Hi, I’m Brent, a photographer, nature lover, and fire hydrant aficionado. Contrary to what my photos might lead you to believe, I do not live in the Rockies, but in the northwest corner of Arkansas. It’s not the Rockies, but it is beautiful in its own right.
Nature, and especially the mountains, is one of my happy places. I particularly enjoy hiking and backpacking. Photography gives me the ability to capture a bit of the beauty, awe, and memories from the places I visit, and my prints give you the opportunity to bring this beauty and awe inside, and perhaps remind yourself of a place or memory that is special to you.
Photographing fire hydrants, on the other hand, gives me an incentive to explore towns and areas I likely otherwise wouldn’t visit and highlight an object that is often overlooked. I really enjoy going on a treasure hunt for fire hydrants and along the way seeing new places and trying a local restaurant. My prints of these images allow you to have a more unique and quirky piece of art, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Photography hasn’t always been a passion of mine, and, ironically, it wasn’t the mountains or fire hydrants that got me into photography, but the weather. In 2007 I went to the University of Oklahoma to study meteorology. At the end of my first semester there was a crippling ice storm. I had never experienced an ice storm before. It was mesmerizing, awe inspiring, beautiful, eerie, and terrifying all at the same time. I didn’t have a camera, so I purchased a couple disposable cameras to get some pictures. The pictures were awful. Haha.
Since I was studying meteorology at the time, my photography trended more towards weather related photos early on. However, right after finishing college, through another series of unplanned events (which you can read about here), I got into fire hydrant photography, and over time that became a larger part of my photography. Three years later I got hooked on backpacking, which led to nature/landscape photography (particularly in the Rocky Mountains) becoming a large part of my photography.
After many years of taking pictures and posting them online, I decided I wanted to do something more with them, so fine art prints became a part of my photography in 2019. I participated in art shows/festivals and gallery exhibitions for a short period until the pandemic put an end to most of that in early 2020.
In late 2020 I decided to hike the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) in 2021, and use that as an opportunity to make some big life changes, so fine art printing went on hold indefinitely. (I ended up hiking part of the CDT in 2021 and the rest in 2023.) I moved to Arkansas in late 2021 and I decided to pick up fine art printing again in early 2023. I currently exhibit and sell my art at galleries and businesses around northwest Arkansas, and plan on getting back into shows/festivals in 2024.
If you’re interested in my art, my weekly newsletter is my primary method of keeping in touch, so please sign up for that. You’ll get updates on exhibitions/events, learn more about me and my art, and be the first to know about new images and prints.
Speaking about learning more about me, in addition to hiking and photography, you can find me enjoying my free time by running, cooking/baking, reading, listening to podcasts, and volunteering for cat care at the Best Friends Pet Resource Center. I will sometimes share some of the cuteness from my volunteer shifts at Best Friends (such as the picture below) on my Instagram and Facebook stories, which is another great reason to follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook.
