I recently met Scott at a local art fair and the beauty of his black and white photos reminded me of photos my father used to take many years ago. Scott has been to many sites my father has been, and consequently, where other famous photographers like Ansel Adams have been. He is following in the footsteps of the greats.

*One of Scott's spectacular black & white landscape photos from his website.*

Can you briefly describe what you do?

I am a photographer specializing in fine art landscape photography. I sell various-sized prints of my work at arts and crafts shows in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

So where did your interest come from?

Many years ago, my girlfriend and I took a trip to Hawaii. She was already a photographer and loved taking photographs of all the places we visited. At the time, I just carried the camera bag while she ran around and took all the pictures. One day, after a long hike into a valley on the northeast coast of the big island, she handed me the camera and told me to start taking some pictures.

When I put that camera up to my eye, it blew my mind. I don’t know exactly what happened but things suddenly clicked and I knew photography was something I wanted to pursue. After spending the next few years deep-diving into everything photography-related, I was feeling pretty good about the photographs I had taken and the stories behind them. I wanted to share the vision I had with each individual photograph with the public and inspire others to seek adventures in nature.

So, I made the decision to make it a business and see if I could sell any prints. At first, it was all online, but I wasn’t selling a thing. So, I decided next to try and sell at some art shows. My first art show was in April of 2018 and it was amazing. From that point forward I started selling at local arts and crafts shows with great success.

Can you describe your typical work day?

The work of a photographer and a photography business like mine is a balance between spending time in the field taking the photographs, working behind the computer editing, working with the photographs I took to make the product, and finally working the Arts and Crafts shows getting my photography out into the world. I am a one-person operation and it’s a tough balance to maintain. I often find myself ping-ponging between spending more time in the field taking photographs than doing art shows and vice-versa.

What would you say is your best-selling item?

My best-selling photograph is one of a very prominent lightning bolt that I took while in Death Valley (see below). I think this is a best seller because of two things. One, a still of lightning always seems to capture people’s attention as it’s not something one gets to see normally. Lightning happens in a blink of an eye and you never get to really see the intricacies unless you capture that still image. People seem fascinated by it and, especially in Southern California, we rarely see lightning.

The second thing, simply, is the story that goes with it. Art, particularly photography, go hand-in-hand with storytelling. While I don’t consider myself necessarily a narrative photographer, the story behind the photograph seems to capture the imagination and sense of adventure and risk.

*Captured instance of a lightning bolt in Death Valley*

What do you think sets you apart?

Photography is very much personal expression. What the viewer sees in my photographs is what I saw through the lens and through the color, the contrast, and the lighting. I try to pull out the emotional connection I felt with the subject or scene at the time.

Competition is heavy. Tons of other photographers photograph the same or similar scenes as I do. However, art is subjective and that’s the great thing about my competition. I might have a photograph that really pulls someone in and when that happens, they feel that emotional connection with it, but on the other hand, another photographer might have the same.

I try not to think of it in the sense that I’m competing with other Photographers. Not all of my work, or their work, is for everyone. I try to photograph things that pull that emotional string for me and when I publish it, I hope that it pulls that string for others too.

How is social media an important part of your business?

I use both Facebook and Instagram the most for sure. I also post to two additional photo-sharing apps called YouPic and ViewBug. I’ve also tried posting on other platforms like Reddit with mixed results. To be honest, none of them have ever generated much business for me. I use them mostly for just sharing my most recent work and for sharing the events where I’ll be selling my work next.

Instagram has always been my go-to for sharing new work, but I’ve never really used it to expand sales. It’s more a platform to share my story, and my journey, as a photographer. All my photographs are on Instagram, someone can see the very first photograph I ever took and the most recent photograph I’ve published… This is where they can visually see my journey as a photographer.

What are your thoughts on working with computers?

Computers play a huge role in digital photography, and for that, I use a Windows PC. Some photographers can edit on their phone, or a tablet, or whatever but I like to sit down in front of a large screen with a good beer and really focus on details.

I also use the computer to manage the finances of the business which is just a simple spreadsheet to track sales and expenses so I can know what photographs I need to reorder and what photographs are selling well. I also use a service called Backblaze to back up everything off-site as well as a large portable drive to back up everything locally.

My business revolves 100% around my images, so I have to protect those. Aside from that, all my orders to refill stock, and manage my website, and really everything is all on the computer and/or online.

Do you have any thoughts about outsourcing work?

