2009_02_11_National Geographic photographer and a storm chaser

2009_02_11_National Geographic photographer and a storm chaser

Today while out on assignment in McPherson, Kansas I decided to swing by Jim Richardson's studio in Lindsborg, Kansas during the hour between assignments. I wasn't expecting him to be in town given the life of a National Geographic photographer, I was hoping so though. Even if he wasn't at his office I was really looking forward to looking at some of his gallery work and getting a taste of some terrific photography.

I lucked out though and he happened to be in town working in his office which is in the back of his gallery. I introduced myself and we got down to talking about today's photography, jobs, and a my plans and his advice for getting into today's market. It was a sobering talk as always in today's world, he had a lot of great advice for me, outstanding points on breaking into international photojournalism, and how to market myself along the way.

Richardson then showed me some of his new work that he is currently editing through and some challenges that came up while shooting and the shots that meant the most to him.

I'll be heading back to Lindsborg in March to meet up with Richardson again and run through my portfolio with him after he gets back from a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, DC. I know my shots will be torn apart, but that's the process of getting better, having someone at the top of their game look at your photos and show you how you could improve.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Best,
Brad Vest

Oh, also, at the second assignment of the day I met a veteran storm chaser based out of McPherson, Kansas. We exchanged information and I'll hopefully be chasing a few storms with him in the upcoming months, documenting the trips and photographing the life of a storm chaser on the road. Awesome.

Listening to: Decatur, Sufjan Stevens