Lightroom was a huge key to creating my colourful style.
Zach Doehler
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In this episode, I speak with landscape and nature photographer Zach Doehler. Zach takes outstanding photographs and openly talks about his editing process with other photographers. In the last few years, he has found great success by joining the world of NFTs, producing courses, and selling photography resources online.
We talk about:
- What it was like for Zach to quit his job and pursue full-time photography
- Editing tips that will make your photos pop
- Why the rise of AI forced him to take a break from photography
& much more!
Zach Doehler is a very open person who generously shares his knowledge with other photographers. If you want to get a better idea of NFTs, landscape photography, and the world of editing, this episode is perfect for you!
Here is a preview of our conversation with Zach Doehler.
Q: You were 15 years old when you got into photography. Your first interest was nighttime photography. What was the next genre that drew you in?
Zach Doehler: The next genre that drew me in was probably a mix of nature photography and macro photography. Of course, I was a beginner. It wasn’t even true macro photography, but just close-up photography with a kit lens.
What I loved about photography was that I could photograph such a wide range of different scenes and different subjects.
Q: You have a distinct editing style. Please share 3 editing tips that you think every photographer should know.
Zach Doehler:
- I love the Calibration panel in Lightroom. It’s a really wonderful way to create the colour palette for your photo. I primarily use Blue Primary. The colours it creates within an image are really beautiful.
- I really love using masking tools. You can use masking tools to really paint on your image and create your own unique look to a photo. It’s one of the most creative aspects of photo editing and post-processing.
- Make good use of the tone curve. A lot of my students are often confused about the tone curve. When you’re starting out, it’s probably one of the strangest-looking tools and panels that we find in editing software. If you can learn at least the basics of the tone curve, it will add another level to your editing.
Q: Do you have any advice for people who want to turn their photography into a business?
Zach Doehler: The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. If you’re already seeing the results from your work as a photographer and you think it would be able to support you, there’s no reason why you should stop.
You know better than those around you, who have absolutely no experience doing photography or doing art. If you’ve laid yourself a nice foundation and you can realistically go into it full-time for your work, then go for it.
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Take Away
Zach Doehler is a talented photographer who’s a great example of persistence and creativity. His decision to pursue photography full-time led to an incredible world of opportunities, from creating premium courses to writing a book. I hope this episode inspires you to try something new in your photography today.
Great podcast, Taya. I particularly found his comments on AI in the field of photography and his use for assisting his business interesting. Mr. Doehler is an extremely talented photographer and artist. His work is stunning!
Thank you for listening to the episode, Stephen! I’m happy to know that you enjoyed the interview. I was also very surprised when Zach talked about AI and the way photographers can use it to improve their business. Definitely an unconventional but clever approach to the world of AI. 🙂
I really enjoyed Zach’s podcast and some of the topics he discussed. His AI comments are something I also think about for all types of art. Seeing articles about AI creating paintings may look good but it’s artificial emotions. Zach editing comments is a hard reality for photographers to be aware of. I also like his talk about IR photography because I have one of those cameras. But he also went on about his next IR camera and filters which I will have to check. For a young photographer he had some great thoughts on photography. Very nice photos also.
Ah yes, I remember you mentioned your IR camera recently! I’ve never tried using them myself, but they seem really interesting. The results are definitely surreal. I’m happy to know that you were able to learn something from Zach. Thank you for listening to this episode. 🙂