Wanderlust, Research & Shutter Speed: An Interview With Rick Berk

We are delighted to present an interview with renowned American landscape photographer, Rick Berk. With an impressive career spanning over three decades, Rick has captured the beauty of nature in all its forms, from idyllic coastal views to majestic mountain vistas.

His passion for the outdoors and discerning eye for detail have led him to become one of the most respected names in the landscape photography world. He is an award-winning photographer and his work has been showcased in galleries across the United States.

In the latest instalment of our Smart Artist Hub blog, we are thrilled to explore the creative process of this incredibly talented artist, delving into his inspirations, techniques, and unwavering dedication to his craft.

Rick Berk. Image courtesy of the artist.

SAH: Please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.

RB As a child growing up in New Jersey, I was constantly drawing in a sketchbook. I would draw or paint as much as I could. Back then my subjects were usually my favourite athletes and musicians. There were times I would try and render a landscape, but it wasn’t something I pursued much of.

I originally attended college for graphic design, but after two years I became disillusioned with that area of study.
In my third year, I was required to take a photography course, and after developing my first roll of film and making my first print, I immediately knew that photography was my calling. From then until I graduated, I spent as much time in the darkroom as possible.

I began pursuing a career photographing sports and spent nearly ten years photographing professional sports in the United States including baseball, American football, and ice hockey. As I travelled to cover these events, I began making photos of the cities I visited, or seeking out landscape opportunities nearby when possible.

Over time, this became my escape, a time to relax and be free of stress. The more I got out in nature to photograph, the better I felt emotionally, so I began to use the time therapeutically.

In 2016, I entered a tumultuous time in my life, and I ended up having to start over. I decided to move to the coast of Maine, which would allow me to pursue landscape photo opportunities there, which were more plentiful than those where I was living in New York.

The move to Maine proved to be the right one for me, as I found peace being on the coast, photographing the ocean crashing against the rugged shoreline. I spent the next three years exploring Maine as much as I could.

As my work began to garner more attention, I began travelling more, camera in hand. I am blessed with a touch of wanderlust, so I try to get on the road as much as possible and photograph new places. But Maine is home, where I live with my wife and stepson, often visited by my two grown children as well.

Rick Berk. Reflected-Tranquility. Image courtesy of the artist.

SAH: What inspired you to pursue landscape photography?

RB: As I said earlier, it began with me traveling for work, at first photographing professional sports and later as a technical specialist for Canon USA. Getting out in nature to photograph the places I travelled to was soothing and therapeutic for me, so I tried to photograph as much as possible. I’m drawn to nature.

Originally, it was a draw to see beautiful places and capture that moment in time. It was simply a personal experience.
But as I’ve grown more aware of the world around me, part of why I pursue landscape photography is to document the landscape as it is now, in fear that climate change will irrevocably alter these beautiful places, and not for the better.

In addition, as I have shown my work on social media or in galleries, people have approached me to tell me how they appreciate my sharing these images of places they will probably never see for themselves.

While my first impulse is always to create images that make me happy, I do so with the knowledge that someone who has never been to that place will form an impression of it based on my work. It makes me happy to be able to share my vision with those people.

SAH: Can you use 3 words to describe your work?

RB: Vibrant. Tranquil. Immersive.

Rick Berk. Appalachian-Sunset. Image courtesy of the artist.

Rick Berk. Celestial-Basin. Image courtesy of the artist.

SAH: How would you describe the process of creating a fine art landscape photograph?

For the most part, my process is very proactive. I have an extensive list of locations I want to photograph, and when I plan my travels, I will choose one or more of those locations.

I research any hiking trails to gauge their difficulty and ensure I am ready for what I may encounter and have the necessary gear such as snowshoes, hiking poles, and proper footwear. I research the weather to see what conditions will be, including sunrise and sunset times and direction and angle of light.

If possible, I will visit a sunrise location in the daytime prior to when I plan to photograph it, so I can be familiar with it before arriving in the dark and waiting for dawn. This gives me an opportunity to view the foreground and begin to plan my compositions. It can be painstaking work, but it usually pays off.

Once I’ve planned my visit to the location, photographing it is the easy part.

I always have some idea in my head of how I would like to portray the scene and will expose it accordingly.
I will use a variety of techniques to vary my exposure. If conditions are right, I might opt for a long exposure that allows me to capture cloud and water movement differently than a shorter exposure will.

I will try and work the location as much as possible, moving around the area to find different angles, and changing my foreground and background as well as the angle of the light.

Once I have my captures, when I’m back in my office I will begin the process of selecting which images I want to edit and how I want to edit them. As I said, as I’m making the captures, I very often already have a plan in place as to how I want to edit, and back in the office, it’s simply a matter of execution.

I use Adobe Photoshop to edit all my work. Most often, I am simply making colour, contrast, and brightness adjustments, both globally to the entire image, and locally to specific areas of an image. Dodging and burning are major players in my workflow.

SAH: What challenges have you encountered while shooting landscapes?

RB: There are a variety of challenges that present themselves in photographing landscapes. While some photographers can be continually inspired by familiar surroundings, I tend to seek out places I’ve never been.

I find that when I am unfamiliar with a location, I am more inspired, so the challenge for me is the ability to travel to places I’ve never been or haven’t visited often. On the other hand, finding new ways to photograph a location I’ve been to many times, such as on the Maine coast where I live, is also a creative challenge that can be very rewarding when I’m able to find something new in the scene.  

Beyond those creative challenges, there are the physical challenges of dealing with the weather and elements.
Photographing in cold temperatures in the winter can result in some stunning photos, but it’s physically taxing to be out in the cold for very long, and difficult to work with your equipment when you’re all bundled up.

