We were lucky to catch up with Bret Blakely recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bret, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

For me, it was YouTube. Outside of taking a photography class in high school, my interest was always at a distance. I appreciated beautiful things, loved the outdoors and travel but outside of disposable cameras in high school and a very basic and cheap camera as a young adult…i never had any real knowledge. It was only after a trip to Rwanda with my now wife about 7 years ago that i went from someone who likes pictures and memories….to someone who is full blown in love with everything about the creative process and experience that comes with photography. It was 6 months into our first year dating and was the first big trip we took together. i brought my cheap little camera with a $100 zoom lens on it and snapped anything and everything. The last couple days of the trip were spent on a safari and i think that is where my already growing interest and desire for capturing the beauty around me went from warm to boiling. When i returned home to Buffalo, NY and was at a tailgate for a Buffalo Bills game, i met a friend of a friend who had been really into photography for a couple of years. I told him about my trip and how i really wanted to learn the art of taking a good picture, editing, getting a good camera and traveling to capture the world. He asked if i wanted to join him in a few months for a trip he was taking to Yosemite. I immediately said yes and this is where the learning journey began. I started watching hours of youtube videos every day. Videos about everything from the exposure triangle to color theory to finding compositions. I watched equipment reviews, took online courses, learned about different techniques like long exposure and basically did my best impression of a sponge and tried to soak everything i could in before my first ever photography trip. I bought a Sony a6000 crop censor camera and a kit lens to go with it and prepared for what would end up being a life changing trip.

I definitely believe that the skills of learning how to get the most out of your equipment and being able to get off of automatic shooting and onto manual is the most important. For one, if you’re able to shoot manual…that means you understand exposure and aperture and shutter speed. It also allows for so much more creative freedom. The techniques you can use and art you can create are all an extension of having a sound understanding of shooting in manual.

I think for a long time i felt like not being able to get every piece of equipment that i wanted was the biggest obstacle but you don’t need the best equipment to take an outstanding picture. As i look back i feel like trying to be as good as everyone i was following or looking up to as quickly i humanly possible was the biggest obstacle. There were moments where i would be frustrated that i didn’t feel like i was where i wanted to be or that my pictures weren’t as well composed or edited as photographers i knew or looked up to. Instead, i should have been taking pride in my own progress and realizing that it is not a race. i think because i found this passion later in life, i felt the need to expedite the growth curve but now…i just enoy it for what it is at my own pace.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Where to start……i am born and raised in Bufffalo, NY and live here now with a beautiful wife and adorable dog named Leo…he is a Shiba Inu and has quite the personality. Growing up, i was always taking pictures with a disposable camera. I was always taking pictures with my friends, pictures of our trips, pictures of everything. I remember my parents taking my friends and i to Marco Island every year in high school and i would often pull a beach chair up to the point where the water would crash just underneath the chair. i would take a picture (again with just a disposable camera) every single minute for the last 30 minutes of the sunrise to ensure i wouldn’t miss anything. I always loved how in one shot there would be a boat in the distance and in another there would be a bird crossing in front of the setting sun. When i got back to Buffalo and had them printed at Walgreens, i would turn them into a flip book so i could relive the sunset over and over again. Fast forward to the trip to Africa and the beginning of my more serious journey into photography…i think it all kind of started there. I think it was always a passion and purpose but i just didn’t know it for a couple of more decades.

Photography has always been a passion and not a business. With that being said, over the years myself and fellow photographer friends have done creative projects for companies like solo stove and airbnb and others. As of recently i have been getting some amazing opportunities to work with a variety of brands, airbnbs, travel organizations and others. For me, the product or service absolutely has to align with my interests. If i take you on as a client to do content for…it means that i am excited about it. I am such an emotionally driven person that when i am excited about something it means that it will be receiving all of my which will translate into getting my best! Whether it is showing off a beautiful cabin in the woods and all the things to do in the area, working with a travel agency or tourism board, hosting a group trip and making sure everyone has the time of their lives, offering beautiful images and video of gear/clothes/equipment for the outdoors or showing the benefits of software for creatives…..my passion for photography and travel benefits from all of these things which makes me excited to help tell a story about them.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

There are several missions/goals that drive my journey. A more selfish one is to see as much of this planet, its people/cultures and its wildlife as possible. I want to witness as many sunrises and sunsets and skies filled with stars as i can. I want to visit as many awe inspiring and jaw dropping landscapes as i can and lock eyes with as many animals, birds and creatures as possible. I also want to do all this with other people that appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. There is nothing like sharing a special moment who fully understands and appreciates it the same way you do. This day in age, people don’t look up for a sunset, they don’t get up for a sunrise, they would rather go to a zoo to see an animal than on a hike and would rather be asleep then watch the night sky come alive. Finding those who appreciate the little things is finding people that you will want to share in experiencing the big things.

The more altruistic goal is to show the beauty of the planet and all that inhabit in order to unite us as humanity. I want to inspire people to travel and explore and be open to new cultures. I think travel and experiencing other cultures is crucial to breaking down barriers and helping foster more open minds, kindness and empathy for others and for this planet. I have always believed that a lot of problems driven by fear, hate or ignorance and indifference of both people and the planet would be solved if all people were able to travel and spend time with others not like them. For now, helping shed light through my camera is one way i hope to make a positive impact. I hope it inspires expoloration, treating the planet as the rare and beautiful thing it is and becoming and more willing to learn and accept type of person.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the most rewarding thing for me is knowing that no matter where i am at any given moment…i am the only one experiencing that moment exactly as i am. There are times where i may travel to a place that is a major travel destination that millions of people have traveled to. There may be a hundred people that are also watching the same sunset from this place. The beauty is that this well traveled place will still only be seen by a minscule amount of people in the grand scheme of things and I am the only person standing in the exact spot…watching the sunset through my eyes and through the lenses of my life experiences and so this is literally a singular experience. Not only is it a singular experience but the way i will capture it through photo/video will be something i get to bring home and put on my wall or play on my computer. Being “artistic” or “creative” and more specifically a photographer…has put my head on a swivel. I am always getting exited about the smallest of things. I love that i feel like i appreciate all the beauty that surrounds us and don’t take it for granted. I am thankful that i found this passion as to be able to take that appreciation and pair it with creativity to be able to make a visual representation of that moment and memory.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bretblakely.darkroom.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bretblakely/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bretblakelyphotography/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-blakely-24279511/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@bretblakely

Image Credits

These are all of my own personal photos with the exetption of the picture of my face in the winter jacket. That photo was taken by Aaron Mannes. His instagram is @mantis_photography