I manage everything myself, probably to my detriment but I haven’t seen the need to expand into paying people to manage either my website, socials, etc. My background is in software engineering and website design, so I have a very technical background on which I can lean which helps immensely. It allows me to do most of everything myself.

How do you manage customer retention and/or Email mailing lists?

I actually don’t use anything but that simple spreadsheet to track sales, which probably isn’t the best advice but I haven’t really encountered the need to reach out to customers directly. I do have a few repeat customers that will occasionally buy prints of new photographs that I publish, but I mostly leave it to them to contact me when they see something that they want.

I post every new photograph to Facebook, Instagram, YouPic and ViewBug and then advertise where I’ll be selling next on Facebook and Instagram. I have found that my customers want to meet me in person, they want to talk about the work, share their experiences and how they relate to the photograph, and hold the print in their hands.

*One of Scott's abstract photographs from his website*

How do you balance work and personal time?

As I mentioned before, it’s a tricky balance between going out in the field to take photographs, editing the photographs for the final print, and then taking the time to sell them at art shows. My background as a software engineer is a big help with time management and I’m pretty good about balancing all of those things. I still find myself focusing on one part more than the others. When I start to feel that, I know it’s time to switch.

For example, I once went three months without taking any photographs. It was all art shows… I was putting in the hustle to get my work into the hands of customers. When I realized it, I immediately started planning my next trip. One of the great benefits of this art form is that it can happen anywhere at any time. I just need to keep my camera close and be ready for when inspiration strikes, or the light is too perfect to pass up. Pretty much all my “leisure” trips are work trips because I have my camera with me.

What are your thoughts regarding the environment, social issues, and being a partner to the community for your business?

The environment is a big issue for me, it’s the focus of nearly all of my work so I consider myself a big conservationist when it comes to that. I’m always picking up trash on trails, cleaning up campsites, and so on. I backpack a lot and I always have a canvas bag clipped to my side for trash I pick up.

I also never directly advertise the location of the photograph. I’ll give a general area, such as “The Grand Canyon” but any geo-information I capture with the photograph is removed. It’s a big topic of discussion and source of debate in my field. Some argue that the locations should be shared so everyone can go and appreciate the stunning beauty. Others argue that sharing such specific locations ultimately increases the traffic at those locations to an unsustainable point and destruction starts to occur.

Personally, I’m in the ladder camp and there are a lot of examples of photographs going viral and increasing traffic to the point that the location has been completely destroyed.

What do you see as the outlook for the future of your business?

The photography industry is in a huge state of flux at the moment. First with the advent of digital, then phones got cameras and now there’s AI. I don’t think any of that will replace a true artistic photograph but I do see the appreciation of a photograph diminishing slowly. At some of my art shows, people will often comment on how beautiful they are but end with “I can just go take that photograph myself” and walk away. It used to be the opposite because before it was the artist who had the equipment and put in the effort. Honestly, if they want to take the photograph themselves and it was my photograph that inspired them to get out in nature to do it, then it’s still a win despite not getting the sale.

I think that’s probably how I would define “Success” in my work. If my work inspired you to get out in nature and experience it, to witness its beauty, then it’s a success. In 5 or 10 years I see artistic photography being a lot like vinyl records. People thought cassettes would kill them off before CDs; then everyone thought CDs would kill records, and now they think it will be streaming. In reality, though, there are a lot of music fans who treasure those vinyl records and seek them out to add to their collection. I think photography will be very similar, there will always be those niche collectors, dedicated or passive, that will seek out the photographs that speak to their souls.

Do you have any final thoughts for my readers?

Music taught me to hear, and photography has taught me to see.
- R. Scott Elgram

If you’re looking to get into photography, the best advice I could give is just to go out and shoot with intention as much as you can. It’s the “intention” that elevates it beyond just a simple snapshot. With intention, your photography will start to evolve and you’ll start to develop your eye for a scene and your style. After that, just get it out into the world… It doesn’t matter if it gets attention or not, whether people even like it or not. It’s your expression, your vision and that’s what matters most.

Years ago I was a musician and played in a few bands. I don’t anymore, my creative outlets have changed but the adage I’ve always said is that “Music taught me to hear, and photography has taught me to see”.

If you would like to see more of Scott’s photographs and/or purchase, here is how you can reach him:

Email: RScottElgramPhotography@gmail.com
Website: rscottelgramphotography.com
Facebook: /RScottElgramPhotography
Instagram: @RScottElgramPhotography

Scott Elgram and RSE Photography

Pen & Loom by Morgan LeBlanc