Contest-Winning Featured Photographer: Jeremy Vesely

We've been partnering with our pals at Viewbug to offer you guys great contests weekly, and one of those contests we run on a monthly basis gives you the chance to be featured here! The first winner of such a contest is Jeremy Vesely with his image  "Three Brothers at Sunrise" which was also our photo of the day earlier this week.

So what makes Jeremy tick? "If you asked me a few years ago about my style, I wouldn’t have a clue. I think this is the way it is for most photographers. Over time, you see something within your own work that catches your eye. Once that happens, I believe, you’ve started down the path of creating your own style of photography. I’ve only recently been developing my own." 

Much like other photographers who at first stick to a strict "straight out of camera" lifestyle, eventually Jeremy embraced post production. "Over time, I couldn’t see any way that my photography could stand out from the rest.  I then started developing my skills in camera and in post production. This is when I started experimenting with HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography." 

Uh oh, the word of death: HDR. But Jeremy understands it has its limits. "I definitely got carried away with it at times (You can still see some of my extreme HDR work on my site), but I found it to be so important for my particular style for many reasons. It taught me about dynamic range, how light can make an impact when capturing an image, how the camera meters what it’s capturing, and how to manipulate the way the camera interprets the data. I really attribute HDR photography to opening up the door into filtering light utilizing filters.  For now, my style consists of interesting compositions, light, and color. As I’m always learning, however, I can’t say that my style will ever remain completely the same. That’s what I love about photography; you become more self-aware each day about how little you know and how much more you have to grow."

Though he is a wedding photographer as well, Jeremy has found his true love in landscape work. "I absolutely love to photograph the world around me. I love being out in nature, especially away from the city. I feel connected and surrounded by peace and tranquility. Being a weekend/weeknight warrior, I feel such freedom being out of the normal day-to-day cycle we are in and get a chance to sneak away from the stress of daily life.

"Even though I love the portrait side, nothing will ever compare to getting up at 4:00am in the morning for a sunrise that will take your breath away."

In search of those perfect images, Jeremy does go to extremes. "For those that know me, I’m no stranger to spending ridiculous amounts of time (Outside of my day job) to go photograph locations.  As an example, I travelled to Washington for a wedding.  After driving 6 hours from Portland, OR to Spokane, WA, I then decided to drive 5 more hours round trip to photograph Palouse Falls. I then decided to stay there until 1am to photograph the Milky Way.  I didn’t get back to the hotel until 3:30am in the morning. I will never regret it as it produced one of my best images and was featured on Milky Way Scientists. It’s the spontaneous adventure that encourages creativity and often produces the best photographic opportunities."

Jeremy's dream is to be able to take his love for nature full time, but understands that even if that never happens it will not dampen his love for making images. "I would love to have a continual source of income through my photography to be able to travel and capture more of our majestic world. Whether it happens or not, I won’t ever stop traveling nor will I stop showing off our awesome planet through my photography; it’s just too much fun."