320: Astrid Preisz - Shedding Your Emotional Armor Through Nature Photography

Nature Photography can be a powerful tool for self-expression, self-discovery, and personal transformation. The keys to leveraging this visual communication medium for these purposes can be elusive, but once they are tapped into fully, the impacts can be quite fruitful! On today's episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Astrid Preisz, a phenomenal photographer from Austria. Astrid has some of the most creative and mind-bending images I've seen and so it was great to get to know her through the podcast and get to learn what her approaches are to making her exceptional images. In this episode, you'll learn how her approach to photography has set her on a path of self-expression that has completely transformed her as a person. On this week's episode, we discuss: Astrid's journey into nature photography starting in 2015. How photography has aided her in finding a path for self-expression which has allowed her to shed her emotional armor. How we can encourage other photographers to place less pressure on themselves to perform and why that approach can help us. Pitfalls for visual communication and overcoming them. The concept of play and how it makes us better creatives. Defining our work as photographers. And a lot more! If you enjoyed our chat, you can catch a bonus episode on Patreon where Astrid and I discuss our approaches to focusing on experiences instead of results.  Other topics/links discussed on the podcast this week: Support the podcast on Patreon. The Natural Landscape Photography Awards. Astrid on Instagram. Watch podcast episodes on YouTube, where we overlay photos with our conversation via video. Here is who Astrid recommended on the podcast this week: Madeleine Lenagh. I love hearing from the podcast listeners! Reach out to me via Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter if you'd like to be on the podcast or if you have an idea of a topic we can talk about. We also have an Instagram page, a Facebook Page, and a Facebook Group - so don't be shy! We also have a searchable transcript of every episode! Thanks for stopping in, collaborating with us, and listening. See you next week. P.S. you can also support the podcast by purchasing items through our B+H affiliate link.

Om Podcasten

This photography podcast takes you well beyond camera gear each week with weekly interviews and panel discussions with professional photographers, industry insiders, enthusiasts, and hobbyists alike. Our candid but laid-back conversations deeply explore the craft of photography, and psychological drivers relating to creativity, motivation, inspiration, and workflow. We also discuss social media, photography business practices, marketing, sales, and hot topics impacting photographers from all genres, with a particular focus on landscape, nature, and wildlife photography. The show is hosted by Matt Payne, a professional full-time nature photographer and the co-founder of the internationally renowned photography competition, the Natural Landscape Photography Awards. Matt is also a mountaineer, climbing the highest 100 mountains in Colorado. Matt leverages skills he gained in pursuit of his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology to dig deeply into the hearts and minds of his passionate guests, revealing secrets and inspiration in every episode.