SHANE WHEEL

Have you ever been totally consumed by a photograph that seemed to capture the true essence of a place?  One that magically takes you to the place pictured, where you could feel the warm summer sun setting on your face or the brisk morning waves crashing into your body, all the while mesmerized by the surrounding beauty.  These are the same types of images that inspired me to pick up a camera, travel around the world and share the images of the incredible beauty that I'm fortunate enough to witness.

History:

My journey in photography started at an unusually young age. When I was just three years old my mother would bring me to her college dark room and set me on the counter as she developed photographs. She taught photography classes at this college, during the summers, to young pre-college teens. As I grew older I would attend these classes, learn, and eventually assist the students with their photography.

As I became a teenager myself, life started to change and so did my interests. I stepped away from photography for many years. It wasn’t until the intersection of art and technology — photography entered the digital age — that I decided to jump back in.

Present:

I’ve always loved being in nature. Photography has given me an excuse to hike mountains, backpack into wild and remote places, and travel the world in search of awe inspiring landscapes.

For the last several years I’ve been guiding photography tours and workshops for Lofoten Tours, owned and operated by the incredibly talented Stian Klo & Arild Heitman. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with Max Rive, guiding backpacking trips to photograph locations rarely seen or photographed. These trips have been to some of the farthest and most remote places on the planet, including Greenland, Iceland, Norway, The Faroe Islands, and more.

I’ve found that I enjoy guiding these trips as much, if not more, than shooting for myself. One of my favorite things to see is the expression on a client’s face when they see these mind-blowing landscapes with their own eyes for the first time.

I'm thrilled at the idea of others finding even a hint of that special feeling of awe or wonder in any of the images that I capture.  Take a moment to look around, and hopefully as I did, you will find yourself lost in one of these amazing landscapes. 

Media:

I've always considered recognition a form of affirmation in my pursuits.  I've been fortunate enough to have several of my photos awarded, recognized, or displayed by galleries, newspapers and magazines, such as National Geographic, Popular Photography Magazine, The Smithsonian, Huffington Post, Fox News, ABC News, Yahoo, Thrillist, The Daily Beast, The Daily Telegraph, and more.

(Instagram - @shanewheelphoto)