You learn about yourself when you let photography into your life.
Jason Pettit
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Most photographers talk about the moment they picked up a camera like it was some grand life-changing event.
Jason’s story is quieter than that.
One day, after years of raising kids, building a life, and putting himself somewhere near the bottom of the priority list, he ordered a camera online. There was no plan. No manifesto. It just showed up at the door. And somewhere between the lake-effect snow of Prince Edward County and the stillness of winter woods, he started using photography as a way to check back in with himself.
That’s the thread running through this conversation.
Jason grew up on a farm in Southern Ontario, left to roam with no supervision in the late ’70s and early ’80s. He remembers poking around ponds, flipping over rocks, studying the details most people walked past. When he first started photographing, he aimed at the big stuff, sunrises over Lake Ontario, dramatic skies, grand gestures. But eventually, he found his way back to those small, quiet details. Ice formations. Trees with character. The subtle conversations happening between a leaf and a frozen shoreline.
For Jason, nature isn’t just a subject, it’s actually a mirror.
In this episode, we talk about how his photography has evolved alongside his life, how meaningful images sometimes take years to reveal themselves, and why some of his favorite photographs are the ones that still resonate a decade later. There’s a refreshing honesty in how he describes outgrowing the “epic landscape” phase, putting less weight on technical perfection, and leaning more into emotional resonance.
We also dive into what it means to slow down in a digital world built on instant gratification, and why the physical act of owning a negative feels different than storing files in the cloud. For Jason, photography is about intention, patience, and removing the wall that a screen can sometimes place between you and the landscape.
And then there’s winter.
If you love photographing snow-covered trees and empty trails, you’ll feel right at home here. Jason speaks about winter as a simplifying force, the season that strips the landscape down to its essentials. Fewer people. Fewer distractions. Just form, light, and silence.
By the end of our conversation, it becomes clear that photography, for Jason, is less about chasing locations and more about understanding his place in the natural world. It’s therapy. It’s curiosity. It’s a way of learning who he is, one frame at a time.
Here’s some of what we get into:
- How raising kids-and finally having time again-led him back to himself through photography
- Why the “grand landscape” phase is almost a rite of passage (and why many of us eventually move past it)
- The emotional difference between shooting digital and returning to 35mm film
- Why winter might be the most honest season for landscape photography
- How revisiting the same places over and over deepens both creativity and connection
- What makes a photograph truly meaningful, and why you might not know for years
Jason brings a grounded, thoughtful presence to this episode. If you’ve ever felt the pull to slow down, to look closer, or to make your photography more personal, this one will resonate. Enjoy.
Q: Do you find that this sense of purpose that you put into your images invites the viewer into something more than just looking at a nice image?
Jason: I like to think so. This is how I want to approach photography. With any kind of art, people want to see a bit of the artist in it, it has to have some personality. The only way to make a photograph personal is to put yourself into it and let it represent who you are at a given point in time. I hope that when people spend time with my images, they sense that there’s more than just nature in them, that there’s a connection between us as humans and the natural world, because they’re not really separate things.
Q: What kind of landscapes or scenes really caught your attention early on as you were learning?
Jason: Like a lot of photographers, I started with the grand landscapes – sunrises and sunsets. The first professional work that really struck me was Galen Rowell’s epic mountain photography, and I wanted to do something like that, even though I live in a very flat area by Lake Ontario. So I did the sunrise and sunset thing for a while, but eventually it started to feel repetitive. There are only so many foreground elements along a lakeshore. After a while, it felt like I was doing the same thing over and over, so I naturally grew out of it and began exploring other ways of seeing.
Q: How has your understanding of what makes a meaningful photograph changed since you began taking pictures?
Jason: At the beginning, I don’t think I even knew I wanted to make meaningful photographs, I just wanted to take a pretty picture. When you’re starting out, you’re focused on learning the technical side of things, how the camera works and how to expose properly. Once you get comfortable with the technical aspects, you can start asking yourself what you’re really trying to say. Over time, I realized that a meaningful photograph is simply one that’s interesting and satisfying to you. It doesn’t have to be complicated, if it resonates with you on an emotional level, then it’s meaningful.
🔗 Connect with Jason Pettit
🧭 What We Talked About
🎼 Early Journey / Origins
- Jason’s path into photography wasn’t carefully planned – it emerged during a transitional chapter of life. After years focused on raising young children, he suddenly found himself with time again, and with it, the desire to rediscover who he was beyond responsibility and routine.
- Growing up on a 100-acre farm in Prince Edward County deeply shaped his connection to nature. Summers were spent roaming fields and forests, examining ponds, lifting rocks, and absorbing the quiet details of the land without distraction.
