We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Martin Tran a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Martin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

A while back, I was with my friend on a hunting trip in Eastern Oregon. We were hiking up a hill to wait for anything sight. Then suddenly, I saw a couple of mountain goats and elks running at the other end of the hill so beautifully with an amazing view behind from where I was hiding. It was so beautiful that a thought occurred to me, instead of hunting for these animals for sport, I could hunt them with my camera for others to see and share the beauty of nature with others, because not everyone gets the chance to see it. From then on, I had the idea in my mind that I would go hunt and capture those delightful moments in nature to share with others.

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.

My name is Martin Tran and I am an immigrant from Vietnam. I came to the US in the mid 90s. It took me a couple of years to adapt to the new culture and language here while I went to school to further my education. While in school, I worked part time at restaurants, libraries, and as a technician for schools and a few other companies, then I started working full time in IT after that. In my free moments, I enjoyed being outdoors, boating, fishing, and hiking. I often make trips to National or State parks by myself to hike for places where I can capture those delightful natural sceneries. Recently, I started a new website to sell my landscape photographs that I took on these trips. Though I still work full time as an IT, I am able to find time to go on my photograph trips, as well as perform event photography where I help capturing those special moments for clients.

What I’m most proud of is that I am a committed person, and also always try to be consistent. When I commit to something, I will follow through and make sure things are done right. But I am also proud of my skill to make the best out of any situation, no matter how bad it is. Oftentimes, I find myself in the wilderness in bad conditions, but I still try to make the best out of the situation for myself or for my clients.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

One day in early fall, I made a road trip to Banff Canada to hike and take nature photos. I drove 13 hours overnight, getting there at 7:30 am the next day and ready to hike. During the hike, I stopped at multiple places to take photos, then had lunch and dinner with beef jerky and some snack bar. Suddenly, my 3 liters of water that I had brought started to run out. I thought I could refill my water from some creeks along the trail, but it turned out that most of the water sources had dried up after a hot summer season. Then I thought if I keep on going, I would see the water source at some point, so I kept going. But certainly there was a couple hiking out who told me that there was no water until the next 10km. After walking another km or so without water, I came to the realization that I would not make another 10 km uphill to my planned destination without any water and that would be very dangerous. I decided to just turn around. On the way down from the hike, it got dark quickly. Continuously looking around for a water source on the way down, after about 7.5km, I saw a small lake which I quickly drank from and refilled my water (It was the first time in my life I realized how tasty the water can be.. lol). Then it took me until 1:00am the next day to get back to the parking lot after almost getting lost in the dark. After this adventure, I learned that having a strong mindset is really the key thing, it helped me stay calm and get out of the bad situation safely. Even if you run out of supplies and strength, having a strong mindset and being determined will help you get through some of the worst situations that you might face.

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.

I think for any kind of career, you would need to have practice, be able to commit to what you do, and have a real passion for it. The main keys for me to be able to improve my skill are commitment and consistency. When I was just beginning landscaping photography I committed myself to learn as much as I could (youtube, Google). Also, practicing such as waking up at 1am in the morning to hike and wait for the right hour to capture the right lighting, no matter if it’s 10-20 degrees outside, you just have to commit yourself and get out there and do it, and you have to consistently doing what we commit to, then you will get better and be more creative. The stars, the moon, the sun won’t wait for us, so we have to go and wait for them so you can get the lighting, the composition at the right time. But you also have to have that desire to want to do what you do, you have to enjoy it or else there would be no point for you to do it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.martintranphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martintranphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martintranphoto

Image Credits
Martin Tran Photography