In warmer weather, carrying extra water, insect repellent, and sunscreen all add to the challenge of reaching a location and photographing it, especially when a long hike is required. Having the physical fitness to get to these spots is a must. 

Rick Berk. Sunset-Reset. Image courtesy of the artist.

SAH: How do you decide which elements should be included in a composition?

RB: It ultimately comes down to what is visually appealing when I look at a scene. I try to ensure that spatial relationships between objects are maintained so that any overlapping of objects doesn’t jumble the image and allows the elements in the composition their own room to breathe.

Anything that might be distracting, I try to eliminate by moving my camera or zooming my lens if possible. I watch the edges of my frame to ensure nothing is poking into the frame awkwardly, and I actively try to compose in a way that moves the eye fluidly through a scene. I dislike static compositions for the most part and love it when the eye naturally moves through a scene, taking it all in.

SAH: Do you have any advice for aspiring landscape photographers?

RB: From a creative standpoint, the first thing I would say is to find your own voice. There are so many people doing landscape photography on some level, from enthusiasts to professionals, that it can be difficult to stand out. If you can find a way to develop your own style and your own vision, people will begin to recognize it as yours.

The second thing I would say is continually push yourself to get out and photograph, whether it’s a familiar location close to home, or travelling someplace new. There is no better way to improve and hone your style and skills than to keep making photographs.

For those looking to make their photography a business, don’t forget about the business side of things.
I find artists in general, me included, tend to struggle with marketing their own work and are unable to put themselves in their potential buyers’ shoes.

The bottom line is that being able to sell your work enables you to continue to create, so pay attention to not only the marketing end of things but also the administrative end such as accounting, to ensure you’re as profitable as you can be.

SAH: How has your approach to landscape photography changed over the years?

RB: Over the years I’ve become much more proactive about my work, as well as more technical.
By proactive, I mean that I will scout locations in advance more and visualize the finished image before I’ve ever clicked the shutter. I will have at least a good idea of what my result will be.

I plan more, researching weather, tides, and direction of light, all before I ever set foot at the location. In my early years, I might check the weather and then just go to the spot and see what I get, and often luck would be on my side.
By planning more, I can get a much better idea of what I want my finished image to be.

From a technical standpoint, I’ve become much more adept at manipulating my exposures in camera to create the effects and feelings I want to convey in my scene. When I was starting out, I was satisfied with just getting the correct exposure and good composition.

But as I’ve become more experienced, I’m much more conscious of the effect that my settings have on a scene beyond the brightness of the image. Most often, I will manipulate the shutter speed to capture movement in the scene in a specific way. For me, that’s most often water or cloud movement. It seems like a simple step, but it really changed my approach when I began to understand the effect little changes to shutter speed could have.

Building on manipulating shutter speeds, I began using filters on my camera to control the light entering the lens. Things like using polarizing filters to control haze and reflections, neutral density filters to allow for slower shutter speeds in bright daylight and graduated neutral density filters to help handle high-contrast scenes like sunrises or sunsets, enabled me to improve on my images immensely and bring more out of the scene.

Rick Berk. The-Liberty-Bell. Image courtesy of the artist.

SAH: What are some of the most memorable locations that you have photographed?

RB: Yosemite National Park is simply incredible. And I know many will state that it’s overphotographed and there’s nothing original there, but I disagree. It’s a park rich with photographic opportunities, and while there are some iconic locations everyone photographs, there are plenty of other scenes and compositions that haven’t been taken yet or are ready for a new take on them.

Another of my favourite locations is Acadia National Park in Maine. It’s nice and close to home, so I am able to get there quite a bit. While it’s more subdued in its grandeur than Yosemite, it has a stunning beauty about it that is just captivating. The rugged coastline lined with pine trees, and tall granite cliffs towering over the ocean, with rocky coves providing the perfect hideaway makes it one of my favourite places to photograph.

One more memorable location I’ll mention is the Louisiana bayou. A friend invited me down to photograph there a few years ago and I fell in love. The cypresses growing out of the water, the wildlife, and the lush greenery were simply amazing to see and photograph. Lake Maurepas was unbelievably beautiful. To get out of the boat and wade waist-deep in the brackish water with my camera and tripod was an experience for sure.

SAH: How do digital technologies and social media platforms influence your work or help promote it?

RB: First, digital technology has completely changed photography. When I began as a photographer I was working with film and started out working in a professional darkroom while I learned the business. I loved being in the darkroom developing film and making prints. While film is making a comeback in a niche way, film has limitations that are largely removed by digital.

Personally, I don’t have the space for a wet darkroom so that would limit my ability to finish my images to my own liking, while with the digital darkroom using Adobe Photoshop or other software, I can process my images to my own tastes from the time I push the button to the time the print comes off the printer.

As to the business of photography, getting your work seen is obviously paramount, and social media has made it much easier to do that. I’m active on Facebook and Instagram and have built up followings on each of them.

The ability to reach people all over the world is incredible to me. I think social media has made a physical gallery presence far less important than it once was and provides greater reach. That said, I believe hanging work in a gallery still provides a meaningful experience for both the photographer and buyers of art that the internet fails to capture fully.  

SAH: What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?

RB: The best way to see my work is through my website at www.rickberk.com. I am constantly adding new photos, as well as journal entries detailing my adventures and the stories behind my work. And as I said, I’m very active on Facebook and Instagram.  People can support my work in several ways.

The obvious and most helpful one is to purchase a print, which then allows me to go make more photographs.
But even simply sharing my work on social media so your friends can see it can be very helpful.  People sometimes see an image and just connect with it, and you never know how that will happen. The more people sharing, the better the chances.

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More information

Website: https://www.rickberk.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/rickberkphoto

Instagram: www.Instagram.com/rickberkphoto