Hello everyone!
I’m very excited to host this Ask Me Anything (AMA) today!
My name is Matt Payne, and I am a mountain climber, adventurer, and fine art nature and landscape photographer living in Durango, Colorado. In 2018, I completed my life-long goal of climbing the highest 100 mountains in Colorado, where my love of photography was kindled. Since 2017, I have hosted a weekly podcast dedicated to nature photography called “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen.” I am also the co-founder of Nature First Photography, an organization that was created in 2018 to help increase ethical awareness in nature photography. Lastly, I am the co-creator of the Natural Landscape Photography Awards, an international photography competition that rewards and celebrates nature photographers who dedicate themselves to photographing and editing their work in a realistic fashion. You can read one of my controversial articles about why I think this is important. I actually get a lot of negative attention for my position on this topic, and I truly think my position is mostly misunderstood despite my attempts at being clear through my writing and on my podcast. We digress…
I grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado and was lucky to have parents that impressed upon me a healthy appreciation for the outdoors. I grew up quite poor, which was actually quite a blessing in disguise, as our family vacations involved going camping in the Colorado mountains almost every weekend during the summer. My father took me along on his pursuit to climb Colorado’s highest 100 mountains back in the 1980s and helped me climb my first 14,000 ft. mountain at the age of 6. My parents instilled a very strong sense of ethical appreciation of the wilderness, teaching me leave no trace ethics. On the slopes of Colorado’s mountains, my father taught me how to tread lightly to preserve the fragile tundra and ecosystem of our highest places.
In 2014 I moved to Portland, Oregon and enjoyed photographing all of the wonders that Oregon has to offer, including waterfalls, rainforests, mountains, lakes and beaches! In late 2015 I moved back to Colorado to reside in the town of Durango at the base of Colorado’s most amazing mountains with my wife Angela and my son Quinn.
As of 2018, I have climbed all of Colorado’s 14,000 ft. peaks (there are 53) and all of the highest 100 mountains in Colorado, affectionately known as the Centennials. It is on my adventures to these locations that I am inspired the most to produce images that truly speak to my soul.
Honestly, I’m just an average guy that loves the wilderness and outdoors. My goal as a nature photographer is to show you parts of our world you may have never seen before. I want to transport you to these places and have you experience the raw wonder and beauty of our world. I hope through my images, you can also feel wonder and joy and cultivate a greater appreciation of the natural environment and the positive impact it can have on each of us.
You can see my work on my website.
You can also follow me on the socials
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube
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