We were lucky to catch up with Scott Rockvam recently and have shared our conversation below.
Scott, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
Honestly, I still don’t know if I do! HAHA! I mean, I have always wanted to do something creative with my life. When I was in high school I told my guidance counselor that I wanted to travel to mountain towns, meet people, immerse myself in the culture, the music scenes, the food, the whole lifestyle & bring it to the masses. Basically like the Anthony Bourdain of mountain culture. Well, it was the 90’s & no one could imagine what the internet would become, so the counselor told me that’s not a career & with my grades I’d be better off just settling for working at my local electronics manufacturing plant or casino. That really ate at me. It still kind of does, because it really discouraged following my own path or dreams. Definitely not something that a person trusted with guidance of any kind should be doing to a kid.
Jump forward a few years, I was laid off from a job where I traveled regionally a lot. While I was traveling, I’d go out with my little point & shoot camera on hikes. People liked what I was photographing, so when I found myself out of work, photography got me off the couch in between job searches. It kind of blossomed from there.
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 sort of started to answer this in the previous answer, but adding to what I was saying, 10 years ago I started building confidence enough to start taking photography seriously. I started studying what other photographers did, I looked at their websites for pricing info, looked at their EXIF data from photos posted on FLICKR (remember that site?) and really learning how to get some of the more difficult shots & how to price them. Pretty much everything I’ve learned, it was from pretty tenacious research of the people a few steps ahead of me in the journey & trying to take the best of everything I learned, blend it with my own style/personality & make it my own. One of the things that I think sets me apart from many others is that I try to tell stories along with the photos. Sometimes how I got the shot, but also creating awareness around issues like climate change & what it’s doing to the spaces that we love. I also touch a bit on mental health & the effects of the outdoors on the mind. I’ll pretty much tell stories of anything that I think will help followers, fans & potential clients to know a little bit more about the person & motivation behind the works.
Right now, the main service I provide is photo prints of my work. Lately, it’s been mostly been in the form of licensing photos to commercial interior design companies, but I do sell a fair amount of prints from my website (which is currently undergoing an overhaul) and at local markets. I also have an annual calendar which seems to go over pretty well every year.
I really love getting feedback from clients when they receive their prints or they recognize my work in a space & they send me a photo of the work on display. That feedback and recognition is really gratifying and humbling. I’m filled with gratitude every time it happens.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I tend to really push my own limits, more physically than anything. It’s been awhile, but I’ll happily sleep in the vehicle at rest stops squeezing every last mile out of a 3 day weekend. I’ve gotten up at 4:00 AM and spend a 20 hour marathon day photographing as much as possible in as many places as I can, then when I’m on the way home & the only thing I want is my bed, I get an alert that the northern lights are active. Of course I’ll find one more location & snap a few more frames. I tend to think I do my best work when it’s freezing out. I’ve photographed at as low as -25. Just this last week, it was about -16 & I was out for a sunrise hike to make photos on the top of an icy cliff.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
This is kind of a loaded question because these days most of the people I look to aren’t in the same creative realm as I am. I look to writers like Brendan Leonard & his book 60 Meters to Anywhere. Creative Calling by Chase Jarvis, I learn so much by listening to podcasts and audiobooks. Again, Chase Jarvis, Stephen Pressfield is amazing, Ryan Holliday & I really love Gary Vaynerchuk. I also look to the worlds of action sports for inspiration from people like Selema Masekela, Jeremy Jones, Rich Roll, Jimmy Chin, & of course Chris Burkard. I feel like just about anyone can learn, or take something from all of these people I just mentioned, apply it to their life and come out better on the other end in some way, shape or form.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.flowstatephotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flowstate_photography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FlowstatePhoto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-rockvam-20b96251/