We were lucky to catch up with Dylan McMains recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dylan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
There are three big risks I have taken in the pursuit of my dreams – the first was in 2019 when I was 19.
My grandparents are both college professors so my whole childhood I saw my life going in the direction of graduating high school, getting a master’s degree or PhD, and falling into a normal career until you retire. I graduated from my high school with a 4.0 gpa and went to college with astrophysics as my major, seeing myself starting down that path. After my first semester I saw that my heart wasn’t in that major so I found something different in civil engineering, and after another semester I switched to computer science. During my 4th semester this soul searching continued and I hit a sort of breaking point.
I had been taking photos since 2014, starting for about a year with my old Samsung phone then upgrading the next summer to an inexpensive Nikon camera to get a little more quality. I continued it through my time in high school and when I started at college but I never considered it something I could ever do professionally. As I took more photos, went more places, and met more people, the recognition I was getting for my work on social media and in person was steadily growing – I was realizing that there was something there.
When spring of 2019 rolled around I found myself spending way more time thinking about and messing with photos than I was doing assignments. I was skipping classes to go out and adventure with my camera. I was promoting myself as a photographer and not as a software engineer. I kept telling myself that it was just a hobby and that I need to focus on my studies so I can go work for Google or some other massive tech company, but in my heart of hearts I knew I wasn’t being honest with myself. One day I had enough and sat down for a heart to heart with my mom where I expressed how much I disliked what I was doing and how much I would rather be out taking photos and, being the incredibly supportive and loving mother that she is, she said I had her full support and that I should go after what I am passionate about. So at the end of that semester I decided to take a gap year (which led to a full dropout later) so I could work and focus much more strongly on photography. That was risk # 1.
Risk # 2 came in 2020. For most 2020 was a lowlight in the story of our lives, but for me it was one of the most beautiful. In 2019 I had became acquainted with many other photographers in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico and had started to develop relationships with these other creatives where we would go out and shoot together and bounce ideas off of each other. Well, when the events of 2020 began and we all suddenly had ample time on our hands (I had been furloughed from my job) many of us started to go out almost daily to take photos. My skill and love for this craft grew very rapidly and I was able to create what are still some of my favorite images ever. The year would continue like this until around October where things began to get a bit tumultuous within the friend group and I felt the need to step far away and try something new.
I was born and raised in Albuquerque – being a New Mexican is all I had ever known. My life had always been full of big beautiful skies, pokey cactus, and hot days, but sometimes you just need to shake things up. I did a little researching and a photography position at the company I worked at that I had been after for a long time was opening up – in Seattle, Washington. I had visited the pacific northwest 3 times by this point and loved the feeling of being surrounded by lush greenery and water, so my heart was definitely open to the idea. But I knew that it meant leaving behind all of my family, friends, pets, and familiarity, and that thought petrified me. Again, I turned to my mom for advice and she and I both knew that even though it was a very scary proposition and that it would not be easy I would ultimately learn a lot from it. So in January of 2021 I packed up all my stuff and drove across the country to live in a completely new and strange place to continue chasing this wild dream of mine. That was risk # 2.
The 3rd and most recent risk came only 3 months ago. I worked at that company as a photography expert for all of 2021 and enjoyed many parts of what I did, but still left feeling unfulfilled. Not because what I was doing wasn’t stimulating or I didn’t enjoy it, but because I wasn’t doing things and living life the way I wanted to. I wasn’t able to put the time into the big projects and goals I had in mind because I was working 40 hours a week. These feelings weren’t coming from a vacuum though, there were a couple pieces of media that got this ball rolling in my head. One was a podcast with Matthew McConaughey where he talked about his artistic path and putting his foot down with the things that didn’t challenge the vitality of his life, one was Dave Grohl’s book “The Storyteller” where he recounts his own journey as an artist and the massive leaps of faith he had to take to get where he is, and the last was the film Tick Tick Boom that tells the story of Jonathan Larson and his trials and tribulations as a musical writer.
After listening to, reading, and watching these different stories I felt this fire grow and burn hot in my chest. This fire that was screaming at me to stop waiting for life to happen and make it happen, to quit wasting my energy at this place that wasn’t contributing to my overall growth as an artist. So I listened – for a while – and one day, very similarly to 2019, hit a breaking point where I could no longer sit and watch a lot of life roll by inside those 4 walls. I walked into my manager’s office and put in my resignation notice. Not because I had another job lined up, not because I had come into some money and didn’t have to work, but because I had realized life is way too short to not live it exactly the way you want to. That was risk # 3. Three massive risks in 3 years, and I do not regret a single one. I am the man and artist I am because of them.
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 background and context?
My name’s Dylan McMains and I am a professional landscape and astro photographer. My journey started on a family trip to Florida when I was 15 where we visited iconic spots like Disney World, Universal Studious, and the beach. At the time I had an old Samsung Galaxy S3 and I just took photos of random things I saw and posted them to Instagram where people seemed to respond pretty positively. I really enjoyed the process of taking photos and sharing memories and when I saw that people liked what I was doing I began taking photos of anything and everything back home in New Mexico. After doing this for almost a year I finally upgraded to a nicer camera and the rest is history.
I have taken all kinds of photos from portraits to products to sports, but my heart will always truly lie with nature and landscapes. Where I come from, the sky is explosive and can absolutely transform a landscape so much of my work has revolved around the sky (both in the daytime and nighttime) and the magic that happens within it. I love going out and taking photos of the natural world not just because it is incredibly beautiful (which it is) but because there so many stories of adventure to be told within it. I love getting to share my experiences in these places both alone and with likeminded individuals. It can be so fun to find a gorgeous area to explore and planning a longer trip around it, but it can also be equally as fun to head out and not know where you’re going to end up or what you might see.
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.
For me it’s been the realization that the traditional path of graduating high-school, getting a college degree at an expensive private university, getting a 40-hour work week job, and retiring at 65 is not the only (nor best) option. Trying to express to others that aren’t creatives what I do and why I do it even though I make relatively little money and don’t have a set work schedule has proven to be very difficult. Here in the US we are so conditioned in school and at home to think that there is only one way to success and if you do not follow it you are a failure. Even worse, if you don’t follow that path you will not be happy or satisfied because you won’t have a bunch of money. Having a good amount of money is absolutely nice and can lead to some happiness, but at this point I cannot imagine living my life for a monetary gain. When you get a taste of doing something for the sake of doing it and not what you might gain from it you get a glimpse into the true nature of life. Spending hours on hours working toward something purely from a place of passion instead of greed is an incredibly rewarding and humbling experience, and is one I don’t want to ever give up.
I think that is the hardest thing for non-creatives to realize – there are so many other paths and opportunities than what you were shown growing up. Try something different, even if you don’t make any money from it, you’ll gain something even greater instead.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
As cliche as it might sound, to live the fullest life possible. Aside from actually taking photos my main passion is teaching and helping others realize their potential in this field too. In the times that I have gotten to speak to others about photography, I often end up learning more than I taught. Getting to know more about and be a part of others’ lives and stories through instruction is an incredible privilege and is part of what makes life so vibrant. My camera takes me to beautiful places to tell impactful stories and meet inspiring individuals, and to me that is what makes one’s life full. Every day when I sit down at my desk to get something done or brainstorm ideas for what I want to work on next this ultimate vision and goal comes to mind and continues to drive me forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.McMainsMedia.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/mcmainsphoto
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mcmainsmedia
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLBpU7Ix9W17DmEZs4thUpg
Image Credits
Dylan McMains