Welcome to Episode 129 of the F-Stop Collaborate and Listen podcast.
This week's episode features a photographer who has taken his passion for landscape photography and built a commercial photography business out of it. Dan Hawk is a Portland, Oregon photographer and former full-time bank employee who decided to use his knowledge he gained in the business world to create a niche commercial photography business for himself.

Dan and I covered a lot of fun ground this week, including:
- His journey as a landscape photographer.
- How Dan created his commercial photography business after starting as a landscape photographer.
- Dan's involvement in a camera strap company called Luma Labs.
- How to value our work as photographers.
- ...lots more!
- Dan and I discuss the challenges between the need for creativity and business acumen and how sometimes its hard to separate the two. A memorable quote from Dan, "Selling and creating are not the same thing..."
By the way, I'm really excited to announce that I have officially joined as an instructor at the esteemed Landscape Photography Conference, Out of Chicago. I'll be joining them for three conferences this year - Out of Moab, Out of Acadia, and Out of Yosemite. Out of Yosemite will be February 5-9, 2020. I will be teaching, recording podcasts, and hosting panel discussions with some of our favorite photographers and past guests, including Alex Noriega, Coleen Miniuk, Charlotte Gibb, Jack Curran, Michael Frye, and more. I hope to see you there! If you're interested in attending, follow the link in the liner notes and use the code "fstop250" for $250 off your registration.
Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon! There's a ton of bonus content over there for subscribers!
Here are the photographers that Dan recommended for the podcast:
1. Hudson Henry.
2. Steve Yocom.
3. Alexa Hope.
I love hearing from the podcast listeners! Reach out to me via Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter if you'd like to be on the podcast or if you have an idea of a topic we can talk about. Join the discussion over on Nature Photographer's Network! We have weekly discussions about each episode of the podcast. It's also free! We also have an Instagram page and a Facebook page for updates.
I'm really excited to announce that we have finally reached our $1,000 / mo goal on Patreon and we have officially launched our Landscape Conservation Award.
The “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen” podcast Landscape Conservation Award will recognize an individual photographer who is highly involved in conservation issues within their local communities or within the landscape and nature photography community. This can be through their writing, speaking, photography projects, or community organizing efforts. Additionally, this award seeks to recognize an individual that is actively practicing the Nature First Principles. In partnership with our Patreon supporters, the “F-Stop Collaborate and Listen” podcast presents the prestigious honor, which currently consists of at least $1,570.
We aim to grow the total award amount through donations and sponsorships. We are looking for nominations for the award. You can nominate yourself or someone else through the google form linked in the liner notes. Since our launch we have raised $550 towards the award and have garnered some great sponsorships from some great photography brands.
We are working on getting more in-kind donations and financial donations to sweeten the pot for the deserving award winner. If you are interested in either, please check out the award page on our website.
Thanks for stopping in, collaborating with us, and listening. See you next week.
As a reminder, you can also support the podcast by shopping at B+H for your photography gear using our Affiliate Link.
Please find a transcript of this podcast below: