Ryan M Crandall
For 10 years I worked with marine mammals in facilities across the country. Those positions took me from Florida to Arizona, and ultimately Washington state where I decided to switch gears and focus on a new emerging passion: photography.
Living in the Western US allowed me to see some incredible landscapes and ecosystems. Astrophotography quickly emerged as an area of focus. I have spent many nights on a cliff with my husky, Nalu, in the middle of no where stargazing and chasing the perfect alignment of the milky way with the natural landscapes of Earth. She is the absolute best travel partner on all of these adventures!
Of course, there have been some mishaps along the way, but I'm always learning and adding things to my "tool belt".
One of my favorite parts of the photography community is sharing and gaining knowledge with each other, and helping each other out in a pinch. I believe having transparency about how you actually obtained an image and the editing process is key to gaining trust within the community and your audience.
Nalu and I got stranded due to a landslide near Mt. St. Helens while trying to do some astrophotography.
You can see some news coverage on that wild tale here.
I am currently trans-continental: living between Florida and Washington. While in Florida I have been able to practice more of my wildlife photography and astrophotography while learning to adjust for higher light pollution.