An outdoor and travel photographer for over 25 years, Brenda Tharp took up photography as a teenager. Over the years, her passion for the craft has produced several award-winning photographs which have been published internationally, in magazines, brochures and books produced by Chronicle, Michelin, National Geographic and Sierra Club among others. Along with a photographer, Tharp is also an accomplished teacher who strives to ignite the passion in others to explore their world more deeply, and become the best photographer they can be.

When did you first discover your love for photography?
I was about 10 years old, I think. My dad was a serious hobbyist and I followed him around imitating him with my Brownie cameras. Eventually, it grabbed hold of me and I seriously started pursuing it as a hobby and then a career.

Your work has seen you explore the globe over the past 25 years. Which location has stayed with you the most? Why?
I love every place I get to go, seriously! Each location offers something special, something unique, and I love learning about people and cultures and seeing new things. I love Italy, it’s like a second home to me but I also love Asia and Alaska for very different reasons.

I look at every day as a chance to grow and learn new things.

What is the best part of being a travelling photographer?
The experiences I have, seeing wonderful places, meeting people, trying new things and creating new memories as well as photographs is the best part of being a travelling photographer.

What are your lenses of choice when shooting outdoors?
I use a range of super-wide to super telephoto for my outdoor/nature photography. I have a 16-35mm, 24-105mm, a fixed fast 28mm, a 70-200mm, a 100-400mm and a 500mm. For travel, I keep it lighter unless I’m going to a specific location that will require my wildlife lenses.

Can you tell us some more about your recent book Creative Nature & Outdoor Photography? What is it about?
A revision of my earlier book, this version is updated with all new pictures and text relevant to the digital world we are in. It’s about seeing and using light, composing for impact, using design elements in your pictures, adding visual depth and capturing gestures and moments. It is written to help people become more creative with their photographs.

A writer, teacher, speaker and a photographer, you have done it all. But which role do you find most challenging and why?
Photography assignments are the most challenging because you don’t always get the weather or the overall conditions you envisioned. But you have to make it work somehow while you are there. And when it all does work, it is a sweet reward for your efforts.

As a teacher of photography, to what extent do you think can photography be taught? Aren’t images the outcome of individual visualization?
Images are indeed the outcome of individual visualization, but you still need a foundation of skills to be able to bring out what you visualize in the final image. Settings, exposure, composition, light, etc. are all things that help you express what you see. We are allowed as children to be very creative, and as adults we are ‘forced’ to get serious about work, making a living, etc and in the process the creative spirit gets suppressed in many of us. I see my job as a teacher as someone who can help my students get back to that creative place and help them use all the technical skills to make the best picture they can of what they see.

The experiences I have, seeing wonderful places, meeting people, trying new things and creating new memories as well as photographs is the best part of being a travelling photographer.

We understand that you were part of a project on monarch butterflies for Chicago’s Natural History Museum. Can you tell us more about it?
It was actually an event of lucky timing. I had just returned from spending a week photographing the Monarch Butterflies in Mexico and the editor called to see if I had any pictures of Monarchs. I sent her everything I had and they chose several for their permanent exhibit on the butterflies, using them really large in some cases. It was wonderful to know that my photographs can enlighten others about the Monarchs’ life and the need to preserve their habitat. But I have many other projects I consider favourites, too. I photographed a book on Muir Woods and on the Marin Headlands, for the National Park Conservancy in the Bay Area. Both of those books allowed me to be out doing what I love to do, making pictures outdoors. I have contributed to many books on travel and nature photography and have images published in calendars and magazines regularly. All of these things, whether small or large, are special to me.

If not a photographer, what would you be?
I can’t think of anything I would rather do. I make jewellery in my spare time and I like to write. So either of those could be alternatives if something caused me to have to stop photographing but I am not quitting any time soon.

What are your thoughts on printing?
By printing my images, they become something tangible that you can hang on the wall to enjoy. It gives me great pleasure to sell prints, as I know people will enjoy them for years to come.

Photos by Brenda Tharp | Fotosocial

	Quick 7: Your Favourite Printer: Epson 4880 for my own printing, larger ones get sent out. I like the size it can print. All the Epson printers are top quality but for my office space, this one fits the best. Your Favourite Shoot: I’ve loved them all! Your Preferred Location: Anywhere there’s great light, scenery and things happening! Favourite Photographer: Too many favourites to pick just one-Ernst Haas, Eliot Porter, Margaret Bourke-White to name a few. Most memorable story: I got to witness a mother humpback whale trying to save her calf that had gotten tangled in a boat rope. She circled our boat and kept nudging her calf up to the surface so we could see the rope. We were not able to get safely close enough to disentangle the calf, but we radioed our coordinates in so the Whale Foundation could come and hopefully rescue the calf. It amazed me how the mother just knew that we might be able to help. They are so intelligent! Current photographers you like: Freeman Patterson, Hans Strand, Joel Sartore, Stephen Wilkes, Sam Abell, Holly Wilmeth, and Alison Wright. Toughest day at work: I look at every day as a chance to grow and learn new things.