“Awaiting”, Sunrise along the North Shore

You may have seen Nate Lindstrom’s photography at art festivals or through his annual calendar. For this week’s Selective Focus, Nate tells us about his landscape photography.

NL: It felt like it took a lot of experimenting, some minor frustrations and a heap of learning to make landscapes my photographic focus, but in hindsight that interest developed a long time ago. I’ve always had a love of nature and being outdoors and moving to a very outdoor-centered area of Minnesota helped me look at my surroundings in a different way. I was spending more time on trails, on the shore, sleeping in our many state parks, living through the hottest 10 days of our summer and diabolical winters. All of these things inspire what I look for in a subject or composition, and shape my overall style.

“Forward”, Sunrise along the French River

I’ve been using a camera for almost 15 years but have been devoted to landscapes for about half of that.

“Paved”, Evening light reflected on the spring ice flow

I feel like the challenges and rewards are similar to any other medium: producing something that can satisfy your creative drive. Sometimes you get lucky enough to create something that interests other people. It’s always rewarding to have other people recognize your work and to be able to collaborate with other artists in the area.

“The Glow”, Mammatus clouds over Hartley Nature Reserve

“Cascade”, Cascade River flow in Cascade State Park

The challenge I’m currently facing is finding time to get out and photograph after the birth of our son, which in itself is also a reward.

“The Longshot”, Sunrise over spring ice pile up