We recently connected with Ian Helmcke and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Whenever I tell someone a story from one of my many adventures, part of their reaction includes “oh my gosh, that’s wild!” A response like such is not uncommon, and it got me thinking – why do we say the word “wild”? I know we all know the word to mean ‘reckless’ or ‘uncontrollable’ – but in the terms of adventure and beauty what if the word ‘wild” meant something beyond our own perception and interpretation.

I was mountain biking with a buddy of mine a few years ago and after we had completed one of the more harrowing and risky part of the trail, he looked over at me and said “man! that was something wilder!” At that moment, his phrase gave clarity to what I had been internally processing all along. I believe we are made to never stop seeking, that at our core of human beings is an innate design to press forward into the unknown of adventure and beauty: to look for ‘something wilder’. It is not a safe journey, in fact there is a lot of harrowing and risky points upon it, but without risk and even failure there can be no reward.

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.

I am now 26 years old living in my native state of Colorado. I started Something Wilder before I took the leap of faith into adventure and moved to New Zealand in 2020. Unfortunately I was only there three months before the COVID pandemic sent me back with zero funds. When I returned home, all I had to my name was my camera and my creativity. I knew I had wanted to make money from my photography and video editing – but how? Would I create commercials for small business or focus on family portrait photography? My first break came in the fall of 2020 when I connected with other photographers on social media and created a “meet and greet” at a local coffee shop. We displayed our work and got our names out into the community. I found face to face connection was the best way for an up and coming creative to start off. But how could I set my work apart from others?

Later that year I took a photo of Pikes Peak with the Milky Way behind it, it was so good that I was accused of Photoshop, but it was all in camera! I sold the photo to a prominent company in Colorado and they shared my name when the photo was published. I learned if I am going to sell landscape photography I need my work to stand out from the hundreds of other photographers. I needed a distinct style to whenever someone saw a shot of mine, they would know instantly “that’s a Something Wilder”. The differentiating factor between my work and others is “me”. So while still taking family portraits to provide income, I began a journey of self discovery with the goal of having my work reflect what I am learning.

I now have more experience and while I’ve been taking photos for over eight years, I have only recently developed a distinct style of work. The better my photography and storytelling becomes, the more vulnerable it can be. The reward far out weights the risk though, as my audience have connected with the authenticity of my work. I believe “deep calls to deep” and if I am putting depth to my work, then someone seeking meaning and purpose will eventually find it. My goal is to create things which snap the audience out of the mindless mundane day to day. I want to engage with their humanity, not have another like on Instagram. I want my work to stop someone in their tracks and have them exclaim “WOW!” Every time I snap a photo or export a video I am taken back to say “wow” myself and I want to share my same excitement for adventure and beauty with others.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social Media is a hot take today for anyone building a business, especially a in the creative arts world. Most social media platforms have an algorithm that is very much biased to users who have been using it from its inception. If you are up and coming, its VERY difficult to grow naturally on Instagram (TikTok is easier but I choose to not use that platform). Another challenge I personally face with social media is my goal is to create content that will inspire people to get OFF of social media and challenge them to engage in the real world. How do you inspire people by means of social media to get of social media while trying to grow your social media presents?

I have found only one way to solve both of these problems: the best way to grow naturally on social media while inspiring people to only be on it as little as possible is to engage with your audience face to face. I supervise a local coffee shop and anytime a guest asks me about my photography business I will shamelessly plug for them to follow me on Instagram. I have learned to be bold in my face to face marketing and I have the benefit of sharing my passion with the person right there in front of me.

As for the biased algorithm problem up and coming business owners face, I have learned short videos will best “please” the ones and zeros dictating your online presents. I grew most on Instagram when I released a “reel” a day for thirty days. You have to remember these large social media platforms are competing with each other – Instagram vs TikTok – Twitter vs Threads: the unfortunate truth is they do not care about you as a creator and you must use the system to your advantage as much as possible. Post daily, engage with your online audience through 24 hour stories and in the comments. Use Google’s YouTube platform if you want to solely focus on your online presence. YouTube will pay for content and respects the user much more than other platforms.

It is possible BUT if all the servers for social media were to go down, I would rather lose all of my growth there than not have any face to face clients. The factor of humanity is the most important to a small business.

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

The most rewarding part of all my energy, effort, blood, sweat, and tears is when I see a grown adult see my work and cry because it touched a deeper part of their heart.

I sold a photo I took last year and while the guest was purchasing it, they exclaimed they had been looking for a photo like the one I shot for eight years! That is a massive time to wait for something – but they had this image in their head of what they wanted and my piece matched perfectly! There have been many times where I have seen my work stop a guest in their day to day routine and cause them to pause. I don’t know why or what part of their story connects with what I create but I know they engage with it deeply.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.besomethingwilder.com/
• Instagram: @besomethingwilder
• Youtube: Be Something Wilder

Image Credits
All landscape images taken by Ian Helmcke All portraits of Ian Helmcke taken by Caleb Nelson