Having come to love the work of Ansel Adams as a child, Jim Speth was already engaging in formal photography by the time he was in junior high school where he also learned to love the art of shooting, developing and printing his own unique “artwork.”
This “artwork” emerges out of his ability to combine techniques with imagination. The goal of his work is to achieve deep emotional connections in his viewer. Whether shooting natural landscapes or wedding candids, Jim seeks to capture the emotion of the moment, something that he calls “truth.” Such truth means for him to capture images as they truly appear in life. “If I see a scene that brings me to tears, I want to bring that same emotion to the viewer of the captured moment.”
He believes that truly great photography “involves more than technical expertise.” But, requires also; “the ability to view and judge subjects emotionally.”
Jim is notorious for leading a fashion model out into the red cliffs of the Southwest to a place where natural light lingers about, and illuminates his subject, just as the sun begins to set.
Jim may be found using any number of combinations of Clik Packs. Often carrying the Volt when he needs serious remote lighting, he adds a chest and lens packs to accommodate the equipment needed for a particular shoot. For trips further into the wild, he may be seen with the Elite Pro or the Contrejour. He also loves the Body Link combined with the reporter for Ultra-Running events because as he says: “I can kneel down or run and still keep the 100-400 [lens] extremely stable and can also change lenses rapidly on the go.”