We were lucky to catch up with Joseph Filer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joseph, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

The subject that landscape photographers have a difference with each other on is the amount of processing that is acceptable with a photograph. In today’s world, the amount of differences has grown even more with the addition of artificial intelligence. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle on this. A raw digital negative can be a dull and lifeless image that no one would want to purchase as artwork for their wall.

This is because camera sensors are not capable yet of duplicating the dynamic range of light that our eyes are able to capture. Sometimes the light is perfect and a photograph will only need minimal amounts of adjustments to color and contrast. Other times it may be necessary to bring out the details in dark shadows and compensate for overly bright areas in a photograph. Real disagreements can come into play when the subject of replacing skies in a photograph comes up.

Some will argue that if you are making art, like a painter, then that is completely acceptable, but others will say it is not. Artificial Intelligence takes things to an entirely different level where very little, if any, of the photograph was there to begin with. That is not a place that I care to go. I strive to be in places when the light is perfect so have do not have to go to the lengths of making major changes in post-processing software. I have grown in my post-processing skills over the years, but I try to refrain from having a photograph that is not representative of what I was seeing or feeling when I pressed the shutter button.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been fortunate to have been able to do serious landscape and wildlife photography since 2007, traveling to 23 states in the U.S. and 8 other countries. As a Florida-based photographer, I have spent many weeks roaming the state looking for unique compositions and images.

I understand the emotional connection people have to beautiful locations around the world and the importance of capturing those memories and feelings. My fine art landscape and wildlife photographs go beyond the literal representation of a scene or subject.

My fine art photos convey not only what I was seeing but what I was feeling when the camera shutter clicked. To capture the emotion of the moment, I use the best digital camera equipment available and spend hours editing and processing images so you can sense what it was like to have been standing there.

I understand that purchasing photographic artwork can be a major decision. To help with these decisions, I strive to provide the highest level of personal customer service and am available to answer any questions or discuss purchase options. I have enjoyed working with all of my clients and look forward to working with you.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I have had more than one occasion when I set off for one of my typical ten-day photographic journeys where just about nothing went right. I do my best to thoroughly research when is the best time to be in a particular location, but Mother Nature can be uncooperative.

It is really frustrating when day after day the weather is miserable, the wildlife doesn’t show up, equipment breaks down or something else unforeseen happens and at the end of the ten days, you find you have spent considerable time and money and come away with nothing.

Experience can be a hard lesson. Over the years I have learned to cope better when these things happen. I have learned how to see other possibilities when the weather is bad or do something else when the critters are not cooperating. This doesn’t mean that I can defeat Mother Nature all the time, but I’ve learned to level the playing field just a bit,

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Like any creative endeavor, the learning process is slow and long. It’s mostly a collection of small things learned along the way over the past 20 years. It’s a combination of what I have learned about where to be and when to be there, how to create the best composition, and how to maximize my post-processing skills.

My family and close friends are always telling me they are amazed at the images I am capturing now compared to many years ago. Many of those older images are either no longer in my portfolio or have been totally re-processed.

It is the age-old case of “if I only knew then what I know now”, but that is also life in general. I happily accept the fact that I have grown my skills to where they are today. I hope my skills continue to grow and I am able to produce better work in the coming years. I don’t know how that will happen, but I will enjoy the journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.josephfiler.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josephfiler/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JosephFilerPhotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-c-filer-photography/