Design & Style, Arts & Entertainment

On Location: Climbing Photoshoot

Jimmy Chin

Lesson time 17:23 min

Meet your new instructor—world-renowned photographer Jimmy Chin—and join him on location for a photoshoot with his climber friends Conrad Anker and Bree Buckley.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography

Preview

JIMMY CHIN: Photography is really a way of life. It's a vehicle for you to explore the world. It's a process of discovery, both external and internal. It's bigger than just images. It's bigger than a career. You as a student have to ask yourself, what is my idea of success? What does that look like? What is my dream? Then you have to ask yourself, what am I willing to do to get there? What am I willing to sacrifice to get there? How far am I willing to go to get there? I want to invite you into my world of photography, into my process and how I think about my work. And then share some technical aspects of photography, my ethos around it, and give you some practical skills to think about. I hope you can come out of this class and have a better picture of the direction you want to go and how you can think about your photography. I'm Jimmy Chen and this is my MasterClass. So we're shooting in kind of my backyard, in Jackson, Wyoming, in Grand Teton National Park. And this is where I live. This is where I call home. I've been living here for 20 years. And it's incredible and it's beautiful. And you can really do all these different things that I love to do personally. This is kind of a place that I find inspiration. This is also where my heart lives, as well as my community. I'm really excited to be able to bring one of my great friends and someone that I've worked with for a very long time, Conrad Anker. - Oh-hoo, hoo-hoo. - He's going to be our extraordinary talent. We're lucky to have him. And Bree Buckley, a local Jackson climber, in this as well, and Blaine Conrad. And you've done this? - Yeah. That looks good. It'll be nice and fingery. JIMMY CHIN: It's been-- - So you probably-- the best shot might be 3/4 of the way up. JIMMY CHIN: Yeah, probably. Even-- even higher-- BLAINE CONRAD: OK. - A little bit, right above 3/4. - Yeah. JIMMY CHIN: Cool. So I'll see you up there. - OK. Sounds good. JIMMY CHIN: All right. So for the purposes of this class, the reason I chose the location is because its kind of got an incredible backdrop of Grand Teton National Park. It's fairly simple. But I think the fundamentals of how you put it together, what you're thinking about, really apply to a lot of much bigger scenarios as well, On shoots, where there's a lot of variables, I like to get the hardest shot first in the can and over with and then work backwards from there. Because that's the most technical aspect of a shoot, where it requires the most gear and prep. And getting that in the can is always nice to have. OK. So I'm going to be pretty close to Conrad. And I don't need a lot of focal length. So I'm bringing a 24 to 70, and a 16 to 35, and maybe the 14, just to have that option. But I usually go pretty light on a little shoot like this. Cool. So probably the more challenging shot in this scenario is getting good light on Conrad climbing. It's the big iconic shot of t...

About the Instructor

Jimmy Chin has built his career taking photos at the top of the world, earning him the cover of National Geographic and multiple awards. Now he’s taking you on location to teach you techniques for capturing breathtaking shots. In his photography class, learn different creative approaches for commercial shoots, editorial spreads, and passion projects. Gather the gear—and the perspective—to bring your photography to new heights.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Jimmy Chin

National Geographic photographer teaches his techniques for planning, capturing, and editing breathtaking photos.

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