lot of great cityscape photography.

For me subjects include beaches, iconic palm tree streets, landmarks, and landscapes.
And I cover places like San Diego County, Orange County, and LA County.

What started out as a fun way to share photos of California turned into a passion that helped me find purpose. Finding purpose has been a huge blessing.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Passion and purpose.
This journey has led me down a path that just wasn’t there before.
Before photography my life was a little aimless, without any direction.

And before fully realizing it, I became dedicated, focused, and excited to take photos. It sparked a new sense of love, and appreciation for the world.

I’m fortunate to live in California, and share it with the world. I will always be grateful and appreciative of that. And I’ll never take this journey for granted.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

There’s a lot that goes into being an Instagram photographer.

For example, people may not realize that it’s more than snapping shots. There’s
location scouting, driving to locations throughout three counties, constantly keeping an eye on weather conditions, learning how to use editing software, making photo edits unique, hashtag research, writing engaging captions, answering DM’s, picking songs for posts, responding to comments.
I also have a very strict posting schedule, where I post every other day at the same time.

It’s been about 4 years since I started.

It’s hectic juggling everything, but it is also fun, interesting, and rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingsocalphotos
• Other: https://www.threads.net/chasingsocalphotos

Image Credits

Josh Luten