We recently connected with Tom Stahl and have shared our conversation below.

Tom, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I made a conscious decision early in my career that while I would try to earn money from my photography, I would not try to make it my full-time job. I made this decision for a couple of reasons. When I first got into photography, I saw many other full-time photographers struggling to make a living. Many of those who did make it work spent much of their time doing things they didn’t want to do – focusing on commercial versus creative photography, or devoting almost all their time to marketing and promotion instead of creative work. I wanted to spend most of my photography time out traveling and making images. But professional travel photographers I knew spent long periods of time away from their spouses and families, and I didn’t want to do that. Luckily, I also had skills that would allow me to make a living in other ways and keep photography as my passion. By doing so, I could focus on creating photography that I liked without the pressure of having to support myself and my family from photography.

So in thirty years I’ve never tried to make a full-time living from my art. I have sold images, I’ve won awards, and my photos have been published and exhibited around the world. But by earning my living elsewhere, I’ve been able to focus my creative energies on the parts of photography that I love. Just six months ago, I retired from a successful business career and am now devoting my full time attention to photography for the first time.

Tom, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a San Francisco-based travel, landscape, architecture and Burning Man photographer. I take photographs because I like to document my explorations of the world, because photography forces me to concentrate, focus, and live in the moment, and because I hope every once in a while to create something of lasting beauty. When I graduated from college, I went straight to work at a large defense contractor in suburban Washington DC. The job was hard to get, well paid, and soul-crushingly boring. So I started saving money and planning an eighteen month backpacking trip around the world. Before I started the trip, I purchased my first camera. During my travels, I was surprised to find that many of my most intense experiences came when I was behind the lens. I loved the combination of technical and creative skills that went into making a good image.

When I returned from the trip, I started showing my images to family and friends. Almost immediately, people started asking to purchase prints. Over the ensuing years, I spent much of my spare time learning about the art of photography and traveling the world creating images.
I’ve lived in five countries on three continents, and traveled to more than 50 countries on six continents. I’ve also attended Burning Man in the Nevada desert six times. My photos have won numerous international awards and have been published and exhibited around the world.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey? My primary mission in photography is to create and share images of our beautiful planet, in order to try to create moments of amazement for my audience. In doing so, I hope to also instill greater appreciation for both the natural and cultural beauty of our world. Although I shoot many types of images, I think of myself primarily as a travel photographer. I inherited my love of travel from my parents. When we were young, our trips were primarily to camp in the US national parks, and to this day I still love nothing more than backpacking in the California mountains. As we got older, my parents began traveling more extensively internationally and sometimes brought us along. In my twenties I started traveling myself and have not slowed down since.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I first started taking photographs, I used to be very prudent with the amount of film I shot. I didn’t have much money, and slide film and processing was expensive. At the same time, when I’d do slideshows of my work, I wasn’t as careful about only showing my best work. After one show went on too long, a photographer friend told me “always leave them wanting to see more, not less.”

Since then, my approach has changed completely. My philosophy now is “Shoot a lot, show a little.” When I’m out taking pictures, I take A LOT of pictures. In the age of digital photography, the incremental cost of one more exposure is essentially zero. And when I’ve traveled to a far-off destination, I never know if I will have the chance to return.Shooting a lot of photos drastically increases my odds of getting an image I like.

The second part of the guideline, show a little, is even more important to me than the first. I remember the guideline in particular when I post photos online. I sometimes see people put up albums of 100 images or more. Very few people have the time or interest to get through an album of 100 images. Even worse, photographers sometimes post two or three versions of essentially the same image. I’ve learned to self edit ruthlessly; I never want to force my audience to be my editor.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tomstahlphoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomstahlphoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tomstahlphoto/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomstahl/