My first post... a little introduction

I’m not sure how to start this post without sounding like an awkward weirdo. So here we go. 

My name is Rachel, and I’m a 39-year-old amateur photographer. 

My sister recently visited, and we discussed the Utah trip I just returned from. We were talking photography since she’s as obsessed with taking pictures as I am. While we were talking, I realized that I started taking photographs at eight years old when I joined my local 4-H club. I’ve been taking pictures for thirty-one years. I’ve had a hobby for thirty-one years. That blew my mind! 

Most people think 4-H is about farming and caring for cattle, but that’s only one part. I may have grown up in small-town Iowa, but I did not live on a farm! My favorite part of 4-H was taking pictures. My mom, our 4-H leader, would take us on photography excursions across the state to help us learn photography skills: creativity, composition, lighting… the uzh. I always aimed to have a photo or two or four displayed at the Iowa State Fair.

Have you ever heard of the Iowa State Fair? Have you ever been? It’s an experience, to say the least.

I still want my photography to be displayed at the fair. They host a large photography salon to which I’ve submitted photos four different years. The photography salon has tough competition, and apparently, it’s an honor to have work shown. The four times I’ve submitted photos, I’ve had one photograph displayed each time. I plan to submit photos again this year, the first time since 2019. 

After graduating high school, I went to Luther College. While on campus, I joined the photo bureau and was a school photographer. To this day, it’s one of the best jobs I’ve had. I LOVED it. You would typically find me shooting at a football game or a swim meet. The swimming coach hired me for a couple of years to travel with the team and photograph them exclusively. It was the first time I shot with an expensive Canon, making me a Canon user for life! 

After graduating from Luther, I was a teacher and was broke, broke, broke. We didn’t have money to buy a nice camera or pay for any traveling. 

But then we moved to Colorado in 2009. We were lucky enough to purchase a house through a HUD program, so our financial status turned around. I still find it intriguing that being teachers helped us survive the Great Recession. I got a new camera, Adam and I decided to get married after ten years of dating, and then we went on a month-long honeymoon in Europe. 

I haven’t even mentioned Adam, my husband. We’ve been together since college when I was in photo bureau, and he was our college radio sports announcer. Our offices were across the hall from each other. Ever since we’ve been together, we’ve had a shared love for traveling. During our first summer together, we drove to South Dakota and visited the Badlands and Mount Rushmore. The following spring break, I traveled with his family to Breckenridge, Colorado, for a ski trip.

A month-long honeymoon in Europe? Yes, that was our registry! Adam and I were together for ten years before marriage, so we didn’t need dishes or towels. We needed EXPERIENCES. That honeymoon was a trip of a lifetime! I had never traveled internationally, and we visited England, Ireland, and Norway. Every place was beautiful and unforgettable and so incredible for photography! It really renewed my love for taking pictures, and I’ve been going non-stop since.

What changed in the previous seven years was purchasing a conversion van last year. Now, we can drive to unique locations and camp! You might think, “Rachel, you could have camped all along.” Sure, I could have, but I HATE camping in a tent. But it turns out I LOVE camping in a van! Since buying the van, we’ve visited nine western states and eleven national parks, and I’ve taken thousands of pictures. 

We’ve only just begun. 

So, I decided to start this Substack to share my photography and discuss the remarkable locations I’ve been to. I don’t want to provide travel or photography advice because so many people are already doing that. I’m here to share stories with my perspective and hope that you can relate because you’ve been there, that you find inspiration, or maybe you just enjoy pretty pictures. 

Welcome to Chasing Ansel Adams (because that’s honestly the only photographer I know, but who ISN’T inspired by Ansel goddamned Adams?!)