Ben Strauss is a talented self-taught photographer, and adventurer who grew up in Loveland Colorado, and he currently completes a Masters of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University. Ben focuses on landscape and nature photography. “My love of nature ultimately led me in pursuing an engineering degree so that I may work with renewable energy technologies”, he says. His favorite places are Rocky Mountain National Park, Indian Peaks Wilderness, Never Summer Wilderness, and the Snowy Mountain Range. Strauss has almost 20K followers on Instagram.
I began my journey into the creative and expressive world of photography nearly two years ago. Already being an outdoor enthusiast (backpacker and mountain biker), I was immediately hooked on landscape/nature photography. Previously, I remember having a somewhat negative perception about landscape photographers, in that they spend too much time behind their lens and miss out on whats happening in front of them. From my personal experience in the last two years this couldn’t be further from the truth, and at a risk of sounding cliche, nature photography has changed my perspective of the world around me. I feel like I’ve acquired a higher level of attention to detail in my surroundings, and there is something so thrilling about hunting for that perfect composition. I’ve also found it really slows you down, and for me is a bit of a grounding mechanism. Before photography, I don’t ever remember spending over an hour observing how the continually changing sunlight alters the dynamics of one single landscape. There is so much unexpected detail to be found in beautiful places, and so much beauty to be found in unexpected places. So in the end, my initial perception of photographers was completely backwards. I hope my passion and discoveries bring you as much joy as it does me!
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