- Like many landscape photographers, he began by chasing dramatic sunrises and sunsets along Lake Ontario. The epic scenes were exciting at first, but over time the repetition felt hollow and creatively limiting.
- His work gradually shifted from spectacle to subtlety, from grand vistas to intimate landscapes, reconnecting with the curiosity he felt as a child exploring nature up close.
- Photography became less about impressive images and more about understanding himself through the act of observation.
📖 Philosophy / Vision / Storytelling
- Jason believes meaningful photography requires putting something of yourself into the frame. A strong image reflects who you are at that moment in your life – not just what stood in front of the lens.
- Early on, he wasn’t chasing “meaning.” He was focused on making beautiful photographs. But once technical confidence grew, his priorities shifted toward emotional resonance and personal intention.
- He embraces ambiguity in his images. Rather than dictating what a viewer should feel, he prefers photographs that allow for multiple interpretations, images that are worth a thousand perspectives.
- Technical perfection has become less important than atmosphere and suggestion. Slight softness, abstraction, or imperfection can actually strengthen emotional impact.
- For Jason, a photograph proves its worth over time. If it still resonates years later, even as his style evolves, it holds genuine meaning.
📷 Tools, Gear, and Behind the Scenes
- Entirely self-taught, Jason learned through books, essays, and studying photographers whose work spoke to him emotionally. He values understanding the mindset behind an image just as much as the exposure settings.
- After years of shooting digital, he has returned to 35mm film. The shift is less about nostalgia and more about slowing down, removing instant gratification, and reconnecting with creative flow.
- Film forces intentionality. With limited exposures and no immediate playback screen, each frame requires thought, presence, and trust in instinct.
- His editing approach has grown lighter over the years. If an image requires heavy manipulation to succeed, he questions whether it was strong in the field to begin with.
- He’s especially drawn to expressive trees, intricate ice formations, and the textured rock landscapes of the Canadian Shield – subjects that balance abstraction and emotional depth.
🔁 Practice, Place, and Creative Rhythm
- Jason photographs primarily in Prince Edward County and Southern Ontario. Rather than seeing geographic limitation as a constraint, he views it as an opportunity to develop deeper familiarity and seasonal understanding.
- Winter is his favorite season to shoot. Snow simplifies the landscape, reduces visual chaos, and creates quiet compositions that align with his introspective nature.
- He no longer meticulously plans every sunrise and sunset. Instead, he watches weather patterns and pairs conditions with locations he knows well, allowing more room for spontaneity.
- When traveling to places like Algonquin Park or Kilbear Provincial Park, he feels energized by the unfamiliar terrain – though new environments can sometimes lead to overshooting before clarity sets in.
- Staying close to home builds patience, compositional discipline, and creative depth. Strong photographs don’t require dramatic locations – they require attention.
💬 Advice, Creative Strategy, and Growth
- For beginners, Jason encourages going beyond tutorials and immersing yourself in photo books and essays, paying attention to what photographers were thinking and feeling when they created their work.
- Technical mastery is essential at first, but eventually it must give way to personal exploration. Once the camera becomes intuitive, the deeper creative work begins.
- When creative stagnation appears, don’t abandon photography – change scale or perspective. Shift from grand scenes to intimate details, or revisit the curiosity that first drew you outside.
- Photography should function as more than image-making. It should help you understand yourself, provide a sense of peace, and create meaningful reasons to wake up early.
- Longevity in photography depends on curiosity. As long as you remain curious, growth continues.
🌍 Influences, People, Brands, or Places
- Early inspiration came from Galen Rowell, whose mountain imagery introduced Jason to the emotional potential of landscape photography.
- The Group of Seven continues to influence how he interprets Canadian landscapes, particularly their expressive treatment of light, rock, and forest.
- He frequently photographs in Prince Edward County, Algonquin Park, and Kilbear Provincial Park, and remains deeply connected to the rugged textures of the Canadian Shield.
- Freeman Patterson’s teaching philosophy, specially the exercise of photographing within a confined radius, reinforced the idea that compelling imagery exists anywhere if you look closely enough.
- Living in Southern Ontario, where development pressures are constant, has made him protective of the landscapes he photographs and intentional about presenting them with reverence.
🔮 What’s Next for Jason
- Jason is continuing to expand his Canadian Shield portfolio, including an upcoming canoe-based photography project in Algonquin Park that will offer new perspectives from the water.
- Recently elected into the Ontario Society of Artists, he is preparing for exhibitions and gallery opportunities that will deepen his presence in the fine art community.
- He continues writing reflective articles for photography publications, exploring topics like film photography, creative flow, and personal growth.
- His long-term dream is to complete the entire analog process himself – photographing, developing, and printing by hand.
- Above all, he hopes photography continues to help him better understand himself and his place within the natural world, using the camera as a conduit for peace, curiosity, and evolution.
