 |
Peter Hemming
"A camera is the best toy you can ever have," says adventure & wildlife photojournalist Peter Hemming. "That little metal & glass box has taken me to
places people only dream about." Those places include diving under Arctic ice to photograph a rare Greenland shark, documenting wildlife in East Africa
and capturing images from America's National Parks.
Growing up in Laguna Beach, California, Hemming learned scuba diving and explored the kelp forests just offshore. Buying his first underwater camera, he
learned by trial and error capturing progressively better images and eventually selling his pictures to various dive magazines of the time. Majoring in
filmmaking and dramatics at college, Hemming moved to Los Angeles and joined the Screen Actors Guild. Hemming acted in several TV and motion picture
productions. Not finding stardom or meaningful parts, he left sunny L.A. for the cold, foggy coast of the Monterey Peninsula.
Returning to his photojournalistic roots, Hemming began writing and photographing for local newspapers and magazines. Expanding his talents, he began
submitting to major periodicals such as Outside, Robb Report, LA Times Travel, Sierra Heritage and of course, dive magazines.
"Things changed for me when I went to the Arctic in 2002," Says Hemming. Publishers couldn't get enough of Hemming and his photographs of this frozen
world. After three more trips the Smithsonian Museum came calling. A photo of frozen icebergs along the shore of Baffin Island became the image the
museum used to symbolize the problem of global warming.
Photography, to Peter Hemming, means hanging from a rope, a thousand feet in the air to shoot climbers on a rock face, entering a cage underwater to
photograph great white sharks or enduring below zero weather to capture Arctic wildlife. "Danger and discomfort are a part of my business," says
Hemming. "But it's all worth it when I bring back some great images."
Converting to digital in 2005 brought a new dimension to Hemming's photography. "Instead of carrying bags of film, a single flash card can hold the
day's work. With technology like that, you couldn't drag me back to the 20th Century."
Read Peter's Article: Tanzania photo shoot
Next Pro Photographer >>
|
|
|
|
